Datasets:

swan07

/

authorship-verification

like 3

Kat looked at the sky for assistance. The sun was just coming up, a perfect time for her to sneak on board a Copper Isles bound ship. Finally, she can leave. "Aw, Da, maybe soon." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and left him at the stables. "Bye!" she called and ran away. "I left a note for Ma!" Kat quickly made it to the docks and, using her Gift, snuck in a Copper Isles trading ship unnoticed. She found a suitable spot in a supply room and slept the whole trip to Rajmuat. a/n: Yeah!! Gettin" the party started!! Woot -woo. Woot- woo! Review!!! a/n : Thanks to all my readers and reviewers!! Ami- thanks a lot! I"m really excited about this story! Anon- I don"t know yet if Kat and Fox get together. In a little I"m going to put up a poll about who you guys think she should be with! Familiar Eyes Chapter 4 "The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend." - Henri Bergson Kat was munching on an apple when the ship finally docked at Rajmuat. She threw the core out the nearest porthole and Listened for any one near. Most of the sailors were working on deck, but she heard footsteps thumping towards her supply room. If they weren"t paying attention, she could silently sneak past, but she couldn"t make herself totally invisible. She had to wait for an opportunity to escape unseen from the boat. She didn"t have to wait long. "Eh! Mac, Solu, and Butter Bill! Get this cargo on the docks! Now, you dogs!" shouted a rough male voice. Three grunts replied and soon the storeroom door opened. Kat quickly ducked behind a barrel and threw out enough power so they wouldn"t hear her. The men were as dirty as they sounded. Clothes were stained and hair was greasy. Kat"s lips curled back in disgust. One grabbed a small chest and the other two carried a large barrel between them. As soon as they left, Kat jumped up and looked around for something she could carry off the ships. Her eyes landed on a bundle of fabrics. She grabbed the pile, holding it in front of her face as she walked on deck behind the other three. She discreetly watched the crew as she passed them, but no one even looked her way. She passed a tan, greasy man who was mopping the deck and almost slipped on the wet boards. The man never even turned at the noise. As she looked around the deck again, confused, she caught sight of the docks and city. It was easy to spot her destination- the palace. She heard the cries of slaves mingling with the calls of merchants promoting their goods. Within minutes, Kat and her group made it to the gangplank and started making their way down. On the dock, the three men set their load down. One turned to Kat while the other two walked back up to the ship. The sailor that stayed behind grabbed the fabrics from her hands and set them on top of the large barrel. Though she knew it wouldn"t help her much, Kat threw all her power into her Gifted stealth ability, hoping the man"s attention would skim over her. She had an intense urge to close her eyes and pretend that if she can"t see them, they can"t see her. A familiar chuckle caught Kat"s attention. The laughter reminded her of the day in George"s office when he had mentioned Kyprioth, the raka Trickster god. She remembered hearing that giggle, had hoped it was just a maid, but now her hopes were dashed. Unless the maid followed me here, she pondered. A rainy mist dampened her hair as she cracked one eye open. She hadn"t even realized she had actually closed them. She wearily eyed the man that had laughed. He was the sailor who had taken the fabrics out of her hands. He still looked the same, greasy dark hair and torn clothes, but he radiated an aura of godly power. "You"ve finally made it, my dear!" the sailor smiled. Kat felt a desperate need to call a healer to fix what teeth here left in his dirty mouth. But, even coming from some common sailor, his voice held power. Kat withdrew her Gift with a sigh. "You"ve come," the man repeated. He reached out and pulled Kat into a tight hug. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" She yanked herself out of the man"s grasp as she gagged at his stench. She scanned the busy dock to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Her eyes fell on a handsome, red haired man, perhaps only a few years only older than her. They held each other"s gaze before the red-haired man quickly looked away. A shiver swept Kat"s body as he looked away. It was more a tingle of fear than anything else. She had to admit that she found him handsome, his sharp features only served to heighten his looks. But, the look in his eyes was disturbing. It didn"t sparkle with "love at first sight", but something much more calculating. It was a look of shock, intrigue, and, even, a little alarm. She shot an "I-told-you-so" look at the sailor. By the time she looked back at the red-haired man, he was nowhere to be seen. She wondered if it was Fox, who had red hair, but quickly dismissed the idea. Such an infamous spy wouldn"t be so conspicuous. She was hoping her competition wasn"t going to be that stupid. She shrugged and returned her attention to the sailor. "Would I be correct in assuming you are Kyprioth? The Trickster God?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest. The god in the man tsk-ed. "You know who I am, yet you show me no respect?" His smile grew wider. Kat pretended to contemplate his words. "Hmm," she tapped a finger against her bottom lip. "Am I supposed to prostrate myself right here on the docks?" Kyprioth nodded. "Right here on the docks where everyone will see me worship a dirty, old sailor?" Her right eyebrow rose questioningly. The mist frosted her hair with small water droplets. Kyprioth patted her on the shoulder. "Not one to be trifled with, are you? Good." Kat"s other eyebrow joined the first. The sailor shooed her away. "Well, off with you then. Better get to the palace kitchens before the heavy rain starts. Blasted winter rains." The sailor shrugged and eyed the sky. "I don"t like getting wet." Kat watched the sailor-god. "Why do I feel like I won"t be rid of you that easily?" Her companion laughed and winked at her. A second later, the sailor pushed past Kat and walked back onto the ship. If the god was helping, it should be easier. Kat, too, walked away... ...right into someone"s shoulder. "Oof!" She rubbed her injured nose. "Terribly sorry," she said before trying to move on. A strong hand grabbed her upper arm and stopped her mid-stride. Kat turned, aching to hurt her captor, but knowing she would endanger her mission by doing so. Instead, she tucked her anger away and turned around with eyes wide with feigned fear. A pair of bright green eyes met hers, filled with amusement. The amusement quickly faded as they registered fear in Kat"s. She watched the change with satisfaction. Score one for the ditsy maid. "I"m sorry if I scared you," the man apologized, but still kept a tight hold on her arm. Kat studied him when he didn"t continue. He was a luarin with dirty blonde hair that fell to his eyes and the back of his shirt collar. He was leaner than the men on the docks and, judging from the lack of calluses on the hand that was presently cutting off circulation to her arm, he wasn"t a poor worker or soldier. She looked down at his clothes. The fabric wasn"t expensive enough to be a noble"s outfit. But, a patch bearing the Rittevon arms was sewn onto his shoulder. And that look in his eyes wasn"t helping. It clearly said he liked what he saw...a lot. "Oh, me? Heh, heh. I-I just scare so easily sometimes." While she spoke she feebly tried tugging her arm out of the man"s grasp. "I actually bump into people a lot, hehe, but," she gave another tug, "well, they usually let go." His green eyes laughed at her and one side of his mouth quirked up, but he got the hint; he let go, however, his hand lingered for a second more, almost like a caress. Kat"s mind was spinning. No one at home would"ve touched her like that, let alone some stranger in a different country. She forced a giggle, but her blush was genuine. He laughed. "You must be new here. Otherwise you wouldn"t look so confused and nervous." "And I thought it was my foreign clothes and travelling bag," she retorted without thinking. She clamped her hands over her mouth to stem the flow of any more mission threatening outbursts. The man just laughed again and looked down at her affectionately. Oh Gods, he thinks I"m cute, Kat thought and held back from grimacing, He"ll start acting like the others now- offering to do things for me, go out of his way to see me. It"ll be such an inconvenience. She began to edge away from him. "I have to go now. I want to find the palace before it rains harder." Of course, she already knew where the palace was, and every passage and room inside. But, Kat the luarin maid didn"t. He stopped laughing, but his green eyes still shone with amusement. "My name is Loahn." Kat didn"t care and it showed on her face. She began to walk away. Loahn lunged forward and grabbed her hand. "Mage Loahn?" he specified. Kat slowly raised her eyes from their touching hands and up to his face, suppressing the urge to hit him. Loahn sighed, "Royal Mage Loahn?" Kat continued to stare blankly at him. She took her hand out of his grasp then clasped both of hers together, hoping to discourage any more of his grabbing. Once her hand was secure, she thought about what he said. She knew the five head Rittevon mages- Zu Bramidge, Audrey Featherstone, Nell Castor, Shaylen Lan, and Issa Blackwater. All five lived with their families in a large house on palace grounds provided by some past royal. Loahn must be one"s son, old enough to have knowledge of magehood. So, he must live on palace grounds. "I live at the palace," he bragged, puffing his chest out with pride. Kat simpered accordingly. "Really? Wow!" Loahn fidgeted a moment before offering to escort her to the palace. "Only if you tell me your name." "Sorry," she giggled, "I"m Kat." She held out her hand to shake, but he grabbed it and planted a kiss on her knuckles. Kat resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "I wouldn"t want to inconvenience you." She prayed he was busy. He shrugged at her suggestion and smiled widely at her. "It"s nothing that can"t wait until later." Kat was afraid of that answer. And so it begins, she thought. "Well, let"s go!" She turned to walk off in the correct direction before remembering that she wasn"t supposed to know where to go. Rookie mistake, she mentally chastised herself before spinning back to Loahn and giggled. "Oops. I don"t know where I"m going. Which way do we go?" Loahn turned her in the right direction. "It"s this way, Kat." His voice was laced with laughter. Kat didn"t know if this guy did anything other than laugh. "Oh!" she giggled. "I"m so silly." They didn"t talk until they reached the soldiers guarding the palace entrance of Rittevon"s Lance. "What do you want?" one demanded in a rough voice. Loahn showed his shoulder patch to the men. They grumbled but let both through. Kat noticed that the light rain had driven almost everyone inside. But the few people they passed stopped to offer a greeting to Loahn. By the fourth greeter, Kat was bored of them. She used her Hearing to check the people along the road. She Heard some people scurrying on the path, probably trying to get out of the rain. A devoted gardener was pruning some bushes just a little farther up. They were about half way to the palace when Kat spoke up. "You have a lot of power here, Mage Loahn," Kat said, coating her voice in school-girl awe. "Yes, I guess I do. And, please, it"s just Loahn," he told her. Only, she never heard past "Yes.' Mostly because her cheek was stinging from being smashed into some medallion. She stumbled back in surprise. She really needed to stop running into people today. She glanced up and caught her breath as she stared at a perfect specimen of manhood... ...Who was currently glaring at her with lust-free eyes. a/n: Hey friendly readers!! I"m going to put a poll up soon in my profile. I want to know who you guys want Kat to end up with! Thanks!! And Review!! a/n: Aaaah, another chapter. So here I am with chapter five and some orange soda. AND I can go outside without a coat on. Sweet. Clear Blue Rain: Thanks for your review! Kaiya: Hey, no prob. I"ll def keep that in mind too! KrisEleven: Thanks for the help!!! LadyoftheRisingSun: Hey! Thanks for giving it a chance! I hope you like it! Familiar Eyes Chapter 5 "Seeing is not always believing." -Martin Luther King, Jr. Taybur steadied the girl as she stumbled backwards. He registered a dull pain in his chest from where her head had crashed into him. Just what he needed, he thought, something else to delay him from his training session. His day had started out surprisingly well. He had a wonderful night of sleep, a great breakfast, and hadn"t heard from Topabaw or his lackeys all week. Life was beginning to look up for the captain of the King"s Guard. He almost smiled as he walked the halls to Dunevon"s room. Of course, he should"ve known better. His good days never last anymore. He could hear the little king crying even before he turned the corner to the hall that held his rooms. Fearing the worst, he rushed in only to find an incompetent maid trying to getDunevon dressed. For some reason, the maids Imajane hired for Dunevon hardly knew anything about children. Dunevon was able to chew them up and spit them out in a day- two at the most. Just as Taybur calmed the four-year-old king, Dunevon threw up on the maid...and the floor and, amazingly, the wall, which was a good three feet away. Taybur had sent the maid off to change and find someone to clean up the mess. And then he had to wait until another bevy of maids came to clean. He added "Tell I. to find new maid" to his to-do list. Once Dunevon was taken care of, he had to run across the palace grounds to get to the practice area where his soldiers waited. Luckily, the increasing rain had driven everyone inside. Finally, he was almost there... ...and the only girl on the path had to go out of her way and run into him. He spit out a mouthful of brown hair and glared down at her. At first glance he thought she was some degree of raka because of her tanned skin, but her features held no similarities and her clothes were distinctly from Tortall. He was startled by the bright color of her eyes. Recalling stories he heard of the raka god, Kyprioth, the bright eyed god, he briefly entertained the idea of the god assuming human form and taking his nickname literally. Studying the girl, just to double check her humanity, he noticed her cheek had a light red spot from colliding with his captain"s crest. Someone cleared their throat. Taybur turned to the girl"s companion and suppressed a groan. It was Loahn Blackwater. Great. He looked around for an excuse to avoid him, but found only a gardener clipping some hedges. At least he didn"t have to listen to Loahn talk about Loahn for hours. Thank the Gods he had set up a practice, even if he was running late and would never hear the end of it from his men. "Terribly sorry, Captian Sibigat," the mage apologized. "Not a problem, Mage Loahn." Taybur eyed the pair. The girl was pretty, which was most likely the reason Loahn had latched onto her. He almost felt bad for the girl, but one look at her vacant expression and his guilt subsided. But before he left, he couldn"t help giving the girl a hand. "Weren"t you supposed to return from the docks with herbs, not a girl?" he accused, pointing to the girl"s travelling bag. The girl smiled. Loahn"s face flushed a deep crimson. "Wha-, well, I-..." he turned to the girl. "Sorry, Kat. The kitchens are just up ahead." He said his farewells and ran back to the docks. Taybur also nodded farewell and hurried away. Considering how long a conversation with Loahn usually took, he chalked this short encounter up as a success. He just hoped that girl had enough brains to find the kitchens. After all those obstacles, Taybur made it to the training grounds. Ignoring any jabs at his lateness, he set his men to work. Taybur joined them and easily forgot about his run in with the mage and the girl. The gardener clipped his last branch and watched the god-touched girl hurry to the kitchens. He stayed by the hedges until she was far enough away to make sure she wouldn"t notice him. Fox pulled his head covering tighter to block out the rain as it got harder and faster. He checked the area for any pedestrians or workers. Satisfied that no one was watching, he clipped his shears onto his belt and headed off to Topabaw"s office. The Rittevon"s spymaster had sent him to the docks earlier to check on some new..."arrivals." And that"s where he caught sight of the dirty sailor hugging the tall brunette. First he had written them off as family members- father and daughter, perhaps- until he saw the girl pull away and study the docks. Had she been embarrassed? Curiosity piqued, Fox viewed them using his Gift. Nothing could surprise him more than when he saw a purple aura of godliness surrounding the sailor. Useless, Topabaw had called the Gift, and Fox agreed. But, during times like this, when the purple aura spread over to the foreign girl too, the Gift could be useful. What alarmed Fox the most was the color of the god"s mark. He"d seen the Mother Goddess"s white on people and Mithros"s orange and a few others, but never purple. As the girl walked to the kitchen, she continued to glow a faint purple to his Gifted eyes. Now he just had to figure out which god uses a purple mark and why a god-touched was hoping to get a job in the palace. The answers Fox came up with weren"t good. Topabaw must know immediately. Fox picked up his pace, causing his gardening shears to bounce annoyingly off his leg. He yanked the offending tool off of his belt and threw it into a tree trunk as he ran the path to Topabaw"s office. The shears quivered as they wedged into the wood. Fox pushed open the door and walked through Topabaw"s hallway, trying to push away the fear spells. Offenders were chained to the walls on both sides. He viewed their haggard appearances with relish. For many, he was the reason they were chained there, hungry, scared, and desperate. He laughed at their pain. They knew nothing of loyalty, he thought, and they must pay for it. Nine years ago, a hopeless teen pledged his undying loyalty to Duke Lohearn Mantawu. Such devotion gained the duke"s trust, allowing Fox to become the spymaster"s right hand man. Fox found Topabaw behind his desk, lounging in his chair and sipping at a cup of wine. Fox stood at attention in front of the desk. "Sir, I have news." Topabaw wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Well, I can"t imagine you being here for any other reason." He took a long drag at the wine. "I wouldn"t want you to visit me for a social call, anyway. For you, those types of calls end in some one"s death." Fox"s lips twitched into a small smile but he quickly regained his composure. "Just following orders, sir." The other man nodded. "Sit down, Fox, and tell me your news. It better be worth it to interrupt my lunch." Topabaw picked a piece of cheese off of a plate that sat on his desk. Fox pulled a wooden stool closer to the desk and sat down. "A Tortallian woman arrived at the docks today. She"s applying for a job in the palace kitchens." He paused and studied the man across from him. Topabaw looked mildly interested. "Do you suspect this chit to be a spy for Tortall?" he asked with a mixture of anger and excitement. Fox looked a little uneasy. "Well," he drew out the word. "She seems a little-" "Stupid?" "-vacant," Fox finished, kindly for him. The girl did have to listen to Loahn Blackwater all morning, after all. "I hope you have something better than that," Topabaw warned. He glared at Fox over the rim of his cup. Fox sat up straighter under the scrutiny. "She"s god-touched, sir, by a mark I"ve never seen before." Topabaw sighed. "She probably just prayed to some Tortallian heathen god to get her a job here. You"ve told me people can be "marked", as you call it, when the gods answer their prayers." Fox wasn"t entirely convinced. "But, what about the aura, sir? I"ve never seen that color before. It could mean trouble." "Trouble?!" Topabaw growled. "Nobles being killed by raka is trouble. Dams collapsing is trouble. Missing tax collectors is trouble," he barked, angry that he hadn"t known of these raka plots until too late. "One little girl from Tortall is only trouble if she distracts you from doing your work." He waved it off. "Like I said, it was just some local heathen god." He finished his wine and set the cup on the table. He noted the unsure expression on Fox"s face. "She"s only a kitchen maid. Even if she was a spy, there won"t be much useful information she could find out as a maid. If she gets promoted to a higher position, you can bring her in her and I"ll have fun questioning her," he promised. Fox stood and bowed to his master. "Thank you, sir." Topabaw nodded, shooed his protégé out the door, and got back to eating. a/n: Sha-bang- chapter 5. A little of this, a little of that, and this story is beginning to get interesting. Haha

best friends. Perhaps it is you who will fix the story." Gareth"s great-grandfather slowly closed his eyes, tired after such a long story. Gareth jumped off his great-grand father"s lap and went to play with his best friend James, who everyone called Jim. Then, he was too young to understand. Remembering it now, he noticed the gravity of the story and the incredible parallels in his life. He couldn"t help think... Am I going to fall in love with someone named Tarys? How can I when my heart belongs to Adora? Will she die? Will Jim die? Will I marry Lasary? WHO ARE HALF OF THESE PEOPLE! ARE THEY JUST CODE NAMES OR WHAT! "I think I know what you"re talking about," Gareth said, surprising both Cul and Rys. He was going to follow his heart on this one. "And I believe I can help you with your problem and get Adora back at the same time." Jim mumbled from behind the gag. He looked very confused. "You are right, Boss captured your fiancé. I know where to find them," Cul replied. "But, how did you figure it out?" Gareth retold the tale his great-grandfather told him those 14 years ago. The company was silent for a long time, lost in thought. Even Jim didn"t say anything. Am I the girl in the story? Rys thought. We share the same name... She shrugged off the feeling of déjà vu and decided to let the subject rest. "I knew this guy was smart," Rys laughed. Gareth smiled gratefully at her. "But, who are the other people in the great ol" story to be redone? Unless we meet some more ladies on the way to the castle, Rys is the only girl. I know you can do a lot of this, Rys, but I don"t think being two people is one of them," Cul commented. "Alright, Lucius," Rys said, Cul visibly winced, "Sorry, ex- Lucius." "A little better," Cul told her. "So, Cul," she began again using the name that fit him the most. "Show us the way to the castle." She smiled at Gareth. "We"ll get your little love back, don"t worry." "When you"re helping me, how could I worry?" Gareth replied. Jim growled. "We"ll leave in the morning. Since you haven"t noticed, I"ll point out that it"s well past my bed time," Cul told them before lying down on a blanket and swiftly falling asleep. "Yeah, he"s right," Rys said. She lay down on her blanket. Jim grunted another set of incomprehensible words. "Aren"t you going to untie us?" Gareth asked. "We are all friends now, right?" Rys pondered for a moment. "Sure, we"re friends," she agreed then closed her eyes and tried to sleep. In the end, she didn"t fall asleep at all. Special thanks to all the thoughts that her new friend Gareth"s story invoked. Thoughts and, odd enough, feelings and memories she had forgotten about... Gareth and Jim woke to find that they had been untied while they were sleeping. With a sudden rush of memories from the previous night, Gareth jumped up. "Let"s get going!" he shouted. Rys looked up from the leftover fish she was eating and Cul reluctantly stirred awake. "Sure thing," Rys replied with a mouth full of fish. "Jim, you are being unreasonably quite this morning." Rys smiled, she hadn"t untied his gag. Jim ripped the gag with a mocking laugh and gave her a rude gesture accompanying some impossible threat. Forty minutes later Cul was wide awake and Gareth was bouncing off the trees with excitement. They were packed up and ready to rescue a damsel in distress and vanquish evil. Rys felt good inside. A warm fuzzy feeling tickled her veins and she felt like she was meant to do this. So this is what the other side of the law feels like...She smiled. Less than five minutes of walking in the direction Cul thought the castle was in, the four heard the sound of someone screaming and running through the woods. "What the-" Jim started as a girl with brown hair and a slightly torn dress ran out of the woods and knocked Rys onto the ground. "Saraly!" Rys and Cul shouted. "Cul!" Saraly ran to Cul and gave him a hug. "Rys!" She went over to where Rys was, still on the ground. Saraly jumped on top of her. "Rys!" "Hi, Saraly," Rys tried to breath from the suffocating hug. "Cul, help?" Cul laughed and jumped on the top of the pile instead of helping. Rys felt the last of the air in her lungs escape. "A thief family reunion. Touching, isn"t it?" Jim asked, sarcastically "Very," Gareth replied. Cul got off of Saraly and Rys and walked over to the other two guys. "We found another girl. Well, she found us." "No," Gareth and Jim sternly said simultaneously. Cul shrugged. "My thoughts exactly, but we have no choice but to bring her." "Rys!" "Saraly!" "Rys!" "Saraly get off of me." "Oh, right," Saraly picked herself up off of Rys, but not before she secretly pulled the Gem of Power out of Rys" pocket and placed it in her own. A/N: Now evil Saraly has got the gem! Dun dun dun dunnnnn Hahaha. A/N: So... it"s been awhile since I last updated! Haha. But I will finish, Scout"s honor!! Chapter 8: Strength of Many Saraly dusted off her tattered yellow dress and examined the troop. "What happened to the horses?" Gareth helped Rys up. "They ran away," Cul replied, eyeing Gareth"s action with curiosity. Jim eyed his friend, too, but not with curiosity. Saraly looked on in disgust. "So, I have to walk even more? Seriously?!" Gareth leaned into Rys. "Can we trust her?" he whispered in her ear. Goosebumps ran down her body from the spot Gareth"s breath had hit her ear. What is this she"s feeling? First, it was an attraction to Jim, now Gareth, too? What"s going on?! Well, at least Gareth didn"t hate her; too bad he had a fiancé. Finally she gained control of her senses. "Eh," she whispered back in indecision. "She doesn"t have enough brains to deceive me." Gareth chuckled low, the breath tickling Rys" skin. "Awfully confident." She replied with a smile and walked over to Cul. "Saraly, how"d you escape?" Cul asked. "Boss." Fear gripped at Cul"s heart at the mention of his father. He cleared his throat. "Figures," he replied, trying to sound nonchalant. Jim strode over to his best friend and whispered in his ear. "I don"t like that one. Her eyes scare me." Gareth had to agree with his friend. The new girl looked power hungry. He had seen the look in many eyes before. "There isn"t much we can do," he whispered back, thinking about the last person he whispered with. He wasn"t quite sure why, but the more he conversed with Rys, the more he liked her. He wasn"t afraid to admit he was attracted to her. Ok, with a fiancé, he was a little afraid of acknowledging that fact. "Just another untrustworthy thief," Jim scoffed. Gareth glanced over at Rys and Cul. "You know, the other two aren"t like this new one at all. You must admit, they are rather... good-hearted thieves. I believe them to be trustworthy." Jim didn"t want to hurt his best friend"s feelings, plus, he...well, he might agree. Pertaining to Cul. Not Rys. Ok, well, he would take Rys over Saraly. Saraly finally recognized the two other men and remembered Boss"s parting words to her. "Take care of anyone in the way. Anyone, and everyone.' "Just great," she turned to her cohorts. "You guys picked up some riffraff." She mentally calculated how she"d get rid of the newcomers. Jim scoffed, again. "Riffraff? Us? Now isn"t that funny." He tried to walk towards the girl, but Gareth held him back. Rys started toward Jim, her fist raised. Luckily, Cul held her back. "You are really getting annoying, you...you stupid boy!" she cried and tried to escape Cul"s hold. "Oh, puh-lease!" Saraly whined. "Just kiss each other already! I"ve only been here a minute and the tension between you two is killing me." Rys blushed. She hadn"t thought Saraly had hit so close to the mark before she actually said that. "Saraly!" she reprimanded. The accused just shrugged her shoulders. Jim forced a laugh. Even if he wanted to, he couldn"t like Rys. She"s a thief for crying out loud. And she tricked him. "That"s not even possible," he explained. "Never in a million years would I feel that way toward this thief," he spat, pointing at Rys. Immediately offended, the pointee pointed back. "You"re just upset because I hurt your pride," she accused. "Never in a million years would you have expected someone to do that!" Gareth looked rather guilty. "She"s right," he mumbled. "Which one?" Cul asked. He had moved beside the prince just moments ago. Gareth chuckled. "Well, I guess I"d have to say both!" Jim sputtered. "That- that has nothing to do with it!" That has everything to do with it, he thought. Gareth laughed at his friend. The whole time he had known Jim, a.k.a. his whole life, the boy had only truly fallen for a handful of girls. Jim had picked fights with all of them. This felt the same. Well, maybe to a higher degree than all the rest. Very, higher degree. Maybe that meant Jim"s affection was that much stronger. Thinking of love, Gareth couldn"t help but remember Adora. He truly loved her, the twinge in his heart, at the mere mention of her name, told him so. He knew, once this whole ordeal was over with, he would be great friends with Rys and Cul. He didn"t understand what he felt for Rys, but he knew he felt stronger towards his future wife. Now that his feelings were sorted out, he turned to his friend and gave him The Look. THE Look. The one that conveyed that sentiment: "I know exactly what"s going on in your head. You do this every time you like someone. If I can forgive her, you can. Stop being a nitwit. Plus, we still need to find Adora. If you act gentlemanly, this will go a lot faster. Nitwit.' Jim understood the conveyed message and sighed. Before he could speak, Saraly let out a high pitched whine. "Ugh! This is sooo boring! It can"t get any worse!" Just then, thunder racked the land and rain poured out of the sky, soaking everything. "Oh, drat! This is ruining my dress!" Saraly complained as the first few fat raindrops fell. Rys looked up at them black, angry clouds and sighed. "This is going to be a bad one," she announced. A loud crack of thunder agreed with her. "Anyone bring an umbrella?" Jim asked sarcastically as lightening struck overhead and rain fell in thick sheets. Gareth blushed with embarrassment. "I"m afraid I didn"t really plan for a long journey when we set out." "My friend," Jim said, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "When we left, you weren"t in the proper state to be organizing anything." Rys giggled. Jim snapped his attention to her. He didn"t think thieves giggled. It was kind of...cute. He smiled at her. Saraly noticed. "Ugh, are we there yet?" She lifted her skirts to avoid a mud puddle. "We just have to cross the river. After that, there"s a town just a few miles away. And a few miles away from the town is the castle," Cul explained. Gareth strained his eyes to try to find the river through the sheet of rain. "One problem," Cul continued. "We need to find a bridge- unless, of course, you want to wade across that." They had made it to the Lucarno. The rain had swelled the banks. Raging rapids tormented the river. A large branch flew down with the current. It hit a sharp rock and smashed. "I choose life," Jim gulped. "There has to be a bridge around here somewhere. This area looks vaguely familiar," Gareth observed. "Silly me," Saraly mumbled, "I never thought this tree looked just like any other tree here." "Jim!" Gareth called out over the noise of the storm. "I think we used to help patrol these woods!" "And that means...?" Rys asked impatiently. Jim gave a weak glare directed at Rys. "That means there is a bridge past the next bend," he explained. "It"s a little rickety, but it"ll do." Cul stopped walking and stood, hands on hips. "So, oh prince and best friend, you want us to cross a rickety bridge over a monster of a river, in the middle of a horrible storm?" The two sputtered. "A-well...." "Wh-I-yes?" The three thieves shared a similar look and rolled their eyes. "Here we go again," Rys sighed. "Again?" Gareth asked.. "Long story," Cul explained. "Seems to me like we have plenty of time," Jim said as he trudged off in the direction of the bridge. "Ok, then. You don"t want to know," Rys re-explained and started to follow. "Oh, I think I do," Jim persisted, winking at her. Throughout the walk to the bridge, they could hear Rys mumbling about which tree would be best to tie Jim to ("That nice oak over there will do perfectly..."). Saraly positioned herself far away from her. True to their word, Jim and Gareth lead the group to a rickety wooden bridge just around the bend. To Rys, rickety was an understatement. At this point, the river had worn through rock and earth, creating a small ravine. The bridge was anchored to each side with fraying ropes and had a frayed series of ropes propping it up. Rys looked down and immediately regretted it. The bridge was only a few yards above the raging river. Staring at the swirling waves only made her dizzy. She gulped. Jim heard. He looked over at her face and was surprised to see panic etched across her features. Gareth ran a hand through his rain soaked hair. "Looks like it will hold," he commented. "We should have the lightest go across first, just to make sure." He turned to Rys, about to suggest she go first, but Saraly strode up to the bridge. "I"m the lightest," she sniffed. "Anyway, now Rys will have some extra time with her lover." Saraly began to trot across the bridge as Rys and Jim argued, creating the perfect distraction. She looked back just once to make sure no one was watching her. Then, she tugged out the slim knives she had hidden discreetly in her sleeve. Placing just the right amount of pressure against the ropes, the girl made her way across the bridge, fraying even more all the already frayed ropes. Perfect, she thought as she safely reached the other side, Princey boy and Annoying boy will fall to their deaths as they try to cross the bridge! Innocently, she called to the other side, making sure they knew she reached the other side. Back with the others, Rys and Jim with still fighting about nothing Gareth could make out between their incoherent sentences. "After you," he motioned for Cul to cross the bridge. After a smile, the latter soon met Saraly on the other side. "You guys really should stop," Gareth told the two. He leaned in the between them. "Jim likes you," he told Rys. "Wha-! Gareth!" Jim made a grab at his ex-best friend, but he had already made it to the bridge and crossed. On the other side, Saraly fumed. Why isn"t her brilliant plan working?! Well, as long as Rys or Annoying boy don"t make it, she was willing to call it successful. Jim sighed and refused to look at the girl next to him. "Argh! Well, you better go next. Thieves first and all." "I believe it"s "ladies,'" Rys replied half-heartedly. Reluctantly, she put a foot on the bridge and heard the groan of old rope and wood. She made the mistake of looking down. What she saw didn"t exactly elicit a cry of joy. "Here we go," she gulped and took another small step. Another groan, this one much louder. "Eep!" After another small step, Jim shouted out to her. "What"s the matter?! You"re taking forever! Aren"t afraid of a little bridge are you?" "Oh, not this worn out old bridge that could break at any moment. Nope, not afraid of that," Rys shouted back, her voice cracking with fear. "And definently not the roaring, killer river below me. I"m all sunshine and giggles out here! How about you?" "Oh, you"re such a little girl!" Jim taunted. "Look, sturdy as ever." He took a large step onto the bridge. Rys froze. "Jim, don"t." "Jim! What do you think you"re doing?!" Gareth shouted. "No, it"s fine," He replied, taking another step towards Rys. "I"m showing this great thief here a thing or two about courage." The bridge creaked. A rope snapped. Rys, her face white, turned to face the man behind her. "Jim..." Not one to freeze in the face of imminent death, he shouted to her. "Well then, hurry up!" The girl didn"t need to be told twice; she quickly scampered across, Jim right behind her. Just as Rys was about to put her foot on land, the ropes broke. "Rys!" Gareth shouted and grabbed her hand, pulling the rest of her onto the shore. "Don"t let go," she gasped. Gareth looked over and saw her other hand holding tight to Jim"s, who just happened to be dangling mere feet above the river. "About time," Saraly whispered, leaning back to enjoy her handiwork. Cul looked over to her and noticed the look of triumph on her face. "You have no idea what you"re doing." With a quick glare, he hurried over to help Gareth. Rys huffed. "Jim, you weigh a ton! I think my arms are going to be pulled out of my body." Jim, struggling to get a foot hold, took a moment to glare. "It"s muscle," he retorted before resuming his search. He felt his hand slip farther and farther out of Rys". Before he couldn"t anymore, he looked up, into Rys" frantic eyes. Well, he was going to die. I might as well admit how beautiful she is, he thought. He realized how much he admired her strength and wit. Even how she can easily damage his ego. Ok, so maybe he could easily fall in love with her. Maybe he already was? With death mere seconds away, he didn"t mind admitting such. He focused on her eyes. His hand let go of hers. Not because the river looked inviting, but because he saw his own recently thought thoughts reflected in her eyes. Such was his surprise that he let go. The last thing he knew was that he was falling. "Jim!" Rys cried. With the extra weight gone, the two boys fell backwards, launching Rys away from the edge. After they regained their senses, the three rushed to the rim. Before any could search for Jim, a strong burst of air and water knocked them all back. The rough landing knocked the wind out of Rys. That, and the heavy weight which landed on top of her. An "oof" landed beside her. She looked up to see Gareth sprawled on top of her, stuttering apologies, but not getting off of her. "Come on, Gareth," a familiar voice reprimanded from where the "oof" had originated. "At least get a room." Much to Rys" relief, Gareth scrambled off of her and hugged his best friend. "Jim!" Rys had just caught her breath when Cul hit her in the stomach. "Oy! What was that for?" she cried. Her friend only stared open mouthed at the spot they had just been. Curious, Rys looked, too. Much to her amazement, a beautiful lady stood there. Her flowing gown was different shades of blue while her hair and skin had a green tint. "I am Naida, the water nymph," the woman explained. Her voice held the music of waves gently splashing. "I"ve come to tell you your destiny. Each of you holds a part of what is to come." All five slowly walked up to Naida, listening intently. With a nod of approval, the nymph spoke again. "It is written: One Royal Blood, True Heart- Respected; One Dark Heart, Dark Help- Traitor; One New Leaf Turned, Heart Set- Determined; One Brave Heart, Time is Now- Fighter; One Destroyer of All- Evil; The Greats against the Evilest of Evil, who is aided by Traitor One group shall prevail, the other perished. Good and Bad, Bad and Good. Who shall Conquer Life and Death?'" With a smile, Naida left the puzzled group. Rys watched as the water nymph melted into the rain drops. "Well," Gareth laughed. "I think I know which one I am." He hastily corrected himself, "Unless one of you has royal blood, that it." "I guess that makes me, how"d she put it, the "evilest of evil"?" Cul sighed. Gareth pointed to Jim. "Jim is training to be a knight. I could call him a fighter." Jim shrugged off Rys" quizzical look. "And Rys must be the "new leaf turned" or whatever because she used to be a thief, now she"s a... well, she"s a good guy!" Gareth was warming up to his theme. "Oh! This is rather fun to figure out!" He looked around. "What do we have left?" "Traitor. The one who aids the evilest of evil!" They turned, surprised to hear Saraly shout out. She stood there, looking fierce, with a red gem in her hand. Rys gasped and patted down her pockets, finding them empty. "No," she whispered, looking at Saraly. "Oh yes, dear Lasary. I have the power now," Saraly called out, using Rys" real name. "Lasary?!" Gareth gasped and eyed Rys, momentarily distracted from the crazed girl in front of him. Cul took a step forward. "Saraly, you don"t want to do this. Give me the gem," he held his hand out. The girl only laughed. "Are you kidding?! Once I break this gem and release Lucius" powers, I will be rich! I will be given all the power I want!" "Saraly, no! There"s a curse on it! You"ll die if you release the power!" Rys warned, looking warily her. "Ha! You"re lying to me, Lasary. You just want the power to yourself." Saraly raised her hand and smashed the gem off a boulder. "No!" All four cried. But it was too late. "No," Cul cried, tears streaming down his face. He let himself fall to the ground. As the gem broke, a red mist wafted out and Saraly slumped to the ground, lifeless. Rys reached Cul before the red mist did. "Cul, you are the best friend I"ve ever had! Nothing will ever change that." The red mist got closer and closer. Jim squatted down beside the two. "You"re an amazing man." The red mist touched Cul"s skin. The effect was immediate. He threw Rys off his arm and pushed Jim away. His eyes now burned a bright red. He offered the three a malicious grin. Lucius now stood before them. With a small flash, the sorcerer was gone, off to his fortress. Rys fell to her knees in tears. "Cul," she muttered before everything went blank. Jim was able to catch her before her head hit the muddy ground. a/n: Yay! And, as every writer wants, review! Hope it was ok! Thanks, guys!

"I admire you a lot, Robin," Maxie begins. "I have since I was little. But lately, I don"t - really feel like I know you at all." She twists her hands in her lap, her shoulders tugging down in a deep shrug as her cousin eyes her mercilessly. "You don"t ever want to talk about Emma...or taking her shopping, or dress her up." Robin snorts and rolls her eyes, evidently unimpressed with the comparison between her infant daughter and a doll. Matt furrows his brow. Fashion is Maxie"s life, she"s made no secret of that, he thinks. "And I know this is in the past," Maxie continues, "but I still don"t completely understand, when Emma was sick, why you insisted that I take her to Mercy Hospital with Johnny. I was really scared, and those doctors? Were asking me to make huge decisions, and I - I didn"t know what to do. I mean, I am not her mother." "Yeah, but if you remember, Patrick was in a burning building that I was helping evacuate at the time," Robin replies crisply. Matt winces, heat flooding the back of his head as the memory of General Hospital"s fire is brought to the fore. He had been the one responsible for unleashing the virus that knocked out his operating room staff, and for putting all their lives in danger when the room exploded in a burst of heat and flame. His eyes slide to his brother. Patrick had almost died trying to help evacuate the unconscious hospital staff, and if he had...? Maxie speaks again, shaking her head in disbelief. "I don"t understand how that is more important than your child, who was really sick," she contends. "Maxie, you have no idea what you"re talking about," Robin shoots back dismissively. "I can"t believe you"re sitting here, in my living room, calling me out on my mistakes as a mother." Maxie is unusually patient; Matt can tell she"s trying very hard to keep her temper. "Robin, I"m - just trying to tell you I don"t understand - " she starts, only to have Robin cut her off. "I mean, I have always stuck up for you, even when you do the craziest things," she says, speaking over her cousin even as she addresses her. "So for you to sit here and tell me what a horrible mother I am? Is just ridiculous!" Mac speaks up in his daughter"s defense. "Come on, Robin," he argues, "Maxie adores you." "Maxie adores Maxie," she swiftly corrects him. "And obviously we all agree that I"m a terrible mother, but I"m not the one that was walking around with a pillow under my shirt, pretending that it was a baby for months, and then pretending to have a miscarriage." Matt"s eyebrows shoot up at this revelation. Maxie crosses her arms over her chest and looks away, the blood draining from her cheeks. "I mean - Elizabeth, how can you even be in the same room with her," Robin asks incredulously, directing her words to the nurse on the other side of Mac, "when she was giving your husband pills for months?" Now Elizabeth looks perturbed. "That"s between me - " she murmurs, only to be drowned out as Robin barrels on. "That was the only way she could get Lucky to sleep with her to begin with," she snarls. "Okay, Robin," Patrick intercedes, his voice deadly calm, "that"s enough." Matt feels his head spinning as the conversation proceeds down uglier and uglier avenues. The tension in the room is so tight that a pin dropping would shatter them all. "This isn"t a forum for you to go after Maxie," the interventionist says, smoothly backing his brother"s words. Maxie"s shoulders are shaking now, and Matt peers around her, trying to catch a glimpse of her expression. She"s obviously upset, but trying valiantly to hide it, though her pain at being reminded of her past mistakes is plain as she faces her cousin. "It"s not?" Robin replies sarcastically. "So I just have to sit here and listen to everyone attack me, but I don"t get to fight back? Is that the way it"s supposed to work?" Her eyes roam the room, landing on her husband, her uncle, her friend Elizabeth, the interventionist. "Well, sorry, but I don"t think that"s very fair." She turns to Maxie. "Get out," she states coldly. "I don"t want you here." Maxie is already gathering her things as she fights to keep her emotions in check. "This is not you, Robin," she says, standing up. "You would not say those things to me. I think - you need help." With that, she turns, making a beeline for the door, and her exit shatters some of the tension in the room. Instinctively, he follows her, slipping away quietly as he hears Mac say, "What you said was uncalled for," directing his strained sentiments at his niece. "Maxie!" Matt calls, rushing after her into the cold night air. Mercifully, she turns to face him, her phone to her ear, and he is startled to see tears streaming down her cheeks. "What do you want?" she replies darkly, bracing her arms over her chest. Her words - and her expression - bring him up short. "Are - you okay?" he asks, halting abruptly a few steps away. "Oh, yes, Matt, just peachy keen!" she spits out. "I love having my past thrown back in my face on a semi-regular and always public basis." She pulls the phone away, glances at its screen, and closes it, stuffing it back in her purse. As she glances back at him, a small, grim smile curves her mouth. "Yes, it"s true, I"m a horrible person," she assures him, gauging the surprise he is too slow to hide, upon learning Robin"s accusations are true. "Is that why you"re out here? Tell me, Matt, does this change your opinion of me?" He stares at her, his gaze assessing. It"s obvious to him that the episode with Lucky is something that still troubles her greatly, something that brings her great pain, and possibly even remorse. She"s slipped back into her comfort zone, though, protecting herself with her rapid-fire words and snippy, self-deprecating insults. She"s always the first to admit she"s selfish and callous, but he sees straight through it. It"s a defense mechanism: if she can make all the potshots before others, she takes away their power to hurt her. It impresses him, and intrigues him. He wonders what she really thinks of herself - and him, for that matter. She"s never had a nice thing to say to him or about him...does the same principle apply? Sometimes she smiles when she fights with him; sometimes her eyes sparkle, like she"s trying not to laugh. The attraction between them is magnetic - that much he knows she can"t deny. "Not in the way you might think," he finally answers, his words methodical, thoughtful. "You"re disgusting," she snorts, turning away from him once more, reaching for her phone. "Then again, maybe the only way you can get laid is by slumming it." He allows the insult to fly past as she begins to walk away. "Wait!" he urges. "Where are you going?" She glances at him over her shoulder. "I"m calling Spinelli to come pick me up," she informs him. "He"s the only person who"s ever been able to see the good in me, and that"s what I need right now." Her eyes rove down the length of him and back. "Not someone who wants me because he thinks I"m easy." Don"t be so sure of that, he contends silently, watching her hurry down the sidewalk, to the corner of the street. I want you, Maxie Jones, of that you can be sure - but I know damn well you"re the opposite of easy. Author"s Note: Further notes about this piece can be found on my LiveJournal, which is linked in my profile. II. December 2009 Matt presses the bell at his brother"s house and takes a step back on the snow-covered stoop, gazing at the door expectantly. He can hear the faint stirrings of the family within, rushing about to get ready, and a wry smile pulls at the corners of his lips. This isn"t exactly how he"d expected to spend his Friday night this week, but he couldn"t complain. He loves spending time with his niece. The door is pulled open with a rush of air. "Hi!" Robin greets him. Her expression is pleasant, if slightly confused. "Come on in! I"ll get Patrick for you." Matt lifts a brow as he crosses the threshold, but doesn"t have a chance to reply before Robin is off again, disappearing into the back bedroom, calling for her husband to come to the door. What, does he have to vet me as a baby-sitter or something? he wonders, shaking his head. He pulls off his hat and scarf, hanging them together with his coat. He"s the one who asked, after all. "I"m sorry," comes the breathless apology from his sister-in-law, who"s just stepped back into the family room. Matt turns, sending an appreciative glance over her. Robin looks absolutely gorgeous, decked out in a slim black dress and dripping in diamonds. "Patrick needs more time in front of the mirror than I do, apparently," she adds, rolling her eyes. "So, what"s up?" "You tell me," he replies with a grin, walking towards her and reaching for her hands. "You look amazing! I hope he"s taking you somewhere expensive - you deserve it, after putting up with him for an entire year of wedded bliss." "Hey," booms another voice, "I heard that!" Patrick walks into the room, still fiddling with his tie, and presses a kiss to Robin"s temple. "Don"t think I have to bribe this woman to be with me." Robin smiles, wrapping her arms around her husband"s waist, and for a moment, Matt sees their picture-perfect happiness on full display. "I wouldn"t dream of it," he murmurs. It"s still hard for him to believe his playboy brother has settled so easily into wedded life, but he won"t begrudge him the pleasure, even if he doesn"t quite understand it himself. "So what are you doing here?" Robin asks, glancing back at Matt. "Oh, didn"t I tell you?" Patrick interrupts, drawing his wife"s gaze. "I asked Matt to come over and baby-sit for Emma tonight." Robin frowns. "You did?" Patrick furrows his brow, obviously not expecting her dead-panned answer. "Yeah," he replies, pulling away slightly. "Is that a problem for you?" Matt tenses as he watches the exchange. Its times like these that he still feels like an outsider, even though he"s been in Port Charles for nearly a year. He"s always gotten along with his sister-in-law (Patrick, not so much), but knows Robin can be very protective of her daughter. He"d been surprised when Patrick had asked him to baby-sit, and had only assumed that he"d cleared it with his wife first. Obviously, this isn"t the case. "Well, no," Robin begins, but before she can continue, there"s a knock on the door. "Evening, family," Maxie announces, sweeping into the room before she"s granted entrance. "Where"s that adorable little girl? I can"t wait - " She stops short when she realizes there"s an extra person standing in the family room. Her eyes narrow as she stares at Matt, her hand forming a fist against her hip. "What are you doing here?" she demands to know, none too pleased to see him. He smirks. "Patrick asked me to baby-sit," he informs her, none too subtle as his eyes rove down the length of her and back. As always, she looks smoking hot, even halfway out of her winter coat. In fact, he muses, allowing his gaze to linger appreciatively on her chest, it probably adds to the effect. Maxie sets her jaw, drawing his gaze north. "Well, Robin asked me to baby-sit tonight," she says dismissively, "so you can just run along." "Me?" Matt returns. "I"m not the one dressed for clubbing. Why don"t you leave?" Maxie huffs an exasperated sigh, turning her attention to her cousin. "Robin?" she pleads. "Patrick?" Matt echoes, looking at his brother. "Geez, maybe you"re the ones who need the sitter," Patrick remarks dryly, glancing from Maxie to Matt. "Come on, you guys," Robin sighs, rolling her eyes, "it was just a mix-up. One of you stay, and one of you leave, but it doesn"t matter who, okay? We know you both love Emma, and we trust her with you." She sends a pointed stare in Maxie"s direction. "Both of you." Maxie bristles, but doesn"t back down. Matt shrugs, folding his arms over his chest. Patrick joins his wife in the eye-rolling before glancing down at his watch. "Look, we"re going to be late if we don"t get going," he says, directing his comment to Robin. He wraps his arm around her shoulders. "I don"t want to miss having you all to myself for a couple of hours." Matt glances at Maxie from the corner of his eye, and can practically see her melting. They"re good, he considers, even more impressed than before with their ability to bring out the ooey-gooey, as if on cue. "Okay, okay, okay," she mutters good-naturedly, "we"ll work this out. You two deserve some time to yourselves, and maybe you can get started on a sibling for my favorite niece?" Before Patrick or Robin can respond to the bold request, Maxie is behind them, practically pushing them out the door. "You"re going to be okay?" Robin manages, pulling on her coat. "Of course," Maxie assures her. "Emma"s sleeping, isn"t she? If she isn"t, she should be, at this hour!" Patrick and Robin exchange an amused glance. "This will be a piece of cake," Maxie continues. "Now go!" She waves as the two finally depart, huddling together against the bite of the December breeze. She draws the door closed, but doesn"t shut it completely. She turns to face Matt again, her joyous expression promptly falling. "You can leave, too," she tells him tersely, putting her hand on her hip as she leans against the ajar door. "I don"t think so," he rejoins. "Patrick and Robin may be deluded into thinking you"re competent, but I"m not. What do you know about taking care of kids?" "What do you?" she shoots back incredulously. "You can barely even get a date with a woman, much less anything else." He smiles, which only infuriates her more. He likes it when she"s fiery, and he suspects she does, too. "That may be," he contends, allowing her insults to roll off his back, "but I do have a pediatrics rotation under my belt." "Oh, goody!" she exclaims, her entire expression alighting with sarcastic glee as she pushes the door closed and walks towards him. "You must be an expert at changing diapers, then." "Actually," he corrects her, "that"s more in the department of obstetrics..." His voice trails off as she continues walking, straight past him, heading down the hallway. He follows her to Emma"s room, where she quietly opens the door and slips inside. Generally, he doesn"t like it when she suddenly stops arguing/flirting with him, but his upset is short-lived as he observes her now. She"s calm and quiet as she approaches Emma"s crib, reaching down to softly stroke the little girl"s dark hair. Emma stirs slightly at the brush of her fingers, but Maxie doesn"t coo or cuddle in response. Instead, she continues the gentle caress, her own head tilting indulgently as she checks to make sure the baby isn"t tangled up in the sheets or blankets. Matt can feel his breath catching his chest, his hand closing around the door handle. He continues to watch her, even as she ignores him, because he knows what a rare chance this is, to see her softer and more vulnerable side. Maxie"s always been proud of her abrasiveness, and, aside from amusing him, it makes him wonder... What secrets does she keep? How badly has she been hurt, to build a wall around her emotions like that? And what does she see in that little worm Spinelli, to let him in when she shuts the rest of the world out? Emma awakens and begins to whimper. Maxie carefully picks her up, cradling her in her arms, and suddenly Matt is hit with a vision of his own idea of domestic bliss. He hasn"t given much thought to having children before, but Maxie certainly presents an alluring case. She turns back to him and smiles, gentle and warm and not doing a thing to break his fantasy. She doesn"t seem to be offended by him following her or watching her; all the opposite, in fact. His heart gains traction in his chest as she approaches, her expression tranquil and charming. "You can stay," she concedes softly, throwing him completely off guard as her eyes meet his directly. "On one condition." "And what"s that?" he asks, returning her promising smile with one of his own. "That you take diaper duty," she replies, pressing Emma against his chest. He sputters as he feels the warm, wet spot gathering against his shirt. Maxie laughs. "Happy changing!" she teases, patting him on the shoulder as she waltzes out the door. Author"s Note: Further notes about this piece can be found on my LiveJournal, which is linked in my profile. III. July 2010 "There," Maxie breathes, feeling inordinately pleased with herself as she pops the last strawberry into place. It has taken her far longer than she"d anticipated, but the final product is worth the extra effort. She picks up the plate lightly with her fingers, turning it this way and that, trying to decide which is the best angle for presentation. She wants everything to be perfect, because Maxie Jones doesn"t cook for just anyone - but when she does, she goes all out. "Whoa," comes a disbelieving voice from the vicinity of the doorway. "What happened here?" She turns, giving her brightest smile. "Breakfast!" she chirps in reply, holding out the plate, strawberries on top. Matt enters his kitchen, dressed in dark blue surgical scrubs over a long-sleeved shirt. He looks around incredulously as he crosses the room, unable to tear his attention away from the havoc she"s wreaked in her wake. He eyes the plate for a moment before lifting his gaze to hers. "Toast and fruit?" he says skeptically, taking the plate. "You tore my kitchen apart for toast and fruit? What did you do, bake the bread yourself?" Maxie glances around. It does, she admits, look like a hurricane has swirled through - cabinet doors ajar, packages torn open, utensils scattered about. Still, the least he can muster would be a little gratitude; he"s not exactly Mr. Mary Sunshine first thing in the morning, either. She narrows her eyes as she returns his stare, reaching back on the counter for the knife she"d been cutting fruit with. "Are you completely sure you want to continue this line of questioning?" she inquires, holding the blade aloft and allowing it to glitter in the overhead light. Matt"s gaze moves from the tip of the blade to her face; after a long moment, he shrugs his shoulders and picks up a piece of the toast, taking a bite. "What are you going to do, cut me?" he challenges, his eyes dancing with mirth. "Don"t tempt me," she deadpans, settling her free hand on her hip. He smiles at her. "You"re cute when you"re angry, you know that?" She glowers at him, slamming the knife back on the counter. "I"m not angry," she insists, "I"m upset! At least the last man I made breakfast for had the decency not to insult me." His teasing smile fades. "So I"m not the first, eh?" he muses, managing to appear disappointed, if unsurprised. You"ve never been a first for me, she wants to say, but she bites the words back. She averts her eyes. It"s not true, after all - he"s the first regular guy who"s held her attention for more than two seconds, even if it"s mostly been via irritation. There"s something irresistible about him, the way he can challenge her without moving in a whirlwind of danger and destruction himself. He"s not a cop, or a killer, or even member of the mob - an increasingly rare combo for Port Charles these days. He"s the first guy who might stick around and put her first in his life, if given the chance. Is she ready for that? "Look, Maxie," he says, exhaling softly as he touches her shoulder, "I"m sorry. All of this" - he gestures, careful not to tip the food-laden plate - "is new for me, too." Maxie composes herself as she glances up, gazing at him shrewdly. "I find that hard to believe," she scoffs. "Aren"t you related to Patrick Drake? To Noah Drake, even? And you"ve never wowed a woman so much that she"s compelled to stay over and cook for you?" Matt"s eyes sparkle. "Is that what this means?" he asks, unable to suppress his sly, self-satisfied smile. "I rocked your world last night?" She flushes, but tries valiantly to hide it, bracing her hands on her hips once more. "Just answer the question." His expression turns thoughtful as he gazes at her, his eyes steady on hers, the hand at her shoulder rising to touch her cheek. "No," he says simply, and Maxie hates the way her heart skips a beat. He brushes a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and smiles once more. "No woman has ever been moved so much that she destroyed my kitchen the next morning." Maxie rolls her eyes, pushing away from him. "You can never have a serious moment, can you?" she flares, irritated. He touches her again, his hand warm and firm on her elbow as he draws her back. She turns, just in time to feel his lips press to hers, urgent and fervent and promising so much more. "You"re a keeper, Maxie Jones," he says softly as they break apart. "How"s that for serious?" Her heart pumps furiously. "But you don"t even know me," she replies, knowing she speaks in both truth and lies. He kisses her again, and this time, she tastes strawberries on his lips. "But I"d like to," he replies. He pauses for a moment, before continuing. "Is that a problem for you?" She considers his words before meeting his gaze once more. "No," she finally responds, smiling at last. "Just don"t ever expect breakfast from me again."

"But the German defensive line plays so high that it forces him to play like that," his friend observed. "Kinda nice, though, isn"t it?" Abby said, drawing their attention. "Gives the goalkeeper something to do besides sit and twiddle his thumbs." The other fans didn"t appreciate her horning in on their conversation. "You just think he"s hot," one of them said with a dismissive wave. "Actually, I think he"s really damn good at his job," Abby returned archly. "The defensive line has to stick together, and having a goalie who"s willing to play on the field helps tremendously, especially when it comes to launching the counterattack." "What do you know?" his companion sneered. Abby shot out of her seat. "I played centreback for four years on the varsity squad at UNC," she informed them. "Was named captain of the squad my sophomore year, and had the chance to train with the national team." She folded her arms across her chest. "And as you may know, the American women"s team is ranked #1 in the world and has won the last four Olympic gold medals in a row." The guys raised their hands in defeat. "My bad, chief," one of them responded. Logan stood up beside Abby, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "No need to get fired up, Stevenson," he murmured soothingly. "Especially when you"re wearing Germany team gear - it"s not a good look." She sighed. "I just hate it when guys think girls know nothing about sports, except which players are the best-looking," she grumbled, reluctantly sitting down again. She readily accepted Logan"s offer of another beer, however, and let the impetus of anger melt away as the World Cup game wound down. The American fans in the crowd were disappointed with the 0-1 result in Germany"s favor, but were heartened when told by the ESPN commentators that they"d advanced to the knockout rounds anyway. The majority of the crowd left in good spirits, and Abby did her level best not to be too much of a sore winner, and rub it in that Germany had topped the group and won the battle against their former manager. Logan and Abby were among the last to leave. Abby did a little jig when they walked out of the bar, her fake-flower crown falling askew as she bounced around in tipsy glee. "I gotta hand it to you, Stevenson," Logan mused as he watched her dance around. "You managed to escape unscathed, even dressed in that get-up." Abby waved her football scarf over her head as she neared her companion, and then wrapped it around his shoulders. "You"ll learn soon enough, dear Logan," she informed him happily. "I always pick the winners." "Hasn"t Germany lost the last five World Cups in a row, though?" he commented with a smile. Abby plucked her flower crown from her head and set it down on his. "Watch yourself, Bruno," she teased with a knowing look, "or you may be sleeping on the sofa again." He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to nuzzle her neck. "You gonna take up with that German goalkeeper?" "I just might," she declared archly, before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "After all, I have a thing for blondes!" Author"s Note: Written for baseballchica03, for the 2014 fandom_stocking holiday exchange on DW. Charlie Thomas studied his handiwork in his calculus notebook for a long moment before breaking into a grin. "Hey, I get it now!" he enthused, scribbling through the rest of the calculations. He circled his answer with a bold swipe of his pencil and tipped his notebook to the side, covertly looking for reassurance that he"d solved the problem correctly. Janine Kishi looked at his answer. "That"s correct," she proclaimed, lifting her eyes to the top of the page in order to read through his messy calculations. She smiled. "And you solved the problem in the intended fashion." "Thanks, Janine!" Charlie said, pushing his free hand through his hair. "You have no idea how much I appreciate you helping me with this!" Janine averted her eyes as the smallest hint of blush colored her cheeks. The two were sitting at the long table that served as her computer desk in her bedroom. For the last few weeks, she"d been tutoring him while he waited on his younger sister, Kristy, who attended BSC meetings in her sister Claudia"s room. "You"re welcome," she replied softly. "I"m happy to have helped." "I mean," Charlie barreled on, as if he hadn"t even heard her, "geometry, I get. I guess there"s just something about being able to look at figures that makes this stuff makes sense to me. But algebra? And calculus? Lord, I"d rather be shot!" She looked up sharply then, not at all expecting to hear such a dramatic declaration about what was one of her personal favorite subjects. "Surely it"s not that horrid," she remarked dryly, closing his math book with a pointed thud and leaning back in her chair. His smile only deepened as he gazed at her. "Not when you"re explaining it," he returned, his eyes lingering on hers for a long moment. "Seriously, Janine, you"ve totally saved me here. I actually feel like I understand this stuff, which means I won"t fail the next exam, which means I won"t flunk out of the class - and school, in general." Janine felt another embarrassed blush rise up the back of her neck. She wasn"t used to hearing such effusive praise, at least not from her peers. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and pushed the bridge of her glasses up the slope of her nose. "I don"t believe that you were ever in danger of failing," she began, only for him to cut her off again. "Oh believe me, I was in danger, all right," he contended. "I"d failed - or nearly failed - my last three tests. I only barely passed the midterm, and things were only getting harder. I was definitely in over my head." He leaned forward, tentatively resting his hand over hers where it lay on the flat expanse of the desk between them. "So again, thank you for saving me." Janine was at a loss for words, a strange, shaky feeling filling the pit of her stomach as she stared at their hands. She"d thought nothing of it when Charlie had asked for her help one afternoon while he was waiting for Kristy. She"d found him sitting on their front steps, looking downright morose as he"d stared at the worn cobblestones of the front path. She"d inquired what was wrong, more out of politeness than interest, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was something that she could help him with. Calculus was as innate to her as breathing, so she truly hadn"t minded helping him out. And tutoring him was completely different from tutoring Claudia. For one thing, he actually paid attention as she explained things. He asked questions, and worked on the problems, and didn"t complain about not being able to understand (her, or the material they were covering). Time seemed to fly by when she was working with him. With Claudia, on the other hand, she couldn"t help but feel as if the time was dragging by, each moment a little more painful than the last - and Claudia was struggling with algebra, a subject that came so easily to Janine that she was completely bored by it. It felt like pulling teeth to explain it in simple enough terms so that her sister could grasp the concepts. Still, merely having an appreciative student wasn"t the cause of the butterflies currently occupying her stomach. No, it was the fact that one of the most popular guys in the senior class was sitting there, smiling gratefully at her, his hand warm and firm on hers - that had suddenly set her insides aflutter. She didn"t know when or how or even why it had happened. She"d known Charlie Thomas for the entirety of her life. He used to live across the street from her, and though they were never really friends or playmates, he"d always been nice to her. He"d continued being nice to her in junior high (when she was ostracized from her class after being branded a "know-it-all") and high school (when she spent more time at the community college than at SHS), even after he"d moved across town when his mother remarried. For an awkward, lonely girl who"d lived mostly in the worlds of her science books and programming manuals, it was nice to have someone treat her like an actual human being instead of an untouchable genius, too fragile to be included in such insignificant little things as family meetings and crises and even vacations. "Janine?" She startled from her thoughts, blinking rapidly. "Yes?" Charlie tilted his head, furrowing his brow as he studied her. "Is everything all right?" "Quite," she replied quickly. "Why do you ask?" "Well...because I was asking you about how I could possibly repay you," he responded with a smile. "You won"t take any money - which I think is insane, by the way, because you could make out like a bandit as a private tutor - so what can I do for you?" She glanced at her hand, which was still covered by his. "You don"t have to do anything," she insisted, a warm flush rising up to coat her chest. "Really." "At least let me take you to dinner," he offered. Shock coursed down her spine. Dinner? Not even in her wildest dreams...! "I couldn"t," she sputtered, balling the hand under his into a fist as she averted her eyes to her lap. "Oh, come on," he wheedled, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Please?" She swallowed hard, gathering every last shred of her dignity as she lifted her eyes to meet his. "You"re not afraid to be seen with me? Socially?" He frowned. "What? No! I mean - why should I be?" He narrowed his eyes as he gazed at her. "We"re friends, aren"t we?" Are we? she wondered silently. "C"mon, Janine," he cajoled. "I think you"re a lot of fun. You can even make calculus fun, which is no mean feat! So c"mon, let"s go out. Tonight," he added impulsively. "Tonight?" she gasped. It was going to take a lot longer than a few minutes for her to become comfortable with the idea of going out and being social with anyone, much less him. Of course, the longer he held her hand - he hadn"t yet let go - the harder it was to resist. "I - can"t," she finally managed to choke out. "Not tonight. It"s my turn to sit with Claudia while she completes her homework." "After?" he ventured with a smile. "Like, say, seven o"clock? Maybe if we start celebrating now, I really will pass my test tomorrow!" She studied him for a long moment, the butterflies starting to rumble in her stomach. "Why are you so insistent that it be this evening?" she mused, a tiny smile pulling at the corners of her lips. "Because I just have this feeling," he replied ruefully, "that if you don"t go out with me tonight, then you never will." Janine"s eyes widened. "Wait a minute," she said quietly, her expression growing somber. "Are you asking me to dinner - or are you asking me out?" Charlie leaned forward, grasping her free hand, so that he was holding both of her hands in his own. "Why don"t we start with dinner," he proposed, "and see where it leads us?" The butterflies broke free, rising up and fluttering in her chest, stealing the very breath from her lungs. Thoughts raced through the back of her mind, outpacing her ability to give them voice. As much as her regard for him had changed over the last few weeks, never did she even contemplate that he could"ve taken an interest in her. They were so different! He was so popular and friendly and easygoing... ...and good-looking... She smiled. "All right," she said softly. "I"ll go out with you." "Tonight?" "Yes," she confirmed, the words pouring out of her with a strange sort of calm, completely different from the way she felt on the inside - still reeling with shock at his audacity, and her own. "Great," he replied happily, giving both of her hands a squeeze. "That"ll give me enough time to drop Kristy off, and - " "Let me just confirm with Claudia our study session for this evening," Janine broke in, making to stand. "Perhaps I can hasten it along and we will be finished within the hour." He reluctantly let her go. "That"d be great," he agreed. Janine gathered her notebooks in her arms, needing something to hang on to as she strode purposefully down the hall towards her sister"s room. Her mind was spinning, both with fear and excitement. She could sense how precious this opportunity was, and she certainly wasn"t going to let Claudia inadvertently ruin it! She knocked on Claudia"s door, just beneath the Baby-sitters Club flyer that had been pinned in the middle with a giant sunflower tack. "Come in!" called her sister"s muffled voice. She took a deep breath before pushing the door open and walking into the room. The giggly conversation died around her, as Claudia and her friends shared a surprised look. "Janine, what are you doing here?" Claudia asked incredulously. "We"re in the middle of a meeting!" "I"m aware of your organization"s schedule," Janine replied smoothly, "but on occasion your meetings run late, and today, when it is imperative for me to be in a different location at seven o"clock, I want to insure that your meeting adjourns promptly, so that our math tutoring session will convene as we previously arranged." Claudia simply stared at her for a long moment. "What?" she finally asked. "Are you telling me to be on time?" "Precisely." "No problem," Claudia replied breezily. Janine checked her watch. "Our tutorial session will convene in thirteen minutes then." With that, she turned and walked out of the room, careful to close the door behind herself. She leaned against her sister"s bedroom door, taking a deep breath. She hated disrupting Claudia"s club meetings almost as much as she hated listening to them from down the hall. She was jealous of her sister"s clutch of best girlfriends, something Janine herself had never had, and probably never would. After a long moment, Janine lifted herself and squared her shoulders. It heartened her to know that someone had finally - albeit surprisingly - taken an interest in her. Someone. A boy. A cute, funny, popular, brazenly bold boy whom she"d known forever. He wanted to be her friend - maybe more? - and he wasn"t afraid to be seen with her out in public. He seemed to be looking forward to it, in fact. A cold realization hit her as she drew closer to her own room. What if this was all some sort of weird joke? Charlie was nice, but he was also one of the most popular guys at SHS, and with that came a lot of social power. He was good friends with some less-than-pleasant people, the sort who thrived on casual cruelness and putting others in their place. Surely he wouldn"t trick her into some big, humiliating scene - She was startled when her door suddenly opened, and she found herself staring at him, already standing on the other side, his backpack already slung over his shoulder. "Thanks again for the help, Janine," he said by way of greeting. "I really appreciate it." She blinked. "You"re welcome," she murmured, her internal feeling of dread intensifying as he crossed her path, as if it was just another end to another tutoring session, as if he hadn"t just asked her out and turned her entire world upside down. Had it all been some sort of weird dream? He reached out for her then, his fingertips ghosting over her temple and down the line of her jaw. "I"ll see you later, okay?" he said with a smile, before leaning down a pressing a soft, gentle kiss to her cheek. "I"m looking forward to it," he whispered, his breath warm against the shell of her ear. So am I, she thought, leaning against her doorframe as he sauntered down the hall and quietly descended the stairs. So am I. Author"s Note: Written for DesertVixen, for the 2014 fandom_stocking holiday exchange on DW. Janine Kishi sent a furtive glance out the dingy bus window. It was already after dark, so the only thing she could see was the reflection of the street lights - and even those, she couldn"t see clearly. She sighed. She loathed being late, but she"d completely lost track of the time. She"d been asked by the faculty at the community college to teach a summer science course while she was home from MIT. She"d gladly taken the job, happy to have a reason to keep her basic science skills fresh, and to have something to do while she was stuck at home in Stoneybrook. She was to start the job next week; she had been at the college library all afternoon, making last-minute adjustments to her meticulous lesson plans, and somehow, time had gotten away from her. She faced forward, stifling a sigh, and willed the bus to move faster. Not for the first time did she regret never learning how to drive. If not for her reliance on public transportation, she wouldn"t be late, and she wouldn"t be feeling anxious about being late, on top of the stress of presiding over an entire classroom of science students. She had plenty of experience as a tutor, but teaching and tutoring were two very different beasts, and she wasn"t entirely sure she would be able to tame the former. Of course, feeling nervous about teaching was much easier for her to deal with than feeling anxious about going out on a date, even if it was with someone she"d known for the entirety of her life. Charlie Thomas had been her next-door neighbor for fifteen years, before moving across town with his family after his mother remarried. Ironically enough, that was when they"d become friends. They"d kept in touch over the last few years; she"d helped him choose which college to attend, and what subject to major in. He"d called her a couple of times since the start of the summer, so she"d thought nothing of it when he suggested they go to a movie and maybe grab a bite to eat afterwards. No, it wasn"t until her younger sister, Claudia, learned of their plans that Janine realized the trouble she was potentially stepping into. It was Claudia who pointed out exactly how many times Charlie had called (six) or stopped by their house (two) that summer. It was Claudia who was convinced that his interest in her extended beyond mere friendship. It was Claudia who suggested that dinner and a movie was more than a simple invitation to "hang out." After all, she pointed out, they"d never gone out together before. They"d been invited to the same events, yes, and had met spontaneously for lunch or coffee a couple of times, but going out alone at night was apparently a sign that Charlie was interested in her romantically. Janine had scoffed - after all, she"d had plenty of dinners with friends at MIT, and had even caught a movie or two with some of them - and none of it had ever been more than mere friends finding time to be social outside of class. Claudia had then made a snide remark about "nerds practicing their social skills on each other" that Janine had chosen to ignore, but her younger sister"s logic was harder to dismiss. After all, Claudia did have a lot more experience with boys and dating, and was much more practiced in the art of flirtation and romance. And, of course, there was the fact that Charlie Thomas had already kissed her, way back on New Year"s Eve. True, she"d kissed him first, but her kiss had been a mere peck on the cheek. He, by contrast, had taken her hand, and pulled her close, and kissed her fully, his lips warm and soft yet firm against her own. It still gave her gooseflesh if she pondered it for too long. There was no mistaking the meaning of his kiss - it was decidedly non-platonic. And yet - after that, nothing happened. She"d gone back to MIT, and he"d gone back to UCLA, and neither one of them had spoken of that kiss again. His postcards from school were funny and friendly, and he kept her in stitches with his outrageous stories whenever he called. There had never been a hint of romantic intention - at least, not an obvious one. Besides, Janine considered herself a pragmatist. It was much easier to consider him a friend, and to not worry about intentions or consequences or entanglements. If she wanted to find someone to date, there was certainly a surplus of eligible men at MIT. The bus hurtled into the Stoneybrook train station and screeched to a halt, drawing Janine from her thoughts. She sat there for a long moment, allowing her fellow passengers to disembark before standing up, gathering her belongings, and descending the stairs. She felt like she was moving in a fog; only an instinctive glance of her wristwatch brought her fully back to reality. She had ten minutes until the movie started, and the theater was a mile away. "Well," she mused to herself, "I suppose this is why God gave man feet." She started to walk. By the time she made it to the theater, she was out of breath, having run the last three blocks. Charlie"s expression when he spotted her, however, made the pain shooting through her shins well worth it. He smiled, his entire face lighting up. "Hey!" he called with a wave. "Hello," she returned in a rush, greeting him with a rueful smile. "I do apologize for being late." "Eh, no problem," he replied with a dismissive wave. "I wanted to meet a bit early anyway to hit up the concession stand, so it"s not like we"ve missed anything important. Who needs previews?" He grabbed her hand and turned to the ticket booth. She stumbled beside him, surprise washing through her as she gazed down at their joined hands. She certainly hadn"t expected that - but Charlie seemed completely unfazed as he ordered their tickets, passing a credit card to the teller to pay for them, and taking the tickets, his receipt, and the card back, as if he was quite used to only having one free hand.

Himawari picked up a towel and a change of clothes that were appropriate for winter and then placed them on her bathroom counter. She was a little bit embarrassed about taking a bath with her girlfriend in her house, even if neither of them had any perverse inten- *knock knock* Oh no. "Hey Himako-chan, do you want me to wash your back?" Sakurako asked with a strange amount of confidence. "Um, I guess...if you don"t mind...just don"t try to seduce me," Himawari replied with some excitement in her voice and a considerable amount of blush on her face. "I don"t mind, and I can"t promise anything!" Sakurako"s childish attitude seemed to have somehow meshed with her minor perversion, this somehow impressed Himawari considering Sakurako had only had about an hour to transform. Himawari wrapped a towel around her chest and her bottom half was barely covered by the towel, she then signaled Sakurako that she was okay to come in. "Okay Sakurako-chan, you can come I now, but beware, this towel is a little small." "You don"t have to warn me I"m ready at an-" Sakurako answered as her nose erupted with blood like a volcano. "Oh goodness," Himawari said in a way that made her sound almost complimented, "here is some toilet paper," as she turned around to give it to her she realized that the towel that Sakurako was wearing around her was a Witch Girl Mirakarun that Kaede had gotten a while ago, perfect size for Sakurako. "Here, come sit down on this stool," Sakurako said after she had stopped her nosebleed. Himawari was a little nervous, and very embarrassed, she was a bright red, she had already washed her hair with shampoo, but she had yet to wash her body [yuri intensifies]. Himawari sat down on the stool in front of the showerhead, Sakurako sat behind her on another stool. Himawari handed the rag and body wash to Sakurako so she could wash her girlfriend"s back. "Your skin is really smooth, it"s so pretty," Sakurako complimented as she washed Himawari"s back, it was unexpectedly relaxing for the both of them, though they were both still bright red in the face. Yui"s house, Present day All four of the Amusement club members arrived at Yui"s house to hang out, and Mari-chan joined them (just to see Chinatsu/Mirakarun.) "What do you guys want to do?" Yui asked the other three. "Play games!" Akari exclaimed. "Eat Rum Raisin!" Kyouko answered with a sparkle in her eyes. "Draw!" Chinatsu answered. "Cosplay!" Mari said with the same sparkle in her eyes that Kyouko had. For the first time in quite a while Akari wasn"t only recognized but agreed with by Yui. [Himawari"s house], Present day, 6:48 PM Sakurako and Himawari were planning to have a sleepover at Yui"s house with Chizuru, Chitose, Ayano , the four other club members of the Amusement club, Akane-san, Tokmoko-san, Mari-chan & Kaede-chan. (Rise-senpai was probably also going to show up, though no one would notice,) Yui"s house was probably going to be pretty cramped (and loud.) They were meeting up at Yui"s at about 7:00, though the 4 Amusement club members had been there since 12:00 PM, they guessed that the other student council members might have already arrived. *ding dong* "MOUNTAIN!" they heard Kyouko exclaim from inside the apartment, they also heard a loud thump as Yui pounded her on the head. "Yui-sama," she whimpered sadly. Himawari and Sakurako exchanged glances and giggled as Yui opened the door and invited them in, it was a nice apartment though not very big, the Christmas decorations consisted of a PS3, a computer and gigantic bookcase stuffed to the brim with shonen manga, and an unexpectedly large pile of Rum Raisin ice cream (wonder who thats for.) "Hello Sakurako and Himawari. Himawari do you feel any better?" Yui asked demurely. "Yes I am feeling much better," Himawari answered as she held Sakurako"s hand, she was a little nervous about announcing that her friend and her had started going out earlier that day (but then again it was pretty obvious that they liked each other.) Kyouko sprouted out from behind Yui with a face of pure happiness. "HI GUYS!" she screamed, "now everyone is here!" Ayano bonked her on the head and said, "that isn"t true, Rise hasn"t shown up yet." "Who?" all four club members asked at once, even Akari who had less presence than the one poinsettia in the bunch of Roses that Sakurako had given Himawari (which was now behind Himawari"s ear.) Ayano sighed, "Nevermind." Chitose and Chizuru were quietly sitting on the futon, surprisingly Chizuru hadn"t punched Kyouko yet, but unsurprisingly, many tissues had already been used. Kyouko pulled out a box out of nowhere that said "TRUTH OR DARE VERSION K" "What does the K stand for?" Yui and Ayano asked together. "Kyouko!" "How is it different?" "You pick a piece of paper from the box and whatever is says you have to do!" Kyouko answered with a sly wink. "Oh goodness," Yui said as Chitose"s nose erupted like a dark red fountain. They all sat down at the table while Mari-chan and Kaede-chan drew pictures of Witch Girl Mirakarun, Tomoko-san and Akane-san were talking about potential colleges, then there was a sudden *ding dong* and a very loud "MOUNTAIN," from Kyouko and a hard thump on the head from "Yui-sama." There were no more expected guests to the party so it must have been one of Yui"s neighbors complaining about the random shouts of "mountain" and "river". But it wasn"t, it was Nadeshiko and Hanako Ohmuro, Sakurako"s sisters, Sakurako ran up to the duo and ruffled Hanako"s hair, resulting in a quiet "boo" from the young girl. "Why are you guys here? Not that we mind," Yui asked. "We wanted to be here to congratulate Himawari and Sakurako," the two sisters said in unison. "It"s like the twins in The Shining," Kyouko whispered into Yui"s ear. "Congratulate them for what?" Yui asked "We started dating," Sakurako answered after contemplating whether or not to tell her friends herself or let her siblings tell them. The thing about Himawari and Sakurako is that everyone knew that they were practically made for each other, they had been together since preschool and had been friends almost that long, Akari and Chinatsu knew this and they knew that this was going to happen eventually. All of the members of the student council weren"t surprised either, they came to the student council together almost every day, and they had noticed Sakurako"s sadness when Himawari wasn"t around, and vice versa. Yui and Kyouko realized this too, even though they weren"t around the two very often, whenever they did see the two they were together. "Oh, cool," Kyouko said, "it wasn"t unexpected that this would happen eventually, I"m honestly surprised that it didn"t happen earlier than this." "Was it really that obvious?" Himawari asked as she put her arm around Sakurako"s waist. All of the student council members, the amusement club members & the siblings of the two agreed that it was bound to happen at one time or another, even Rise muttered "yes", though no one heard it of course. "Well let"s get started!" Kyouko exclaimed, "Would you like to join us?" she asked Sakurako"s siblings. "Sure, I don"t have anything better to do," Nadeshiko told them, she looked at Hanako who nodded wordlessly. "Okay! Then let us get started" They all sat down at table once again after the slight interruption, Kaede and Mari were still sitting at the kotatsu, drawing anime characters. "Okay!" Kyouko exclaimed, "who wants to go first?" "I will," both Akari and Chinatsu said in unison. "Okay, Chinatsu you go first," Kyouko said to Akari"s horror. Chinatsu walked over to the box and pulled a piece of paper out. "Kiss one person in the group," she read aloud as Kyouko grinned a devious grin. "Well that didn"t take long," Yui said with a sigh. Chinatsu was currently looking between Yui and Akari, choosing her prey wisely, she was obviously having a hard time deciding between the two as Akari crossed her fingers behind her back. Chinatsu thought for a good thirty seconds then jauntily walked over to Akari. They were both blushing like wild but they were both excited, Chinatsu then placed her lips in front of Akari"s, you could feel the tension in the room. It was a small kiss on the cheek, then one small one on the lips, they seemed to be perfectly used to this for some reason, though they did both look very happy. "Okay! Next one!" Kyouko called after a slightly awkward silence. "Someone wake up Chinatsu," Yui said as she tapped Akari on the shoulder. Ayano walked up to the table nervously and excitedly, if Chinatsu"s dare was a good example then Chitose was going to need a good amount of tissues. She reached into the box with a pretty telling blush and grin, Chitose and Chizuru were staring at the box intently which created an air of seriousness throughout the small apartment. "Feed Kyouko Rum Raisin," Ayano said resulting in Chitose"s nose erupting one again and a small grin from Kyouko. Yui passed Ayano a spoon and the "Ice Cream", Kyoko was grinning ear to ear, two of her favorite things, Ayano and Rum Raisin. "S-say Ahhhh," Ayano said with the spoon held up high. She stuck the cold spoon in Kyouko"s mouth, her face was a bright red (just like Chitose"s nosebleed) but Kyouko"s face looked like she had just tasted something terrible. She ran at the sink for her life, she stuck her head under the faucet and poured water into her mouth. "Kyouko! What"s wrong?" Ayano asked. "THAT WASN"T RUM RAISIN," Kyouko screamed with water in her mouth, "THAT WAS WASABI." Everyone laughed, except Ayano and Chitose who looked extremely disappointed, Ayano made a mental check never to mess with Funami Yui. "Okay, next," Kyouko said with a considerably less amount of excitement. Akaza Akane walked up to the table with a large amount of demureness, all of the girls looked up to her and Tomoko-san, even Kyouko, who had seen just how much of a sister complex Akari"s sister had, was still a little starstruck. Akane reached into the box and pulled out a small piece of paper cut into the shape of a bun, much like Akari"s. "Untie Akari"s teru teru bozu," Akane said with a giggle, though Akari looked half terrified and half embarrassed. Akane walked over to her young sister and held one of the small hair buns in her hand, it really was a delicate thing, though it was impressive that the young girl could tie her hair into the buns every morning. As Akane unraveled the buns something fell on the floor, Akane looked down to find one singular dango. "Ne....Akari-chan?" Akari"s face was completely blank, her eyes closed and both of her buns unraveled, in Akane"s hand was one green dango and one white one. Kyouko stood up and walked over to the utensil drawer, she took out one butter knife. Akane saw what the blonde was planning and decided to help her, she handed the green dango to Kyouko and began slicing the dango into four pieces. They rolled the dango wedges into small balls and wrapped Akari"s hair around them, now she had eight small buns. "Kyou-," Yui started but the blonde interrupted her with another "Okay, next!" Kyouko passed the box to Yui with a little giggle, Yui gently placed her hand in the box, fishing around for something that involved Kyouko. She pulled her hand out of the pink box and her face immediately turned the darkest red any of them had ever seen. "OKAY, TIME FOR PRESENTS!" Kyouko interrupted. Everyone exchanged a look of confusion, they hadn"t been asked to bring presents, also what did that piece of paper say? Kyouko went over to her pile of Rum Raisin Ice Cream, she one by one handed out the Ice Cream, giving a wink to Yui when she gave her the gift. Oddly enough everyone was quite happy with the gift, Kyouko giving anyone anything was a serious thing, especially when it was her beloved Rum Raisin. [Yui"s House], End of the party Sakurako and Himawari had just said goodbye and left with their siblings, now the only people left we Yui, Kyouko, Ayano, Chitose & Chizuru. "We should do this again sometime," Chitose suggested. "Totally, maybe at your house next time!" "Okay!" the two twins called back as they exited the apartment together. "Toshino-san....goodbye," Ayano said a little awkwardly. "Goodbye Ayano-chan!" Kyouko yelled enthusiastically and completely unaware as the purple-haired tsundere left as well. After Yui finished cleaning up and after Kyouko finished her third cup of Ice cream that day they sat down and watched their favorite anime for a while. "Ne...Kyouko," Yui said nervously. "What is it Yui?" "Did you mean what that piece of paper said? Or was it meant for Ayano or Chinatsu?" the black-haired kuudere asked. "Of course I meant it Yui," Kyouko answered seriously, "I"ve loved you that way for a long time." Chapter 3 [Yui"s House],Christmas Eve, 11:26 PM "Ne, Yui, can I sleep over today?" Kyouko asked as she killed a grunt in her and Yui"s favorite RPG. "I guess..." Kyouko had just confessed to Yui in such a lax way, it"s like Kyouko had expected Yui to feel the same way, which the black haired girl did. "Just, don"t try anything, okay?" "If I was going to try something I would"ve a long time ago, not that I"m not tempted," the blonde said menacingly. Yui was nervous, if Kyouko did decide to try something, it would probably work. Kyouko was particularly beautiful today, she wasn"t wearing her trademark ribbon, instead she was wearing a Santa hat with her hair tied in a ponytail, she was also wearing a short santa suit that went down to her mid- thigh. "Is there a problem Yui-chan?" the blonde asked when she realized that Yui had been staring at her for a while. "N-nothing!" Kyouko gave a small giggle and went over to Yui, she sat down on the Kuudere"s lap with a small grin and another giggle. Yui"s face was a bright red, Kyouko"s perfume smelled suspiciously like Rum Raisin. So she is trying seduce me, well two can play at that game. Yui slyly turned Kyouko"s face so they were eye to eye, no less than three inches away from kissing. Both of them were blushing, Yui more so than Kyouko, who had a large grin on her face. "Ya gonna kiss me or what?" Kyouko asked. I took the bait! "O-of course I am... it"s just that...this is my first kiss," Yui said in a quiet, embarrassed voice. "It"ll be my first too," Kyouko reassured as her character in the RPG was slain, "I"ve been saving it for you." She"s so sweet. I love her so much. "Oh...I-I appreciate it..." Kyouko slowly moved her lips towards Yui"s, their lips made connection and it was automatically ecstasy, Kyouko softly licked Yui"s top lip like she was asking for entrance, Yui obliged happily. It tastes like Rum Raisin, this is amazing. "Kyouko... that was amazing." Yui"s head was spinning, it might have been from a lack of air or the fact that Kyouko had just made out with her, she was pushing for the latter, even Kyouko looked a little shaken. "I know, I want to do it again!" Kyouko said. "Well lets n- GAAA KYOUKO," Yui screamed as the blonde advanced on her. She wouldn"t, though I kinda hope she will. Kyouko pinned Yui down with a seemingly innocent smile. "Fine, I give up." "YAY!" After about a half hour of making out they decided to go to sleep. "Ne, Yui," Kyouko said after they lied down, "do you wanna go on a Christmas date?" She finally asked. "I-I guess..." "Hooray!" "Just...go to sleep, okay?" "Roger Commander Yui!" Kyouko was such an idiot sometimes, but she is my idiot. [Christmas Day] 11:42 AM, Yui and Kyouko"s date "Where do you wanna go to eat?" the blonde asked. "Ramen Shop, Family Restaurant?" "Family Restaurant! Maybe they"ll have Rum Raisin!" "Is that all you think about?" "No, I think about you too," Kyouko said sweetly. Goddamn her and her adorability. They decided to eat at a Family Restaurant called Penny"s, it was a family run restaurant but it was still pretty full of people. "How long will the wait be?" Kyouko asked the hostess. "Thirty minutes or so." "Is that okay with you Yui?" "Yeah, its fine, we can go to the arcade for a while, or a book store." Kyouko bought some tokens for both her and her kuudere girlfriend, the arcade was pretty empty except for the ticket exchanger and a middle aged man playing Galaga on a very old machine. Kyouko handed Yui 15 tokens, enough for five games. "I figured since we only have to wait thirty minutes we didn"t need very many tokens, but if you want more just ask me." Kyouko said with a cute smile. She seems to be maturing by the minute, paying for the tokens, asking me out so confidently. "It"s okay Kyouko, I"m sure fifteen will be enough, and uh, thank you for paying." "No problem Yui-nyan! Now let"s play some games!" They had been looking around for a while when they finally found something Kyouko wanted to play, Mirakarun III, Yui allowed it because she wanted to see the blonde be happy. "So how do you play?" Yui asked as they stepped up to the arcade machine. "Dunno, we"ll get the hang of it though," the blonde said confidently. What is this copper circle thing? Why is this pink haired girl kicking its ass so hard? Needless to say, Kyouko won, Yui had seen Witch Girl Mirakarun a couple of times with Mari-chan but didn"t know too much about it. "Do you wanna play a dancing game now?" Kyouko asked. "I guess, I"m not very good at those though." They looked around for a while trying to find a decent dancing game, when they finally found one they put three tokens in, then chose two songs, one was the theme song to Witch Girl Mirakarun (chosen by Kyouko no wonder) and the other was a song in English by someone called the Red Hot Chili Peppers, chosen by Yui. "This beat is out of control, it"s way too fast," Yui whispered under her breathe as Kyouko got three Perfects in a row. Then the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" song started, it was pretty strange, yet pretty good, of course they could barely understand it but it was better than the Witch Girl Mirakarun theme song, at least in Yui"s opinion. "How much time do we have left?" Yui asked when they took a break to get a drink. "About 10 minutes," Kyouko answered after she took a sip from the drinking fountain. "Should we head back? Maybe we could come back to the arcade after we eat." "Sure! I was getting tired anyway." You get tired? As they sat down at the small table that the young hostess led them to they looked at their menus for a few minutes. "What are you thinking of getting?" the blonde asked, looking for suggestions. "Maybe Salisbury Steak." "I think I"ll get the Country Fried steak, but I have no idea what it is..." "It looks kinda like Chicken, but I guess its steak?" "Man, American food is weird." "Yes, yes it is." After they ordered their food they decided to exchange gifts, even though Kyouko had already given Yui some Rum Raisin Ice Cream. "Here is yours," Yui said as she handed Kyouko a teeny box wrapped with black wrapping paper, with a small, white, fabric bow on it. "And here is yours!" Kyouko said with a wide grin, it was a small box, the same size as Yui"s, wrapped in dark red wrapping paper with a yellow, fabric bow on it. She"s so cute, I"m so glad we"re going out. Their food arrived about ten minutes later, Kyouko dug into her Country Fried Steak and found out that it was indeed beef. After they finished their food they opened each other"s gifts. "You open your gift first," Yui suggested with a smile. "You"re adorable, you know that?" Kyouko told her girlfriend, receiving a quiet blush. As Kyouko opened her present she realized that they had gotten their gifts from the same place, a jewelry store near both of their houses, not only did they get each other a gift from the same place, they had gotten close to the same gift for each other. It was a beautiful necklace, a dark black garnet in the middle of a silver pendant, as soon as Kyouko saw the garnet she thought of Yui"s hair, maybe that was purposeful. "Yui...it"s beautiful...the garnet reminds me of your hair..." Kyouko said as she hugged and kissed Yui, again causing a slight blush to appear on the Raven haired girl"s face. She recognized it. "Now you open yours!" Kyouko said excitedly. "Okay, okay, calm down." Yui slowly unwrapped the red wrapping paper and untied the yellow bow, to find the same black, velvet, jeweler"s box that she had given to Kyouko. "Did we go to the same place?" "Maybe," Kyouko said with a small giggle. As she opened the box Yui was surprised to see almost the exact same necklace that Kyouko had given her, but with a red garnet instead of a black one. "Kyouko....I love it....it reminds me of your bow..." "That was on purpose," Kyouko said proudly with a smile. "Kyouko, you"re amazing, I love you." "I love you too Yui." They kissed and hugged and decided to go back to Yui"s house instead of going back to the arcade. [A FEW HOURS LATER] Kyouko had been rolling and muttering in her sleep for a few minutes now, she was sweating and hyperventilating, like she was having a nighgtmare. Yui silently stood up from her futon, walked over to Kyouko and sat down. She gently rested Kyouko"s blonde head on her lap, stroking her long, bright hair. After a few seconds of doing that Kyouko finally calmed down, almost like Kyouko was having a withdrawl and Yui was her drug. "Yui, I love you." Kyouko said half awake. "I love you too Kyouko," Yui said with a kiss on the blonde"s forehead.

She had a booming, cracking headache all of a sudden, it was like someone was piercing a spear into her head. "MADOKA!" the Raven haired girl screamed with tears running down her face. What is it Homura? Do you need to tell me something? Madoka jolted awake, covered in sweat, her hair a mess. Homura, Kyouko, Sayaka & Mami surrounded her, all of them with tears running down their face, even Bebe was on top of her head, looking sincerely worried. "Someone get her some water!" What"s wrong with me? Was that a dream? "Here," Kyouko said as she handed the pinkette a full glass of water. Madoka realized that she had been hyperventilating, she wasn"t able to talk, her breath was quick and unsteady. She grabbed for the cold drink and gulped it down easily, her throat was dry and sore. "W-w-water" Madoka said the loudest and steadiest possible. "Madoka, take a few deep breathes," Mami told the anxious girl as Kyouko went to get another glass of water. After the pinkette calmed down the other four started to explain what had happened, everyone had calmed down and stopped crying, except Homura, who was particularly worried about Madoka. "Madoka, you were attacked by the witch we were fighting, we planned to tell you to make a contract with Kyubey, but then...." Sayaka said. "You passed out," Kyouko said as she entered the room with a full glass of water, "you were hyperventilating in your sleep, like you were having a nightmare, you were starting to convulse when we got back here, it"s a miracle that we defeated the witch in time." "T-then t-that wasn"t a dream?" I asked. "Dream?" Homura asked after finally calming down. So...all that really happened.... "Never mind, it isn"t a problem." [Homura"s apartment] a few hours later "What do you guys want for dinner?" Sayaka asked, her and Kyouko were trying to learn to cook. "Katsudon!" I suggested. "Katsudon it is!" Kyouko said excitedly. They all sat down at the table for tea after dinner, in Madoka"s opinion, Mami"s tea was one of the best parts of the day. "Hey Madoka," Homura started, "I need to talk to you." "O-okay," I responded to the unexpected request. They walked down the hall to Homura"s bedroom, she had always had a particular fondness for the raven haired dandere. All of a sudden, Homura started crying, like she had just remembered a very traumatic event from her past, maybe she had. "Homu-?" I started, but I was interrupted by a sudden softness on my lips, a comforting, warm softness, Homura had her small lips pressed against Madoka"s, she was still crying, but now she was blushing also. It was somehow a familiar softness to Madoka, even though she had never kissed before. Wait, she had never kissed before, that meant that Homura was her first kiss. That made the pinkette oddly happy. "Homura..." "I-I almost lost you today," she said while crying. "Yeah but...you"ve lost me before, remember?" "That doesn"t mean it isn"t hard!" Homura screamed," I love you Madoka, I hate seeing you die and I hate myself for letting it happen!" She loves me? Has she confessed this love in different timelines as well? "Homura..." I said as I nuzzled her head on my shoulder. The Raven haired girl cried on the Pinkette"s shoulder for a good five minutes. It was a comforting five minutes for the both of them. "Ne...Homura-chan?" "Yes Madoka?" she said as she struggled to keep her face dry. "I love you too." THE SECOND CHAPTER "Homura, h-have you confessed to me in a different timeline?" I asked as I cuddled the Raven-haired girl in her bed. "I-I have...but..." "What is it?" "I-it was right before you died," the dandere said with a very serious expression. As soon as Homura said that I hugged her, she had gone through such tragedy, again and again, just for the pinkette, Madoka felt terrible for that, but it also made her feel important, which made her feel narcissistic. "Madoka? What"s wrong?" "N-nothing, it"s just that...you"ve gone through so much, just to see me again and again." "Worth it," Homura said with no hesitation, "as long as I get to see you," a tear ran down her cheek, "it"s worth everything in this world to me, you"re worth everything in this world to me." Homura... Madoka pulled herself up from the Dandere"s shoulder and kissed her on the lips, tasting the salt in the tears running down her face. She has seen her friends die, me die, so many times, just to go back in time once again and see me again, knowing that the cycle repeat. "H-have we ever...uh..." Homura looked confused for a short time and then turned bright red. "N-no, w-we haven"t..." "D-do you want to?" [Family Room] "I wonder what they"re talking about," Sayaka thought aloud as Mami stood up to get more of her famous Black Tea. "Well, I have a few ideas," Kyouko said perversely. "Madoka is too innocent for that," said Sayaka, shooting down the topic. "Innocence isn"t a factor sometimes, if it"s true love, like with us," the redhead said with a fanged grin. "Baka..." "Sayaka"s right," Mami said, back from getting the tea, "if it"s true love then innocence and purity don"t play a role." "And how would you know?" Kyouko said with another one of her trademark fanged grin. [Homura"s Room] "Madoka...you don"t even know how long I"ve waited for you to ask me that...but....I can"t." She"s so cute. "I need to tell you something Madoka." What is it sweetie? "I found out a way to take people with me into alternate timelines." This snapped Madoka out of her lesbianish trance. "Y-you what?" "But it has certain...side effects..." "How do you know?" "I did it two timelines ago," the Raven-haired girl said with a sad face, "the time magic is too much for some people to handle, if I wasn"t the one who owned it, there would be no way I would be able to do it, with my heart condition and all." Homura"s eyes were wide open, it was like she was asleep, murmuring nonsense with her eyes open. Side Effects. "What side effects exactly?" Homura shuddered. "I took you into a different timeline, and you...got lost in a different one than I arrived in, at least, I hope that"s what happened, when I arrived at school in that timeline, you weren"t there, I went to your house to make sure you weren"t sick and..." a couple of tears rolled down her pale face, "no one had ever heard of you, n-not your parents, not Sayaka, not Hitomi, and I was slowly forgetting." The room was silent for a short while, Madoka moved Homura"s shivering, crying head onto her lap, to comfort her. "Homura, is the reason you can"t...do the naughty thing...because of your heart condition?" Homura giggled and then nodded, it was an odd thing to do, considering the depressing atmosphere. "Homura...can I ask you a question?" "Sure Madoka." "W-what caused your heart condition exactly?" "I-I don"t really know, it came about longer ago then I can remember...but I didn"t have problems when I was really young." That"s it. Madoka was thinking hard, with the sleeping Dandere lying next to her. Kyouko had just knocked on the door, upon hearing no response she allowed herself in, Madoka was pretending to be asleep because she didn"t want to talk with anyone, except Homura, upon seeing Homura and Madoka in bed together Kyouko muttered under her breath, "I knew it," and left. If we can go an alternate timeline, one when Homura was younger, we might be able to prevent her from getting the heart condition. The only problem is, she had never asked Homura how far she could go into the past. I"m getting sleepy, I guess I"ll go to bed. The pinkette looked at the cute dandere and giggled. She likes me. She cuddled up next to Homura, her arm around her waist, and fell asleep. Her last thought before finally falling asleep was: I might get to see young Homura. [Kyouko"s Room] "N-ne Kyouko," Sayaka said, walking into her girlfriend"s room, "I-I had a nightmare..." "What was it about," the redhead asked sleepily, "it helps to talk about it." "I-It was about, a world without Madoka, no one remembered her, except Homura, who kept asking about her...it was so sad." It was out of character for Sayaka to care about Homura, she usually despised her, for her seemingl cold, unfeeling attitude. Kyouko comforted Sayaka, she kissed her forehead in an almost motherly way. "It"s okay Sayaka, they"re in the other room, cuddling." "Wait, what." THE THIRD CHAPTER [Kitchen] Kyouko and Sayaka had just woken up, Mami was cooking breakfast and Homura was out looking for grief seeds, even though they weren"t really needed. "So Madoka," Sayaka started with a smirk, "did you and Homura have fun last night?" "Yep," Madoka said very nonchalantly, "we"re going out now." No one reacted very strongly, guess it was to be expected. At least they"re not mad. "I"m home," Homura called from the hallway as Mami placed the breakfast she had made on the dining table. "Home so soon?" "We have enough grief seeds, Madoka, follow me," the Raven-haired girl said abruptly. Sayaka and Kyouko exchanged looks and giggled, causing them to receive a scathing glance from Homura. "What is it Homura?" Madoka asked, half expecting bad news and half expecting a kiss or something of the sort. She received both, but the kiss first, it was like Homura was trying to communicate that there were dire situations through a kiss, she could taste the familiar taste of the salt from Homura"s tears. "What is it?" she asked much more seriously. Homura looked at her girlfriend and muttered something under her breath, she was crying a great deal, and hyperventilating twice as much. Homura took Madoka"s wrist and made Madoka touch her chest, directly above the heart. Is she trying to tell- "My heart condition returned," Homura told her, interrupting Madoka"s thoughts, "I had a heart attack on my way to the Witch"s labyrinth, I"m very lucky to be alive right now." She is. Madoka couldn"t speak for a short time, but she felt tears running down her cheeks, she felt hysterical weeping moving closer to her location. She slumped down in front of the dandere, resulting in Homura picking up Madoka"s crying head and kissing her forehead, it was the saddest kiss they had every shared, in any timeline. How did she survive? A heart attack in a witch"s labyrinth? Even if she wasn"t in the witch"s labyrinth, being close enough would be detrimental. "H-how did you survive the heart attack?" "My heart condition was never a one shot, it came multiple times, with weak strength, slowly taking away my already terrible health." "Then it will come back?" "...Probably..." Well then we need to do this then. "Homura, I have an idea." "If it requires time traveling with you...I deny, for your sake." "But if we went back I time and prevented the young y-" "ABSOLUTELY NOT," Homura said with a sudden outburst of tears that would assuredly be heard from the kitchen. "Homura, we have too, you can go into another timeline and see me aga-" "JUST BECAUSE I COULD GO INTO ANOTHER TIMELINE DOESN"T MEAN IT WOULDN"T HURT TO SEE YOU DIE AGAIN, BECAUSE OF ME." I have been...so insensitive. She felt horrible, she had to catch her breath, her face was contorted, she could feel it, she was the saddest she had ever been in forever, far too sad to cry. "H-Homura, how many times have you seen me die?" she muttered, she could barely speak. Homura looked surprised, she hadn"t been asked about how many times she"s jumped timelines. "Maybe...I don"t know...probably too many times to properly keep track." I don"t deserve this angel. Madoka teared up upon hearing this, Homura had seen her die so many times. "I"m sorry...I don"t deserve you," the Pinkette told her. Homura immediately hugged Madoka, comforting her from the thoughts that the Pinkette might be abandoned, or at least deserved to be. "You don"t deserve to be abandoned," Homura said sternly with her face two inches away from Madoka"s, "if you don"t deserve me then I deserve you, whenever you feel like I don"t like you, or I blame you, I want you to remember that. I don"t care what you do to me, I will always love you." Madoka looked up at Homura, she could feel her eyes glazing over, she was too sad, but also happy, to cry, it almost balanced her feelings out. She leaned towards the raven haired girl with her lips puckered, Homura accepted gladly. They kissed for a good five minutes, comforting each other from the terrible news that Homura might be dying, of course Madoka did intend to do something about the matter, but it was drastic. [Kitchen] "Ne, Sayaka-chan, are you going to eat your eggs?" "I guess not," Sayaka answered as she handed over her scrambled eggs to Kyouko. "Itadakimasu!" "You two are adorable," Mami said unexpectedly with her hand under her chin, smiling. [Madoka"s school] Madoka, Homura, Sayaka, Kyouko and Mami were walking to school, they had just said goodbye to Nagisa as she departed for her elementary school. "What did you guys get for that test yesterday?" Madoka asked. "95," Homura answered. "75," Kyouko answered. "2," Sayaka answered. Everyone turned to Sayaka. "How can you get a two?" they all asked, almost in unison. "Bad luck I guess," Sayaka answered with a believable "it wasn"t my fault voice". Homura and I should help Sayaka study. Homura had cracked a plan late last night, it would probably hurt Homura, but if Homura was so against going into the past then this was Madoka"s only choice. [Second Period] Madoka raised her hand, "Ne, Sensei, can I go to the Nurse"s office? My stomach hurts." "It"s probably because of what Homura did to her this morning," Sayaka whispered to Kyouko, causing Kyouko to cover her mouth and laugh hysterically. "I guess, if you really feel like you need too." "Thank you Sensei." Madoka left her seat and went to the door, before leaving, Homura gave her a worried look, she might have been worried about her, or suspicious. She walked through the hall towards the entrance, it was a cheap and dirty lie, and it might not work, but it was worth saving Homura"s life, she didn"t feel guilty at all, because it was for her lover. She walked to the alley that she had planned with Kyubey, she despised the cat-like creature, but becoming a magical girl was her only choice. She waited for about ten minutes, the asshole Kyubey couldn"t even be trusted to be on time. "Hello Madoka," Kyubey said suddenly. "Hey," Madoka answered with a cold voice, "I want you to know, I"m doing this for Homura"s sake, not yours." "Understandable." Madoka calmed herself, thought of Homura, her soft lips, her sweet, aromatic scent, her raven black, straight hair, and her cold and unfeeling, but later loving and innocent attitude. Madoka took a deep breath, "Homura will never have heart problems again, of any kind." "Is that your final wish." Specific enough? "Yes," she said slowly. Madoka started to transform, it hurt, it felt like a part of her was being ripped out. Then she was tackled, she saw a flash of purple and then black and then dark red, the color of blood. She looked up and saw a bleeding, sweating Homura, she was trying to talk to her but she couldn"t hear her. Homura....I love you, Madoka thought as she passed out. THE FOURTH CHAPTER Madoka had been swimming in what seemed to be a sea of dark purple ink, it might"ve been black, she couldn"t tell, she was slowly getting more and more myopic, for what felt like days, her heart and lungs were starting to fail her, she was getting scared. The sky was a dark red, like it was made of blood, or Kyouko"s hair. Homura, Sayaka, Kyouko, Mami, Nagisa... The sky all of a suddenly changed to what looked like a rainbow, not a regular rainbow, a rainbow of Pink, Black, Light Blue, Dark Red, Yellow and White, but each of them were at least a little tainted with each other, some more than others. Pink and Black were invading each other violently, like they were struggling to cuddle, Light Blue and Dark Red were exactly half and half, like they were getting along, and yellow and white had polka dots of each other, like they were made as one, then separated. Her heart was giving out, she could feel it, she was going to die, in a mysterious, inky ocean, she was convulsing, short spasms were coming more often and becoming more painful, her hyperventilating wasn"t much better, she was losing energy. She could feel anxiety and death creeping up on her, like she was the weak, injured prey and it was the hunter, be it a bear, a shark, or a human, she was going to die. She could feel herself being dragged under the surface, she was going to die of drowning in this awful ink, it probably wouldn"t taste very good, nothing like black tea, nothing like Mami"s black tea, nothing like Kyouko"s dark chocolate pocky. I"m going to die, Homura, Sayaka, Kyouko, Mami, Nagisa. Sayonara, minna. She was dragged underneath the thick liquid like it was pulling her, maybe it was, maybe it was inviting her to join the party of the dead, maybe she would meet the other Madokas, other Sayakas, Kyoukos, Mamis, maybe even Nagisa. It tastes like... She was underneath the surface, she saw, before she was submerged, that the pink and black colors in the sky had transformed, into light purple and a dark, dark red, darker than the darkest red, darker than Mars, not comparable to something like a Tomato that her brother had loved so. Homura. She was strangely proud of the two colors, it was like they had made up, she hoped they could live happily ever after, like Cinderella and her prince, like Snow White and hers. Smells like...Peaches, and Roses, but it was less gentle, black Roses maybe, and slightly overripe peaches. A flash of bright purple, a flash of dark red...and then black, the darkest black, darker than black holes, darker than night, darker than Homura"s raven colored, aromatic hair. Plums, that was the smell, an under ripened plum, one that had not reached its full potential, it was amazing how she could look at things so simply when it was quiet and she was alone. She was then on a mountain, her heart still pounding unnaturally quickly and unevenly, more convulsing, more hyperventilating, more sweat, cold sweat, but it was perfectly warm, which was strange, it shouldn"t be warm on a mountain. Nagisa, Homura, Mami, Sayaka, Kyouko. Nagisa was the snowcap on the mountain, the weakest, the most easily agitated, so new and young, yet so refined. Homura was the mountain she was standing on, the strong on the outside, and weak and hollow on the inside. Mami was the autumn leaves at the base of the mountain, the lonely and the beautiful. Sayaka was the ocean, the strong and vinegary, the agitator that everyone couldn"t help loving, including the mountain. Kyouko was the lava underneath the ocean, the closet to the Ocean, the sea and the lava formed to make rock, mountain, in theory, they were all part of each other. Madoka was the sky, the sunset in the evening, the sun during the day, and the stars at night, sometimes you were able to see them, depending on the moment. We"re all the same, some more than others. The mountain turned to blood, the sky to rock, she was in a dome, Lava and water had intermixed, and it was snowing. It was hard to comprehend everything that had just happened, it was like she was in a witch"s labyrinth, it was hell. I miss Homura, her flowery hair, her doll-like skin, her violet eyes that seemed endless, her velvet lips. "MODURA," she heard someone scream. Modura? Sounds like a drill company. Flash of Dark Red, then Light Blue, then a violently bright purple, like an angel had come from the rocky sky. It was a bird-like creature, like an eagle, it was majestic, blinding even. She woke up in a dark hospital room, it was late, she could tell from the sky"s color. She looked down, she had wet herself, she was done convulsing but her heart still felt weak. She stood up slowly, with caution, hopefully she still remembered how to walk. She balanced herself, her feet felt unfamiliar, she had grown. How long have I been out? She looked at the mahogany desk at the end of the hospital bed, it was covered with an assortment of flowers, and pocky, lots of pocky. She needed to clean herself up, she smelled rank and sour but it also had a familiar smell to it, a comforting, nostalgic smell, of peaches and plums. She opened the closet that was in the hallway, hoping it wasn"t janitorial. It wasn"t, she found a tank top and gown that was her size, she would have to shower, or she"d catch a cold. Throat hurts. She walked to the bathroom, through the dark and cold hallway, it was a place of death, she could smell it, feel it in the floor and the lack of light, the grim reaper had been here often, like it was his vacation house that he had inherited from his parents, before they ironically died, just like everyone else. Her body felt extremely unfamiliar, her hair was in a ponytail, not her usual pigtails. She pulled out the elastic scrunchie that was holding her hair, it was knotted, but more straight than it normally was. It was a dark hallway, almost no lights were on, it felt like she was walking through a hallway to hell. She opened the door to the girl"s bathroom, the metal handle felt extremely cold, like no one had touched it in years. She was walking through the desolate lavatory when she caught a glimpse of red, darker than Kyouko"s hair, it was from the mirror. Her hair had transformed to a dark red, her skin was paler. Her eyes were red too, like a pool of blood.

Thanks so much for reading. Let me know what you think about the story. Please review or follow, or PM me if you have a question or idea. Please enjoy and thanks for reading. PS- I"m not giving any spoilers, but... Who saw Disney"s new live action version of The Jungle Book in theaters recently? Was it not awesome? Disney has done it again! Prologue Shere Khan (Many Rains After This Tale) Many strange legends were told in these Jungles of India... Most of which, Shere Khan, the greatest hunter to ever roam them, never allowed himself to think twice about. But the ones he did think about twice were the ones he knew were true. His own stories, or things he"d seen with his own eyes. The stories of man in the Jungle were strange, of course. Especially to Shere Khan, a former hunter of man. Even though most animals fancied the stories of man as a bedtime story for their cubs, Shere Khan would still argue any day that this was the most ridiculous practice. Even after all these years. He preferred his stories. The stories about his family, and his mate. And he personally thought no one could ever beat the stories they"d had to tell about their cubs. Shere Khan lifted his head when he heard rustling in the tall, golden grass. Due to his confounded age, he was usually forced to lie in the grass on the hunt in wait for a kill rather than sit in a crouching position nowadays. Not that he"d actually admit that... Or be caught dead doing it. His mouth formed an "O" as he turned an ear in the direction of the noise. Instead of standing and stalking in the direction of the noise, he stayed right where he was with an amused smile playing at the corners of his mouth. This was no prey. He coolly examined a paw when the maker of the noise did not show themselves. "You"re a few days early." "I knew you wouldn"t be home," said a familiar voice that was beginning to sound so much like Shere Ki"s. But, sadly, that wasn"t who it belonged to. Shere Khan turned his head to the source of the voice just in time to see Chara gracefully emerge from the tall grass where he first taught her how to hunt. "Hi, Daddy." The older tiger managed to keep that same cool expression on his face that he"d mastered years ago, but seeing his daughter again was a sight for sore eyes. Quite literally. She was fully grown and as strong as he or Shere Ki could have ever asked for. She was a beautiful mix of the both of them, except for the blue iris that contrasted with the yellow in her eyes. They thought her eyes might change to brown as she got older, but they never did. Chara greeted him by licking his cheek as a kiss. Shere Khan let her, and smiled as she lay down beside him and watched the grass blow in the wind. "Where are my grandchildren?" he asked. Chara faked a hurt facial expression, almost in the same way he would. He smiled as she teased him in a way that was almost an exact replica of Shere Ki"s mannerisms. "Them first, again? You don"t want to know anything about me? How I"m doing-" "I can see you"re faring very well," Shere Khan interrupted calmly. "How their father and I are doing..." she continued. "I don"t care about your mate," he stated. A little more sternly, this time. Probably not as sternly as he"d like. Chara laughed a little. She knew by now that Shere Khan really didn"t like anyone that even thought of her in such a manner. He softened a bit when she nuzzled him. "They are with their father back home at your territory, waiting for you," she finally answered. "I would have brought them, but...I wanted to come find you myself." "And you did." Shere Khan didn"t make an effort to leave right away. Like Chara, he was very glad to have the time with her. "Where"s your brother?" "Cubsitting," she replied. Shere Khan chuckled coolly as she laid her head on his shoulder. "I"ve missed you, Daddy." The still proud hunter rested his chin on top on her head for a moment, knowing it may very well be a long time before they had another moment like this. Or, more realistically, that they might not ever have another moment like this. "Well, that is why you shouldn"t have mated so far from home." He kept his tone light for the sake of making it easier for her, and because he"d fought with her over it so many other times before, but he was serious. Chara scoffed in disbelief and rolled over to look at him. "Daddy!" She sighed when he just flashed his signature charming grin at her. "Daddy, a family of tigers living together in one place... It"s too dangerous. For us and the jungle. Someone had to leave. And I don"t mind," she said softly. "I"m glad... I"m glad that we have a family." The soft, sincere tone of pride in her voice when she talked about their legacy melted his heart. Shere Khan sat up and used one of his forepaws to pull her into a hug. He felt her tears on one of his shoulders for a brief moment as he held his only daughter close. Chara sniffed and pulled back. "You and Mom did good." "I"m glad to hear you appreciate our efforts," Shere Khan said coolly. "So how are your cubs? I assume you and whatever his name is are fine." "You know his name," Chara said, shaking her head. She smiled as she thought about her children. "They"re fine. Your grandson"s attitude is just like yours. But your granddaughter, she"s...all over the place." Shere Khan got the sense that Chara"s youngest girl was keeping her on her toes. "Just like you." A cool smile played at the corners of Chara"s mouth. "Maybe..." Shere Khan nodded with a knowing smile and folded his paws as a strong wind blew through the blades of grass, making a peaceful whispering noise that could only be heard in the open areas of the jungle with the tall grass. "Do you remember you first learned to hunt here?" Shere Khan asked. "You would"ve been about her age." Chara smiled as she answered. "Of course I remember." Shere Khan knew she probably needed to hear out loud that cubs always had their misadventures, and that she and her mate would do about as good a job as anyone in the jungle. But he wasn"t one to give those sort of talks, and she knew it. He and Chara had a special bond where they always knew exactly what the other meant, and he loved her for it. He and his son...didn"t have such an easy time understanding one another. He and Chara rested their heads on their forelegs and watched the wind blow through the grass. If luck happened upon them and prey came their way, they would get it. But if it didn"t, well... this was already the most delightful day he"d had in a long time. Our Cubs Prologue: A Note to Readers Hi, everyone! Before I begin the story, I just wanted to let you know that I do not own the original Jungle Book characters as well as some elements mentioned in the story. Some characters, settings, and ideas are the property of Walt Disney Studios, Rudyard Kipling, and Disney Television. This is a sequel to my last story, Deeper Into the Jungle. This story is written from the perspective of previous characters and their offspring. There will be a lot of skipping in time, but I will do my best to make everything fit together as well as I possibly can. I am currently finishing an internship at Disney, and am unfortunately not able to write as often as I did with my previous story. I will post as often as time allows until I finish my internship in January, then I hope to be able to post on a regular basis. But I missed writing, so here is the sequel to my last story. I love to hear feedback from readers, so any reviews, follows, or favorites will help me a lot. It tells me how everyone responds to the story and why, so please do if you find the time. Enjoy the first chapter, everyone! And I hope to hear from you soon! This first chapter may seem a bit touchy for Shere Khan"s character, but right now we are picking up from the end of the first part of the story, so I am just trying to convey his love for his family. Hope you enjoy! -Angelwriter84 ... Chapter 1: A New Day Shere Khan The mighty hunter breathed the chilly air deeply through his nose and exhaled slowly without opening his eyes. The air was clean, misty, and chilly. Early morning..... It was true he was an early riser, but to rouse this early was out of the ordinary. Shere Khan shifted a bit and huffed. How odd.... But the sound of rustling and the feel of a tiny paw pawing timidly at his muzzle told him that it wasn"t really odd at all. The great tiger felt a proud smile of amusement spread across his face as he opened his eyes to find a pair of tiny blue eyes staring back at him. He could just make out the tiny silhouette of his daughter as she leapt at the sight of his waking. His heart melted when she rubbed her tiny cheek against his muzzle. After a few seconds, he pulled back to look her in the face. "Yes?" He questioned her actions in a gentle, playful tone. Chara couldn"t quite talk yet, but she was a clever little cub. He already knew exactly what she wanted, but he and Shere Ki always encouraged her to show them what she wanted in some way. Chara rested both forepaws on his foreleg for a moment and glanced over at her mother, who was still in the deepest of sleep. Shere Khan tilted his head quizzically. What do you want? Seeing his expression, Chara darted to her mother"s side and pushed on her side with both forepaws; the effort proved in vain when Shere Ki made no movement. Chara faced him and sat down with an expression that said all hope was lost. Shere Khan smiled. "Ahhh...." He knew what she wanted. It was time for her to nurse, but she couldn"t get Shere Ki to wake up. Shere Khan smiled. He always hated to wake Shere Ki when she was sleeping so peacefully, but what else was he to do with his daughter"s eyes growing bigger with every second? Shere Khan rose up and prodded under his mate"s jaw with his nose. "Shere Ki?" "Hmmm....." Her question came out as a sigh as she shifted and dozed back into sleep. Shere Khan smiled and licked her cheek repeatedly until she winced and opened her eyes. "Stop, Shere Khan.... What is it?" He raised his eyebrows at her weary tone. Little Chara jumped and darted to nuzzle her mother at the sound of her voice. Shere Khan smirked at Shere Ki"s knowing expression. "She wants me to move, doesn"t she?" Shere Khan nodded. "Expressive little one, isn"t she?" "Tell me about it." Shere Ki rolled onto her side with dreaded expression, knowing that her time of rest was over for the day. Little Chara leapt before them and rested one paw on Shere Ki"s side as she began to nurse. Shere Khan stepped over and lay down on the other side of Shere Ki to give her something to lean against. Shere Ki sighed in relief and leaned her head back to rest on his shoulder. She licked the side of his face lovingly before closing her eyes again. When he noticed she wasn"t relaxing, he kissed the top of her head and spoke in a quiet tone. "Maybe she will take another nap when she is full?" Shere Ki chuckled softly. "If we"re lucky." She was right; Chara was an adventurous one....always ready to start the day. Shere Khan raised an eyebrow. "Are you hungry?" Shere Ki kept her eyes closed. "No. I"m just so tired....." Shere Khan pretended to consider something. "Clearly...." He muttered thoughtfully. "Then it seems there is nothing for me to do this morning...." When Shere Ki didn"t respond, he nuzzled her under the jaw. "If she refuses to sleep, maybe I can spend time with her while you rest...." Shere Ki opened her eyes in surprise. "Oh, Shere Khan....really?" He nodded. "She"s getting old enough now. And why not? I may as well "make myself useful"." He tiled his head from side to side to emphasize the phrase he was repeating back to her from the night before. Shere Ki"s beautiful brown eyes grew serious, making the big brown irises melt softly into the gold around them. "You know I didn"t mean that. You do enough. It"s just that....." Shere Khan nuzzled her to say that nothing more needed to be said. Shere Ki looked him in the eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. Shere Khan rested his chin on her shoulder as she closed her eyes once more and began to relax. "Oh, the pleasures of raising a cub...." Shere Ki laughed at Shere Khan"s ironic tone and stroked Chara"s back with a paw before drifting into sleep. Shere Khan rested his head on hers with a hint of worry. Shere Ki had been very tired lately....was it really that she wasn"t getting enough rest? He shook his head to clear his worry as he remembered their last visit to the home of Bagheera and Salena. The tiny cavern was quite lively with four newborn panthers to care for. Now that the cubs had just opened their eyes they were, of course, into everything and all over the place. Especially one of the little male cubs, Seth. That was the only name out of the four that Shere Khan remembered because Salena and Bagheera had to say it so often..... ..... "Seth! Get down!" Salena and Shere Ki forgot all about their talk when they spotted Seth and Chara climbing up a mound of rocks near the entrance to the cave. Shere Ki noticed that Chara was on a loose rock and rose into a sitting position. Shere Khan saw the danger and intervened. "Chara." The little cub"s blue eyes met his at the sound of his calm voice. Shere Khan retained his composure as he gave her his request. "Down." Chara started to obey, but stopped when the rock wiggled under her paws. For a moment, neither cub moved. Fed up, Salena stood and approached her son irritably. "I said down, Seth. Now!" At the sound of his mother"s tone, Seth scurried up to Chara"s rock, making it slide from the mound. Little Seth fell to the side of the mound and rolled on the ground a few times before stopping. Chara fell from the rock and skidded down the mound while the heavy rock fell just past her back paws and tumbled down to the jungle floor. Had the rock fallen on Chara or Seth, it could have hurt them badly....the rock was so heavy, and they were both just so tiny. All three adult jungle cats sighed in relief once the rock hit the ground. Shere Ki removed Chara from the mound and set her on the ground to examine her. "Are you hurt, baby?" Chara looked bewildered, but smiled as her mother nuzzled her. Shere Khan felt his heart slow at the sight of her smile, meaning no harm was done. Chara noticed that her one of her forepaws was dirty and would do nothing but concentrate on cleaning it for the next few minutes. When Shere Khan nudged her in the side with his nose a few minutes later, she looked at him as if he were bothering her and set to work again. Shere Khan smiled when Shere Ki"s tinkling laugh sounded when she saw his look. Meanwhile, Salena had retrieved a startled, but unharmed Seth and brought him back with her; worry had apparently melted her annoyance into weariness. Salena opened her jaws and set her mischievous son down gently. "Oh, Seth...." She lay down and wrapped her forelegs around him before rubbing his nose with hers. "When will you ever listen?" Seth looked almost apologetic at her exasperated tone and reached up to lick her cheek. Salena looked touched and smiled down at her son. "And why should I believe you this time?" Seth gave her a look that said he had nothing. Shere Khan had just noticed that his siblings had appeared, staring over Salena"s foreleg at their brother. Everything about the oldest male cub reminded Shere Khan of Bagheera at that age. Every feature....every expression.....the intelligent gleam in his yellow eyes and serious look on his face.....everything. He was now wearing his father"s stern look as he looked disapprovingly at his brother. The youngest girl had Salena"s structure, if not smaller, and Bagheera"s eyes and nose....but anyone could see that she was a frail one. Her sweet nature overcame her as she managed to touch her nose to her brother"s. The oldest girl, an exact replica of Salena AND her mother, displayed her mother"s personality when she gave her sister a look that seemed to say "boys are dumb" and turned a sweet expression to her mother. Shere Khan barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Aw, how sweet they are." Shere Ki chimed as she nuzzled the top of the oldest girl"s head. "They are still babies." The little cub looked nervous at first, but then her ears pricked up when she decided to trust Shere Ki. A sweet smile crossed her face as her crystal blue eyes darted to quickly look at Shere Ki before turning back to her mother. As he thought, Chara got a little jealous and crossed over to her mother. She rested her heavy eyes on Shere Ki"s face and stood with both her tiny paws resting on her mother"s. It was never the little panther cub"s intent, however, to upset anyone. She walked over to her mother and rested both paws on her foreleg to get her attention. "What is it, Lydia?" Salena"s blue eyes reflected her daughter"s as she smiled at her. Sensing his attention had been stolen, Seth leaned over and pawed at his sister"s muzzle, causing her sassy side to reappear. She reared on her back paws and used both front paws to push him over dismissively before returning to her previous engagement. She made a small cooing noise and touched her paw daintily to her mother"s side before returning it to the ground and gazing at her mother with an expectant smile. Salena sighed. "Again? Already?!" Lydia gazed humbly at the ground as if she weren"t sure what that meant and repeated her action again before turning to her mother with that same look. Picking up on what she was asking for, Seth leapt from his mother"s forelegs and darted to his mother"s side, causing Lydia to fall backward. "Sounds like somebody"s hungry." Shere Ki teased Salena with a knowing smile. Before Salena could respond, Lydia had rolled to her feet and stepped over Seth to reclaim her spot. Shere Khan let out a calm, charming laugh. "Timid for one so small, isn"t she?" A mischievous gleam shone in Salena"s eyes as she managed a sweet, amused expression. "Isn"t she sweet? She gets it from me." The sarcasm behind her cooing tone was evident as the setting sun. "Indeed." Shere Khan could tell by the smile on Salena"s face that the ice behind his agreement was not missed. Somewhere in the midst of their last adventures together, he and Salena had found common ground. Enough to be distant friends, at least. But old habits die hard. They still fought from time to time. Shere Ki sighed as she examined her daughter, who was now dozing next to her paw. "I think it"s time we headed home." Salena followed her gaze to Chara. "Oh.... Well maybe so. Wish my cubs would do that." Shere Ki ran a paw down Chara"s back soothingly. "It"s a rare occasion." Salena giggled before turning sincere again. "Wish you didn"t have to go so soon. I"m sorry Bagheera wasn"t home." "Don"t be. He works hard to keep the jungle people in peace." Shere Ki rubbed her cheek against Salena"s as a goodbye and stood. "I can"t believe the rhinos stampeded on the wolves" territory." "One of the pack"s puppies were hurt. That makes it a difficult situation." Salena glanced at her own newborn cubs, who were staring at her with curiosity. Shere Ki looked worried. "But the puppy is....alive?" "For now." Salena"s low tone gave away the seriousness of the situation. Shere Ki saw the worry in her eyes, and spoke with a steady voice. "Bagheera is a good voice of reason, Salena. He and Akela will fix things between the wolves and rhinos." "I hope it"s soon.....he"s so exhausted." Shere Ki rested a paw on Salena"s foreleg reassuringly before stepping back. "We will come visit again soon." "Oh, please do. I would come to you, but..." She looked back at her four newborn cubs to explain the rest. "Absolutely not. Not until they are bigger. Besides, I think Chara enjoys the walk." Shere Khan didn"t miss Shere Ki"s slight sigh as she picked up a sleeping Chara by the scruff of her neck and began walking ahead, leaving Shere Khan to bid goodbye. As he stood to follow, he noticed the exasperated look on Salena"s face when Seth"s attention was caught by a butterfly. "She is exhausted." Salena followed his gaze. "You"re worried about Shere Ki, aren"t you?" Shere Khan managed a cool smile as an answer as Seth darted for the butterfly. "It seems she could use some of his energy." Salena sighed and raised her eyes to the sky as the stepped on her son"s tail to keep him from going any further. "Me too," she said humorously. Shere Khan smiled teasingly, twitching his tail as he turned to go. "Shere Khan?" He turned to see what the young mother wanted. Her crystal blue eyes told him she got his message. "Keep an eye on her for me." Shere Khan made eye contact as a thanks before walking away. Before they were out of sight of the panthers" home, Bagheera leapt down from the trees to greet them. "Going already?" Shere Ki couldn"t talk, so she smiled around Chara"s scruff and looked to Shere Khan. Shere Khan glanced at his sleeping daughter. "Her idea." Bagheera smiled knowingly. "Well....they always know best." Shere Khan caught the exhaustion in the panther"s voice, and noticed his half open eyes focusing on his family not far away. Good, he could make this short. He and Bagheera still struggled with conversation at times.

She quickly chose a few herbal leaves that helped with nerves and shock, and occasionally acted as a fever reducer. She figured if Pterano was ill with something else, she would come back for the appropriate medicine. She wrapped the tiny brown-green leaves in a large, soft leaf and gathered it at the ends so she could carry it. As soon as she and Petrie had gathered some water to mix with the herbal leaves and gathered the mixture in a larger leaf, they were off. When they got there, Tess was dabbing at Pterano"s face with wet moss. One of the best things to do. Pterano was lying in his stomach, shivering with unopened eyes and a coat of sweat on his forehead. Britta checked his forehead for fever and listened to his breathing. Within seconds, she was fairly certain she had been right. He was in shock, on top of being undernourished and isolated for a long period of time. It was a wonder he wasn"t unbearably ill now. When she stood back, Tess revealed her predictions. "I think it"s shock." Britta nodded. "I think it is, too." Tess turned to Petrie, who had climbed on top of his uncle"s beak and was watching over him with worry written all over his little back. "Petrie," Tess prompted gently, "why don"t you go watch over your brothers and sisters?" Petrie looked a little offended by this task. "They fine, mom. Sleeping just over there." He pointed to their nest, which was just across from where Pterano was sleeping. Britta snickered under her breath with a knowing look at Tess and scooped him up. Tess sighed. "Get back over to Littlefoot"s before they find you gone and start worrying." Petrie thought a moment, then proceeded to object. "Moooommm.... Uncle Pterano may need Petrie to help Britta." Britta stepped in to help. "You can help him by letting him get some rest, Petrie. I think he"ll do a lot better knowing your happy playing with your friends." Petrie glanced at the ground. "Me guess." He opened his wings to go, then had a second thought and turned to them. "Call me if Uncle Pterano need anything." Tess was smiling now, and Britta felt sure it was because he reminded her so much of Tim as a young flyer just then. Britta looked over to her, then nodded to Petrie. "You got it." When Petrie had flown from earshot, Britta handed to mixture still tied up in the large leaf to Tess. "Have him drink as much as you can. I would, but I think we would both end up wearing it if I did." Tess did as she said. Pterano drank, but didn"t quite open his eyes. Britta stepped on the other side of him so he wouldn"t see her and knelt beside him, rubbing his back in an effort to comfort him. Pterano stiffened a moment, then relaxed, then drifted into a peaceful slumber thanks to the brown-greens. They sat there watching over him for a while, Tess dabbing at his face with the wet moss every once in a while and Britta rubbing his back on the rare occasion he would stiffen again. Finally, Tess looked up at her. "Do you think he will get better soon?" Britta thought a moment. While she still had her doubts, she spoke for the physical side of his condition with certainty. "I think...he will." After all, what better place to regained your strength than the Great Valley?" ... Intensity, huh? Sorry about that. Now that we"ve got Pterano in the valley and....somewhat....aware that Britta is alive, we will have to see how they handle it. Hope you enjoyed it!... ...Hey guys. I was actually writing for Britta and Nicolas at the same time, so I found the time to finish up the next chapter today. I really hope you guys have been able to connect to the story. Just to warn you, this chapter is insanely sad. But it"s crucial in revealing what became of Hyp and Nicolas" loved ones. I had to break it again because it was getting long and there is still a lot to tell for Nicolas. Next week is my spring break and I will be traveling around, so I may or may not get a chapter in. I hope you enjoy the two chapters I just posted, and am eager to hear what you think so far. Thanks and have a good week!... Chapter 8: Life and Death Hyp"s Father "Son, if you don"t quit trying to stand up..." Nicolas turned to see his son, once again attempting to stand using the rocky wall outside their home for support. His voice startled Hyp enough so that he lost what little balance he had and slid down. "Aaahh!" Hyp clutched at his ribs when he hit the ground, then tried to prop himself upright again without success. Nicolas shook his head, walked over, and pulled his son into an upright position. When Hyp was propped against the outside wall again, his father crossed his arms and gave him a look to show how tired he was of having to do the same thing over and over again. Hyp"s got it, and wasn"t happy. He huffed and settled back against the rocks with his arms crossed. Nicolas was annoyed, but glad to be. Hyp had done so much better since the healer, Britta if he remembered the name right, had helped them a few days before. Nicolas and Hyp hadn"t talked much since that night because Hyp stayed knocked out from the Stiff Leaves, but Britta soon returned with something that would allow him to stay awake with less pain than before. She was quite a help, and somehow managed to check up on Hyp from time to time without hovering. Today was Hyp"s first day outside again. Nicolas couldn"t understand why he wasn"t grateful just to be outside. Within five minutes after Nicolas sat him outside, he was trying to stand. Nicolas sighed, suddenly exhausted. "What do you want now, Hyp? I thought you"d be glad you could sit outside." Hyp spread his hands as much as he could without hurting himself. "That"s just it. I can"t do anything. This is pathetic. What will Mutt and Nod think when they see...." He trailed off because Nicolas had spotted something in the distance and pointed behind him. It was Mutt and Nod, coming to visit again. They came every day since Hyp"s injury, but Nicolas always turned them away before long because Hyp had been in no shape to see them. Today would be the first day he could actually interact with them. Nicolas watched as they approached him cautiously. When Hyp turned his head, they smiled in relief that he was somewhat back to his old self. Nod was the first to speak. "Hyp! Ya look so much better." A smirk slowly turned the corners of Hyp"s mouth. He and Nod looked to Mutt. After a hesitation, Mutt managed an answer. "Yeah, you"re okay." ""Course I"m okay." Nicolas could see that he was glad to have his friends back. Everyone was silent a while. Nicolas knew they would never have much discussion with him present because he wouldn"t approve. Neither did he feel like hearing whatever they would manage, so he decided to go out for some air himself. "I"ll be back later. I"m going to get water." He cast a stern glance at his son. "No standing. If I catch you, Mutt and Nod are not to visit anymore." "Okay." For some reason, Nicolas believed his son enough to leave. He couldn"t deny that it felt good to be out again without having to rush back home. He took his time finding his favorite green food and ate his fill for the first time in days. Shortly after, he went to the watering hole for water and barely got water splashed in his face before everyone started asking about Hyp. "He"s getting better. Thanks." Nicolas was sure he repeated this as well as responses to additional questions at least fifty times before Mr. Longneck approached. Nicolas felt relief at seeing a familiar face and stepped aside to talk with him. Mr. Longneck leaned down to his level. "Nicolas, I take it Hyp is doing much better. Glad to see you are out and about." Nicolas nodded. "Thank you for finding a healer. I don"t know what we would have done if...." "I know," Mr. Longneck smiled, "we feel that Britta will do just fine in the valley." "Well, she"s a good healer. Hyp"s sitting outside today." Mr. Longneck nodded, then suddenly looked very grave. Nicolas waited for him, wondering what had happened. Mr. Longneck sighed. "Nicolas, I came by to tell you that...ohh....Pterano has returned to the valley." Nicolas turned on his heel to face the longneck, and sighed himself when he realized he was serious. "Is he to go before the Council? I can"t leave Hyp..." Mr. Longneck nodded. "I came by to tell you since you can"t go far from your boy. As much as I hate to say, Pterano has carried out his sentence without further offense. So...it is only fairly we allow him to back into the valley. Do we have your acknowledgement to it?" As far as Nicolas could see, he didn"t have much of a choice. He counted back because he could remember agreeing with Threehorn that the sentence should be longer than three cold times. When Threehorn suggested infinity, he disagreed and agreed with the settlement of five cold times on condition of saving the children. Nicolas had never spoken with the flyer, but kidnapping a child from the valley was beyond his comprehension. He had hoped five cold times would be enough to keep him away from the valley for any reason, but he had returned on fair ground. So there was nothing more even Threehorn could say. "You don"t think he is a threat to the valley?" Nicolas didn"t bother to sugarcoat the question. He and Hyp had traveled to the valley a while before the longnecks and their group arrived, so as far as he was concerned, the flyer misleading the group was just a terrible event that was none of his concern. But taking a child from the valley and attempting to rule of the valley was something else. Mr. Longneck thought a moment. "Hmm.... It"s hard to say. I"m sure you are aware he is a tricky one. But he seems more physically altered than anything." Nicolas thought a moment. "Is Britta going to try to help him?" Mr. Longneck looked doubtful. "If she can. I think someone has to. Their situation, from what I heard, seems to be quite complicated." Nicolas continued to search the horizon. "You trust her?" "Don"t you? You"ve seen her at work more than anyone else thus far." Mr. Longneck had no more faith than he did right now. Nicolas sighed because he didn"t know. He trusted her as a healer, sure. But he didn"t know anything else about her enough to trust her with the task they had reasoned was best. Nicolas turned to Mr. Longneck to let him know he was being sincere. "I hope." Mr. Longneck nodded and raised his head. He squinted at something in the distance, then startled at the sight in from of him. "Is that your son trying to stand?" Nicolas took off running because he was right. Sometime later after kicking Mutt and Nod out and yelling at Hyp as he was screaming in pain from his fall, Nicolas tossed aside the Stiff Leaves Hyp kept refusing. He walked over and slid down next to his sulking son to watch the sunset turn to night. When Hyp didn"t even look at him, he snapped at him as lightheartedly as possible. "You"re just like your mother." When Hyp just looked at him with an expression that was still angry, Nicolas explained with one word. "Stubborn!" He managed a hint of a smile when Hyp chortled uncertainly, which made his son chuckle. "I guess," he agreed. After a moment of silence, Hyp"s expression turned sad and cautious. "Dad," he started quietly, "I know you said you needed more time and all, but it"s been days and....you"ve already had all this time." Nicolas nodded sadly. He had seen this coming before he sat down. "I know." Hyp shifted uncomfortably. "I just wanna know more about her....what happened to her....and everyone else." Nicolas lean forward and folder his hand. "Hyp, you could ask all the questions you want and I still don"t think I would be able to tell you everything about her. She was...the most amazing creature. You remind me of her at times." Hyp hesitated a moment. "What happened to her, dad?" Nicolas gave his son a long, hard look as he tried to gather the words he had been holding back for years. I don"t think either of us will ever be ready. He drew in a breath to keep his voice steady. "While we...waited for you to hatch, everything just...started happening at once"..... .... "Nicolas! You almost stepped on the egg. Move back!" Nicolas tossed down the mass of straw and grass they used to cover the egg and craned his neck to look behind him. That egg had to be three big steps away. I couldn"t do anything to that egg if I fell over. Nicolas clenched his fists in a defensive way and did just as Lissie said. Moved back. Three small steps. Probably leaving two big steps between him and the egg. "Nicolas! Stop!" A light grey blur tackled him, sending them both barreling into the new straw. Nicolas laughed as he wrestled with Lissie, who was just a little over half his size and still managing to put up quite a fight. He managed to pin her on her back, half burying her under the pile of straw that could have covered fifty eggs. Lissie"s anger dissolved into pure laughter she struggled to free herself, only to get herself into a mess. Nicolas smiled as she giggled because they had not laughed so much in a long time. Sharpteeth and changing lands kept them on edge the majority of the time while trying to care for their egg. Nicolas clutched his side when Lissie poked him. He caught her when she nearly got away and held her wrists as she laughed. "You let go, Nicolas. I mean it, I mean it!" She playfully used her free foot to kick at his tail, so he counteracted by gently pushing her a little deeper into the bed of grass. "Not until you say I"m doing fine caring for that egg." Nicolas burst into laughter when Lissie chortled. "No! You"re terrible. You could have smashed it. Nicolas...let GO!" She tried to toss him off, and fell into another fit of giggles when she couldn"t. Nicolas smiled and looked into her beautiful golden eyes as he kept her pinned throughout her struggles. "I was a mile away from that egg. And you said move back." Lissie sprawled out to catch her breath a moment before attempting to push him off again. "You know what I meant, you Yellow Belly!" Nicolas thought a moment. Yellow Bellies... They were the dumb ones with big tushes. "What do they say when they come through here? Down with your tush? Wonder if it works...." When Nicolas pulled away to sit on her, Lissie interjected. "No! No! No, Nicolas! It"s up with your tush! Fine. You"re doing fine. I"m just paranoid. Happy?" "Yep." Nicolas released his hold on her and gave her a quick kiss. "Now can a guy bring straw to keep his kid warm without being tackled?" Lissie lay sprawled out, catching her breath. "Sure. As long as you aren"t too close to the egg, Nicolas. Try to be a little more careful next time." She craned her neck to look at the scatter pile of grass behind her and sighed. "Look what you did to the new grass," she stated with an accusing glance. That I spent hours gathering. She burst into laughter when Nicolas grabbed her wrists and pinned her again. "Say you"re sorry." He guffawed when she tried to hit him in the stomach with her knee. "No!" "Say it!" When there was no hope left for her, Lissie begrudgingly surrendered. "Sorry." "Knew you would be." They exchanged another kiss before Nicolas stood so she could get up. She brushed herself off as he gathered the straw back into a pile. When they were done, she touched his cheek. "Nicolas, I just wanted to let you know how wonderful you have been. You"re going to be a good father, and I appreciate everything you do." Nicolas smiled and drew her into an embrace. "I love you, Lissie." "I love you, too." She squeaked when Nicolas spun her around and set her back on the ground. After a quick nuzzle, Lissie decided it was time to get back to business. "Come on. Help me cover him up." She swatted his shoulder when he groaned in protest. Lissie, like most mothers, was very protective of her egg. So far protecting it meant that at least one parent had to be with it at all times, covering it up fifty times a day, uncovering it fifty more times because Lissie decided it was "too warm", and "bonding" with it. As Lissie had informed him more than once, it meant talking to it and nuzzling it. No, he didn"t understand what good it was but it always made Lissie feel better. How could it even hear if it wasn"t fully developed, anyway? Nicolas usually got away with saying something snarky to get over his embarrassment. When Lissie grabbed a fistful of soft grass and began to neatly tuck each clump around the egg, Nicolas grabbed an armful and threw it on top of the egg to save time. He knew what was coming before the grass even landed on the egg. "Nicolas!" Lissie tossed aside the mound of grass in a panic as if he had thrown the Circle of Life on it, or something. She sighed in relief when she found the same egg that had been there three seconds ago. Nicolas just stared back at her when she shot him an icy glare. "I don"t believe you! Tell him you"re sorry." Great. Couldn"t he just do the bonding thing when it hatched? No. Of course not. He sighed in protest, then lay down on his stomach with his face only inches away so he could have a conversation with the egg. "I"m sorry, son. Your mother is so paranoid." He was pretty sure this would get a snicker from his son if he were hatched. He glanced up at Lissie to see if that passed. It didn"t. She crossed her arms. "Do it right." Nicolas huffed, then turned to the egg and nuzzled it, speaking in a tone that conveyed false sincerity. "Sorry, son." The egg tilted over when he nuzzled it and rolled over onto its side. Lissie"s eyes widened in fear as she lunged for it. When she had it, she slowly sat it right side up and sighed in relief. Nicolas was still crouched in front of the egg as if nothing had happened, probably looking up at her like she had lost her senses. A few moments passed before Lissie pointed to the exit of the little cave. "Get out." When Nicolas just guffawed, she crossed her arms. "I meant it, Nicolas. Get out! You keep throwing things and tilting things over, so apparently you need a run." Nicolas looked up at her, still trying to decide if she was really serious. "What? I"m getting kicked out of my own home now because our egg tipped over?" "Yes." They stared at each other a moment before Nicolas voiced his own opinion. "I think you"re the one that needs the run." "Me? Oh, no. You are the one that keeps-" "Calm. Exactly. Now go run! Go see Heather." When she didn"t move, he pointed to the mouth of the cave. "Out." "No." Nicolas let a moment of silence pass before he lunged at her. She squealed and barely dodged his grasp. They scrambled around the cave, careful to avoid the egg, which seemed to be perfectly happy observing the scene. They laughed more than they had in a while. He finally caught her when she scrambled just outside the exit to the cave. Nicolas smiled at the lovely sound of her giggles. He held her, feeling her small frame shaking with laughter. He waited until she drew in a breath and gently touched his cheek. Nicolas smiled, feeling as if he could melt in those warm golden eyes. "You"ve got to relax a little, Liss. You"re going to be a great mother. Our egg is safe as long as we are here. You know that, right?" Lissie smiled and embraced him. "I know... I just worry sometimes, that"s all. All parents do, right?" Nicolas chuckled. "Right." They shared a kiss, then he pulled back to look into her eyes. "You"re so beautiful." Lissie scoffed and cast her gaze downward. "For now." "You always will be." Lissie was just about to say something else when they heard a rustling in the bushes. Nicolas immediately pushed her behind him as a reflex. "Back inside the cave, Liss. Go." Lissie backed away and silently ducked into the safety of the cave. Nicolas clenched his fists, ready for anything. He startled when Aaron leapt from the bushes. "She"s here! Our egg just hatched! Lissie, Nicolas! Look at my baby!" He was practically squealing her was so excited. Nicolas smiled, but Lissie was yelling. "You scared us, you idiot!" Aaron didn"t notice. "Lissie! Your new niece is here!" Lissie gasped and smiled. "Where is she? I want to see her!" "Heather"s bring her with mom and dad. They"re right behind me. Go inside. We"ll bring her in." Nicolas and Lissie ducked back inside the cave to wait for Heather to bring them their new niece. Lissie and Nicolas had just smiled at one another before Aaron came barreling in with a newborn hatchling supped in his big hands. Apparently, he had wrestled her away from Heather, who came in just behind him with Lissie"s parents. "Look at her... Nic, Liss! Our new daughter!" "Oh, Aaron!" Nicolas rubbed Lissie"s shoulder as she reached out to gently stroke the baby hatchling, which was curled in the palms of her father"s hands. The newborn looked scared, as if she were still trying to get used to the idea of the outside world. She shuddered at Lissie"s touched and first, then slowly lifted her head to look around when she found that the touch was gentle. She turned her head to reveal beautiful bright green eyes. Anyone could say that she was a perfect mix of Aaron and Heather. She had the combined color of their eyes, a small frame like her mother, and the darker color of her father. As most hatchlings do, she immediately formed a bond at the feel of Lissie touch and cautiously licked her finger. The little hatchling smiled and made a little squeaking noise to say hello.

"Aw, come on Britta. I listened to ya." Sadly. Britta just frowned and held out her hand as an answer. Dread crept up on him when he realized what she wanted. But he had to look as strong as he had been the other day if he wanted any chance of keeping that brace off. Lifting his right leg shot all levels of pain through his middle. "Ahh!" He winced and clutched his stomach. Britta sighed and gradually lifted his leg so that she could hold his right foot in her hands. "You could do this just fine the other day." "Yeah, well...I forgot to do the exercises, okay? Happy?" Britta didn"t buy it. "So what else is new?" How was he kidding? He always forgot. When Hyp just sighed, she used both of her tiny hands to press against his foot as she had done so many times before. He put up as much resistance as he could, then jumped when the pain overwhelmed his body and dropped his leg. Britta shook her head with flashing eyes and began grinding stiff leaves with a stone. "What happened? I said "walking only"." At least she wasn"t yelling. "Nothing," he said dismissively. "He was tackled in the stomach and got knocked to the ground." "Dad!" His father just had to crack. And what"s more, he made him sound like a total loser. Britta looked Hyp in the eyes, and this was what he hated most. Her eyes were no longer angry, they were just concerned. He didn"t really like making Britta worry any more than he liked making his dad worry. "Hyp," she started warmly, "you have to be more careful or I"m afraid you might not fully recover. You"re lucky they hit you in the very middle and nothing seems to be rebroken." Thanks a lot, Amy. "Alright! I"ll try to be more careful, okay? Can I stay out of the brace when I have to go out? I"ll keep it on in here, but... please, Britta. It"s so embarrassing...." There, he broke down. Again. Britta crossed her arms and managed a nervous sigh. She considered a moment, looking Hyp over again before finally making her decision. "Fine!" She threw up her hands in surrender, then basically pleaded with him. "But please, please try to be careful." Hyp sighed in relief and leaned against the cave wall. "Yes!" he whispered aloud. Britta interjected. "But wear in at all times here. Please. And watch it. Your father worked hard to make that for you." Hyp took one look at his father making up his bed of grass and instantly felt a little guilty. "I know..." he started irritably. "But he would be embarrassed to wear it out, too!" Britta sighed and turned to his father. "Would you be embarrassed?" She was hoping for a "no", of course, but Nicolas turned to look at his son as he thought about his answer. Hyp found the answer in his eyes when he didn"t say anything and pointed at Britta to claim his victory. "Ha! Told ya!" Britta looked frustrated at first, then cracked a smile. "You"re not helping," she told his father. "Nope," his father stated. His dad"s honesty was the best when it worked for him. Britta shook her head and turned her attention back to him, her patient or whatever. "Well, you need to get over what damage was done today by next week because I would like for you to do a therapy session with several others within the next few days. I need you to be able to do some exercises for what we are going to do." Aw, man. Group therapy session? "With who?" he asked curiously. "None of your business." Britta picked up the mixture of stiff leaves she actually thought she was going to get him to take. Hyp crossed his arms, feeling even more irritated by this answer. "Well, I think I should know who I"m going to be embarrassed in front of..." Britta didn"t look as insulted as he had hoped. "You will fit right in because everyone will be doing the same thing you will have to do. If anybody should be embarrassed, it"s me. So stop complaining and take this since you want to get knocked over." Hyp caught that and eyed the bitterest leaves in the valley. He didn"t want to go to sleep. "Yeah right, like you"re going to get me to take th-" Britta quickly jabbed him in the ribs where it hurt and dumped the mixture in his mouth when he opened to cry out. As Hyp did his best to swallow the mixture whole, he thought about how much he really hated this healer sometimes. "I"ll be back in a few days..." The last thing he could remember was hearing Britta say a few instructions for his father before he fell asleep. A few days later, everything was back to normal. He went out for a walk with Mutt and Nod while his father was out. Nothing exciting happened since he could really do anything. So the day mostly consisted of him and Mutt slapping Nod around about his "crush". Nod outright denied it, but was completely worked up when Hyp mentioned getting back at her. His ribs felt so much better, so he decided to stay out until dusk. And he actually got away with it because his father didn"t come after him. He went home on his own, and came to a halt when he spotted his father talking with strangers, which didn"t happen often because it wasn"t his father"s nature. And what"s more, it was a female stranger! With two girls about his age standing behind her looking about as surprised as he was. Now those were rare in the valley. And he should know. He looked. His father, on the other hand, never gave other females of their kind a second thought unless he had to speak with them for council stuff or knew them. Hyp approached self-cautiously, keeping one arms across his middle to keep his ribs from making themselves known. His dad saw him first. For a moment, his expression was grave, then his eyes turned uncertain when he decided something. He gently urged Hyp forward and kept a hand on his shoulder. Hyp barely noticed. When he saw his dad"s expression, he immediately began staring at the girls to figure try to figure out who they were. He spoke to the mother and her girls, sounding uncertain and...sad. "This is my son, Hyp." The mother, possibly the age of his father, gasped and knelt down with a bright smile as if she had found some long lost treasure. "Hi, Hyp." She sounded breath taken as she spoke, but Hyp didn"t mind. He liked her warm, sincere voice. She sounded like a mother. Her dark blue eyes shone with joy as she looked him over. "Well, look at you!" she said. "You look so like your mother." Hyp was shocked. Who would say something like that? Unless... When he looked to his father for answers, his father answered by finishing the introduction with a knowing look. "Hyp, son.... This is Heather. She was your mother"s friend...and your aunt." His aunt! For probably the first time in his life that he knew of, Hyp couldn"t speak. As he stared at all he had ever seen of his long lost family, Heather reached out and squeezed his hand with a smile. "Hyp I know this is very sudden. Your father and I are just as surprised. But... I would like you to meet my daughters if it"s alright." Her gaze shifted from him to his father on the last part. When his father nodded, she stood and urged one of the girls forward. The girl still looked surprised, but immediately made eye contact with him and stepped forward on her own. Hyp wondered which one was his real cousin at first, but this one was probably her because he recognized that wild, eager look in her eyes. He had it, too. She very good looking for a girl of his kind. Unlike him, her mother, and the girl behind them that hadn"t been introduced yet. She had the darker color, a little darker than his own father. She had wild, light green eyes that were a wonder. Hyp guessed Aaron had similar eyes to his mother when he was alive. Like him, she was slight with strong muscles that said she had been a handful of a child. "Hyp, this is Ella. She is my daughter. Ella, this is your cousin Hyp." Heather stepped aside so they could meet. Ella spoke hesitantly, like playing at shyness. "Hi." She threw up a hand as she spoke. "Hey." Hyp didn"t throw up a hand dismissively like he normally would because, well, he was meeting his cousin for the first time while trying to keep his ribs from cracking beneath the weight of standing. Ella noticed and looked down. She gestured to his injury pleasantly. "That...looks painful." Now he really felt self-conscious, but he just chuckled. "Nah," he caught himself waving his free hand dismissively. Ella stepped to the side to talk to his father, her uncle, as Heather walked forward with the other girl. "And this is Lexie. I raise her as my own." Wow! Hyp blinked to keep his eyes from widening. He was afraid he might look all freaky like Nod. Ella was good looking for sure, but Lexie was beautiful. Her sea blue eyes were innocent, and she was a lighter color than him. She stepped forward delicately, revealing a small and slender frame. Even smaller than he and Ella were. Hyp couldn"t help but notice that Heather"s touch on her shoulder was different. Gentle...very gentle. Like his father"s touch when he had first been injured. He wondered why. The way Lexie"s big blue eyes drifted to the ground a moment revealed that she might be somewhat shy. She didn"t bother with another greeting all the same. "It"s nice to meet you. And I hope everything gets...better." Say something. All he did was shrug. "Yeah, me too." Lexie giggled a sweet laugh just as his father laid a hand on her shoulder. "I"m afraid it"s almost time to go in." Heather looked to the sky, which only had a stream of light left in it. "We still have to fix our beds." Hyp felt his dad straighten. "Do you need help finding your place? It"s getting dark. Hyp and I might be able to help." Heather shook her head and gestured to the little cave that was basically right across from them. "No, we are just over there so I think we will be seeing each other. An old longneck pointed out this cave for us. He was very kind." "He is." He apparently wasn"t moving any, so his dad ushered him toward their cave. "Okay, it"s good to see you. Maybe Hyp can show the girls around the valley. How about it, son?" Hyp startled. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure..." Dad! How would he explain that to Mutt and Nod? Both girls giggled for some reason. Ella waved at him as Heather ushered them both home. "Nice to meet you." Lexie just waved over her shoulder in the most graceful way. Yes! Hyp threw up a hand. "Yeah, see ya." His father kept a hand on his shoulder as they walked into their own home. "Are you okay, son?" Hyp really didn"t know. His heart still missed a thud from the story of his mother and their lost family. He hadn"t even been able to tell Mutt and Nod about it yet, even though they both had missing parents as well. But now her best friend and his aunt had returned, after all these years, to live in the valley. And there was a strong possibility that more of his family might be alive. Yet...he would never know his mother. It didn"t seem fair. Really, he was worried for his father, but he couldn"t read anything in his face. The only thing he got was concern, and it was for him. He gave a simple answer for now to keep his father from worrying. "I guess..." His father just sighed and began tightening that stupid brace around him so he could sleep. Britta said that if he tossed the wrong way, he could redamage everything. So paranoid. He wanted just once to breathe when he slept again. Hyp silently gasped when his father gathered it too tight from the back. "Sorry, son." His father loosened it. He was distracted. Hyp tried to distract him again. "Dad? Why did Heather come here? After all this time?" His father kept working with the brace. "I don"t know, son." A hesitation before he voiced what was really on his mind. "Do you think anyone else is alive? You know, like Ace, or...maybe my grandparents?" His father decided it was too loose after all and retightened it again. "Most likely. I never doubted they were alive. I just didn"t know where they were." Hyp tightened his grip on the cave wall to steady himself. "What makes you so sure?" His father made sure the brace held up and sighed. "Ace and Abram were always strong. They would make sure everyone that could managed to survive." Another pause. "Dad?" "What, son?" Hyp didn"t know how to ask, so he decided to be blunt as usual. "Do you want to see them again?" His dad just looked at him. "Yes. Yes, our course I would." "Then why didn"t you try to find them before? I mean, why didn"t we go with them to begin with?" His dad"s voice grew softer for some reason. "I told you. I was angry." Another pause. "Dad?" "What?" "Do you think Heather knows where they are?" "I don"t know, son!" "Well okay, then!" They glared at each other for a moment, and then broke into chuckles because now it was just funny. There were just too many questions and not enough answers right now. It wasn"t often his dad really smiled much, but he was as he patted Hyp"s shoulder before settling down on his own bed. Hyp was about to settle down himself when he noticed the gaps in the streams of long grass that hung down at the front of their cave. They were nothing new, just enough to offer shelter. But Hyp suddenly didn"t want anybody seeing him in this brace. Even in their home. "Aw, man!" He walked over and began tugging at them so that they would cover the whole mouth of the cave. His father noticed. "They"re not going to close, Hyp." Hyp gave up and flung the piece he was fidgeting with aside. "Hey, Dad. Are Lexie and Ella both my cousins?" His dad was already lying on his stomach, but lifted his head to search his face. "Ella is the daughter of Aaron and Heather. Lexie was the daughter of Max and Callie. Heather raises her. Why?" Hyp didn"t answer because he didn"t really know why he wanted to know. "Was Max and Callie related to us?" Now his father just sounded exasperated because he apparently caught the reason. "No, son. Lexie is not really your cousin." "Well, I was just asking," Hyp said with an edge. His father gave him the "yeah, sure" look. "Well, I was." Another look. It was no use. "Time for bed, Hyp." Hyp sighed and shuffled around. As soon as he got comfortable, he drifted into sleep. As soon as they saw Ella and Lexie the next morning and learned that they would be showing them around the valley, Mutt and Nod immediately inquired about who they were. Since it was complicated, Hyp put it into the simplest terms with an edgy tone so he wouldn"t have to explain. "They"re my cousins." "Whoa. I didn"t know you had any of those, Hyp." Nod looked confused. "Well, I do. So let"s go, you creeps." It was then that he noticed Mutt staring at his cousin as if she were the most wondrous creature in the valley. "Wow..." he whispered. Uh-uh. Hyp grabbed Mutt by the skin of his throat and pulled so he had no choice but to look at him instead. "You got a staring problem, dope? Now, come on!" Ella and Lexie waved cheerfully as they approached. Hyp waved back. "Hey, guys. These are my friends, Mutt and Nod. They wanted to tag along today. Hope you don"t mind." He turned to Mutt and Nod with a reinforcing look because they had already been instructed on what to do. By him and his father, who didn"t seem too thrilled about them going at all. "Act right," he"d said. "Guys, this is Ella and Lexie." Lexie just smiled, but Ella just threw up a hand. "Hi!" "Hey," Nod answered as friendly as he probably knew how. Mutt just stared. "Ella? Lexie!" A familiar voice called from the bushes to the side. Ella and Lexie both spun on their heels and ran when they saw who it was. "Amy!" Lexie cried. No! No no no. Amy stepped from the bushes and walked into Ella"s hug. Really, why did girls squeal so much? "Amy, it"s been forever!" Ella squeezed her head. "I know. What are you guys doing here?" Amy actually sounded friendly. "We just got here yesterday. We"re going to see the valley today." "Well, it"s amazing." Amy stooped to allow Lexie to climb onto her back like Hyp sometimes did with Nod. Ella startled and helped her up with that same gentle touch Heather had used last night. Hyp watched Lexie as she climbed and she seemed to manage perfectly well. What was wrong? She seemed fine. Hyp and Amy caught a glance at each other, then turned to the Ella and Lexie and asked the same question in unison. "How do you know them?" Ella caught a rivalry and tilted her head. "Well, Amy is an old friend we haven"t seen in forever...and Hyp is my cousin we just met. These are his friends." Amy narrowed her eyes. "Uh-huh." Lexie was hoping to smooth things over, and explained further in a gentle tone. "We met Amy a long time ago as we traveled. And Amy, Hyp is Ella"s lost cousin that we just met last night. He is going to show us around the valley." After an awkward silence, she changed the subject. "You should come with us!" No! But it was too late. Ella jumped in. "Yeah, Amy!" She looked to the group, and Hyp figured he was the only one who caught that familiar mischief in her eyes. "We could all catch up." Yeah, right. Hyp gave Amy a desperate plea with his eyes, but she wasn"t paying attention. "I"m not goin" nowhere!" she protested. Ella crossed her arms. A few minutes and words later, they were on their way. With Amy. Great. As soon as they got to the main river, they all stopped to get a drink so Hyp could point out everything that could be seen around it. The hatchlings were splashing around in the water playing some game. "Aw!" Lexie turned to watch them. "They are so cute!" Ella stepped forward to the water and took a drink. "Whatever," Hyp muttered. Amy heard and shot him a look to tell him not to blow it. So far, she hadn"t said anything. And for some reason, he didn"t want her to. Lexie spotted someone else she already knew. "Hey, Britta!" Britta rose from her afternoon in the sun and started walking over. "Hey!" Well, wasn"t that a miracle? You usually couldn"t get Britta away from her sun spot for anything when the sun began to set. She hadn"t even been in the valley that long, and Hyp had already figured that out. Whenever he would tease her about it, she would just confirm it and drop what she was doing so she could catch the sunset. And now, Lexie had gotten her to come over with no effort at all. Hyp gave her a teasing look. "Gee, do you know the whole Great Valley?" Lexie shook her head. "No, we just met Britta last night on our way to our new home." Hyp smiled at her. "Do you need a tour of the valley, or did Gramps take care of that already?" Lexie gave the sweetest giggle before Britta approached. Britta folded both arms on Amy"s back like she owned the valley and smiled at the girls. "How is everyone doing?" Amy was just fine with it, even smiled at Britta. What? Did girls just bond by looking at each other, or something? How did they know each other? Ella answered first. "We"re good. Hyp and his friends are showing us around." Britta took one look at Hyp and his friend and let out a mocking breath. "You"re letting Hyp and his friends show you around the valley? Are you sure you"re okay?" she asked flatly. ""Course they"re okay!" Hyp cast a teasing glare at Britta, who retorted with a sly smile. "Do you know where you"re going?" Oh, she just sounded so harmless and curious. Hyp snorted. "Better than you." "Well, start the tour." Britta smarted off. Hyp sighed. "So the Smoking Mountains are to the left...." "You mean to the right?" Britta caught him already. Hyp sighed and crossed his arms as everyone laughed. Lexie giggled when she saw Britta was right. Amy chortled. "Can you not tell directions?!" "Shut up," Hyp said, not even having the energy to sound edgy. Ella laughed. "I think Britta needs to check your vision, Hyp!" she teased. Mutt and Nod both burst into guffaws despite his piercing glares. Britta remained silent and just smiled because her damage was done. Hyp guessed their unspoken score was tied now. He would get her back later. Hyp yelled at everyone. "Are we going to do this thing or not?" Ella was the first to recover. "Yeah, yeah. Want to come, Britta?" Hyp interjected before she could answer. "No, she doesn"t. She would miss her sunset." "How do you know?" Lexie asked curiously. "Ask Amy." When everyone looked at her, Amy rolled her eyes. "Umm hmm... she don"t miss those." "That"s right." Britta straightened and smiled at him as she walked off. "Be good," she said meaningfully. Health and social wise. "Sure," he answered begrudgingly. "Well, are we going or not?" Amy asked. "Yeah." "Wait!" said Ella. "I want to meet those kids over there." They ended up with the little longneck and his gang whether Hyp and his friends liked it or not. Yep, Ella was his cousin alright. The hatchlings were friendly enough. Everyone introduced themselves except for the threehorn, who was always introduced indirectly anyway. As they talked, Hyp stole a glance back at Britta and startled when he saw her talking with that Pterano guy. They were both practically crying. Why? That flyer would be moved to the top of his list if he made Britta cry. "Hyp, everyone"s ready to go now. Are we going?" Nod"s voice snapped him back to his task. "Ugh, yeah sure." Hyp cast one most quick glance Britta"s way before treading from the water with a whole trail or adolescents and hatchling trailing behind him.

-Angelwriter84 ... Chapter 1: A New Day Shere Khan The mighty hunter breathed the chilly air deeply through his nose and exhaled slowly without opening his eyes. The air was clean, misty, and chilly. Early morning..... It was true he was an early riser, but to rouse this early was out of the ordinary. Shere Khan shifted a bit and huffed. How odd.... But the sound of rustling and the feel of a tiny paw pawing timidly at his muzzle told him that it wasn"t really odd at all. The great tiger felt a proud smile of amusement spread across his face as he opened his eyes to find a pair of tiny blue eyes staring back at him. He could just make out the tiny silhouette of his daughter as she leapt at the sight of his waking. His heart melted when she rubbed her tiny cheek against his muzzle. After a few seconds, he pulled back to look her in the face. "Yes?" He questioned her actions in a gentle, playful tone. Chara couldn"t quite talk yet, but she was a clever little cub. He already knew exactly what she wanted, but he and Shere Ki always encouraged her to show them what she wanted in some way. Chara rested both forepaws on his foreleg for a moment and glanced over at her mother, who was still in the deepest of sleep. Shere Khan tilted his head quizzically. What do you want? Seeing his expression, Chara darted to her mother"s side and pushed on her side with both forepaws; the effort proved in vain when Shere Ki made no movement. Chara faced him and sat down with an expression that said all hope was lost. Shere Khan smiled. "Ahhh...." He knew what she wanted. It was time for her to nurse, but she couldn"t get Shere Ki to wake up. Shere Khan smiled. He always hated to wake Shere Ki when she was sleeping so peacefully, but what else was he to do with his daughter"s eyes growing bigger with every second? Shere Khan rose up and prodded under his mate"s jaw with his nose. "Shere Ki?" "Hmmm....." Her question came out as a sigh as she shifted and dozed back into sleep. Shere Khan smiled and licked her cheek repeatedly until she winced and opened her eyes. "Stop, Shere Khan.... What is it?" He raised his eyebrows at her weary tone. Little Chara jumped and darted to nuzzle her mother at the sound of her voice. Shere Khan smirked at Shere Ki"s knowing expression. "She wants me to move, doesn"t she?" Shere Khan nodded. "Expressive little one, isn"t she?" "Tell me about it." Shere Ki rolled onto her side with dreaded expression, knowing that her time of rest was over for the day. Little Chara leapt before them and rested one paw on Shere Ki"s side as she began to nurse. Shere Khan stepped over and lay down on the other side of Shere Ki to give her something to lean against. Shere Ki sighed in relief and leaned her head back to rest on his shoulder. She licked the side of his face lovingly before closing her eyes again. When he noticed she wasn"t relaxing, he kissed the top of her head and spoke in a quiet tone. "Maybe she will take another nap when she is full?" Shere Ki chuckled softly. "If we"re lucky." She was right; Chara was an adventurous one....always ready to start the day. Shere Khan raised an eyebrow. "Are you hungry?" Shere Ki kept her eyes closed. "No. I"m just so tired....." Shere Khan pretended to consider something. "Clearly...." He muttered thoughtfully. "Then it seems there is nothing for me to do this morning...." When Shere Ki didn"t respond, he nuzzled her under the jaw. "If she refuses to sleep, maybe I can spend time with her while you rest...." Shere Ki opened her eyes in surprise. "Oh, Shere Khan....really?" He nodded. "She"s getting old enough now. And why not? I may as well "make myself useful"." He tiled his head from side to side to emphasize the phrase he was repeating back to her from the night before. Shere Ki"s beautiful brown eyes grew serious, making the big brown irises melt softly into the gold around them. "You know I didn"t mean that. You do enough. It"s just that....." Shere Khan nuzzled her to say that nothing more needed to be said. Shere Ki looked him in the eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. Shere Khan rested his chin on her shoulder as she closed her eyes once more and began to relax. "Oh, the pleasures of raising a cub...." Shere Ki laughed at Shere Khan"s ironic tone and stroked Chara"s back with a paw before drifting into sleep. Shere Khan rested his head on hers with a hint of worry. Shere Ki had been very tired lately....was it really that she wasn"t getting enough rest? He shook his head to clear his worry as he remembered their last visit to the home of Bagheera and Salena. The tiny cavern was quite lively with four newborn panthers to care for. Now that the cubs had just opened their eyes they were, of course, into everything and all over the place. Especially one of the little male cubs, Seth. That was the only name out of the four that Shere Khan remembered because Salena and Bagheera had to say it so often..... ..... "Seth! Get down!" Salena and Shere Ki forgot all about their talk when they spotted Seth and Chara climbing up a mound of rocks near the entrance to the cave. Shere Ki noticed that Chara was on a loose rock and rose into a sitting position. Shere Khan saw the danger and intervened. "Chara." The little cub"s blue eyes met his at the sound of his calm voice. Shere Khan retained his composure as he gave her his request. "Down." Chara started to obey, but stopped when the rock wiggled under her paws. For a moment, neither cub moved. Fed up, Salena stood and approached her son irritably. "I said down, Seth. Now!" At the sound of his mother"s tone, Seth scurried up to Chara"s rock, making it slide from the mound. Little Seth fell to the side of the mound and rolled on the ground a few times before stopping. Chara fell from the rock and skidded down the mound while the heavy rock fell just past her back paws and tumbled down to the jungle floor. Had the rock fallen on Chara or Seth, it could have hurt them badly....the rock was so heavy, and they were both just so tiny. All three adult jungle cats sighed in relief once the rock hit the ground. Shere Ki removed Chara from the mound and set her on the ground to examine her. "Are you hurt, baby?" Chara looked bewildered, but smiled as her mother nuzzled her. Shere Khan felt his heart slow at the sight of her smile, meaning no harm was done. Chara noticed that her one of her forepaws was dirty and would do nothing but concentrate on cleaning it for the next few minutes. When Shere Khan nudged her in the side with his nose a few minutes later, she looked at him as if he were bothering her and set to work again. Shere Khan smiled when Shere Ki"s tinkling laugh sounded when she saw his look. Meanwhile, Salena had retrieved a startled, but unharmed Seth and brought him back with her; worry had apparently melted her annoyance into weariness. Salena opened her jaws and set her mischievous son down gently. "Oh, Seth...." She lay down and wrapped her forelegs around him before rubbing his nose with hers. "When will you ever listen?" Seth looked almost apologetic at her exasperated tone and reached up to lick her cheek. Salena looked touched and smiled down at her son. "And why should I believe you this time?" Seth gave her a look that said he had nothing. Shere Khan had just noticed that his siblings had appeared, staring over Salena"s foreleg at their brother. Everything about the oldest male cub reminded Shere Khan of Bagheera at that age. Every feature....every expression.....the intelligent gleam in his yellow eyes and serious look on his face.....everything. He was now wearing his father"s stern look as he looked disapprovingly at his brother. The youngest girl had Salena"s structure, if not smaller, and Bagheera"s eyes and nose....but anyone could see that she was a frail one. Her sweet nature overcame her as she managed to touch her nose to her brother"s. The oldest girl, an exact replica of Salena AND her mother, displayed her mother"s personality when she gave her sister a look that seemed to say "boys are dumb" and turned a sweet expression to her mother. Shere Khan barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Aw, how sweet they are." Shere Ki chimed as she nuzzled the top of the oldest girl"s head. "They are still babies." The little cub looked nervous at first, but then her ears pricked up when she decided to trust Shere Ki. A sweet smile crossed her face as her crystal blue eyes darted to quickly look at Shere Ki before turning back to her mother. As he thought, Chara got a little jealous and crossed over to her mother. She rested her heavy eyes on Shere Ki"s face and stood with both her tiny paws resting on her mother"s. It was never the little panther cub"s intent, however, to upset anyone. She walked over to her mother and rested both paws on her foreleg to get her attention. "What is it, Lydia?" Salena"s blue eyes reflected her daughter"s as she smiled at her. Sensing his attention had been stolen, Seth leaned over and pawed at his sister"s muzzle, causing her sassy side to reappear. She reared on her back paws and used both front paws to push him over dismissively before returning to her previous engagement. She made a small cooing noise and touched her paw daintily to her mother"s side before returning it to the ground and gazing at her mother with an expectant smile. Salena sighed. "Again? Already?!" Lydia gazed humbly at the ground as if she weren"t sure what that meant and repeated her action again before turning to her mother with that same look. Picking up on what she was asking for, Seth leapt from his mother"s forelegs and darted to his mother"s side, causing Lydia to fall backward. "Sounds like somebody"s hungry." Shere Ki teased Salena with a knowing smile. Before Salena could respond, Lydia had rolled to her feet and stepped over Seth to reclaim her spot. Shere Khan let out a calm, charming laugh. "Timid for one so small, isn"t she?" A mischievous gleam shone in Salena"s eyes as she managed a sweet, amused expression. "Isn"t she sweet? She gets it from me." The sarcasm behind her cooing tone was evident as the setting sun. "Indeed." Shere Khan could tell by the smile on Salena"s face that the ice behind his agreement was not missed. Somewhere in the midst of their last adventures together, he and Salena had found common ground. Enough to be distant friends, at least. But old habits die hard. They still fought from time to time. Shere Ki sighed as she examined her daughter, who was now dozing next to her paw. "I think it"s time we headed home." Salena followed her gaze to Chara. "Oh.... Well maybe so. Wish my cubs would do that." Shere Ki ran a paw down Chara"s back soothingly. "It"s a rare occasion." Salena giggled before turning sincere again. "Wish you didn"t have to go so soon. I"m sorry Bagheera wasn"t home." "Don"t be. He works hard to keep the jungle people in peace." Shere Ki rubbed her cheek against Salena"s as a goodbye and stood. "I can"t believe the rhinos stampeded on the wolves" territory." "One of the pack"s puppies were hurt. That makes it a difficult situation." Salena glanced at her own newborn cubs, who were staring at her with curiosity. Shere Ki looked worried. "But the puppy is....alive?" "For now." Salena"s low tone gave away the seriousness of the situation. Shere Ki saw the worry in her eyes, and spoke with a steady voice. "Bagheera is a good voice of reason, Salena. He and Akela will fix things between the wolves and rhinos." "I hope it"s soon.....he"s so exhausted." Shere Ki rested a paw on Salena"s foreleg reassuringly before stepping back. "We will come visit again soon." "Oh, please do. I would come to you, but..." She looked back at her four newborn cubs to explain the rest. "Absolutely not. Not until they are bigger. Besides, I think Chara enjoys the walk." Shere Khan didn"t miss Shere Ki"s slight sigh as she picked up a sleeping Chara by the scruff of her neck and began walking ahead, leaving Shere Khan to bid goodbye. As he stood to follow, he noticed the exasperated look on Salena"s face when Seth"s attention was caught by a butterfly. "She is exhausted." Salena followed his gaze. "You"re worried about Shere Ki, aren"t you?" Shere Khan managed a cool smile as an answer as Seth darted for the butterfly. "It seems she could use some of his energy." Salena sighed and raised her eyes to the sky as the stepped on her son"s tail to keep him from going any further. "Me too," she said humorously. Shere Khan smiled teasingly, twitching his tail as he turned to go. "Shere Khan?" He turned to see what the young mother wanted. Her crystal blue eyes told him she got his message. "Keep an eye on her for me." Shere Khan made eye contact as a thanks before walking away. Before they were out of sight of the panthers" home, Bagheera leapt down from the trees to greet them. "Going already?" Shere Ki couldn"t talk, so she smiled around Chara"s scruff and looked to Shere Khan. Shere Khan glanced at his sleeping daughter. "Her idea." Bagheera smiled knowingly. "Well....they always know best." Shere Khan caught the exhaustion in the panther"s voice, and noticed his half open eyes focusing on his family not far away. Good, he could make this short. He and Bagheera still struggled with conversation at times. "Was an agreement reached?" Bagheera knew exactly what he meant and replied hesitantly. "Just an agreement to let it rest for a few days. That"s all." He didn"t know how Bagheera kept his temper. It was times like this he was glad situations only came to him when they were serious; otherwise, half the jungle would be ripped to shreds. But still....the injury or death of a cub was not easily overlooked. Shere Khan kept his voice calm and cool. "Should I intervene?" Bagheera made sincere eye contact with him now. "Not now." "I"ll decide within the next few days." Bagheera, for a change, didn"t argue, which made gave the Great Tiger an idea of what the decision would be. Shere Ki cut her eyes to meet his. Time to make conversation lighter. Shere Khan raised his eyebrow with a mischievous grin. "Any word from the bears?" Bagheera cracked a smile before a small note of rich laughter escaped him. "Not a word." He took his cue to start walking to his family. "They will turn up." Shere Khan raised his eyes thoughtfully to the sky, making the Shere Ki giggle and nudge him before continuing. Over his shoulder, Shere Khan could see Bagheera rubbing noses with Salena. They both looked exhausted....but so happy it didn"t matter anymore. All four cubs raised their heads to greet their father before going back to nursing. Bagheera lay down beside Salena and said something with a sweet smile, making her laugh and shake her head before resting it on his shoulder. Bagheera kissed the top of her head and watched his cubs. All was well for now. Shere Khan turned away and gently took Chara from Shere Ki, who smiled and kissed his cheek before following him home.... ...The sound of thunder rumbling in the distance shook him out of his thoughts. On second thought, it seemed everyone would be sleeping in today. Shere Khan looked back to see that his cub had long finished and for a change, had curled up and gone back to sleep. Her blue eyes opened with tears at the sound of the thunder. His daughter afraid of storms? But she was still very small....and being aware of the danger of the climate was a good thing. Shere Khan nuzzled her to quiet her sniffling, forgetting his calm, cool nature as he comforted his only daughter. "Ssshhh.....Chara.....you know you will be safe." He scooped her up with his jaws and cradled her in his forelegs. "You know I will never let anything happen to you or your mother." For a moment, her beautiful blue eyes surrounded by gold met his....and like every time they did, he was staring into the eyes of his mother. Shere Khan kissed the top of her head. "Get some rest." After a moment, Chara stood and spun in a slow circle before curling up against one of his forelegs. His heart nearly broke for his daughter....she was still so small, and so innocent. "I will always protect you." He knew his voice was almost inaudible. Next to him, Shere Ki was shivering. Shere Khan nudged her awake. When a glare was shot in his direction, he ignored it. "You"re shivering." Shere Ki tried to steady herself. "The....the wind...." "Come on the other side of me to keep warm." Shere Ki rose up to obey, then turned to find a missing cub. "Chara?" "I have her." Shere Ki smiled when she saw Chara sleeping peacefully next to his foreleg. "Will you both be warm enough?" She shook her head when he raised an eyebrow and crawled on the other side of him. As she made herself comfortable, she teased him. "Quality time?" "Inside today." What in the jungle does she expect me to do? As if she read his mind, she nuzzled him as she said just the right thing. "I don"t know what we would do without you." "Maybe you will never have to figure that out." Shere Khan lay awake a while after she drifted back into sleep. Listening to the wind howl. Every time Chara flinched, he nuzzled her until she relaxed again. Finally, after years of waiting, he was at peace. Knowing the ones he cared about were safe. Hey guys, so I know it"s been a while... I"m so sorry! I hope you guys are still interested in the story. I couldn"t get away from school projects, and I was working on another project this summer. But anyway, here we are. It"s short. Not much happens. It"s just a cute moment with the panther family that I managed to piece together. Please enjoy and review! At any rate, this story is much more flexible than the last one I posted on here. So I"m wondering... What would you guys like to see the cubs do? It might just be a bunch of moments and side-adventures, so I am very open to ideas. Until next time! -Angelwriter84 Chapter 2 Cold Night Salena Salena rested for a while after she woke up, grateful for the feeling of Bagheera"s warmth still beside her as the chilly air blew through the mouth of the cave. The cubs had all huddled together, and were sleeping on the other side of her. She wished they would sleep as long as they could because she didn"t want them out in the strangely cool morning. It seemed the wind was coming from the northern mountains today. She stole a glance at Bagheera, who rested his head heavily on his forepaws as he snored quietly, which was what he did when he was very exhausted. Her heart melted for him as she gently licked his cheek as a kiss and leaned her head against his shoulder. She wanted him to sleep in as late as he could, as well. She would have liked to get up and go hunt for them, but that was practically asking to wake up the whole cave. Just then, little Mayra sneezed in response to the cool air and rubbed at her nose with her forepaw before going back to sleep. Seth, being the closest to her, startled and lifted his head with heavy eyes. No..... Salena quickly lifted him by the scruff of his neck and placed him between her forelegs so that he would go back to sleep without waking up his siblings and possibly irritating his father. Seth tried to jump out a few times at first, but settled down when he was sure nothing was happening and nestled against the bend of her foreleg as she nuzzled him back to sleep. As soon as he was still again, she turned to check on little Mayra. She was the smallest and frailest of their four cubs. She and her mother, Maya, had been concerned for her when they were first born. She pulled through fine when she regained some strength, but was still very likely to catch a sickness. She was so small compared to her siblings. Just as she was considering picking her up as well, she felt Bagheera stir beside her. He reached over and gently lifted his youngest daughter with his paw and placed her in the crook of his foreleg. She looked around in confusion a moment, then decided it was warmer there anyway and curled back into a ball with her tail wrapped around her body. Salena jumped when she felt something rub against her side. Lydia was awake now. Slightly jealous of her siblings, she rubbed her cheek against Salena"s side to get her attention. A half smile turned the corner of Bagheera"s mouth. "Just like her mother, hmm?" he whispered. Salena rolled her eyes and lifted her head so Lydia could jump into her forelegs with Seth. Bagheera tilted his head. "May as well get Kalith." Salena looked back at their oldest son, who was still curled into a ball sound asleep. "He seems happy," Salena said. Kalith was the spitting image of his father, in attitude and appearance. He startled awake when Salena tried to reach her paw back and grab him. He rolled out of the way just in time, uninterested in being moved. He let out a sleepy meow of complaint when Salena used her teeth to grab him by the scruff of the neck and lifted him up. She placed him in the bend of Bagheera"s foreleg and watched and he irritably paced around and curled back into a ball. "Just like you," she hissed. "Huh," Bagheera chortled and nuzzled her cheek. Salena rested her head back on his shoulder and smiled when he rested his head on top of hers.

To her horror, Shere Ki saw her cub slip into the deep end and disappear into the current. She didn"t see her come back up. Shere Khan must have jumped in after her first, because she had to stop to wipe her eyes when another cascade of water washed over her. She frantically looked around and saw that Dhara, Baloo"s apparent mate from the other side of the jungle where she used to live, was trying to look for Chara as well. Baloo was floating towards them, and used a branch to come to a stop, but was holding their newest bear cub hardly anyone knew anything about. All they knew was that he was called Baloo Jr. Shere Ki stayed when she was, watching for Chara to resurface. She sighed in relief when Shere Khan found her underwater and resurfaced with the nape of her neck in his mouth, trying his best to keep her head above water. Baloo and Dhara tried to get him to swim to them, since they were closer. But Shere Khan, being the prideful tiger he was, made the swim to where Shere Ki was. The mother tigress took her gagging daughter from Shere Khan"s jaws and quickly carried her to dry land. Shere Ki patted her daughter"s back as she coughed up the river water from her lungs. When she was sure Chara was alright, she nuzzled her and wrapped her forelegs around her to keep her warm as she continued to cough. She looked up at Shere Khan, still dripping wet and panting as he bent over to check on his daughter. She licked his cheek as kiss for a brief moment before scolding him. "That"s why." He got the reference to why she"d wanted to start with basics before, like swimming. He rolled his eyes, looking a little tired. "Fine." Shere Ki pointed down at their shivering cub to emphasize her point. "This is why." "Fine," he replied a slightly more impatient tone as he nuzzled his daughter. Chara managed a grin that looked a little too much like her father"s, and nuzzled him back in relief that she wasn"t in trouble. Baloo and Dhara finally came out of the water with Baloo Jr. "Hey, Stripes! Didn"t you teach that cub how to swim?" Baloo called out to Shere Khan. Shere Khan raised an eyebrow, but kept his tone cool when Shere Ki gave him a look. "Obviously not. Didn"t you teach yours?" Baloo plopped BJ down in front of Chara, who was now sitting up. The young bear cub rolled back on his bottom, grabbed his toes, and offered her a sweet lazy smile. He was the spitting image of Baloo, except his fur was a darker blue color and he didn"t had claws yet. "No need. He floats." ... Bagheera Bagheera took his oldest son by the nape of his neck and held him close to the tree he and Salena had carefully selected for this very moment. Kalith latched to the tree on instinct, but gave his father an uncertain look when he let him go. "Alright, Kalith. Up you go," Bagheera instructed calmly. When Kalith noticed his siblings eagerly awaiting their turn to learn to climb the tree and didn"t move, Bagheera reassured him. "I"ll help you." Bagheera watched with a proud grin as Kalith gathered his courage with a serious expression similar to his own and began to clumsily ascend the tree. Salena took a nervous step forward, blue eyes wide open as she watched her son climb higher and higher into the tree. "Don"t let him fall." "I"m not going to let him fall," Bagheera scoffed as he began to quickly ascend the tree to trail behind Kalith, just in case anything should go wrong. But with Kalith being the bright cub he was, he made it to the lowest branch in no time with little trouble. Bagheera proudly carried him down since climbing down...was for another day. As soon as Bagheera put Kalith down, Salena and his siblings nuzzled him. "Good job, Kalith!" Seth, eager to prove his own ability, darted up to the tree and latched on to it. "Oh, Seth. Hold on, son. It"s not your turn," Bagheera laughed. "Your mother is going to teach Lydia. Then you and I will go." Before Seth could object, his sister used his back as a boost and succeeded in latching her front claws into the tree. Salena shook her head and used her nose to give her daughter a better boost so that her back paws dug into the tree as well. "Go ahead," Salena assured her. "I"m right behind you." Lydia gave her mother the brightest of smiles and proceeded to climb the tree. She was quite graceful, and seemed to plan every step she took. Bagheera couldn"t help but chuckle at how much like her mother she really was. Lydia used the exact same knot Kalith had stepped on before to brace herself in order to make the leap to the top branch, but was badly startled when it suddenly cracked and fell from underneath her. Bagheera already had his front paws on the tree when she started to fall. Salena, however, was quick to catch her daughter by the tail and pull her back up to latch on to the tree. She used one of her paws to steady her Lydia"s back until she could calm down. She gently nuzzled a shaken Lydia"s cheek. "It happens, sweetheart. Are you alright?" "I"m okay, Mama..." Lydia finally managed, still trembling. Bagheera was relieved to see Salena continue the lesson. "So what are you going to do now?" Lydia thought it over and climbed to the opposite side of the branch she wanted to reach, then made the jump successfully with a triumphant smile. Salena nuzzled her exact replica of a daughter. "Very good, Lydia! I"m so proud of you!" She picked Lydia up by the nape of her neck and brought her back down the tree. Now it was Seth"s turn. He was pacing back and forth, eagerly waiting for Bagheera to give him the go ahead. Bagheera nodded to the tree. "Alright, Seth. Now it"s your turn- Not so fast.... Not so fast!" Salena had to jump out of the way so Bagheera could latch on to the tree to catch up with Seth. There was no argument that Seth might grow to be the fastest of the four, and possibly the best hunter. It was certainly a known fact that he was the most mischevious. As a cub, however, this worried Salena and Bagheera to no end. Baby panther cubs were easy prey to anything bigger than they were. Which was just about anything else that wasn"t another cub. Due to climbing so quickly, and not paying attention to where he was going, Seth lost his footing once. Bagheera barely caught him by giving him a boost that put him right back to where he"d been. Before Bagheera could tell him what he did wrong, he was right back at it again. Seth made it to the top branch in record time, but Bagheera was winded by the time he got up there. He took a deep breath and gave his son a look. At the same time, he couldn"t help but smile a little as Seth cackled. "Ah, son..." Bagheera sighed. "You never listen." "I want to go higher!" the cub interjected. "No, son. It"s Mayra"s turn." Bagheera brought Seth back down and turned his attention to Salena and Mayra. He knew their youngest cub would probably require both of their attention. By now, Shere Ki and Shere Khan had brought Chara back from the river and were nearby watching the cubs play, so they were free to help Mayra. Salena had her ready. Bagheera and Salena hesitated when they saw Baloo with Dhara and BJ with the Tiger family. Salena was the first to pick on Baloo. "And where have you two been?" "None of your beeswax!" Baloo retorted. Salena greeted Dhara and gently played with BJ for a quick moment. He laughed a little as she tickled his tummy with her paw. Bagheera couldn"t help but chuckle as he raised an eyebrow at Baloo. "Ha... He looks just like you." Baloo shrugged. "You"ve all seen him before." "Yeah. Once. Before our cubs could talk!" Salena looked at Dhara with a smile. "And we still don"t know what happened with you two! Can he talk yet?" Dhara shook her head. "Not quite yet. But we"re getting there. When he"s hungry he goes, "Mama!'" They all laughed when Seth discovered that he could take his forepaws and push back on BJ to make him roll backwards. The adults smiled when all the cubs laughed and gathered around to play with one another. Seth and Chara engaged in a game of chase before Seth turned his attention back to BJ. As Salena asked Shere Ki about Chara"s fishing lesson, Shere Khan delicately sat down beside Bagheera, making his presence known. "How is the climbing lesson? My mate just made it perfectly clear we might be doing this with Chara soon, rather than starting on the hunt." He sounded a little resentful towards Shere Ki. "Oh, we still have one to go," he answered. Right now, Mayra was huddled between Bagheera"s forelegs, awaiting her turn. Shere Khan briefly studied her condition. "And you believe she is up for it?" Bagheera was a little taken aback by the Great Tiger"s question. Everyone knew that Mayra was weak, and that they were hoping she would get stronger, but he wasn"t ready for someone to voice this out loud. They knew well what might happen if Mayra didn"t get stronger. They didn"t need anyone to tell them... Did they? Before he could answer, Salena crouched in front of Mayra, full of enthusiasm. "Are you ready to do this?" Bagheera gently nuzzled their frail little cub. "Are you ready?" "I"m ready, Daddy," she assured him. Salena and Bagheera shared a nervous glance. Mayra was so much smaller than her siblings, so much weaker. It would be harder for her to keep her grip on the tree. Bagheera lifted Mayra within their reach and gave her time to latch onto it before letting go. Salena used her paw to support her back. It took Mayra a little time to steady herself. "I"m ready, Mama," she said steadily. Bagheera frowned. He could see she was still shaking as she spoke. "Okay, just remember it"s okay if you don"t make it to the top today, Mayra. We will keep practicing. We just want you to get stronger," Salena said. Mayra nodded, but Bagheera knew by the look in her eyes she was determined to make it to the top like her brothers and sisters. She slowly put one paw in front of the other, scaling the tree. Salena followed closely behind, steadying her when she looked like she might lose her grip and fall. Bagheera put his forepaws on the trunk and watched nervously, ready to catch her if something happened. Mayra stayed strong until she was halfway up the tree, then stopped. She rested her head on the tree from lack of strength and began to slide down. Salena let Mayra slide onto her nose and rest a moment. "Do you want to go back down, Mayra? It"s okay if you do," Salena encouraged her quietly. "No," Mayra answered sadly. "I want to make it to the branch." "If you feel strong enough, try again. I"m right here," Salena said calmly. Bagheera watched nervously as Mayra placed her paws on the tree, ready to attempt completing the climb from halfway up the trunk. Salena gave her a boost with her nose to get her going, and followed closely behind. Bagheera startled when Baloo pointed out his nervousness. "Gee, Baggy... You"re one paw away from scalin" the tree yourself!" He turned his head to the source of the noise, only to see Baloo and Shere Khan only inches away from him on his left. Shere Khan was twitching his tail and watching him with a coy smile, while Baloo wore that same old half smile anyone who knew him had seen many times. He then saw that he had three paws on the tree, and one off the ground. He sighed and slowly lowered his left back paw to the ground. It was quite the struggle to keep it there. "That"s my youngest daughter," he explained solemnly. Shere Khan watched Mayra with interest, but Baloo tried to lighten the mood. "Hey, don"t give out there, Sally! You"re lookin" kinda shaky." "Don"t call me Sally!" Salena called from three-quarters of the way to the branch. "Stop distracting them, Baloo." Bagheera continued to watch his wife and daughter as they cautiously climbed the tree. He was right, though. Salena did look tired from scaling the tree at such a slow pace with Mayra. If she were climbing it herself, she would have reached the top with little effort. But to latch onto the trunk and stay there for an extended period of time... that took quite a lot of effort and energy. Mayra was nearly to the branch when she lost her strength and began sliding down the trunk at a rapid pace that was a little too fast for Bagheera"s comfort. Salena caught her with a paw and pushed her back up the tree, in reach of the branch. Mayra daintily took her chance and, with the help of her mother, pulled herself onto the branch. Salena let her sit on the branch a moment and enjoy the view. Mayra managed a small smile as everyone cheered from below and touched her nose to Salena"s. Baloo elbowed Bagheera. "I think that one"s got your smile." "Ha..." Bagheera chuckled and let Salena place Mayra on his back when she brought her down. He looked back at her as she panted, recovering from her first climb. "I"m so proud of you." "Thank you, Daddy." Bagheera let her touch her nose to his before helping her down so she could play with her siblings and the other cubs. He noticed Salena panting from the climb, and lightly cupped her cheek in one paw. "You held on longer than I ever could have, love." Despite being tired, Salena"s face lit up as she gave him a suspicious grin. "I doubt it. You could hang on for days. But thanks, dear." Bagheera licked her cheek as a kiss and turned his attention to their cubs, who were all crowded around them. "We all made it!" Seth jumped onto Bagheera"s back. "Does that mean we get buffalo for dinner?" The feline adults chuckled a little as Bagheera shook his head at his eager son"s question. "No..." Bagheera answered sternly. Seth looked a little disappointed, but didn"t quite give up yet. "Deer?" Salena knew Bagheera was about to lose his patience when he rolled his eyes and playfully pulled her son off of his back by the tail and rolled him over onto his back. She gently pressed on his chest in rapid motions on his chest so Seth could laugh, but couldn"t speak. "I think you know that answer to that question!" Salena said, playfully scolding her son as he tried to speak in vain but only ended up laughing. She took him in one paw and held him out to his wiser brother, Kalith. "Kalith, what"s the answer to that question?" "You"ll eat whatever Daddy hunts," Kalith responded. Salena turned Seth around to face her. "Right. Now go play." "But not near the river!" Shere Ki called after them. Seth smiled and scampered off after Chara, BJ, and his siblings as soon as she let him go. When he was at a safe distance, he called back to his mother. "Warthog?" This time, it was Salena who lost her patience. "WHAT DID I SAY?!" Seth smiled and, having accomplished his mischief for the day, scampered off to play. Salena sighed irritably. Baloo elbowed Dhara in the side. "Yep, there she is. There"s the old Salena." Bagheera had already retreated to the coolness of their cave, since everyone was near it anyway, and was lying down. He smirked as he watched Salena sigh irritably and join him inside. She lay beside him and pressed her nose into his shoulder. "I"m calling it. He"ll grow up to be a perfect gentleman," Shere Ki commented. Salena sputtered. "Phfftt... Yeah." Shere Khan looked over to Baloo, tapping his claws on the ground one by one. "I must admit, bear... You"re the last one I expected to come in out of nowhere with a cub." Shere Ki and Salena both laughed a little. Shere Ki playfully nudged her husband. "And you"re the last one I thought would bring it up." Shere Khan shrugged. "Why not?" he asked in his usual, suave way before looking to Baloo for an answer. Baloo and Dhara exchanged glances, then Baloo shrugged as he stumbled for a response. "Gee, I don"t know... My man cub"s with his own kind now, and everybody was gettin" hitched and... I kinda liked Dhara...and I guess she might"a kinda liked me. So we went downriver to get away from all the romance and well... The cub was kind of an accident, alright?" Bagheera and Salena exchanged knowing smiles before Bagheera"s mind wondered to Mowgli. He chuckled a little. "We haven"t seen the man cub for quite some time. I wonder what Mowgli will think about all these changes." Shere Khan looked annoyed at the mention of the man cub. He and Shere Ki were still a little divided about how to approach letting Mowgli befriend the cubs. Baloo scratched at his throat. "I was kinda hopin" he"d be happy about it?" Salena smiled and Baloo and Dhara. "So do you still "kinda like each other?'" Baloo countered her question. "Well, do you and Baggy still kinda like each other? Kiki, do you still kinda like Khanie?" Bagheera and Salena exchanged knowing smiles. When he looked at her, she was giving him the same sweet innocent smile he"d fallen in love with. Her ears were slightly flattened as she cooed out the word, "Yeah." Bagheera grinned and licked her cheek as a kiss. Meanwhile, Shere Ki was carefully examining Shere Khan"s confident stare as he awaited her response. She took his chin in her paw and gently shook his face from side to side, like someone would if they thought something was adorable. "Maybe a little," she said calmly. Shere Khan managed a deep chuckle, apparently deciding to play along as she nuzzled him. Shere Ki turned to Baloo and Dhara. "Then we"re happy for you two." Bagheera noticed that the jungle was beginning to turn a dark yellow color. "Well, we"d better call the cubs," he said to Salena. "The sun is going down. And I need to hunt." Just as they were all about to stand up, they heard the sound of screams coming from not too far away. Every one of them instantly recognized them as belonging to their children. Bagheera leapt to his feet and ran in the direction where the screaming was coming from. "Cubs!" His heart raced as he thought of all the worst things that could happen within the thirty seconds it took him and the others to get there. Cobras...Wolverines....Red Dogs....Birds of Prey bigger than the cubs... And little Mayra. What could she possibly do to defend herself? Could she keep up with the other cubs if they had to run? He found himself at the edge of a steep hill hidden by tall grass that, if one wasn"t watching where they were going, they would fall of the edge and slide into a deep mud puddle. Shere Khan nearly pushed him over when he came to an abrupt sliding stop right behind him when they saw that this is exactly what their cubs had done. The cubs were all unrecognizable, moving, balls of mud with eyes and mouths and legs. Two of them were working to pulling the smallest, presumably Mayra, onto dry land while the other two here helping the roundest, probably BJ. Shere Khan turned his head to the side, hating the sight of it, knowing they would all need baths. "Oh, no..." By the time everyone else got there, the cubs had made it out of the deep mud hole and onto dry land on their own. But there was still no way they were going to make it up the steep hill on their own. Shere Ki, Salena, and Dhara were panicked. "We have to get them out!" Salena frantically said to Bagheera, eyes wider than he"d ever seen them before. There was nothing left to do but for him and Shere Khan to go down on the dry side of the hill to retrieve the children. The cubs hadn"t seen them earlier, and were happy to see them. Lydia, who was very much like him when he was her age, was crying because she was covered in mud. But none of them were hurt. Bagheera and Shere Khan took the cubs one at a time and took turns climbing the hill and passing the cubs to Baloo or their mothers. As soon as Shere Khan climbed the kill with Chara, and all the cubs were safe, they explained that they"d all fallen down the hill playing a game of chase. While some of the cubs, like BJ and Seth, were content with being mud puppies the others were definitely not. They had to go to the shallow end of the river to give the cubs baths. Even after his river bath, Kalith continued to lick himself clean. Lydia only stopped crying when she was sure the river had washed away most of the filth and Salena began to clean around her ears where the water didn"t reach. "Who cries over getting dirty?" Seth retorted resentfully, splashing around in the water. "I"ll tell ya who did when we were your age! Your Daddy!" Baloo blurted out. "Why, he would"ve been bawlin"! This one time me and Ol" Louie put sap on him while he was sleepin". He thought he had Jungle Rot!" Bagheera rolled his eyes as everyone laughed. Seth glanced at his father in disbelief with an amused smile on his face as Bagheera managed a smirk. "Yes... And I seem to recall you couldn"t sleep for days because you thought the jungle would run out of water." Everyone laughed at Bagheera"s jab at Baloo as the bear ran a paw over his muzzle with an amused grin. Chara put two paws on Shere Khan muzzle. "We want to hear more stories, Daddy." Shere Khan sympathetically shook his head. "I"m afraid we have no time for that sort of nonsense now. It"s time for Daddy to hunt. And it"s time for a certain cub to settle down in the nest." Bagheera knew he had to get moving, as well. He tilted his head towards their cave. "Come on, cubs. You too." "But Daddy..." They all interjected in unison. "Do you want dinner?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes..." "Alright then... Go with your Mother." Salena stopped to nuzzle Bagheera as everyone went their separate ways for the night. "Be safe, my love." "I will," he said. He looked back at their cubs racing to the caves. "I can"t believe the cubs are growing so quickly..." "I know," she said. He touched his nose to hers when she smiled at him and went deeper into the jungle in search of the prey that would sustain his family for the night.

What would you like to see more of in the story? What was the funniest scene? What was the saddest scene? What is most likely to keep you reading or stop you from reading? .... And whatever else you can think of. And with business covered, enjoy the chapter! Chapter 32 Surviving Topps Topps could feel Tria and Cera watching him with a close eye as he chewed his way through dinner. Tricia occasionally climbed on his back, babbling in her usual innocent way. He normally played with her, but today he simply turned to the side just enough to make her tumble off. That was all he needed to do to make her laugh and climb up his back again. He roughly chewed through the tree stars Tria had gathered. Cera, so like him, groaned under her breath, annoyed with the chewing. His bad mood seemed to transfer into her, as she started to chew through her meal in an attempt to hurry and finish. "We need to make sure we"re ready for the wedding and Star Day Celebration by noon tomorrow," Tria said cheerfully, attempting to start a subject. "I"m not going," Topps grumbled roughly. Food dropped out of Cera"s mouth as she looked up at him. Tria stared at him, stunned. It made it harder to eat. "Yes, you are," she tried. "No. I"m not," Topps replied casually. "Well, what is it this time?" Tria asked. "Is it because of Pterano? Because, if it is, he"s not Cera"s favorite person either. But she"s still going. For Britta. And the celebration." Topps snorted. If Pterano wasn"t Cera"s favorite person, he really wasn"t his favorite person. "Britta"s not so bad, Daddy. And Pterano"s not going to try anything anymore, not with her around. She hasn"t been here long, and she"s already helped Tricia and us lots of times..." Cera stated, trying to reason with him. "I know she"s not..." Topps acknowledged. "Well, how do you think not going is going to make them feel, Topsy? What if no one showed up to our wedding because they didn"t like your attitude? How would you feel?" Tria countered. "Well, uhrm..... I don"t know, Tria! I...try to make a point, sometimes, but I"m not a criminal! That"s what"s happening to this Valley right now! We"re making all this fuss over how criminals, a-an-a-and....sharpteeth....feel! Might as well just....go back out into the Mysterious Beyond!" Topps looked around at his daughters and mate, who were stunned by his sudden outburst. Cera actually seemed to think on it while Tria turned to her and a very confused Tricia. "Cera...Can you put Tricia down while I talk to Topsy?" "Ooooohhhh, don"t bother. Nevermind. I"ll go to it," Topps snapped, rising to his feet. He turned to go, and was halfway down the hill when Tria called out to him. Cera had already taken Tricia to bed. "Not everyone can control what they are or what they did in the past, Topsy. But they deserve a chance to make a future. Surely you learned that a long time ago." Topps turned to look up at her, but she"d already gone. He huffed, pawed the ground, and left their nest. He had a favorite thinking spot, or venting spot, whatever it was. But since it was late, he settled for plopping down by the watering hole. For the hundredth time, he tried to make sense of all these recent events. And couldn"t. The Valley used to be a relatively peaceful place. A paradise, where they could chase troubles out if they came because they"d all had enough of trouble out in the Mysterious Beyond. But now everything they tried so hard to keep out was coming in. And everyone treated it like it was a good thing. All he heard was, "The sharpteeth will keep their word. They have a son here... They can help guard the Wall." Or "Pterano changed. He pledged to the Valley, and he loves Britta. He wouldn"t dare try anything to jeopardize that." Topps blew air out his nose. People never learn. "Mr. Threehorn? Is that you?" Mr. Threehorn snapped his head to the side, only to find Britta standing away from him with something gathered in a leaf. Topps mumbled and rolled his eyes. "I can"t go anywhere without you being there," he grumbled. Britta sat the leaf down with a smirk. "That"s funny, because I was just thinking the same thing about you. Are Tria and the kids asleep?" "Yeah, why?" She fished around in her bag and held up a bright pink shiny stone like the one Tria had mounted on a pile of rocks before Tricia and Mae accidentally knocked if off several weeks ago. "I had to go for a supply run tonight because I"m short, and I found this for Tria in one of the caves. She asked me to keep an eye out for them. Do you think you can take it to her? I don"t want to wake the children." Topps just gave her a blank stare. The little flyer honestly confused him sometimes. "What could you possibly need from the back of a cave?" he asked gruffly. Britta sensed the tone in his voice and lightly sat the stone in front of him. She gather the leaf into a bundle. "Nothing pretty, I"m afraid. The moss growing in the back of those caves make better medicine than any around here." "Moss?" Topps spat. Britta nodded. "Well, I better go home and get to sleep. I hope this replaces the stone she lost..." "Isn"t it a little late to be gathering healing...stuff....on the day before your wedding?" Topps grumbled. Right now, Britta seemed to wish she"d just dropped it off with Tria anyway. "Well, that"s just it. I was short-handed on supplies and this is the last errand I needed to do, so I did. That way I wouldn"t have to leave the Valley for a while anymore..." He didn"t say anything for a while. When he heard her turn to go, he blurted out his thoughts without fully meaning to. "Why would you marry somebody like Pterano?" He turned his head when he heard her stop. She was looking back at him with a hint of sadness rather than anger of defense. He sighed. "Oooohhhh.... Britta, I didn"t mean to.... With this, and these sharpteeth.... I just..." Britta took it with grace, choosing to tease him rather than argue with him. "Aw, Mr. Threehorn, are we finally friends? Are you worried about me?" Topps stared at her in confusion for a moment, then straightened his face. "No!" he huffed. Britta laughed. "I think we might have a "tell it like it is" friendship, which means we will most likely disagree on a lot of things... But I will be honest with you. I grew up with Pterano. I know the good, and the bad. And... We"ve always loved each other. Since we were kids. And when I was separated from him and Tess, I lost myself in my work. When I came here, I knew it would be a good opportunity because the Great Valley is a legendary paradise. But, to me, it was just another assignment as a healer. I never thought I would find....well, the closest thing I have left to family here." When he didn"t say anything, she attempted to help him understand. "Tria told me you two had a...somewhat similar situation. Finding each other again. Surely you know what it"s like, don"t you?" Topps sighed and nodded. "See here, Britta, I didn"t mean-" "You didn"t." Britta stood up. "Will we....see you tomorrow?" "Probably," be stated gruffly. Britta smiled and flew off, leaving him back to his thoughts. Topps sighed and scuffed his horn in the dirt. Now he felt guilty about having a point. But if he didn"t challenge what the Valley was becoming, who would? No one else around here took one decision seriously, or considered the consequences. Sure, the sharptooth family loved their son. But what if hunger got the better of them one day and they feasted on impulse and just...left? Or what if those friends of Pterano"s came back looking for him and took the kids? It just wasn"t worth being merciful all the time. Then again... He"d seen mercy pay off since he got here, too. More than he ever had before he tried to lead what was left of his herd here. When he left the place he"d known all his life to find this Valley, he said it would be his home until his last day as long as he could help it. And he still meant it. The worst this Valley could do was still ten times better than what was out there, that was certain. And as a highborn threehorn that had it as good as anyone could have it in the Mysterious Beyond, he knew without a doubt in his mind they had to protect this place. ... "Stand and fight, Topps!" The voice of his father still echoed in young Topps" head as he watched his sister, Ivy, leave with his ultimate rival. The one she was intended to marry, while he was left with his rival"s sister, Sarah, whom he knew nothing about. Right now, he wished that he"d ignored his duties as the heir of leader of the herd, and lived a normal life with his childhood sweetheart, Tria. But she was gone, and here he was. His father was probably furious with them because he was his rival, who were supposed to compete in a fight to amuse their soon to be mates, were apparently evenly matched enough to take all day. Ivy and Sarah hatched up a scheme to leave the fight and, as they"d planned, their fathers had no choice but to send the contestants after their betrothed. They were supposed to return to the match, but it turned out that Ivy and Sarah didn"t find a match a suitable way to get to know their future mates, so Topps and the other contestant accepted the fact that they would just have to deal with their fathers later. It seemed Ivy and the one of the threehorns he disliked most were getting along, but Ivy could start a conversation with anybody. But Sarah, well... He didn"t know what to do with Sarah. She didn"t say anything. Sarah was a pretty threehorn, similar to him but a lighter grey with hazel eyes and a serious face. They just stared blankly at each other for a moment. Or...he did. She actually seemed fairly calm. "You don"t...really want to do this, do you?" she asked. Topps blinked. The question threw him off guard. When he heard "get to know you better," he thought they might start with a lighter topic. "Uh, uh-uhrm.... Of course I do!" "Huh." Sarah sat down and turned her head to look at him. "Either you"re lying, or crazy." "So...you don"t want to?" he asked nervously. Their fathers would kill them. Especially hers. "I don"t think anybody wants to marry someone they don"t know," she said. Topps noticed that he liked the sound of her voice. It was a perfect mix of high-pitched and calm, with an edge. Just enough for her to always be taken seriously. She might not be so bad. "Well, what if...we know enough about each other by tomorrow?" he asked gruffly. "Would that make you feel better?" "Enough?" "Well, I don"t think any old married couple knows everything about each other and we"ve only got tonight or until our Dad"s yell for us all, so...." She thought it over. "Okay, you start." He"d stepped in a hole because he wasn"t good with on the spot questions. "What"s your favorite color?" he asked, feeling proud of himself. She smiled at his lack of creativity, but didn"t say anything. "Green. What"s yours?" "Grey. Your turn." She thought a moment. Her eyes never left his. Never stared at the ground. "What do you want, Topps?" That was a hard one. He struggled with his answer. "Oh, I don"t know..." But when he thought it over, her realized that he just wanted what every other threehorn wanted. "I want to make my herd proud. I want to survive. I want them to survive. And live to tell stories going back generations about the same herd instead of...not making it. I want to be strong, and I want them to be strong, too. So what do you want, Sarah?" She stood up, as if something he"d said stuck with her. It was like she was asking him something, but she didn"t ask. "I just want a family, and like you, I want my family to survive." A few moments passed, Topps stared at the ground. A few moments later, he heard, "I"d be honored to marry you tomorrow, Topps." When he looked up, she had already turned to walk away. And he knew not to stop her. When he returned, things were not as he expected. Sarah"s father was nowhere in sight. Not waiting to badger him about their whereabouts. And his father gave him a silent nod. The next day, Topps proudly married Sarah a few hours after her adoptive brother married Ivy, and the two couples formed a long-lasting alliance between their herds. He and Sarah did not have children right away, due to the famine that plagued the land. Sharpteeth migrated across the land. Topps trained Sarah to fight them, out of fear that she may be caught off guard one day. And, together with the other male threehorns in the herd and his father, Angus, they trained everyone else. Against sharpteeth, their herd was the strongest in the area. Just when he and Sarah thought it safe enough to have children and learned she was expecting an egg, their area dried out, forcing them to migrate along with the other herds and exposing them to starvation, sickness, and predators. Once, the herd went several days without finding a drop of water. In their weakened state, they were less likely to have to strength to defend themselves against sharpteeth. One day before they found a watering hole, a sharptooth attacked several members of the herd. Among them was his father, Angus. Angus was the first to take responsibility as the leader of his herd and defend the others. But due to weakness and age, he was defeated before Topps could get to him. The other members had the chance to run, which they did. Topps, however, ran to his father, who was being ripped to shreds by the starving sharptooths. Topps stopped when he saw his father desperately shake his head and mouth "no" to him. Topps nearly ignored the command as he watched his father"s eyes close, but Sarah stepped in front of him and nudged him with her horn, urging him to go back the other way. One day before finding water, Angus was gone and Topps was now leader of the herd. Topps just couldn"t believe that, after a lifetime of his father teaching him to fight, his last command was for him to run away. After the death of his father, Topps was hard on his herd. It was tough out in the wasteland, but he kept them alive. They all hoped that, somehow, they would find a place to live. Topps loved Sarah and, as much as he hated it, was hardest on her. But he loved her too much for something to happen to her now. And soon, she rewarded him with beautiful children. One ray of hope in the middle of a desolate land. He had one son amongst several daughters that he named Angus, after his father, and a spunky first-born daughter he named Cera, after her mother. Topps had a soft spot for his children, but he was hard on them from the start. Sarah scolded him on occasion for it, but knew that it had to be done under the circumstances. He let be their moral compass. His family was perfect, and it looked like they had everything they ever wanted. But, like many good things, it didn"t last long. One day, an earthshake like never before shook the land. It split families in two, and separated most loved ones forever. Creatures of all kind were so broken that they had no choice but to band together, forming a herd all sorts in order to survive. An act that, before, would have been unheard of. Topps" herd was one of the herds that were deeply, if not most, affected that day. They happened to be resting right where the earthshake took place. Fortunately, Cera had wandered off to play with a longneck. And Topps and his young son, Angus, only survived because they had just left in search of her. But Sarah, his other daughters, and most of his herd were not so fortunate. He and Angus were close enough to see what happened to them. When the earth shook, Angus fell against a sharp rock and took a deep gash in his side. Topps stopped to pick him up and help him on his back and turned just in time to see Sarah. His daughters had panicked and ran the wrong way. Sarah might have made it if she"d run to him, but she went back for her children. And in a heap of dust and clumps of dirt and massive stones and at least hundreds of others bodies, fell into the depths of the earth when the earth split in two. "Moooooommmmm!" Angus wailed. "NO!" Like most family members standing by, Topps rushed for the edge on instinct. He quickly realized, however, that the edge was also crumbling away, and had no choice but to turn and run the other way. When all the dust cleared, Topps was in despair. He knew he had only one hope left. "Angus," he said in a weak voice, "did you see your sister, Cera?" He and Angus searched the other side as he pushed past other dinosaurs, who were also walking the edge looking for their loved ones. He started to give up hope when, suddenly, he felt Angus jump. "Dad! Dad! Look! It"s Cera! She"s standing with a longneck over there!" Topps squinted and saw that it was indeed his last surviving daughter, Cera, pacing the edge. For a moment, he was filled with joy. But then he realized....there was no way to get to her. "CERAAAAAA!" he called in despair. He didn"t know what was worse now. What if he never found her again, and never knew what happened to her. "Mamaaaa! Daddy!" she whined from across the gaping pit. For a while, none of the dinosaurs wanted to leave the ridge, afraid that if they left they would never see their loved ones again. They waited for three days. He met a lot of flyers because many of them went out in search of lost loved ones believed to be on the other side, most with no findings. He met two wise old longnecks. The wife helped him with Angus, who got a fast-acting infection in the gash on his side. There were, apparently, no experienced healers in the group. And no plants around for medicine. They stayed there three days. Angus passed away there, and a few of the others helped him bury him with rocks left from the earthshake. Topps was brokenhearted, and had no willpower to question their decisions to search for a some land called the Great Valley. He just followed them because what was left of his herd wanted to and he really didn"t want to lead anymore for the time being. He still wanted to live, in case he found Cera again. And when they did find the Great Valley, he did. ... "Hmph." Topps kicked a stone in the water and watched the ripples. Well, maybe he didn"t necessarily have to jump to conclusions and make enemies out of the sharpteeth or Pterano"s family. It seemed the only one having a difficult time was him. They seemed to be trying. But, one way or another, his family would live out their days in the Great Valley in peace. *AUTHOR"S NOTE (NEED TO READ TO KEEP TRACK OF THE STORY FROM THIS POINT ON)* Hi everyone! Sorry it"s been so long since I"ve updated and I know you may be anxious to read so I"m going to do my best to get right into the final chapter of "Stories of the Valley: Book I." But first, we have to talk before I get into the chapter. If you"re anxious, you"re free to read and scroll back up here to see what"s going to happen with the story from this point on. I"ve been working on this chapter for at least several months because... Britta is my favorite OC, and Pterano is my one of my favorite all time characters from the franchise. So I"m doing my best to do them justice while drawing Book I to a close. First of all, this is my second longest running story...running over the course of four years. I want to thank everyone for the amazing patience, follows, favorites, and most of all reviews and PMs. I count this story as a pretty good success, and plan to keep it going but it"s getting kind of long, so here"s how it"s going to work... *LOOK FOR STORIES OF THE VALLEY: BOOK II* This WILL BE the final chapter in Book I besides a list of characters keeping track of who belongs to what family, who is still living, and who is deceased, and there are a lot of them. It gets confusing and you never know when a character that hasn"t been around in a while might pop up, so be sure to give the list a glance over. *ALSO ON BOOK II* I have teamed up with a friend, and their OCs will appear in Book II. I have not yet decided if I write two versions of Book II (one with both our OCs and the other with just mine). Honestly, it depends on how many reviews and how much feedback is given... So if you want to see something, don"t hold back. Let me know. That"s the only way I know how you"re interacting with the story. *ONE-SHOTS* Some of you have PMed me with great ideas for one-shots. And due to just trying to get this story and a few others done, I haven"t gotten around to it. I plan to go back through my PMs, but if you still have an idea for me... PM me again. I"d love to hear from you! *POINT OF VIEW IN BOOK II* As most of you have suggested, the gang will get a lot more time in this one. Only the adults I"ve set up here (Littlefoot"s Grandparents, Topps... And a few random adults every now and again) will get much time. I don"t want to give out spoilers, but most of Book II will center on our favorite characters, with the adults being heard from every now and again. *CREDIT TO THE UNIVERSAL TEAM* So I"m sure most of you know... But Land Before Time XIV was released on Netflix almost as soon as it was available. (Who"s seen it?!) It was very refreshing after some of the most recent films, and the Universal team deserves so much credit for putting together another film after so many years.

"What if I can"t get pregnant?" It was something she feared. Already she was thirty-one, chubby, and her parents had a lot of trouble conceiving her. Sure, on paper she seemed healthy enough but nothing was a sure bet. "If you can"t get pregnant, we"ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But don"t forget, I"m your gynecologist, Mindy. I haven"t seen anything that indicates you can"t get pregnant and carry a healthy baby to term." Danny reassured her. "I think that we should have...legal documents in place, however. A prenup." He seemed a little nervous suggesting that second part. His first wife had taken him for nearly anything he owned because he had been blinded by his love for her. Mindy nodded, "I agree, I think that would be smart. We"re both doctors...we keep finances and banking things separate. And as for where we live...I am assuming if we"re married and co-parenting, we"re going to be living together?" "That"s probably the best thing...we can look for places in good school districts outside the city. My mom lives in East Hills...great schools out there and she could watch the baby while we"re at work?" Danny suggested. "That"s forty-five minutes outside of the city by car and over an hour if we used public transit. That commute would be hard on both of us." They"d have to buy a car, maybe two...depending on if he would carpool with her and their respective schedules. "You know, the city isn"t so bad. I was raised there and my parents live in Manhattan, they could also watch the baby if we lived in the city?" Mindy suggested. Danny shook his head, "I don"t want to raise a child in a tiny apartment surrounded by noise and violence and city smog." He replied, "I love the city as much as anybody but it"s no place to raise kids! If you want your parents to take turns watching the baby, I have no problem with that. I just...I grew up in the city too and it isn"t the place for children." New York was the greatest city in the world as far as Mindy was concerned. But maybe he was right. This was a city for artists, poets and single people. If they lived in the city, they"d have to send the child to private school. "I"m...willing to compromise, but...we both have to agree on the place to live before the baby is born, okay? We get an equal vote. Agreed?" "That"s fair. Agreed." He smirked. "Would you like to shake on it?" "I agreed verbally." She teased back, laughing. "You know, we may very well be revolutionizing the way marriage and family works in this country. I mean, why can"t everyone sit down and talk things over like this? I think we have a really good thing working here." Danny nodded, "Yeah, and you nobody can say we didn"t agree on everything. We"re going to be kickass parents." He laughed, "So I think the sooner we get this process started, the better. Thanksgiving is coming up and I"d like to introduce you to my family then. It"s not a huge event, me and my mom, my grandmother, Aunt Kathy and whoever her boyfriend of the moment is, my cousin Billy...and I would"ve said his wife but their wedding fell through." Thanksgiving sounded good. "We don"t really do much on Thanksgiving so I"m sure that"ll be fine. My parents and I do brunch once a month, I"d love you to meet them then?" She smiled when he seemed agreeable. She was curious though about this big wedding. Danny had tried to keep the wedding a secret but he"d asked Betsy to pick up his tux and she had run her mouth all over the office. "Yeah you never told me what happened there. You said it got called off?" Mindy asked, curious. Calling off a wedding was a big deal, especially to do it the day of. Letting out a heavy breath, he shook his head. "I think it was both their faults. Billy"s eighteen and he thought he met the love of his life. But they"re young and stupid. She ran off with one of the ushers the night before the wedding. He"s shattered." Mindy felt awful for him, "Poor kid..." She patted his shoulder. "Well, with age comes wisdom I suppose. I mean, look at us! We"re making the right decision here." They"d just agreed to have a baby together and she was amazingly fine with it. "So, do you know a lawyer that could draw up these papers for the prenup? If not, I could go searching through the yellow pages." It was all very civil, exactly what he"d hoped for. He hadn"t really been expecting it from Mindy but it seemed she was more grown up than he"d originally thought. "I have a couple buddies who are lawyers. I"ll ask if they know anybody who will do a good job. Thanks...for trusting me with this." "We"re having a baby together...I think trust needs to be the first thing on both our lists. I want us to be able to talk without the other getting angry and storming off. Open lines of communication was number one on my list..." Mindy replied. "Mine too," Danny handed her the scrap of paper so she could see for herself. "So far so good. Now, can I get you something to drink?" Kicking off her shoes, she placed her feet up next to his on the coffee table. "Actually, from this moment forward, I"m alcohol free. You"ll be proud of me, I started my diet yesterday..." She bit her lip, "Well, okay, I only had one bag of peanut M&Ms from the vending machine. But it"s a start!" Laughing, he nodded, "I"m glad to see you"re taking this seriously." She looked so sweet sitting next to him on the couch, he leaned over and captured her lips. At first she seemed shocked but then she yielded, his lips gently gliding over hers again. Eyes wide, her heart pounded when he leaned in and kissed her. He pulled back and she licked her lips, "What was that for?" He shrugged, "I figured we"d seal the deal...here"s to a long and prosperous partnership of parenthood." Standing up, he rubbed his hands together. "I"ll order us up some dinner. Stay put..." Disappearing into the kitchen he left Mindy to herself for a moment. It was lucky he didn"t ask her to move. She couldn"t have stood up even if she wanted to. Kissing Danny Castellano...huh...it was nice. Okay, more than nice. Oh, who was she kidding? It was amazing. It occurred to her that she might be writing a whole new kind of romantic comedy starring a handsome, single doctor! A smile spread over her face. This was the start of something good. Thanks for the reviews! This chapter is very important to setting up the story. So, I hope you enjoy. Please remember that there are 3 episodes of this show so if information comes up after the fact, I"m working with what I know in this moment! Obviously this is an AU storyline (unless they want to hire me to write for The Mindy Project). So there are going to be deviations from what happens on the show! More reviews means more muse for me! So I hope you"ll leave me a comment! Happy Sunday! Sitting across the table awkwardly from Mindy"s parents, Danny got a really good idea of what it had been like growing up for Mindy. They"d only just walked in the door and already her parents started on her. Her father commented that she was dressed too American, her mother had stated in far too many words that Mindy was still overweight. It was no wonder the poor woman buried herself in romantic comedies. Her parents were harsh and demeaning. He was surprised that she wasn"t huddled in a corner, hugging her knees and crying. Mindy was mortified. Her parents were usually difficult; they had very specific views on what her life was going to be. She would go to medical school and become a gynecologist until she decided to marry a rich Indian doctor and retire to a life of housewifery and childrearing. And they wanted it all before she was twenty-five...impossible by any standard. But to act like this in front of Danny? It was quite possibly the most horrifying thing she"d ever lived through. They sat at her parents" favorite brunch place but she had no appetite. She had ordered tea with lemon and a child sized portion of fruit to make her mother happy. Danny had been served something called the "heart attack special" at the recommendation of Mindy"s father. He had barely touched it except for the wheat toast and to pick at Mindy"s fruit. Breakfast was nearly finished before Mindy"s mother decided to break the silence. "So you are the man who"s been having sex with my only daughter?" Her lips were pursed, her face contorted into an ugly frown as she peered at the two of them across the table. Mindy looked over at Danny who got that look on his face like he was about to start a fight at a Springsteen show. She had to step in here before things got ugly. "Mummy, our relationship is very serious. We"ve been together for a long time..." It wasn"t exactly untrue. "Leave them alone," Her father piped up, "You know that kids these days aren"t traditional. The girls all go around, splitting their milkshakes with any boy that comes to their yard. I listen to popular music." He said matter-of-factly as he frowned over at the two of them, "I know what you do, Mindy Lahiri." Groaning softly, she looked over at Danny with apology written all over her face. Danny, however, seemed even angrier at the notion. "Not that it"s any of your business, but your daughter is a very fine woman and she"s a lady, not some...cheap harlot." Reaching over, she grasped his hand and squeezed it tight. She smiled and he smiled back. Her parents didn"t seem to like the display of affection very much at all. Her father cleared her throat, "We give our permission for this match, of course. Mindy"s far too old to be attractive to any of the eligible men we know and it"s unlikely she can do any better." Danny opened his mouth but Mindy stood quickly before this escalated out of control, "Thank you mummy, thank you daddy..." She looked over at him, "My pager just vibrated. I have to get to the hospital...and Danny I could really use your assistance on the, uh, case we"re working on." Walking around the table, she gave each of her parents a chaste kiss. "I"ll see you next month." He was glad Mindy dragged him out of there before he really got upset. "Jesus Christ..." He snapped as they stepped out into the cool fall air. "Mindy, why do you put up with that? They are jackasses, both of them!" "Come on, Danny, they"re my parents. I"m obligated by Jesus or the law or something to love them!" She sighed, "I only have to put up with them once a month. Besides, the fact that they gave their blessing was big of them. When I brought Tom home, they told him he could do better and explained in detail why he could do way better...he broke up with me the next morning." She sighed. "Let"s just take it for what it is." It felt as if someone had stepped on his chest. He wanted to gather her into his arms and make it all better. He settled for wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, let"s get some breakfast, okay? Real breakfast..." She shrugged, "I"m not really hungry. Besides, I"m working hard on sticking to my diet." It was taking everything in her not to cry at how dreadfully embarrassed she felt. "Stop it, you look fine." He replied, "Besides, I need some coffee and you look like you could use a little something too." He knew of a little shop in Manhattan that did a pretty good business. They headed in and she got herself a fancy blended coffee drink and a scone while he got espresso and a bagel. Sitting in a little booth by the window, he took a hearty slug of his coffee. He looked over at her, "You held yourself together really well back there and...I think it speaks to your character." Mindy looked away, "Can we just not talk about it, please?" Shifting in her seat, she sipped the sugary beverage, not noticing the smear of whipped cream that got on her nose. "Yeah, yeah...sorry." He replied, looking up. "Um, you have a little dab of cream on your nose." He pointed, smirking at her. Quickly she swiped at it but didn"t quite get the spot. "No right on the tip...no..." She just wasn"t getting it, "Here, let me." Mindy cried out, exasperated. "I can get it, Danny. I got it!" She snapped. Standing up, she stalked out of the cafe. Tears stung her cheeks as she desperately sought to get a moment away. Next thing she knew a pair of arms was wrapped around her and she collapsed into him. Sniffling, she held tight to him. Burying her face in his shoulder, she let out a shaky breath. "I"m sorry...I"m so sorry." Holding her tight, he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Don"t you dare be sorry. You"ve got nothing to apologize for..." He sighed and let her cry. He had to squelch down the urge to walk back to that restaurant and show her exactly how they did things in the Bronx. "And for the record, those people are NEVER watching our kid." He replied. "After the way they treated you, I will be lucky to even let them see him!" Being held by Danny suddenly made everything alright. The tears dried and they stood there on the street as people walked by, oblivious to everything going on around them. She was quiet for a very long time. Finding her voice again took a few deep breaths and looking into his dark eyes, "Agreed." Gingerly, she licked her lips, "Thanks, for all of this." "Don"t mention it. But you have to remember our first rule, Mindy, open communication okay? Don"t keep anything from me, okay? I can handle it...even if you want to yell at me to blow off steam." He gently tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "Now come on, can we go enjoy our breakfast? We can talk about something completely different..." Ushering her back into the place, they sat down at the table. He was right, of course. But telling Daniel Castellano that he was right was bound to overinflate his ego. Instead she decided to take his advice and turn the topic of conversation. "Like what?" She asked, sipping up her frozen coffee drink. "Ooh! I have an idea...baby names?" Leaning back in his chair, he took a bite of his bagel. "Well we"re going to name the baby Danny of course. Daniel Castellano, Jr." He smirked, "After dear old dad!" There was that ego. Rolling her eyes, she laughed, "I always loved the name Chloe. Chloe Madison Lahiri, that has a nice ring to it. Don"t you think?" Folding his arms, he shook his head, "Three things." He held up the fingers as if she was going to have trouble counting that high. "The kid is going to take my name. And so are you. And it"s going to be a boy!" Putting her hand up, she scoffed. "Hold up. We never talked about me taking your name..." Although it didn"t sound that horrible, she wasn"t sure it was what she wanted. Fairytale heroines took their husbands" names, maybe she should to? "Won"t it be confusing if there are two Dr. Castellanos in the office? And the baby is clearly going to be a girl...girls run in my family! My dad has two sisters and four great aunts!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa...you"re going to be my wife. It"s going to be confusing if you have a different name than our baby." He folded his arms, preparing for a fight. He couldn"t argue with genetics, even as much as he wanted. "Yeah well it"s up to me anyway. My sperm is the one that gets to pick...I get the final say." A sharp bark of laughter emanated from her. ""Uh hi, I"m Danny Castellano, I get to pick the sex of the baby.'" She mocked, ""I"m the man, I say what goes"." Danny wasn"t amused. "I"m just saying! We"ll leave it up to biology." He sighed, "And I hate when you do that." "I know you do...so what happens when we decide it doesn"t make sense for us to be married anymore? I will once again have a different last name than our kid..." She frowned. "Our relationship isn"t going to go to hell like your parents", Danny. We"re not going into this blind. We"re not doing this because we think we"re in love and will spend the rest of our lives together..." "You can say that again..." Danny replied hotly. Yeah, it wasn"t exactly a love match; they were naive teenagers who thought that the person you went to prom with was going to be your soul mate for life. They were so much smarter than that. He sighed, "I dunno, Mindy Castellano has kinda a nice ring to it. Admit it! And Chloe Castellano isn"t so bad a name, is it?" He was trying and that made Mindy smile. "No...no it isn"t. I kind of like it, actually." She let out a shaky breath, "What if I hyphenated? Mindy Lahiri-Castellano?" It was a mouthful but it was better than nothing. "I think that"s a pretty good compromise." It warmed him through that they could talk like this, compromise like this. "Yeah, I like it." She just didn"t back down and he found that, oddly, it was one of the things he really liked about her. He smiled, "My mother is going to love you." Mindy raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh yeah? Why do you say that?" "You don"t back down from a challenge and you give as good as you get. You"re a Castellano already," He laughed. "You"re going to fit in really well." "Thanks..." Mindy replied, blushing slightly. "You know, I"m actually really looking forward to meeting your family. They sound like a great group." She chuckled again, "Besides, they can"t be any worse than my family." Danny held his tongue but smiled, "I"ve got a c-section at two but...are you free tomorrow? I figured we should...get to know each other a bit better. If you want to come over, I can throw some chicken on the grill or something." "Um, okay," Mindy smiled broadly, "Yeah, I"d like that. I"ll come over around noon or something? I"ll bring a salad." With plans firmed up, they headed out the door. Turning toward him, she hugged him tight. It felt...right. Closing her eyes for a moment, she briefly believed she felt like Sandra Bullock. "See you tomorrow, Danny." It was only very reluctantly he pulled away, he would have to rush to the hospital in time to scrub in and get Mrs. Macy prepped. He gave her a Mindy a little smirk, "See you, Mindy." And he found, he couldn"t wait. Thanks for the great reviews. Keep them coming if you want to read more! I"m writing this a chapter at a time right now and could use the feedback to determine what to do with this story. "Dr. L?" Shauna called from the doorway again. "Hello? Anybody home?" She knocked on the doorjamb, watching as Mindy stared off into space. The New Jersey in her came out as she stalked over, throwing the chart onto her desk and snapping her fingers in Mindy"s face. "Earth to Dr. L! Mrs. Harrison has been waiting for almost twenty minutes!" Mindy jumped slightly, "Geez, Shauna, why didn"t you tell me earlier?" She watched, confused, as Shauna muttered obscenities under her breath and stalked out of the room. The chart was pretty much threadbare, this was the woman"s first visit to their little practice. Mrs. Harrison was a twenty-one year old with a three year old daughter from a previous relationship. The little girl was happily singing and playing with her dollies in the corner of the exam room while Mindy and her mom talked about everything that was going on. She was here for an annual exam and to be checked over before she and her new husband started trying for another baby. Everything looked fine and Mindy was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the woman had health insurance coverage. After sending the woman off with a clean bill of health pending her pap results, she headed into Danny"s office and plopped down across from him. He didn"t look up even as she cleared her throat several times at him. "What"s a four letter word for uncommon?" He asked, staring at the crossword puzzle in the New York Times with intense, unblinking eyes. "Ah, rare! Yeah, that"s it..." "I think we should get married this weekend." She announced. That got his attention really damn fast. Mindy watched as Danny set the paper down, resting his hands on the desk and turning his full attention to her. "What do you mean you think we should get married this weekend? Is there some kind of time crunch I don"t know about?" He frowned. "No, nothing like that," Mindy replied, slightly annoyed that he"d even suggest such a thing. "I"m just sick of waiting...my last patient had her first child at eighteen and now she"s met the love of her life, has an adorable daughter, and is starting a family with her new husband." Danny still wasn"t getting it. "So?" "So, I want a family, Danny. And Thanksgiving is coming up really soon, we can surprise your family with our marriage!" She explained, "And once it"s legal, we can start trying. It"ll take some time for me to get pregnant, nobody is going to think we had to shotgun it!" Mindy explained, "Let"s talk to Dr. Shulman and see if we can take off for a few days. Fly to Vegas, get married..." Folding his arms, he leaned back in the chair. "Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked quietly. "I would"ve pegged you for the big white wedding type...I don"t want you to resent me for not giving you that five, ten, fifteen years from now." If Mindy had been holding anything, it would"ve fallen on the ground. "Danny, I...I didn"t think you wanted a big wedding." She said quietly. "I thought you"d have wanted a quickie courthouse thing with a couple witnesses that we dragged off the street." "Compromise, remember? I know you, Mindy...you spend hours picking out your outfits. I"m sure you"ve been planning your wedding since you were, like, three years old." He replied smartly.

Grasping his hand tightly, Castor peered at Roman with a mixture of gratitude and pride. "You do not need to apologize to me. Gloria told me that Vega took Sophia as leverage. I would sooner die than let anything happen my niece. You are my blood, my family." He felt Teri stiffen behind her himand he laid a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "We do what is necessary." Roman exhaled sharply, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders. "Thank you," There was a sense of relief when Castor took the Iksen key and replaced it around his neck. "I know that we"ve never seen eye to eye ..." Particularly when it came to the fate of the Atrian race and his relationship with Emery, "But I am beginning to understand the decisions you"ve made." He swallowed hard, "I know that you saw an opportunity when our ship approached earth and you had to take it, for the good of our people. I don"t always agree with your methods but...I know you want what"s best." "One day, you will be Iksen, Roman. This is your legacy. Our family"s legacy..." He smiled, "As the firstborn son, it is your right. I will assist you in any way I can, starting with integration." His expression softened. "I am beginning to realize how deeply you care for your human girl..." He smiled, "I too have found a woman who means the world to me and I would do anything to protect her." Before Teri, Castor had relied on casual, meaningless affairs that offered him nothing but fleeting visceral pleasure. In just a few weeks Teri had changed everything for him; she made him a better man by far. Roman nodded and clasped arms with Castor in a display of solidarity, "Thank you." Outside the window, they could see Atrians beginning to mill around the sector, stopping to stare at the ruins that remained in the Trags" hideouts and tunnels. Much progress had been made tonight in securing the safety of their people but they were also very far from the resolution Roman ached for. "It will be a very long time before our people can accept an Iksen whose chosen one is a human." The bonds of marriage were existential in origin. Many Atrians never found their true soul mate and he was surprised it had happened when he was so young. He"d known Emery was his since that first moment they had met in the shed; she would be bound to him one way or another. Unfortunately, getting the rest of their people to understand that would not be an easy feat. Castor, with Teri at his side, was the far better choice as Iksen for the time being. "We need to present a united front." Teri had remained quiet during the exchange, giving Castor and Roman a chance to clear the air. But she could no longer hold back, "Our top priority has to be finding my mother. Until she"s dead, we aren"t safe..." She looked over at Roman, "And I don"t just mean Castor and I but also Emery, Drake, Taylor and Sophia. Everyone we have ever known or loved could be a pile of ash tomorrow." She folded her arms, "Gloria has the SEU and the police looking for her but they won"t find her. I know my mother better than anyone. I know how she thinks..." Castor and Roman were both frowning at her. She wondered, fleetingly, if that expression was genetic. "So, if we want to take her down, we need to work together." "Do you have a plan, Teri?" Roman turned to her, arms folded thoughtfully over her hischest. Nodding slowly, she licked her lips, "The Suvek wasn"t fully destroyed. She won"t stop until she gets her hands on it. So we use it to draw her out and take her down." It was incredibly dangerous but it was the only option. "It"ll require finesse. She"ll smell a plot a mile off. We have to beat her at her own game...force her to act to try and outsmart us." Castor exhaled sharply, "I think it"s our only option." Wincing slightly as he sat up, he looked over at Roman. "Gather your friends...we must begin immediately, before Vega realizes that we"re even out of the hospital." Pushing himself up, he slogged into the bathroom to clean up. He desperately needed the cyper to fully heal but for the moment, he could manage on his own. Teri moved to follow him when the nurse popped her head in and requested she speak to her before they finalized the discharge. Roman volunteered to help Castor out and she reluctantly pulled herself away. Settling down in her freshly made hospital bed, she stared the matronly doctor down, "I feel fine so if you don"t mind..." "Teri," A soft voice echoed from just beyond the doorway. The vibrant woman smiled so gently; an aura of maternal love and radiance surrounded her. "Maia?" Teri"s breath hitched in her throat, "How?" Standing up, she hurried to the windows of the room to make sure that neither Roman nor Castor was standing by. "I mean...I know how..." Exhaling sharply, she plopped down in a chair, "This is all happening so fast." "This is a blessing, Teri," Maia knelt beside her, "When I was informed of the blood work that had been done, I have to say that I was shocked. Finding that you are married to my brother and that you"re expecting a child, well..." She laughed, "I was shocked. But I will be here to guide you during this process. We"re sisters now." Exhaling sharply, Teri felt emotion building in her throat. "I appreciate you helping me, Maia, but you can"t tell anyone." If Castor so much as suspected that she was carrying their child, he"d never allow her to go after Vega. "This is a matter of life and death." She grasped Maia"s shoulders, "Promise me!" Silence hung between them for a long time as Maia grappled with Teri"s request. After a long moment, she nodded. "I will tell no one..." She licked her lips, "Do you grow Dairet in your greenhouse?" Reaching into her purse, she grabbed out the spindly white herb and pressed it into Teri"s hand. "A little in tea each morning will help with the symptoms..." Suddenly all the dizziness, the gnawing ache in her belly and the exhaustion were all beganto make sense. Perhaps if she hadn"t been in the midst of a brutal war, she might have put the pieces together. Teri took a shaky breath, wondering at how the beatings had affected the child, "Are you sure I-" "The child is strong," Maia soothed, her hand resting on Teri"s shoulder, "As are you." She licked her lips, "Take care, Teri. I do not want to see you get hurt." By now, nearly everyone in the sector knew about Vega"s treachery. Every Atrian had been put on high alert that they were to inform the SEU if they saw or heard Vega. Knowing that Teri didn"t want anyone to know her secret led Maia to believe she intended on taking the woman down herself. "I want to see you at the end of the week." She quickly cut her off, "You are family, it will not raise suspicion if we were to dine together." She narrowed her eyes. "Alright, alright..." Teri broke away. "I"ll be there." She licked her lips, "I need to get back to my husband and your son before they start getting suspicious." Grabbing her coat, she pulled it on over the scrubs she wore, her fingertips covering the still-flat plane of her belly. "Maia...thank you." Nodding her acquiescence, Maia swept down the hall just a few moments before stepping out of the hospital room. Nervously, Teri zipped up her coat as she followed them out of the medical base. It was stupid, really. She wasn"t even showing yet. Were it not for the injuries she had sustained and the medical treatment she received, they would likely have no idea she was pregnant until weeks later when more obvious symptoms manifested. There was a bitter chill that clawed at Teri as they headed toward the pod. She brushed Roman off as he asked if she was alright. Her only focus was getting Castor the cyper he needed. As she got to the door, Teri paused. "Careful...someone has been here..." Annoyingly, Roman stepped in front of her and immediately went barreling into the pod. Everything had been ransacked, dishes had been smashed, cabinets had been torn off, and the bedding had been ripped to shreds. These were material things...they didn"t matter. And yet Teri felt emotion thicken in her throat as she stepped into the greenhouse. Dirt and remnants of plants were all over every surface. "Damn it..." Turning her back, she quickly swiped at the glimmering, aqua tears that shimmered in her eyes. If Roman saw, he would know. Of course, ever the sensitive gentleman, he was by her side. "Roman, I just need space..." She swallowed hard. "Your family has a large cyper garden..." "Our family," Roman replied, "Yes. I"ll go get some and bring it to the medical sector. Why don"t you get out of here for a while?" He suggested gently. "The bus to Edendale is running for several more hours. Castor said to gather our friends. Bring everyone back to the sector..." He narrowed his gaze, "They"re not your enemy, Teri. Give them a chance." Shaking her head, Teri stepped out of the solarium with a sigh. "No, I can"t, Roman. I need to clean this place up." Opening the closet, she frowned. "They burned my clothes!" She"d be needing new clothes soon enough. "Forget the crate! I"m going to kill all of the Trags!" Roman hid a smile, "Castor"s been pardoned. You can move back into the Iksen pod and if you"re worried about clothes, I"m sure Sophia will lend you some in the meantime. It"s going to be alright Teri. Now come on, you need some fresh air." He half-dragged her out of the pod. "As the future Iksen, I order you to rally the troops. And try to have a little fun while you"re doing it. These last few weeks have been so trying, Teri...you deserve a break." "As the current Iksen"s wife, I think I have more power than you do, Roman." But she smiled nonetheless. "Promise me that if anything changes with Castor that you have Gloria come get me. I"ll be back in an hour, two tops. I"ll bring anyone I can." Looking down at the clothes she was wearing, she sighed. "I need to find something to wear. No one is supposed to know I left sector medical. I need to blend in, not stick out like a sore thumb. This outfit makes me look like a nurse. It draws attention." Roman gazed at her incredulously. "You can"t be serious..." "Roman," Teri glared. He groaned as they headed to the bathroom. While she peeled her scrubs off on one side of the door, he pulled off his clothes on the other. In a quick no-peeking exchange, Teri dragged on Roman"s jeans and v-neck top while he wore the powder blue scrubs. "That"s much better..." "Maybe for you..." Roman groused. "Just hurry back, okay? And Teri?" He shifted as she turned from the doorway, "Emery just wants to help..." "I"m not going to scare your girlfriend, Roman. Well, I mean any more than I already have." Teri"s lips curved into half a smile. "I want to see Castor back at home by the time I get back, is that clear?" One last nod and she was off. The longer they waited, the more time Vega had to plan her attack. Once Roman healed Castor with the cyper and Teri returned with Drake, Sophia, and the human brigade, they would begin the final countdown to salvation. It wasn"t just her life at stake now-Teri thought to herself as she rested her hand against her belly-it was all of theirs. Been a while since I updated this bad boy! Since I finished my story for the 100 called Hurt (which if you like the 100, you should definitely check it out) I decided to come and finish this one off! I"m also continuing to work on Perdition, another 100 story. It was suggested to me by a lovely guest Sladeicity that I needed to finish this one so thank you darling, this one is for you! Once I finish these bad boys up I"m toying with a few ideas... Please read and review if you want more! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY WONDERFUL BETA JUSTVISITING80, She has written the best Starcrossed Fic ever so...you need to read that if you haven"t. It"s called Break Forth to New Mutiny. Plus she writes an amazing 100 fic called Seared with Scars. Moscato all around! And maybe something to help with those strokes! The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Now that the cyper had taken effect, Castor stood strong and proud at Teri"s side. Roman remained stoic, his arms folded across his chest. Teri took a steadying breath and turned to assess Castor. His color was much better now that he"d been healed; she no longer feared that he would lose his footing if a wind came sweeping through the sector. Drake leaned against the wall with his arm slung around Taylor"s waist. She had refused to leave Drake"s side despite Teri"s warnings that this would be a dangerous mission. Taylor was a liability...then again, Teri had a very similar liability. "Is there a plan?" Sophia"s soft voice broke through the silence as she gazed between Julia, Eric, and Lukas. "The Suvek withstood a bomb blast and the fight on top of the school. It won"t be easy to destroy..." "It"s not about destroying the Suvek," Castor replied softly, "At least not right now. We need to lure Vega out of hiding. Once she"s been put to rest, her followers will no longer have anyone to lead them. Those that have not been caught yet by the SEU will either try to step up-which will draw attention-or they will abandon their cause and move on with their lives. Either way, they will be neutralized." Teri could feel the hot gazes on her and her cheeks flushed. "I know that she"s my mother..." Her voice was tight with rage, "But she tried to kill me and my husband twice. I"m not letting her get a third crack at it." Teri"s head was still sore and it would take some time for that gash to heal. "Vega wants the Suvek detonated and will stop at nothing to see it accomplished. She doesn"t have the Iksen key, so she"ll have one of her lackeys run by sector medical to try and pry it off Castor. When they find he"s not there they are going to come to our pod..." Roman nodded, "How do we let Vega know that the Suvek is intact without tipping her off?" He stayed very close to Emery who had remained quiet. Losing Grayson had been a terrible wakeup call that this mission could easily lead to her death. "That"s where all of you come in," Castor gazed between them, "There is nothing more powerful than word of mouth. Rumors spread quickly in the sector and Vega must have at least a couple spies left." Pressing a soft kiss to Teri"s lips, he brushed a strand of her dark hair from her shoulder, "Once the seeds have been planted, we convene here to celebrate my restoration as Iksen. Our human guests will be too much of a temptation for Vega to ignore. She knows this is her last chance. We will capture her and ensure she cannot harm another soul." Tasks were doled out as soon as all had agreed upon the plan. Sophia, Drake and Roman would spread the rumors while Lukas, Emery, and Julia volunteered to help prepare for the celebration. Drake had been adamant that Taylor especially be kept away from the danger and she had been relegated to resting in Roman"s pod so Maia could keep an eye on her. Last, but not least, Teri and Castor were obligated to meet with the Hwatab...neither of them was looking forward to it. Teri did her best not to focus on the unpleasantness to come. She showered and fixed her hair in a traditional coif that would hopefully make her appear more the Iksen"s wife and the daughter of the Trag leader. She hesitated when Castor moved behind her, his arms slipping around her waist. The changes to her body were imperceptible and yet, her breath hitched. "Are you alright?" Castor"s eyebrows furrowed worriedly. "I have not known you to remain so quiet." He dropped a tender kiss to the curve of her shoulder. "Are you having second thoughts? It is not too late to simply have your mother sent to the crate," He soothed. "Until she"s dead, this will never end..." Teri rested her head against Castor"s shoulder. "I"m just..." She didn"t like keeping her pregnancy a secret from him; she didn"t want to keep anything from her husband. If she told him now, he"d be overprotective and she"d be forced to sit on the sidelines while he risked his life to end Vega"s. Teri knew her mother better than anyone; Castor needed her by his side if they had any chance of making it out of this alive. Teri forced a smile. "We did not seek the Hwatab"s blessing for our union. I am not looking forward to the ruling." "I am Iksen, I do not need permission from anyone. You will not be punished." Castor soothed. "Marrying you was the best decision I"ve made in my life." Stroking her cheek gently, he kissed her tenderly, "I love you, Teri. No matter what happens, I will protect you. This is my solemn promise to you." Teri pressed tighter against his chest and he smiled. For the longest time, neither of them moved...but time was of the essence. He changed into his finest garb and stopped to admire her. "You truly look like a queen." Fingers sliding over the ring that Castor had given her, she took comfort in his love. It was the only thing she was truly sure of. As they stepped out into the sector, Teri was shocked at the sea of Atrians who had come out to support them. Castor"s hand pressed to the small of her back and Teri felt strong again. She was unused to being in the spotlight and was glad for that gentle, comforting touch. The outpouring of support was overwhelming as they moved through the street toward where the tribunal had gathered. Flowers floated down from the tops of the pods, falling over them. The Hwatab had two delegates from each tribe. Representation was a vital part of making fair and informed decisions. The Iksen was nothing without a council that supported him. As Teri and Castor approached, the sea parted to admit them into the antechamber. Eight drawn faces stared back at them, pursed lips and creased brows silently judging them. Castor subconsciously stood taller as Aelius addressed the group. The grey, wizened man was part of the Swamad tribe; as the eldest member of the Hwatab he was given the appropriate respect and allowed to begin the proceedings. "I am sure you know why you have been called here, Castor. Since you have assumed your place as Iksen, there has been untold violence and bloodshed. You have lied to us and, as a result, have lost our trust." Aelius"s mouth curved into a small frown. "I make the recommendation that you should be removed immediately." With that, he took his seat. Teri swallowed hard, her stomach roiling. Aelius was well respected and there were many who would vote with him simply because he was the eldest. Murmurs among the council members were obvious but Teri couldn"t make out what they were saying. She looked to Fausta, the Vwasak delegate, when she stood. Fausta wasted no time. "Lives are always lost in times of war." She admonished. "Castor has been met with resistance. We know that Vega was undermining him at every turn. Instead of sitting back and allowing her to run rampant, he has accomplished in one year what Nox has tried to do for a decade...disband the Trags." Fausta narrowed her eyes. "We have seen the Iksen Castor is in times of war: a fierce, crafty warrior who will stop at nothing to protect his people from a threat. Of course there are things that could have been done better but the end result is the same. The end always justifies the means." She turned to face the council. "I make the recommendation that we allow Castor to show what kind of leader he will be in times of peace." "This is hardly about Castor"s deeds alone," Stratus piped up. "Can we overlook the fact that he has taken Vega"s daughter as his wife? How do we know the girl is not simply biding her time until she can use his power to continue her mother"s work?" Kayre scoffed. "If we are to be judged by the deeds of our parents, you would not be sitting at this table!" Arguing broke out, half in English, half in Sondiv, until the entire room echoed with shouts. They had descended into just the type of juvenile bickering the Hwatab was created to avoid. With one thunderous clap of his hands, Castor silenced them all. "As the accused, I have the right to defend myself." He did not let his uncertainty shine through. "However, I choose not to." Castor"s lips curled into a smile. "You are not wrong, Aelius. I have made mistakes and under my short rule, there has been death and destruction the likes of which we haven"t seen since the great Atrian war." Castor bowed his head. "I have done everything in my power to protect my people including lying and making grenades." Gazing lovingly at Teri, he paused. "Through all of it, I have been supported by my loving wife. Vega may have sired her but they are different as two people could be. It was Teri who helped stop the Suvek from being detonated while I was poisoned. She collected the herbs and mixed them to save me." His fingers grazed her cheek, "Without this woman, I would not be in front of you now. Countless more, human and Atrian alike, would have perished. We would not be on the verge of achieving integration." Teri watched Castor with awe. This man she loved was stronger, braver, and smarter than any she"d ever met. She considered speaking out and letting each of the members know how important it was that Castor remained as Iksen. But there was nothing she could possibly say that Castor hadn"t illustrated in his words and actions in his time as their leader. She simply bowed her head respectfully when they were asked to wait while the Hwatab made their decision.

"That is not going to be a problem." Danny responded automatically. "Mindy, you"re not an ugly woman. I really don"t think that"s going to be an issue. Besides, there"s always Viagra," He laughed. Peering at him pointedly, she nodded. "Yeah, yeah...of course." She looked down at her list. Well, he had told her that he was attracted to her...in a really backhanded way. "So the wedding...I mean, would you want to wait until I get pregnant to go through with it?" Shifting on the couch, he shook his head. "I don"t want people to think this was some sort of shotgun wedding that had to happen because we were careless. Especially not my mom and grandmother. I want you to meet them, get to know them before we commit to doing this. My family is really important to me and if...when we do this you"re going to be part of my family too." "What if I can"t get pregnant?" It was something she feared. Already she was thirty-one, chubby, and her parents had a lot of trouble conceiving her. Sure, on paper she seemed healthy enough but nothing was a sure bet. "If you can"t get pregnant, we"ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But don"t forget, I"m your gynecologist, Mindy. I haven"t seen anything that indicates you can"t get pregnant and carry a healthy baby to term." Danny reassured her. "I think that we should have...legal documents in place, however. A prenup." He seemed a little nervous suggesting that second part. His first wife had taken him for nearly anything he owned because he had been blinded by his love for her. Mindy nodded, "I agree, I think that would be smart. We"re both doctors...we keep finances and banking things separate. And as for where we live...I am assuming if we"re married and co-parenting, we"re going to be living together?" "That"s probably the best thing...we can look for places in good school districts outside the city. My mom lives in East Hills...great schools out there and she could watch the baby while we"re at work?" Danny suggested. "That"s forty-five minutes outside of the city by car and over an hour if we used public transit. That commute would be hard on both of us." They"d have to buy a car, maybe two...depending on if he would carpool with her and their respective schedules. "You know, the city isn"t so bad. I was raised there and my parents live in Manhattan, they could also watch the baby if we lived in the city?" Mindy suggested. Danny shook his head, "I don"t want to raise a child in a tiny apartment surrounded by noise and violence and city smog." He replied, "I love the city as much as anybody but it"s no place to raise kids! If you want your parents to take turns watching the baby, I have no problem with that. I just...I grew up in the city too and it isn"t the place for children." New York was the greatest city in the world as far as Mindy was concerned. But maybe he was right. This was a city for artists, poets and single people. If they lived in the city, they"d have to send the child to private school. "I"m...willing to compromise, but...we both have to agree on the place to live before the baby is born, okay? We get an equal vote. Agreed?" "That"s fair. Agreed." He smirked. "Would you like to shake on it?" "I agreed verbally." She teased back, laughing. "You know, we may very well be revolutionizing the way marriage and family works in this country. I mean, why can"t everyone sit down and talk things over like this? I think we have a really good thing working here." Danny nodded, "Yeah, and you nobody can say we didn"t agree on everything. We"re going to be kickass parents." He laughed, "So I think the sooner we get this process started, the better. Thanksgiving is coming up and I"d like to introduce you to my family then. It"s not a huge event, me and my mom, my grandmother, Aunt Kathy and whoever her boyfriend of the moment is, my cousin Billy...and I would"ve said his wife but their wedding fell through." Thanksgiving sounded good. "We don"t really do much on Thanksgiving so I"m sure that"ll be fine. My parents and I do brunch once a month, I"d love you to meet them then?" She smiled when he seemed agreeable. She was curious though about this big wedding. Danny had tried to keep the wedding a secret but he"d asked Betsy to pick up his tux and she had run her mouth all over the office. "Yeah you never told me what happened there. You said it got called off?" Mindy asked, curious. Calling off a wedding was a big deal, especially to do it the day of. Letting out a heavy breath, he shook his head. "I think it was both their faults. Billy"s eighteen and he thought he met the love of his life. But they"re young and stupid. She ran off with one of the ushers the night before the wedding. He"s shattered." Mindy felt awful for him, "Poor kid..." She patted his shoulder. "Well, with age comes wisdom I suppose. I mean, look at us! We"re making the right decision here." They"d just agreed to have a baby together and she was amazingly fine with it. "So, do you know a lawyer that could draw up these papers for the prenup? If not, I could go searching through the yellow pages." It was all very civil, exactly what he"d hoped for. He hadn"t really been expecting it from Mindy but it seemed she was more grown up than he"d originally thought. "I have a couple buddies who are lawyers. I"ll ask if they know anybody who will do a good job. Thanks...for trusting me with this." "We"re having a baby together...I think trust needs to be the first thing on both our lists. I want us to be able to talk without the other getting angry and storming off. Open lines of communication was number one on my list..." Mindy replied. "Mine too," Danny handed her the scrap of paper so she could see for herself. "So far so good. Now, can I get you something to drink?" Kicking off her shoes, she placed her feet up next to his on the coffee table. "Actually, from this moment forward, I"m alcohol free. You"ll be proud of me, I started my diet yesterday..." She bit her lip, "Well, okay, I only had one bag of peanut M&Ms from the vending machine. But it"s a start!" Laughing, he nodded, "I"m glad to see you"re taking this seriously." She looked so sweet sitting next to him on the couch, he leaned over and captured her lips. At first she seemed shocked but then she yielded, his lips gently gliding over hers again. Eyes wide, her heart pounded when he leaned in and kissed her. He pulled back and she licked her lips, "What was that for?" He shrugged, "I figured we"d seal the deal...here"s to a long and prosperous partnership of parenthood." Standing up, he rubbed his hands together. "I"ll order us up some dinner. Stay put..." Disappearing into the kitchen he left Mindy to herself for a moment. It was lucky he didn"t ask her to move. She couldn"t have stood up even if she wanted to. Kissing Danny Castellano...huh...it was nice. Okay, more than nice. Oh, who was she kidding? It was amazing. It occurred to her that she might be writing a whole new kind of romantic comedy starring a handsome, single doctor! A smile spread over her face. This was the start of something good. Thanks for the reviews! This chapter is very important to setting up the story. So, I hope you enjoy. Please remember that there are 3 episodes of this show so if information comes up after the fact, I"m working with what I know in this moment! Obviously this is an AU storyline (unless they want to hire me to write for The Mindy Project). So there are going to be deviations from what happens on the show! More reviews means more muse for me! So I hope you"ll leave me a comment! Happy Sunday! Sitting across the table awkwardly from Mindy"s parents, Danny got a really good idea of what it had been like growing up for Mindy. They"d only just walked in the door and already her parents started on her. Her father commented that she was dressed too American, her mother had stated in far too many words that Mindy was still overweight. It was no wonder the poor woman buried herself in romantic comedies. Her parents were harsh and demeaning. He was surprised that she wasn"t huddled in a corner, hugging her knees and crying. Mindy was mortified. Her parents were usually difficult; they had very specific views on what her life was going to be. She would go to medical school and become a gynecologist until she decided to marry a rich Indian doctor and retire to a life of housewifery and childrearing. And they wanted it all before she was twenty-five...impossible by any standard. But to act like this in front of Danny? It was quite possibly the most horrifying thing she"d ever lived through. They sat at her parents" favorite brunch place but she had no appetite. She had ordered tea with lemon and a child sized portion of fruit to make her mother happy. Danny had been served something called the "heart attack special" at the recommendation of Mindy"s father. He had barely touched it except for the wheat toast and to pick at Mindy"s fruit. Breakfast was nearly finished before Mindy"s mother decided to break the silence. "So you are the man who"s been having sex with my only daughter?" Her lips were pursed, her face contorted into an ugly frown as she peered at the two of them across the table. Mindy looked over at Danny who got that look on his face like he was about to start a fight at a Springsteen show. She had to step in here before things got ugly. "Mummy, our relationship is very serious. We"ve been together for a long time..." It wasn"t exactly untrue. "Leave them alone," Her father piped up, "You know that kids these days aren"t traditional. The girls all go around, splitting their milkshakes with any boy that comes to their yard. I listen to popular music." He said matter-of-factly as he frowned over at the two of them, "I know what you do, Mindy Lahiri." Groaning softly, she looked over at Danny with apology written all over her face. Danny, however, seemed even angrier at the notion. "Not that it"s any of your business, but your daughter is a very fine woman and she"s a lady, not some...cheap harlot." Reaching over, she grasped his hand and squeezed it tight. She smiled and he smiled back. Her parents didn"t seem to like the display of affection very much at all. Her father cleared her throat, "We give our permission for this match, of course. Mindy"s far too old to be attractive to any of the eligible men we know and it"s unlikely she can do any better." Danny opened his mouth but Mindy stood quickly before this escalated out of control, "Thank you mummy, thank you daddy..." She looked over at him, "My pager just vibrated. I have to get to the hospital...and Danny I could really use your assistance on the, uh, case we"re working on." Walking around the table, she gave each of her parents a chaste kiss. "I"ll see you next month." He was glad Mindy dragged him out of there before he really got upset. "Jesus Christ..." He snapped as they stepped out into the cool fall air. "Mindy, why do you put up with that? They are jackasses, both of them!" "Come on, Danny, they"re my parents. I"m obligated by Jesus or the law or something to love them!" She sighed, "I only have to put up with them once a month. Besides, the fact that they gave their blessing was big of them. When I brought Tom home, they told him he could do better and explained in detail why he could do way better...he broke up with me the next morning." She sighed. "Let"s just take it for what it is." It felt as if someone had stepped on his chest. He wanted to gather her into his arms and make it all better. He settled for wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, let"s get some breakfast, okay? Real breakfast..." She shrugged, "I"m not really hungry. Besides, I"m working hard on sticking to my diet." It was taking everything in her not to cry at how dreadfully embarrassed she felt. "Stop it, you look fine." He replied, "Besides, I need some coffee and you look like you could use a little something too." He knew of a little shop in Manhattan that did a pretty good business. They headed in and she got herself a fancy blended coffee drink and a scone while he got espresso and a bagel. Sitting in a little booth by the window, he took a hearty slug of his coffee. He looked over at her, "You held yourself together really well back there and...I think it speaks to your character." Mindy looked away, "Can we just not talk about it, please?" Shifting in her seat, she sipped the sugary beverage, not noticing the smear of whipped cream that got on her nose. "Yeah, yeah...sorry." He replied, looking up. "Um, you have a little dab of cream on your nose." He pointed, smirking at her. Quickly she swiped at it but didn"t quite get the spot. "No right on the tip...no..." She just wasn"t getting it, "Here, let me." Mindy cried out, exasperated. "I can get it, Danny. I got it!" She snapped. Standing up, she stalked out of the cafe. Tears stung her cheeks as she desperately sought to get a moment away. Next thing she knew a pair of arms was wrapped around her and she collapsed into him. Sniffling, she held tight to him. Burying her face in his shoulder, she let out a shaky breath. "I"m sorry...I"m so sorry." Holding her tight, he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Don"t you dare be sorry. You"ve got nothing to apologize for..." He sighed and let her cry. He had to squelch down the urge to walk back to that restaurant and show her exactly how they did things in the Bronx. "And for the record, those people are NEVER watching our kid." He replied. "After the way they treated you, I will be lucky to even let them see him!" Being held by Danny suddenly made everything alright. The tears dried and they stood there on the street as people walked by, oblivious to everything going on around them. She was quiet for a very long time. Finding her voice again took a few deep breaths and looking into his dark eyes, "Agreed." Gingerly, she licked her lips, "Thanks, for all of this." "Don"t mention it. But you have to remember our first rule, Mindy, open communication okay? Don"t keep anything from me, okay? I can handle it...even if you want to yell at me to blow off steam." He gently tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "Now come on, can we go enjoy our breakfast? We can talk about something completely different..." Ushering her back into the place, they sat down at the table. He was right, of course. But telling Daniel Castellano that he was right was bound to overinflate his ego. Instead she decided to take his advice and turn the topic of conversation. "Like what?" She asked, sipping up her frozen coffee drink. "Ooh! I have an idea...baby names?" Leaning back in his chair, he took a bite of his bagel. "Well we"re going to name the baby Danny of course. Daniel Castellano, Jr." He smirked, "After dear old dad!" There was that ego. Rolling her eyes, she laughed, "I always loved the name Chloe. Chloe Madison Lahiri, that has a nice ring to it. Don"t you think?" Folding his arms, he shook his head, "Three things." He held up the fingers as if she was going to have trouble counting that high. "The kid is going to take my name. And so are you. And it"s going to be a boy!" Putting her hand up, she scoffed. "Hold up. We never talked about me taking your name..." Although it didn"t sound that horrible, she wasn"t sure it was what she wanted. Fairytale heroines took their husbands" names, maybe she should to? "Won"t it be confusing if there are two Dr. Castellanos in the office? And the baby is clearly going to be a girl...girls run in my family! My dad has two sisters and four great aunts!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa...you"re going to be my wife. It"s going to be confusing if you have a different name than our baby." He folded his arms, preparing for a fight. He couldn"t argue with genetics, even as much as he wanted. "Yeah well it"s up to me anyway. My sperm is the one that gets to pick...I get the final say." A sharp bark of laughter emanated from her. ""Uh hi, I"m Danny Castellano, I get to pick the sex of the baby.'" She mocked, ""I"m the man, I say what goes"." Danny wasn"t amused. "I"m just saying! We"ll leave it up to biology." He sighed, "And I hate when you do that." "I know you do...so what happens when we decide it doesn"t make sense for us to be married anymore? I will once again have a different last name than our kid..." She frowned. "Our relationship isn"t going to go to hell like your parents", Danny. We"re not going into this blind. We"re not doing this because we think we"re in love and will spend the rest of our lives together..." "You can say that again..." Danny replied hotly. Yeah, it wasn"t exactly a love match; they were naive teenagers who thought that the person you went to prom with was going to be your soul mate for life. They were so much smarter than that. He sighed, "I dunno, Mindy Castellano has kinda a nice ring to it. Admit it! And Chloe Castellano isn"t so bad a name, is it?" He was trying and that made Mindy smile. "No...no it isn"t. I kind of like it, actually." She let out a shaky breath, "What if I hyphenated? Mindy Lahiri-Castellano?" It was a mouthful but it was better than nothing. "I think that"s a pretty good compromise." It warmed him through that they could talk like this, compromise like this. "Yeah, I like it." She just didn"t back down and he found that, oddly, it was one of the things he really liked about her. He smiled, "My mother is going to love you." Mindy raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh yeah? Why do you say that?" "You don"t back down from a challenge and you give as good as you get. You"re a Castellano already," He laughed. "You"re going to fit in really well." "Thanks..." Mindy replied, blushing slightly. "You know, I"m actually really looking forward to meeting your family. They sound like a great group." She chuckled again, "Besides, they can"t be any worse than my family." Danny held his tongue but smiled, "I"ve got a c-section at two but...are you free tomorrow? I figured we should...get to know each other a bit better. If you want to come over, I can throw some chicken on the grill or something." "Um, okay," Mindy smiled broadly, "Yeah, I"d like that. I"ll come over around noon or something? I"ll bring a salad." With plans firmed up, they headed out the door. Turning toward him, she hugged him tight. It felt...right. Closing her eyes for a moment, she briefly believed she felt like Sandra Bullock. "See you tomorrow, Danny." It was only very reluctantly he pulled away, he would have to rush to the hospital in time to scrub in and get Mrs. Macy prepped. He gave her a Mindy a little smirk, "See you, Mindy." And he found, he couldn"t wait. Thanks for the great reviews. Keep them coming if you want to read more! I"m writing this a chapter at a time right now and could use the feedback to determine what to do with this story. "Dr. L?" Shauna called from the doorway again. "Hello? Anybody home?" She knocked on the doorjamb, watching as Mindy stared off into space. The New Jersey in her came out as she stalked over, throwing the chart onto her desk and snapping her fingers in Mindy"s face. "Earth to Dr. L! Mrs. Harrison has been waiting for almost twenty minutes!" Mindy jumped slightly, "Geez, Shauna, why didn"t you tell me earlier?" She watched, confused, as Shauna muttered obscenities under her breath and stalked out of the room. The chart was pretty much threadbare, this was the woman"s first visit to their little practice. Mrs. Harrison was a twenty-one year old with a three year old daughter from a previous relationship. The little girl was happily singing and playing with her dollies in the corner of the exam room while Mindy and her mom talked about everything that was going on. She was here for an annual exam and to be checked over before she and her new husband started trying for another baby. Everything looked fine and Mindy was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the woman had health insurance coverage. After sending the woman off with a clean bill of health pending her pap results, she headed into Danny"s office and plopped down across from him. He didn"t look up even as she cleared her throat several times at him. "What"s a four letter word for uncommon?" He asked, staring at the crossword puzzle in the New York Times with intense, unblinking eyes. "Ah, rare! Yeah, that"s it..." "I think we should get married this weekend." She announced. That got his attention really damn fast. Mindy watched as Danny set the paper down, resting his hands on the desk and turning his full attention to her. "What do you mean you think we should get married this weekend? Is there some kind of time crunch I don"t know about?" He frowned. "No, nothing like that," Mindy replied, slightly annoyed that he"d even suggest such a thing. "I"m just sick of waiting...my last patient had her first child at eighteen and now she"s met the love of her life, has an adorable daughter, and is starting a family with her new husband." Danny still wasn"t getting it. "So?" "So, I want a family, Danny. And Thanksgiving is coming up really soon, we can surprise your family with our marriage!" She explained, "And once it"s legal, we can start trying. It"ll take some time for me to get pregnant, nobody is going to think we had to shotgun it!" Mindy explained, "Let"s talk to Dr. Shulman and see if we can take off for a few days. Fly to Vegas, get married..."

The corners of her lips curved up. He was beginning to understand that her marriage to Castor was legitimate. After his display at school, she believed he"d remain in opposition to their union forever. Settling the blanket over her legs, she mock glared at him, "Alright, enough stalling..." "You know me too well," Roman muttered under his breath as he settled down beside her. "Look, I wanted to wait...but I know you, Teri." She"d never let it go until she squeezed the truth out him. Sighing softly, he took a moment to compose himself. "After you handed over theIksen key to Vega, she handed it off to Zoe. Drake followed her out and she led him to where the Suvekwas waiting on the top of the school." The Trags were twisted, Teri had always known that...but putting a weapon of mass destruction on top of a school where there were children? It made her sick to her stomach. She waited for Roman to finish, her hand gripping the corner of the sheet, "Go on." Inspecting his fingernails carefully, he sighed, "It got heated. Emery and Grayson were part of the plan. Julia was there with Lukas. And then Taylor showed up..." Which had made Drake lose his mind and his focus, was Roman"s unspoken message. He had thought only of protecting the woman he loved and their unborn child, deviating from the plan as he saw fit to accomplish both. "The baby?" Teri probed immediately, sitting up a little straighter. She caught the look of shock on Roman"s face, "Please. The fact that it took you this long to figure out is an insult to Atrian intelligence." She frowned, "Did they make it out alive?" Roman nodded, smiling gently at her. "They managed to escape. He"s taking them to Eljida...but it was touch and go there for a while." He exhaled sharply, "Zoe shot Grayson and he...didn"t make it." Pain crossed his features. Grayson may not have been Roman"s closest friend but he mourned the loss nonetheless. "There were both human and Atrian causalities. Most of the Trags are dead..." Teri swallowed hard, "My mother?" "Unaccounted for..." He eased into the news as gently as he could. "When the SEU guards raided they thought they had captured her but it turned out to be someone else. Teri, I..." "No!" Panic burned in her chest, "She"ll never stop until we"re all dead, Roman. I don"t just mean Castor and I but you, Drake, Taylor...even Emery." Tearing the IV out of her arm, she threw it aside and hurtled out of bed. Roman"s arms wrapped around her, pushing her back toward the bed, "No! I have to find her and end this once and for all!" "Teri!" Roman snapped, "You cannot go after her tonight. You need to rest! The doctor said you had a concussion, for one thing. You could end up passing out someplace. What would Castor say then?" It was the lowest of blows but he would say anything at all to get Teri to reconsider this suicide mission. "We will find her, okay? Gloria has the SEU and the Edendale police department looking for her. And if she so much as steps foot in Eljida Drake and Soraya will be waiting for her. She can"t hide forever..." Breathing raggedly, she held tight to Roman. What Roman said made complete sense but she wasn"t feeling very rational right now. "My mother is dangerous. She could be hiding in the sector or she could be a thousand miles away by now. I can"t just sit around and wait for her to strike!" Elbowing him hard in the ribs, she very nearly succeeded...but Roman was right, she was weak. She took a few steps and her vision swam. Turning to him, she saw the Ayurveda lying on the bed. The oil within the leaves of the plant had powerful properties to put the user to sleep. The side effects were minimal and the potion wore off after a few hours. Still, Teri glared at him beneath drooping eyelids, "How could you?" Moving swiftly, he dragged Teri into his arms and hoisted her back into the bed. "I had to, Teri. You left me no choice." Tugging the blanket up over her shoulders, he sighed. One day she would thank him...but he was well aware that day was not today. She swore bitterly in Sondiv, trying in vain to fight the effects of the herb he"d given her. After a few minutes, her eyelids drooped, her pulse slowed and her breathing became even. Closing his eyes, Roman found himself quickly falling asleep in the chair by her bed. Tomorrow was a brand new day and it was better to meet it well rested. They had to find Vega and the rest of the Trags who had escaped...it was not going to be easy but it was what needed to be done to survive. Shoutout to my AMAZING Beta JustVisiting80 and yeah I totally stole the Havthra idea from her! She is awesome! I"m still writing this fic...so if you want more please read and review. The only way I know if people are enjoying or not is if you tell me! Thanks! Vibrant pink and orange rays streaked the sky as Teri"s eyes flickered open. The first hint of morning sunshine beamed through the blinds, her body"s natural rhythm humming with the dawn. Wincing slightly as she sat up, her fingertips brushed over a bulky gauze dressing on her forehead that had been replaced overnight. Peeling it away, she tossed it aside; the blood was mostly dried now anyway. Sometime in the middle of the night, her IV had been replaced and a blanket was draped over her. Thanks to the Ayurveda she had slept soundly and unperturbed by nightmares. She was well rested and happy to enjoy a moment"s peace. But the calm was short lived. Teri knew the threat Vega posed was still very real...she could not allow herself to become complacent and comfortable, that would only lead to death. Tugging aside the rumpled sheets, she padded into the bathroom to freshen up. Her clothes from yesterday were ruined but she managed to find a pair of soft linen scrub pants and a matching top stashed in a drawer. Roman was asleep in the chair beside her bed, haphazardly drooping against the wall. Outside her door there were two SEU guards, chatting quietly among themselves. The smell of the coffee they were drinking turned her stomach over and it seemed the trauma she"d sustained to her head had not yet run its course as her temples throbbed. Stepping to the door, she was surprised when no one stopped her. Gloria must have given them instructions to allow her to come and go as she pleased. Padding down the hallway, Teri was relieved that there were more guards posted at Castor"s door. "I"m here to see my husband," She explained, which prompted them to move aside without further question. Castor was still asleep. The machines that monitored his hearts and lungs beeped softly, maintaining a regular beat and rhythm. Licking her lips, she tiptoed closer until she was stood at his side. Brushing a strand of his dark hair from his forehead, she very carefully eased into the bed beside him. Castor"s eyes remained closed but he smiled tenderly as he felt Teri crawl in beside him. Shifting slightly, he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her tighter to him. Dropping a soft kiss to her forehead, he struggled against the effects of the medication they were pumping him with. It made him feel weak and groggy; though the exhaustion could also have something to do with the wound in his abdomen that he"d accidentally pulled open twice now. Her hands slid over his chest, her head lolling against his shoulder. As she molded against him, he inhaled deeply. "Morning, my love..." "Good morning," She replied softly, kissing his cheek gently. Resting her forehead against him, she smiled, "You don"t have to get up. Averting the total annihilation of the planet gives you the right to sleep in a little bit." Snuggling in closer, she chuckled. He might be slightly sleepy but one part of him was very awake indeed... How did she expect him to sleep when her leg was thrown haphazardly over his, her lithe body pressed against him and her soft words warming him to the core? He wanted nothing more than to drag her beneath him and celebrate that they had lived through the night. Capturing her lips once more, he slid his fingers through her dark hair as she angled herself to please him more effectively. Sitting up ever so slightly, he was suddenly startled when the violent, angry blearing of the machines he was hooked up to began to alarm. Teri had gotten him excited and it caused a bit of a stir. He looked appropriately sheepish as the nurse hid a smirk while she checked his vitals. Blushing hotly, Teri slid off the bed to allow the nurse better access. "It"s my fault. I shouldn"t have riled him up." She couldn"t help but giggle to herself when the nurse declared that he was fine. She expected to be banished from the room but instead the machines were unhooked and wheeled away, leaving her alone with her husband once more. "I guess there are some perks to being the Iksen"s wife." This time she didn"t get back into bed with him; he needed to rest and it was clear they couldn"t be trusted not to go too far. "You look so much better today..." "That"s all thanks to you," Castor replied softly, his eyes were bright with emotion. "Gloria said you were a brave warrior." Reaching out, he stroked her cheek. "Your eyes are bruised and that cut looks painful...you"ve suffered so much on my behalf. I cannot even begin to thank you but I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I swear that to you, Teri." "Taking down Vega is my responsibility, she"s my mother. I wanted to protect you, yes, but it wasn"t just for you. It was for me too. My mother has terrorized me my whole life. Ever since I was a kid...even the few memories I have of Atria. She"s always been a brutal warmonger, looking to start trouble wherever she lands." Teri slipped her hand into his and held tight. "I know you want to protect me because I"m your wife but I don"t need to be coddled, Castor. I fight because it"s what I believe in." Kissing the back of his hand, she smiled, "You have nothing to make up for. All I want is for you to recover and take your rightful place as Iksen. I know you can lead our people to greatness..." There was such deep affection in Castor"s eyes as he gazed at her. "My loyalty to our people will never waver. I will not stop until we are free, Teri. But my heart belongs to you and you will always come first." He leaned in closer, "I will fight by your side, always. Standing together, no one can take us down." Teri swallowed hard, "If you died, I don"t think I could survive it." How had Maia ever coped with losing Nox? Teri was swept away under a current of fear and despair just knowing Castor was hurt. To think about burying him made her physically ill. "You"re absolutely right. We need to stand together and show what remains of the Trags and anyone else who stands in our way that we won"t be taken down so easily." Her heart raced as they sat there. Very likely if they had been left to their own devices, they"d have succumbed to the passion that ran hot between them. Instead, a young doctor came in to check on Castor and declared that he should be ready to go home tomorrow if all went well. Teri, on the other hand, persuaded the man to let her husband recover at home. "If we can sneak you back into my pod, I have cyper. We can get you healed up in no time." She needed him not only back home but also in her bed. Groaning harshly against the bead of desire that throbbed in his loins, he leaned his forehead against hers. "I would love nothing more than that." Clearing his throat loudly from the doorway, Roman glanced between Teri and Castor. "I"m sorry to interrupt..." When he had awoken on the chair in Teri"s room, he was alone. Truly, he had intended to leave once she fell asleep but he didn"t want to leave without making sure she was settled. The next thing he knew he had a crick from sleeping in that horrible chair. Rubbing his neck, he licked his lips, "I have something that belongs to you." Lifting the Iksen key over his head, he offered it to Castor. "Uncle, I"m so..." Grasping his hand tightly, Castor peered at Roman with a mixture of gratitude and pride. "You do not need to apologize to me. Gloria told me that Vega took Sophia as leverage. I would sooner die than let anything happen my niece. You are my blood, my family." He felt Teri stiffen behind her himand he laid a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "We do what is necessary." Roman exhaled sharply, as if the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders. "Thank you," There was a sense of relief when Castor took the Iksen key and replaced it around his neck. "I know that we"ve never seen eye to eye ..." Particularly when it came to the fate of the Atrian race and his relationship with Emery, "But I am beginning to understand the decisions you"ve made." He swallowed hard, "I know that you saw an opportunity when our ship approached earth and you had to take it, for the good of our people. I don"t always agree with your methods but...I know you want what"s best." "One day, you will be Iksen, Roman. This is your legacy. Our family"s legacy..." He smiled, "As the firstborn son, it is your right. I will assist you in any way I can, starting with integration." His expression softened. "I am beginning to realize how deeply you care for your human girl..." He smiled, "I too have found a woman who means the world to me and I would do anything to protect her." Before Teri, Castor had relied on casual, meaningless affairs that offered him nothing but fleeting visceral pleasure. In just a few weeks Teri had changed everything for him; she made him a better man by far. Roman nodded and clasped arms with Castor in a display of solidarity, "Thank you." Outside the window, they could see Atrians beginning to mill around the sector, stopping to stare at the ruins that remained in the Trags" hideouts and tunnels. Much progress had been made tonight in securing the safety of their people but they were also very far from the resolution Roman ached for. "It will be a very long time before our people can accept an Iksen whose chosen one is a human." The bonds of marriage were existential in origin. Many Atrians never found their true soul mate and he was surprised it had happened when he was so young. He"d known Emery was his since that first moment they had met in the shed; she would be bound to him one way or another. Unfortunately, getting the rest of their people to understand that would not be an easy feat. Castor, with Teri at his side, was the far better choice as Iksen for the time being. "We need to present a united front." Teri had remained quiet during the exchange, giving Castor and Roman a chance to clear the air. But she could no longer hold back, "Our top priority has to be finding my mother. Until she"s dead, we aren"t safe..." She looked over at Roman, "And I don"t just mean Castor and I but also Emery, Drake, Taylor and Sophia. Everyone we have ever known or loved could be a pile of ash tomorrow." She folded her arms, "Gloria has the SEU and the police looking for her but they won"t find her. I know my mother better than anyone. I know how she thinks..." Castor and Roman were both frowning at her. She wondered, fleetingly, if that expression was genetic. "So, if we want to take her down, we need to work together." "Do you have a plan, Teri?" Roman turned to her, arms folded thoughtfully over her hischest. Nodding slowly, she licked her lips, "The Suvek wasn"t fully destroyed. She won"t stop until she gets her hands on it. So we use it to draw her out and take her down." It was incredibly dangerous but it was the only option. "It"ll require finesse. She"ll smell a plot a mile off. We have to beat her at her own game...force her to act to try and outsmart us." Castor exhaled sharply, "I think it"s our only option." Wincing slightly as he sat up, he looked over at Roman. "Gather your friends...we must begin immediately, before Vega realizes that we"re even out of the hospital." Pushing himself up, he slogged into the bathroom to clean up. He desperately needed the cyper to fully heal but for the moment, he could manage on his own. Teri moved to follow him when the nurse popped her head in and requested she speak to her before they finalized the discharge. Roman volunteered to help Castor out and she reluctantly pulled herself away. Settling down in her freshly made hospital bed, she stared the matronly doctor down, "I feel fine so if you don"t mind..." "Teri," A soft voice echoed from just beyond the doorway. The vibrant woman smiled so gently; an aura of maternal love and radiance surrounded her. "Maia?" Teri"s breath hitched in her throat, "How?" Standing up, she hurried to the windows of the room to make sure that neither Roman nor Castor was standing by. "I mean...I know how..." Exhaling sharply, she plopped down in a chair, "This is all happening so fast." "This is a blessing, Teri," Maia knelt beside her, "When I was informed of the blood work that had been done, I have to say that I was shocked. Finding that you are married to my brother and that you"re expecting a child, well..." She laughed, "I was shocked. But I will be here to guide you during this process. We"re sisters now." Exhaling sharply, Teri felt emotion building in her throat. "I appreciate you helping me, Maia, but you can"t tell anyone." If Castor so much as suspected that she was carrying their child, he"d never allow her to go after Vega. "This is a matter of life and death." She grasped Maia"s shoulders, "Promise me!" Silence hung between them for a long time as Maia grappled with Teri"s request. After a long moment, she nodded. "I will tell no one..." She licked her lips, "Do you grow Dairet in your greenhouse?" Reaching into her purse, she grabbed out the spindly white herb and pressed it into Teri"s hand. "A little in tea each morning will help with the symptoms..." Suddenly all the dizziness, the gnawing ache in her belly and the exhaustion were all beganto make sense. Perhaps if she hadn"t been in the midst of a brutal war, she might have put the pieces together. Teri took a shaky breath, wondering at how the beatings had affected the child, "Are you sure I-" "The child is strong," Maia soothed, her hand resting on Teri"s shoulder, "As are you." She licked her lips, "Take care, Teri. I do not want to see you get hurt." By now, nearly everyone in the sector knew about Vega"s treachery. Every Atrian had been put on high alert that they were to inform the SEU if they saw or heard Vega. Knowing that Teri didn"t want anyone to know her secret led Maia to believe she intended on taking the woman down herself. "I want to see you at the end of the week." She quickly cut her off, "You are family, it will not raise suspicion if we were to dine together." She narrowed her eyes. "Alright, alright..." Teri broke away. "I"ll be there." She licked her lips, "I need to get back to my husband and your son before they start getting suspicious." Grabbing her coat, she pulled it on over the scrubs she wore, her fingertips covering the still-flat plane of her belly. "Maia...thank you." Nodding her acquiescence, Maia swept down the hall just a few moments before stepping out of the hospital room. Nervously, Teri zipped up her coat as she followed them out of the medical base. It was stupid, really. She wasn"t even showing yet. Were it not for the injuries she had sustained and the medical treatment she received, they would likely have no idea she was pregnant until weeks later when more obvious symptoms manifested. There was a bitter chill that clawed at Teri as they headed toward the pod. She brushed Roman off as he asked if she was alright. Her only focus was getting Castor the cyper he needed. As she got to the door, Teri paused. "Careful...someone has been here..." Annoyingly, Roman stepped in front of her and immediately went barreling into the pod. Everything had been ransacked, dishes had been smashed, cabinets had been torn off, and the bedding had been ripped to shreds. These were material things...they didn"t matter. And yet Teri felt emotion thicken in her throat as she stepped into the greenhouse. Dirt and remnants of plants were all over every surface. "Damn it..." Turning her back, she quickly swiped at the glimmering, aqua tears that shimmered in her eyes. If Roman saw, he would know. Of course, ever the sensitive gentleman, he was by her side. "Roman, I just need space..." She swallowed hard. "Your family has a large cyper garden..." "Our family," Roman replied, "Yes. I"ll go get some and bring it to the medical sector. Why don"t you get out of here for a while?" He suggested gently. "The bus to Edendale is running for several more hours. Castor said to gather our friends. Bring everyone back to the sector..." He narrowed his gaze, "They"re not your enemy, Teri. Give them a chance." Shaking her head, Teri stepped out of the solarium with a sigh. "No, I can"t, Roman. I need to clean this place up." Opening the closet, she frowned. "They burned my clothes!" She"d be needing new clothes soon enough. "Forget the crate! I"m going to kill all of the Trags!" Roman hid a smile, "Castor"s been pardoned. You can move back into the Iksen pod and if you"re worried about clothes, I"m sure Sophia will lend you some in the meantime. It"s going to be alright Teri. Now come on, you need some fresh air." He half-dragged her out of the pod. "As the future Iksen, I order you to rally the troops. And try to have a little fun while you"re doing it. These last few weeks have been so trying, Teri...you deserve a break."

Shock coursed through her as Danny opened up that box and displayed by far the most beautiful ring she"d ever seen. Emotion clogged her throat as she looked up at him, "But Danny...this...this is an heirloom." "And I want you to have it." Taking out the engagement ring, he grasped her left hand and slipped it on. It fit as if it was designed for her and her alone. "I...I never gave this to my ex-wife. For one thing, her fingers were far too skinny and spidery. And second of all, I didn"t trust her to take good care of it. I trust you to love it as much as she did." "Danny..." A tear splashed down her cheek and she threw her arms around him, "It"s perfect, absolutely perfect!" She pulled back and stared at it, "Thank you..." She adored it. The diamond was absolutely flawless, a perfect square carat flanked by sapphires on a ring of white gold. She had to imagine that Danny"s great grandfather had loved his fiancé very much. Pride swelled in his chest as he watched her admire the ring. His ex had wanted a brand new, fancy diamond that would make her high society friends jealous. But he had known that Mindy would appreciate the beauty and sentiment behind this one. "You"re welcome...I"ll give you the wedding band during the ceremony. It"s tradition." That got Mindy thinking, "I...I will have to buy you a wedding band, Danny. I"m sorry, I don"t have anything from my family..." She wished she did but the truth was that none of them had truly epic love stories. Her parents had an arranged marriage, and so had their parents before them. They were matches made to appease their parents, not because they loved each other. "But I"ll pick out a good one, I promise." Danny zipped up his bag, ready to go. "That"s fine, Mindy. I don"t think it"s such a big deal for the guy..." Anything metal and solid would do. They could probably pick up something in Vegas for cheap and it would suit him just fine. "Come on, let"s get your stuff. There"s a flight that leaves at seven thirty and I think if we"re quick, we can make it." The next couple hours were a blur for Mindy. Thankfully she always had outfits picked out ahead of time or this could"ve been quite an ordeal! The only question was what to get married in. It took a great bit of closet hunting but eventually she settled on a white silk dress that fell just below her knee and hugged her curves. She forced Danny to sit outside on the couch while she"d packed, not wanting him to see the dress. She came out wheeling a large suitcase and toting a slightly smaller carryon that matched. "Do you really need all that?" Danny asked, grasping the suitcase and letting out a grunt as he tried to pull it, "Jesus! We"re going for a week, Mindy! I doubt that you"re going to need all this crap. Unless the apocalypse hits and then I highly doubt you"re going to need this many shoes!" "I"m a girl, Danny, get over it!" With a little bit of maneuvering, they caught a cab to the airport and headed to check in. Despite Mindy"s suitcase being a little over the weight limit and her having to shove some of her shoes into Danny"s bag, there were no issues. They arrived at the gate with plenty of time. Mindy bought them both a couple of soft pretzels and Danny got them some coffee. It wasn"t too long before their flight boarded and they were on their way. Vegas was six hours away. The wedding was six hours away. Their future was six hours away and it seemed to be brighter than ever. I love you guys! You are amazing...keep the reviews up! They keep my going. Head"s up, I live on the East Coast and we are bracing for Hurricane Sandy. It"s quite possible I could be without power for many days. My kids and I are well prepared but it could be a bit befrore I"m able to write/upload anything. For those who are facing this with me, Godspeed. Stay safe! Please review, give me something to enjoy when I return! The twinkling lights of Vegas shown so brightly that it looked like it was midday even though it was nearly four in the morning. Stepping off the plane, feeling the heat of the Nevada desert warming her skin, Mindy felt a sense of calm wash over her. She wasn"t a romantic heroine swept off her feet in a whirlwind romance that nobody expected to last. She was standing next to Danny Castellano as they decided between the cheesy Elvis wedding chapel and the one with a real minister. Holding the guidebook up to the streetlamp, Danny wasn"t so much reading the pages but watching her face. She was like a kid in a candy store; he"d never seen her more happy. They"d checked into a hotel and she had insisted that he not see her until she was all done prepping. Of course, that had taken over an hour. Sighing audibly, he stood awkwardly, unwilling to sit down on the bed and risk wrinkling his suit. He wanted to look his best for her...it was their wedding. It might not be fancy or expensive but it was something they"d tell their kids about someday. Finally she had come out and he was impressed; it was so worth the wait. That cream dress perfectly accented her cocoa skin, hugging her curves in all the right places and her heels made it look like her legs went on for miles. "I don"t want to get married by Korean Elvis, okay? Can we just go someplace nice?" "I don"t want to get married by Elvis...and I don"t want to do a drive thru wedding either." She looked into his eyes. "How about this one?" Silver Bells wedding chapel was slightly set back from the others, delicate flowers hanging in a basket out front. "How about this place?" She asked. She should be tired by now, they both should; working all day, then a six hour plane ride...but she found that she couldn"t wait. She wanted to be married to Danny more than anything and that surprised her. Danny led her over and opened up the doors, "Perfect. Finally something we agree on." "We agree on more than that," Mindy argued, heading over to sign in. The chapel was family owned and operated. At this time of night there wasn"t a wait. An elderly woman played the organ while Mindy processed down the aisle, holding a bouquet of white and pink roses. As she looked up, all she could see was Danny in front of her. She didn"t care about the flowers or the frills; it was about her life ahead of her. Grasping his hands, she stood in front of him as the minister spoke of love, commitment and honor. In thirty-eight years of life, Danny had never felt an emotion quite like this one. He wanted to say it was fear...mixed with desire, hope, passion...and maybe a little bit of horniness. He wanted to say it was love but...that wasn"t on the docket. They had respect, boundaries, mutual goals and shared dreams. They were doing this for a family, not because they were Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. But when he looked at her, he couldn"t help but say, "I do." Slipping the matching band onto her finger, he watched emotion flicker in her eyes. Mindy licked her lips, replying after Danny. "I do..." The band she"d picked out for him was strong, masculine, platinum; it would last forever and never fade. Leaning in, she kissed him softly, tenderly. Her body pressing against his as he deepened the kiss. Her head swam and she crushed against his chest. It wasn"t until the minister began clearing her throat loudly and shoving the marriage paperwork in front of them that they broke apart. "Oh sorry..." She looked into Danny"s eyes as she scrawled her name. "Dr. Mindy Lahiri- Castellano..." She handed him over the pen. Danny scrawled his name there. "It"s official...man and wife." Why was he nervous? Tugging at his collar, he walked out of the chapel a married man. Looking at Mindy as they sauntered back to the hotel, he took a shaky breath. The silence hung thick in the air and finally, he turned to her. "Are we having sex tonight?" Whipping to look at him, Mindy nearly lost her balance. "What!?" Dragging a hand through his hair, he sighed. "Let me rephrase that..." For a moment, he struggled and then cursed softly, "Are you expecting sex tonight?" "I hadn"t really thought about it..." Liar, liar, pants on fire...it was all she could think about since the second she saw him in that suit. Playing coy, she bit her lip, "It wouldn"t be a bad idea. I mean, we need to consummate the marriage, right? Isn"t that, like, a law?" "I"m not sure..." Danny replied, "But maybe we shouldn"t take any chances?" Without realizing it, they had picked up their pace considerably. Half-jogging, he took her hand and pushed past the doorman, throwing open the door. They were both out of breath when they got into the elevator, heading back to the room. Mindy"s heart pounded as he slid the plastic card into the door and it opened, the king size bed looming in front of them. Tugging his jacket off, she kissed him hard. Kicking off her heels, she felt like her skin was on fire. "Should we...should we use a condom?" Stilling for a minute, he examined her face. "No." Tugging the zipper on her dress, he kissed down her chest, hands following the path his mouth took. Her hands reached for his shirt and tugged, a whisper of buttons hitting he the floor sounded as she tore his shirt off. "Danny..." She murmured, desperate to feel his hands on her body. And he didn"t disappoint. Gently he moved her back onto the bed, her body falling onto a billowy down comforter. His name on her lips drove him to insanity. In turn, he kissed over every inch of her gorgeous, voluptuous body until she begged for more. He wanted to claim her, own her, make her his and only his. Tenderly, teasingly he made love to her the way she"d always dreamed. Long into the morning they remained joined, until the sun rose high in the sky and filled the room with its gentle light. Laying in the rumpled bed, he held Mindy in his arms as she rested against his chest. A smile permanently fixed on his handsome face. His fingers toyed with her hair, "How do you feel?" Looking up at him, she smiled, "Really good..." She replied. "How do you feel?" "Married." He laughed, holding her closer as she laughed with him. "I vote for not leaving this bed until they kick us out of here." Mindy nodded, "Seconded." She smiled, "High five, Danny, we have literally revolutionized marriage." She put up her hand, watching him laugh at her. "Come on, Danny, don"t leave me hanging!" High-fiving her, he chuckled. "You are something else, Mindy." He kissed her again, "And I like it." Taking her into his arms again, he wished this moment would never end. In this hotel room they were two people, unperturbed by the troubles and tribulations of the world. Nothing could touch them...nothing. Hi everybody, sorry for the long wait on this chapter. Between the hurricane cleanup, work being a bear and kids, I haven"t had much time to write. You can thank Blizzard Charlotte dropping 30 inches of snow on my doorstep for this little chapter! I hope it lives up to what you wanted for the wedding! I want to say now that this story is AU now that we know more about Mindy and Danny, Mindy doesn"t have a brother, etc. Just letting you know now! Coming up next in this story, Mindy meetings the Castellanos! WOO! Please read and review! What was that old saying? Time flies when you"re having fun...and the last week had truly flown by for Mindy. She and Danny had enjoyed every second of what Vegas had to offer. They went to the casino one night, they watched half a comedy show...okay, let"s get serious, they had spent the majority of their honeymoon in bed. The morning they were scheduled to fly home, a sense of dread filled Mindy"s chest. What was it going to be like when they were back in New York? Would they continue to be as close as they were in Vegas? For that matter, where were they even going to live? The trip home was mostly spent in silence. A few words exchanged here or there. Mindy fell asleep on Danny"s shoulder on the plane ride home and he hadn"t had the heart to wake her. Even now as they were on their way into work, neither had the guts to break the silence. Stopping by the coffee place a block from work, he watched her carefully. "Are you really getting the triple espresso?" He chided. "Why not? We were just on a plane for six hours, it took us two hours to get home from the airport and now we"re going to work. I need something to keep me awake, Danny." Mindy groused, also ordering herself a croissant. "I think triple espressos might be bad for pregnant women but hey, it"s your call, Doc." He ordered himself a quadruple espresso, watching her hawkishly as she angrily changed her order to an iced chai. He grabbed a premade parfait and paid for both their orders. "Hey, wait up." He called as he walked over to her, carrying his drink. "Are you mad at me now?" Mindy turned to him, "I am exhausted, Danny. You must be too...and you making me feel guilty for needing some caffeine doesn"t help me any. I"m probably not even pregnant yet." She turned and headed toward the office. "And for that matter, what"s with the third degree? We had an amazing time in Vegas or at least I did! And then we don"t even talk the whole way home?!" She folded her arms and stomped ahead of him. "Mindy, stop..." Gently, he grasped her arm. "I didn"t know what to say, alright? I had a good time..." More than that, "An amazing time..." He sighed. "I"m not GOOD at this, alright? I am not good at relationships. With my ex-wife, as long as she had my credit card she didn"t need anything from me. She never wanted to talk to me...she never wanted ANYTHING from me actually. I don"t know what to do...so just...TELL me what to do." Instantly, she felt herself softening. The anger she was feeling dissipated as quickly as it came. "I"m sorry, Danny, I"m just tired. I shouldn"t have snapped at you...let"s just go to work and then...your place tonight?" Her single girl apartment didn"t hold much charm when he had his house ready and waiting for a wife to come in and organize things. "For that matter, should we get settled in together? Move things in little by little while we look for a house?" That emotion he"d felt at their wedding welled up in his chest again. "Yeah. I like that. Stop by your place and get the essentials and...you should pack for Thanksgiving. We"re leaving for my mom"s on Wednesday." Wrapping an arm around her, they strode into the office to find that there was a party going on in their honor. Not much work was done at all that day...most of their patients were preparing for Thanksgiving and had already come in for their appointments the week prior. A couple stragglers found their way in but for the most part, Mindy and Danny spent the workday getting pumped by Morgan on places to go in Vegas and Betsy on life after marriage. That evening, as usual, they boarded the same train. Danny"s stop was coming up and she smiled, "So, I"ll see you at home?" She liked the way that sounded. Apparently, he did too because he gave her a wide grin instead of one of those half-smirks he liked so much. "Yeah, you focus on packing and I"ll make us some dinner, okay? Don"t be late." He teased. Leaning in, he kissed her gently before heading back to his place. Cleaning up some of the manly clutter-old beer bottles, issues of Sports Illustrated (particularly of the swimsuit edition variety), his weight set-he also proceeded to make a homemade spaghetti sauce that he hoped she loved. He knew he"d have plenty of time to get things together; his wife took her sweet time when it came to packing. He had dinner waiting on the table when she came through the front door with looked like every stitch of clothing she owned. Mindy set three large suitcases down in the living room, grabbing two more from the cabbie, "Honey, I"m home." She smiled, "Danny, it smells amazing in here. Did you COOK?" Smirking, he nodded. "It"s not exactly gourmet but it is a family recipe. It doesn"t compare to how my mom makes it, of course. It"s a tradition that she makes lasagna on Christmas Eve...to die for." He smiled and served her up a hearty portion. "Do you cook?" Mindy laughed, "Does toaster strudel count?" She shook her head, "No, I never really learned. I rely a lot on takeout." Taking a bite, she moaned. "Oh my God, Danny...this is amazing." She smiled. "I am really going to like being married to you." Danny sipped his wine, shaking his head. "I hope so." Looking at all of her huge bags, he laughed, "Looks like you brought enough for a few weeks, huh?" "What? No...this is about four days." Watching his face, she laughed. "I"m kidding, it"s at least a week. I wanted to make sure I had enough for when we"re at yours mom"s. I want to make a good impression." It was something she was really nervous about. "And since you"re weirdly good at picking out my outfits, I"m going to make sure everything looks good before it goes into my final approval list." Wiping her mouth, she went to her bag. "What should I go for? Fun and casual? Smoldering temptress? Frumpy nun?" "Frumpy nun?" Danny stood up, "Mindy, just...dress how you want. My mom and grandma aren"t going to care what you wear. They"re going to care about the woman you are...strong, funny, a good doctor." He cleared his throat, "Although we should talk about some topics to avoid...like divorce, the Giants not being in the Superbowl or Lolcats." Mindy cocked an eyebrow, "Why can"t I talk about Lolcats? They"re pictures of adorable cuddly kitties talking with bad grammar and spelling...what"s not to like?" "Unless you want to look at pictures of them for hours, you won"t want to bring it up. I swear, I regret the day I showed her the website." He sighed, exasperated. Then he smirked, "I figured we"d leave work early on Wednesday? Maybe grab some lunch before we get on the road? My ma lives about an hour outside the city..." And now that he had his driver"s license, he could drive them there. That thought filled him with a sense of pride and accomplishment. "Sounds great to me." Hunkering down for a quiet night at home, they easily settled into a new routine. Honestly, Mindy didn"t know where the time went to. Before she knew it, she was slipping into Danny"s Buick and they started the drive to East Hills. Her nerves were buzzing as Danny turned up his Billy Joel CD and sang along. She watched as the city lights disappeared from view and they started driving through farm country, complete with cows and goats. Okay...maybe it wasn"t THAT bad...but when you"d lived in New York your whole life, it sure seemed that way. Danny had announced they were a few minutes away when Mindy felt the first fluttering of anxiety start to take over. "Danny, I don"t think I can do this..." She took a shaky breath. "My OWN family doesn"t like me...why should yours?" Looking over at her, he sighed. "Mindy we"ve been over this...you"ll be fine. Look, the house is right there..." Pulling up to a gorgeous old Victorian colonial with a large wraparound porch, he put it in park. Grasping her hands, he kissed her gently. "Now come on. Don"t be a sissy." Mindy got out of the car, hands on her hips. "Who do you think you"re calling a sissy, Castellano!?" She grabbed her bags, not letting Danny get them even though he tried multiple times to grab them. "You were the one who got all weird when we decided to order Chinese from that new place instead of Chin"s!" She mocked him openly, ""I"m Danny Castellano, I"m afraid of getting sesame chicken from a new restaurant.'" "That was different!" Danny argued. Turning on heel, Mindy nearly went smacking into a tiny woman who barely came up to Mindy"s chest. She bore a striking resemblance to Danny, her dark hair streaked heavily with grey. Before she had a second to say anything, the woman gave Mindy a tight hug while she yelled at her son. "Daniel Joseph Castellano, is this the girl you"ve been keeping from me?!" Awkwardly, she patted the woman on the back. "I"m Mindy..." She looked over at Danny who was grinning like the cat that got the canary. "It"s so great to finally meet you. Danny"s told me so much about you." There was a moody teenager standing in the doorway that she assumed was Billy and an elderly woman peeking through the window that she knew was his grandmother. Walking arm in arm with his mother, she shot Danny a reproachful look as they headed into his childhood home. Chuckling conspiratorially, Danny grabbed the bags and followed the ladies into he house. He kissed his grandmother"s cheek and clapped the sullen Billy on the shoulder, "Hey ma, we got anything to eat around here?" He called. Mindy was standing beside "mom" - as the woman insisted she call her- and peered at him, "Danny we ate lunch like an hour ago." She sipped the cup of incredibly strong coffee the woman had brewed for her. "You can"t possibly be hungry." "My Danny always had a good appetite," She laughed and started making him a sandwich. "And it showed!" She giggled, hurrying into the living room and coming forward with an album that was full of pictures of a much smaller, chubby little Danny. It was quite literally the most adorable thing she"d ever seen in her life. "Mom! NO!" Danny hollered but it was too late.

The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Now that the cyper had taken effect, Castor stood strong and proud at Teri"s side. Roman remained stoic, his arms folded across his chest. Teri took a steadying breath and turned to assess Castor. His color was much better now that he"d been healed; she no longer feared that he would lose his footing if a wind came sweeping through the sector. Drake leaned against the wall with his arm slung around Taylor"s waist. She had refused to leave Drake"s side despite Teri"s warnings that this would be a dangerous mission. Taylor was a liability...then again, Teri had a very similar liability. "Is there a plan?" Sophia"s soft voice broke through the silence as she gazed between Julia, Eric, and Lukas. "The Suvek withstood a bomb blast and the fight on top of the school. It won"t be easy to destroy..." "It"s not about destroying the Suvek," Castor replied softly, "At least not right now. We need to lure Vega out of hiding. Once she"s been put to rest, her followers will no longer have anyone to lead them. Those that have not been caught yet by the SEU will either try to step up-which will draw attention-or they will abandon their cause and move on with their lives. Either way, they will be neutralized." Teri could feel the hot gazes on her and her cheeks flushed. "I know that she"s my mother..." Her voice was tight with rage, "But she tried to kill me and my husband twice. I"m not letting her get a third crack at it." Teri"s head was still sore and it would take some time for that gash to heal. "Vega wants the Suvek detonated and will stop at nothing to see it accomplished. She doesn"t have the Iksen key, so she"ll have one of her lackeys run by sector medical to try and pry it off Castor. When they find he"s not there they are going to come to our pod..." Roman nodded, "How do we let Vega know that the Suvek is intact without tipping her off?" He stayed very close to Emery who had remained quiet. Losing Grayson had been a terrible wakeup call that this mission could easily lead to her death. "That"s where all of you come in," Castor gazed between them, "There is nothing more powerful than word of mouth. Rumors spread quickly in the sector and Vega must have at least a couple spies left." Pressing a soft kiss to Teri"s lips, he brushed a strand of her dark hair from her shoulder, "Once the seeds have been planted, we convene here to celebrate my restoration as Iksen. Our human guests will be too much of a temptation for Vega to ignore. She knows this is her last chance. We will capture her and ensure she cannot harm another soul." Tasks were doled out as soon as all had agreed upon the plan. Sophia, Drake and Roman would spread the rumors while Lukas, Emery, and Julia volunteered to help prepare for the celebration. Drake had been adamant that Taylor especially be kept away from the danger and she had been relegated to resting in Roman"s pod so Maia could keep an eye on her. Last, but not least, Teri and Castor were obligated to meet with the Hwatab...neither of them was looking forward to it. Teri did her best not to focus on the unpleasantness to come. She showered and fixed her hair in a traditional coif that would hopefully make her appear more the Iksen"s wife and the daughter of the Trag leader. She hesitated when Castor moved behind her, his arms slipping around her waist. The changes to her body were imperceptible and yet, her breath hitched. "Are you alright?" Castor"s eyebrows furrowed worriedly. "I have not known you to remain so quiet." He dropped a tender kiss to the curve of her shoulder. "Are you having second thoughts? It is not too late to simply have your mother sent to the crate," He soothed. "Until she"s dead, this will never end..." Teri rested her head against Castor"s shoulder. "I"m just..." She didn"t like keeping her pregnancy a secret from him; she didn"t want to keep anything from her husband. If she told him now, he"d be overprotective and she"d be forced to sit on the sidelines while he risked his life to end Vega"s. Teri knew her mother better than anyone; Castor needed her by his side if they had any chance of making it out of this alive. Teri forced a smile. "We did not seek the Hwatab"s blessing for our union. I am not looking forward to the ruling." "I am Iksen, I do not need permission from anyone. You will not be punished." Castor soothed. "Marrying you was the best decision I"ve made in my life." Stroking her cheek gently, he kissed her tenderly, "I love you, Teri. No matter what happens, I will protect you. This is my solemn promise to you." Teri pressed tighter against his chest and he smiled. For the longest time, neither of them moved...but time was of the essence. He changed into his finest garb and stopped to admire her. "You truly look like a queen." Fingers sliding over the ring that Castor had given her, she took comfort in his love. It was the only thing she was truly sure of. As they stepped out into the sector, Teri was shocked at the sea of Atrians who had come out to support them. Castor"s hand pressed to the small of her back and Teri felt strong again. She was unused to being in the spotlight and was glad for that gentle, comforting touch. The outpouring of support was overwhelming as they moved through the street toward where the tribunal had gathered. Flowers floated down from the tops of the pods, falling over them. The Hwatab had two delegates from each tribe. Representation was a vital part of making fair and informed decisions. The Iksen was nothing without a council that supported him. As Teri and Castor approached, the sea parted to admit them into the antechamber. Eight drawn faces stared back at them, pursed lips and creased brows silently judging them. Castor subconsciously stood taller as Aelius addressed the group. The grey, wizened man was part of the Swamad tribe; as the eldest member of the Hwatab he was given the appropriate respect and allowed to begin the proceedings. "I am sure you know why you have been called here, Castor. Since you have assumed your place as Iksen, there has been untold violence and bloodshed. You have lied to us and, as a result, have lost our trust." Aelius"s mouth curved into a small frown. "I make the recommendation that you should be removed immediately." With that, he took his seat. Teri swallowed hard, her stomach roiling. Aelius was well respected and there were many who would vote with him simply because he was the eldest. Murmurs among the council members were obvious but Teri couldn"t make out what they were saying. She looked to Fausta, the Vwasak delegate, when she stood. Fausta wasted no time. "Lives are always lost in times of war." She admonished. "Castor has been met with resistance. We know that Vega was undermining him at every turn. Instead of sitting back and allowing her to run rampant, he has accomplished in one year what Nox has tried to do for a decade...disband the Trags." Fausta narrowed her eyes. "We have seen the Iksen Castor is in times of war: a fierce, crafty warrior who will stop at nothing to protect his people from a threat. Of course there are things that could have been done better but the end result is the same. The end always justifies the means." She turned to face the council. "I make the recommendation that we allow Castor to show what kind of leader he will be in times of peace." "This is hardly about Castor"s deeds alone," Stratus piped up. "Can we overlook the fact that he has taken Vega"s daughter as his wife? How do we know the girl is not simply biding her time until she can use his power to continue her mother"s work?" Kayre scoffed. "If we are to be judged by the deeds of our parents, you would not be sitting at this table!" Arguing broke out, half in English, half in Sondiv, until the entire room echoed with shouts. They had descended into just the type of juvenile bickering the Hwatab was created to avoid. With one thunderous clap of his hands, Castor silenced them all. "As the accused, I have the right to defend myself." He did not let his uncertainty shine through. "However, I choose not to." Castor"s lips curled into a smile. "You are not wrong, Aelius. I have made mistakes and under my short rule, there has been death and destruction the likes of which we haven"t seen since the great Atrian war." Castor bowed his head. "I have done everything in my power to protect my people including lying and making grenades." Gazing lovingly at Teri, he paused. "Through all of it, I have been supported by my loving wife. Vega may have sired her but they are different as two people could be. It was Teri who helped stop the Suvek from being detonated while I was poisoned. She collected the herbs and mixed them to save me." His fingers grazed her cheek, "Without this woman, I would not be in front of you now. Countless more, human and Atrian alike, would have perished. We would not be on the verge of achieving integration." Teri watched Castor with awe. This man she loved was stronger, braver, and smarter than any she"d ever met. She considered speaking out and letting each of the members know how important it was that Castor remained as Iksen. But there was nothing she could possibly say that Castor hadn"t illustrated in his words and actions in his time as their leader. She simply bowed her head respectfully when they were asked to wait while the Hwatab made their decision. "Are you alright?" Castor asked softly. "You are quiet." "I felt it was important to show you are in control." Teri slid her fingers along the collar of his shirt. "There are many who still believe I should be subservient to my husband." Castor shook his head. "If anyone is subservient it is I to you." He kissed her sweetly, his fingers brushing away a wayward curl from her cheek. Grinning eagerly, he laughed. "Having you at my side makes me strong, Teri. Whatever the outcome of today, we will bear it together." Aelius stepped forward, "We have made a decision." He announced. Teri"s stomach churned. The Hwatab coming to a decision so quickly was either a very good or a very bad sign. She curled her hand around Castor"s and held her breath. It was always the duty of the Zwahan representative to read any ruling. They"d heard almost nothing from Qasim today, which was highly unusual; he was boisterous and liberal with giving his opinion. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his face an unreadable mask. "We have heard the opinions of those gathered here and looked at the evidence presented with a careful eye. It is the opinion of the Hwatab that actions taken during war are not admissible in this council. Make no mistake, Castor, we will be watching you very carefully...but you will remain Iksen and fulfill your duties to our people." With that, the Hwatab stood and exited the room to spread the word to the people. Relief unlike she"d ever known filled Teri and she threw her arms around Castor, kissing him sweetly. The cheers from outside were proof of the love of their people. "Come," Castor pressed. "There is much to be done. Today we bring peace to our people for good." Stepping out as Iksen and wife, Teri and Castor were met with goodwill and eagerness. Castor invited their people to join him for a celebration feast, putting the next segment of the plan into motion. Across the sector, Emery and Julia were finishing up the last of the decorations while Lukas worked on a playlist for the party. Now that the rumors had been spread, Roman and Drake arranged the transport of the Suvek to draw Vega out. Castor and Teri arrived, both looking tenser than they were before they met with the Hwatab. Maia was immediately concerned and threaded her arm around Teri"s shoulders. "Sit." She ordered. Immediately Maia set about filling a large glass with water; she pressed it into Teri"s hands. "You are pushing yourself too hard," Maia chastised. "I promised to keep your pregnancy a secret, but I cannot abide you risking your life and the life of your child." Teri took a long drink, the coolness of the water settling her stomach almost instantly. She hadn"t been keeping up with drinking all the water she needed to in order to stay hydrated. Teri would be the first to admit that catching and killing Vega had taken precedence over everything else. Still, she couldn"t very well admit that to Maia. "I"m fine." "When was the last time you ate?" Maia folded her arms. When Teri didn"t respond, she scoffed. "You are not invincible, Teri. You are quite early on in your pregnancy and there is much that can go wrong." Maia rested a hand on Teri"s shoulder. "I am not telling you this to scare you. I worry that the stress will be too much to you. You have to slow down." "Vega is the greatest threat to my child. Until she"s dead, I cannot rest. It all ends today and then I will do exactly as you say, Maia." Maia looked unconvinced but she nodded nonetheless. Teri sipped her water dutifully and ate several of the goodies Maia offered. Castor was greeting his constituents, accepting their favors and gifts, shaking hands, and laughing diplomatically at mediocre jokes. Teri was in awe. Castor had not always been a man of the people, choosing instead to remain silent and brooding in the shadows. Teri had watched him transform into the Iksen she"d always known he could be. Castor"s eyes caught Teri"s from across the room and he was instantly calm. She was his rock, his port in the storm. Even though Teri was not directly at his side, he could still feel her strength. To put it simply, she made him better...and tonight, he would make sure she knew that. As the sun dipped lower in the sky, the line of well-wishers began to dissipate. Roman sidled up beside Teri, his arms crossed over his chest. "It"s time. The Suvek is ready to be moved. Vega won"t be far behind." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Teri faced him head on, "Don"t you start on me, too. This was my idea, Roman. I don"t know why everyone here seems to think I"m so fragile. I am a warrior, in case you"ve forgotten! It"s my fault the Suvek was even built and it"s my responsibility to end it once and for all!" Drake gave the signal, catching Castor"s eye subtly as they slipped out the back. Teri and Roman walked in time slightly faster than the others. The battleground had been set up far away from the marketplace, along the border where the Crate was kept. The silence that hung between them was not uncomfortable; instead, it was a testament to how focused they were. Darkness descended over the sector and the wind picked up. Teri shivered, wrapping her arms around herself against the chill. Castor remained nearby but they each had their own location. Roman and Drake were positioned on either side of the roof, Castor stayed closest to the front while Teri had been positioned just behind the building. It wasn"t the best position for getting a piece of the action, but Teri hadn"t protested. After all, Maia was right...she had more than herself to think about. "Did you really think this would work?" Vega"s voice dripped with venom. "I expected better of you, Teri." A cold sweat broke out over every inch of Teri"s body. She turned to find Vega standing just inches away from her, holding a blade. Teeth set on edge, Teri faced her head on. "A year ago, that might"ve crushed me. I have wanted nothing in my life more than to make you happy and for you to acknowledge me as a daughter. Castor opened my eyes to what love really means." She reached and pulled her dagger from its sheath. "Before I kill you, there are a few things I"d like to say..." Vega opened her mouth but Teri was faster. The dagger she held in her left hand was a distraction from the throwing stars in her right. Unleashing them one by one, the hot steel cut through Vega"s shoulder, thigh, and abdomen. A silent cry of pain passed Vega"s lips as she unceremoniously fell to her knees. Those wounds alone wouldn"t kill her...but Teri knew that too. "I take no pleasure in this, I want you to know that. If you left me any other choice, I"d let them send you the Crate." Teri stalked closer, circling Vega as she bled. "You"d live there, surely. Soon enough you"d come up with a plan to finish what you started here. I can"t have that." Her fingers curled around the hilt of her dagger, feeling the cool metal against her hand. "You see, I have more at stake now than ever before. My child deserves to grow up in a world where he or she can be whatever they want, in the sector or out in the world. I want my baby to know they are loved, whatever path they take. I won"t allow you to rob my son or daughter of that legacy." Although it took significant effort, Vega tipped her chin up and stared Teri down. "This is what you want?" Breathing was difficult with metal lodged in her intestines and Vega"s voice was breathy and light. "I thought you would want more from life than breeding." "I am more than you"ll ever be." Teri remained calm and collected. "I have my education, my husband, and the respect of my people. A child will only add to my life." Her palm slid over her belly and she smiled. "I realize having me was the biggest mistake you"ve ever made. Let me be the one to correct it." Circumventing Vega"s body as it twisted in pain, Teri brought the dagger to her mother"s throat...but she couldn"t do it. As badly as Teri wanted Vega dead...the woman was still her mother. There were no warm memories, only regrets. Before she could stop them, tears burned in her eyes and shimmered in vibrant blue as they sluiced down her cheeks. A soft hand pressing against her shoulder tore Teri out of the moment. She faced Castor, her lips trembling as she buried her face against his shoulder. For a moment, he simply held her, murmuring Sondiv words of love into her ear. Castor took the blade from her gingerly, holding her closer against him as he brought it to Vega"s throat. With one small incision to her jugular vein, she bled out within seconds and fell, silent and peaceful. Castor didn"t give a second thought to the corpse at his feet. Roman and Drake would properly dispose of the body. He had more important matters to attend to... Holding Teri close, he wound the back way to their pod. Castor said nothing when she went directly into the shower to wash the day off her. Instead, he made tea and pastries Maia insisted on bringing by. He now understood why. When Teri returned, she was wrapped tightly in a robe and her dark hair was braided and piled atop her head to keep it off her shoulders. Castor settled across from her, his expression serious. "Why did you not tell me, Teri?" Wrapping her hands around the warm teacup, Teri sighed. "I knew you would never allow me to go after Vega...maybe I shouldn"t have." She glanced up at him. "I had to see it through. It"s my fault, Castor." "None of this is your fault, Teri." Castor replied sternly. "You made a bad decision. I have made tens of thousands in my life and many more to come. Perhaps the only thing I"ve ever done right is marrying you..." His voice tightened and he paused. "How long have you known?" Teri chewed her bottom lip. "Maia came to tell me when we were being discharged from medical. It"s still very early and I...I was going to tell you tonight. I swear that to you." There was a panic that clawed at her from deep inside that she just couldn"t shake. "I"m not angry at you, Teri," Castor soothed. "I could not fathom it." Leaning in, he captured her lips sweetly. "I never thought I would have a wife, let alone a child. It was something I had never dared to let myself want..." There were tears in his eyes as he grasped her hand. "We have accomplished everything we set out to do. And we will do so much more." There would be more discussion later but it had been so long since they"d had a moment to themselves. Drawing Teri against him, Castor ushered her to their bed and climbed in beside her. Snuggling tightly against Castor, Teri rested her head against his chest. In that moment she realized she was no longer conflicted or frightened. There was nothing but quiet and calm. It was the happiest moment she"d ever had so far. Teri pressed a chaste kiss to Castor"s lips. "I love you," She murmured. "I love you, Teri," Castor echoed without hesitation. The two of them fell into a deep sleep. The world turned but neither Castor nor Teri were perturbed by it. There was nothing now but peace in the sector, freedom of the Atrians, and the bright future that stretched before them. As morning broke, Teri rolled over and a smile spread over her face. Today was the first day of the rest of her life and she couldn"t wait to spend every minute of it with Castor. It"s been a long time since I updated this fic and it"s almost done. I am working hard on finishing up some of my old projects so I can get some new ones started! Please read and review! The epilogue will posted (hopefully) this weekend. In the meantime, you can find some of my work here but I"m also a published author on Kindle Worlds. Check out my profile for details! -Marina

Silence hung between them for a long time as Maia grappled with Teri"s request. After a long moment, she nodded. "I will tell no one..." She licked her lips, "Do you grow Dairet in your greenhouse?" Reaching into her purse, she grabbed out the spindly white herb and pressed it into Teri"s hand. "A little in tea each morning will help with the symptoms..." Suddenly all the dizziness, the gnawing ache in her belly and the exhaustion were all beganto make sense. Perhaps if she hadn"t been in the midst of a brutal war, she might have put the pieces together. Teri took a shaky breath, wondering at how the beatings had affected the child, "Are you sure I-" "The child is strong," Maia soothed, her hand resting on Teri"s shoulder, "As are you." She licked her lips, "Take care, Teri. I do not want to see you get hurt." By now, nearly everyone in the sector knew about Vega"s treachery. Every Atrian had been put on high alert that they were to inform the SEU if they saw or heard Vega. Knowing that Teri didn"t want anyone to know her secret led Maia to believe she intended on taking the woman down herself. "I want to see you at the end of the week." She quickly cut her off, "You are family, it will not raise suspicion if we were to dine together." She narrowed her eyes. "Alright, alright..." Teri broke away. "I"ll be there." She licked her lips, "I need to get back to my husband and your son before they start getting suspicious." Grabbing her coat, she pulled it on over the scrubs she wore, her fingertips covering the still-flat plane of her belly. "Maia...thank you." Nodding her acquiescence, Maia swept down the hall just a few moments before stepping out of the hospital room. Nervously, Teri zipped up her coat as she followed them out of the medical base. It was stupid, really. She wasn"t even showing yet. Were it not for the injuries she had sustained and the medical treatment she received, they would likely have no idea she was pregnant until weeks later when more obvious symptoms manifested. There was a bitter chill that clawed at Teri as they headed toward the pod. She brushed Roman off as he asked if she was alright. Her only focus was getting Castor the cyper he needed. As she got to the door, Teri paused. "Careful...someone has been here..." Annoyingly, Roman stepped in front of her and immediately went barreling into the pod. Everything had been ransacked, dishes had been smashed, cabinets had been torn off, and the bedding had been ripped to shreds. These were material things...they didn"t matter. And yet Teri felt emotion thicken in her throat as she stepped into the greenhouse. Dirt and remnants of plants were all over every surface. "Damn it..." Turning her back, she quickly swiped at the glimmering, aqua tears that shimmered in her eyes. If Roman saw, he would know. Of course, ever the sensitive gentleman, he was by her side. "Roman, I just need space..." She swallowed hard. "Your family has a large cyper garden..." "Our family," Roman replied, "Yes. I"ll go get some and bring it to the medical sector. Why don"t you get out of here for a while?" He suggested gently. "The bus to Edendale is running for several more hours. Castor said to gather our friends. Bring everyone back to the sector..." He narrowed his gaze, "They"re not your enemy, Teri. Give them a chance." Shaking her head, Teri stepped out of the solarium with a sigh. "No, I can"t, Roman. I need to clean this place up." Opening the closet, she frowned. "They burned my clothes!" She"d be needing new clothes soon enough. "Forget the crate! I"m going to kill all of the Trags!" Roman hid a smile, "Castor"s been pardoned. You can move back into the Iksen pod and if you"re worried about clothes, I"m sure Sophia will lend you some in the meantime. It"s going to be alright Teri. Now come on, you need some fresh air." He half-dragged her out of the pod. "As the future Iksen, I order you to rally the troops. And try to have a little fun while you"re doing it. These last few weeks have been so trying, Teri...you deserve a break." "As the current Iksen"s wife, I think I have more power than you do, Roman." But she smiled nonetheless. "Promise me that if anything changes with Castor that you have Gloria come get me. I"ll be back in an hour, two tops. I"ll bring anyone I can." Looking down at the clothes she was wearing, she sighed. "I need to find something to wear. No one is supposed to know I left sector medical. I need to blend in, not stick out like a sore thumb. This outfit makes me look like a nurse. It draws attention." Roman gazed at her incredulously. "You can"t be serious..." "Roman," Teri glared. He groaned as they headed to the bathroom. While she peeled her scrubs off on one side of the door, he pulled off his clothes on the other. In a quick no-peeking exchange, Teri dragged on Roman"s jeans and v-neck top while he wore the powder blue scrubs. "That"s much better..." "Maybe for you..." Roman groused. "Just hurry back, okay? And Teri?" He shifted as she turned from the doorway, "Emery just wants to help..." "I"m not going to scare your girlfriend, Roman. Well, I mean any more than I already have." Teri"s lips curved into half a smile. "I want to see Castor back at home by the time I get back, is that clear?" One last nod and she was off. The longer they waited, the more time Vega had to plan her attack. Once Roman healed Castor with the cyper and Teri returned with Drake, Sophia, and the human brigade, they would begin the final countdown to salvation. It wasn"t just her life at stake now-Teri thought to herself as she rested her hand against her belly-it was all of theirs. Been a while since I updated this bad boy! Since I finished my story for the 100 called Hurt (which if you like the 100, you should definitely check it out) I decided to come and finish this one off! I"m also continuing to work on Perdition, another 100 story. It was suggested to me by a lovely guest Sladeicity that I needed to finish this one so thank you darling, this one is for you! Once I finish these bad boys up I"m toying with a few ideas... Please read and review if you want more! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY WONDERFUL BETA JUSTVISITING80, She has written the best Starcrossed Fic ever so...you need to read that if you haven"t. It"s called Break Forth to New Mutiny. Plus she writes an amazing 100 fic called Seared with Scars. Moscato all around! And maybe something to help with those strokes! The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Now that the cyper had taken effect, Castor stood strong and proud at Teri"s side. Roman remained stoic, his arms folded across his chest. Teri took a steadying breath and turned to assess Castor. His color was much better now that he"d been healed; she no longer feared that he would lose his footing if a wind came sweeping through the sector. Drake leaned against the wall with his arm slung around Taylor"s waist. She had refused to leave Drake"s side despite Teri"s warnings that this would be a dangerous mission. Taylor was a liability...then again, Teri had a very similar liability. "Is there a plan?" Sophia"s soft voice broke through the silence as she gazed between Julia, Eric, and Lukas. "The Suvek withstood a bomb blast and the fight on top of the school. It won"t be easy to destroy..." "It"s not about destroying the Suvek," Castor replied softly, "At least not right now. We need to lure Vega out of hiding. Once she"s been put to rest, her followers will no longer have anyone to lead them. Those that have not been caught yet by the SEU will either try to step up-which will draw attention-or they will abandon their cause and move on with their lives. Either way, they will be neutralized." Teri could feel the hot gazes on her and her cheeks flushed. "I know that she"s my mother..." Her voice was tight with rage, "But she tried to kill me and my husband twice. I"m not letting her get a third crack at it." Teri"s head was still sore and it would take some time for that gash to heal. "Vega wants the Suvek detonated and will stop at nothing to see it accomplished. She doesn"t have the Iksen key, so she"ll have one of her lackeys run by sector medical to try and pry it off Castor. When they find he"s not there they are going to come to our pod..." Roman nodded, "How do we let Vega know that the Suvek is intact without tipping her off?" He stayed very close to Emery who had remained quiet. Losing Grayson had been a terrible wakeup call that this mission could easily lead to her death. "That"s where all of you come in," Castor gazed between them, "There is nothing more powerful than word of mouth. Rumors spread quickly in the sector and Vega must have at least a couple spies left." Pressing a soft kiss to Teri"s lips, he brushed a strand of her dark hair from her shoulder, "Once the seeds have been planted, we convene here to celebrate my restoration as Iksen. Our human guests will be too much of a temptation for Vega to ignore. She knows this is her last chance. We will capture her and ensure she cannot harm another soul." Tasks were doled out as soon as all had agreed upon the plan. Sophia, Drake and Roman would spread the rumors while Lukas, Emery, and Julia volunteered to help prepare for the celebration. Drake had been adamant that Taylor especially be kept away from the danger and she had been relegated to resting in Roman"s pod so Maia could keep an eye on her. Last, but not least, Teri and Castor were obligated to meet with the Hwatab...neither of them was looking forward to it. Teri did her best not to focus on the unpleasantness to come. She showered and fixed her hair in a traditional coif that would hopefully make her appear more the Iksen"s wife and the daughter of the Trag leader. She hesitated when Castor moved behind her, his arms slipping around her waist. The changes to her body were imperceptible and yet, her breath hitched. "Are you alright?" Castor"s eyebrows furrowed worriedly. "I have not known you to remain so quiet." He dropped a tender kiss to the curve of her shoulder. "Are you having second thoughts? It is not too late to simply have your mother sent to the crate," He soothed. "Until she"s dead, this will never end..." Teri rested her head against Castor"s shoulder. "I"m just..." She didn"t like keeping her pregnancy a secret from him; she didn"t want to keep anything from her husband. If she told him now, he"d be overprotective and she"d be forced to sit on the sidelines while he risked his life to end Vega"s. Teri knew her mother better than anyone; Castor needed her by his side if they had any chance of making it out of this alive. Teri forced a smile. "We did not seek the Hwatab"s blessing for our union. I am not looking forward to the ruling." "I am Iksen, I do not need permission from anyone. You will not be punished." Castor soothed. "Marrying you was the best decision I"ve made in my life." Stroking her cheek gently, he kissed her tenderly, "I love you, Teri. No matter what happens, I will protect you. This is my solemn promise to you." Teri pressed tighter against his chest and he smiled. For the longest time, neither of them moved...but time was of the essence. He changed into his finest garb and stopped to admire her. "You truly look like a queen." Fingers sliding over the ring that Castor had given her, she took comfort in his love. It was the only thing she was truly sure of. As they stepped out into the sector, Teri was shocked at the sea of Atrians who had come out to support them. Castor"s hand pressed to the small of her back and Teri felt strong again. She was unused to being in the spotlight and was glad for that gentle, comforting touch. The outpouring of support was overwhelming as they moved through the street toward where the tribunal had gathered. Flowers floated down from the tops of the pods, falling over them. The Hwatab had two delegates from each tribe. Representation was a vital part of making fair and informed decisions. The Iksen was nothing without a council that supported him. As Teri and Castor approached, the sea parted to admit them into the antechamber. Eight drawn faces stared back at them, pursed lips and creased brows silently judging them. Castor subconsciously stood taller as Aelius addressed the group. The grey, wizened man was part of the Swamad tribe; as the eldest member of the Hwatab he was given the appropriate respect and allowed to begin the proceedings. "I am sure you know why you have been called here, Castor. Since you have assumed your place as Iksen, there has been untold violence and bloodshed. You have lied to us and, as a result, have lost our trust." Aelius"s mouth curved into a small frown. "I make the recommendation that you should be removed immediately." With that, he took his seat. Teri swallowed hard, her stomach roiling. Aelius was well respected and there were many who would vote with him simply because he was the eldest. Murmurs among the council members were obvious but Teri couldn"t make out what they were saying. She looked to Fausta, the Vwasak delegate, when she stood. Fausta wasted no time. "Lives are always lost in times of war." She admonished. "Castor has been met with resistance. We know that Vega was undermining him at every turn. Instead of sitting back and allowing her to run rampant, he has accomplished in one year what Nox has tried to do for a decade...disband the Trags." Fausta narrowed her eyes. "We have seen the Iksen Castor is in times of war: a fierce, crafty warrior who will stop at nothing to protect his people from a threat. Of course there are things that could have been done better but the end result is the same. The end always justifies the means." She turned to face the council. "I make the recommendation that we allow Castor to show what kind of leader he will be in times of peace." "This is hardly about Castor"s deeds alone," Stratus piped up. "Can we overlook the fact that he has taken Vega"s daughter as his wife? How do we know the girl is not simply biding her time until she can use his power to continue her mother"s work?" Kayre scoffed. "If we are to be judged by the deeds of our parents, you would not be sitting at this table!" Arguing broke out, half in English, half in Sondiv, until the entire room echoed with shouts. They had descended into just the type of juvenile bickering the Hwatab was created to avoid. With one thunderous clap of his hands, Castor silenced them all. "As the accused, I have the right to defend myself." He did not let his uncertainty shine through. "However, I choose not to." Castor"s lips curled into a smile. "You are not wrong, Aelius. I have made mistakes and under my short rule, there has been death and destruction the likes of which we haven"t seen since the great Atrian war." Castor bowed his head. "I have done everything in my power to protect my people including lying and making grenades." Gazing lovingly at Teri, he paused. "Through all of it, I have been supported by my loving wife. Vega may have sired her but they are different as two people could be. It was Teri who helped stop the Suvek from being detonated while I was poisoned. She collected the herbs and mixed them to save me." His fingers grazed her cheek, "Without this woman, I would not be in front of you now. Countless more, human and Atrian alike, would have perished. We would not be on the verge of achieving integration." Teri watched Castor with awe. This man she loved was stronger, braver, and smarter than any she"d ever met. She considered speaking out and letting each of the members know how important it was that Castor remained as Iksen. But there was nothing she could possibly say that Castor hadn"t illustrated in his words and actions in his time as their leader. She simply bowed her head respectfully when they were asked to wait while the Hwatab made their decision. "Are you alright?" Castor asked softly. "You are quiet." "I felt it was important to show you are in control." Teri slid her fingers along the collar of his shirt. "There are many who still believe I should be subservient to my husband." Castor shook his head. "If anyone is subservient it is I to you." He kissed her sweetly, his fingers brushing away a wayward curl from her cheek. Grinning eagerly, he laughed. "Having you at my side makes me strong, Teri. Whatever the outcome of today, we will bear it together." Aelius stepped forward, "We have made a decision." He announced. Teri"s stomach churned. The Hwatab coming to a decision so quickly was either a very good or a very bad sign. She curled her hand around Castor"s and held her breath. It was always the duty of the Zwahan representative to read any ruling. They"d heard almost nothing from Qasim today, which was highly unusual; he was boisterous and liberal with giving his opinion. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his face an unreadable mask. "We have heard the opinions of those gathered here and looked at the evidence presented with a careful eye. It is the opinion of the Hwatab that actions taken during war are not admissible in this council. Make no mistake, Castor, we will be watching you very carefully...but you will remain Iksen and fulfill your duties to our people." With that, the Hwatab stood and exited the room to spread the word to the people. Relief unlike she"d ever known filled Teri and she threw her arms around Castor, kissing him sweetly. The cheers from outside were proof of the love of their people. "Come," Castor pressed. "There is much to be done. Today we bring peace to our people for good." Stepping out as Iksen and wife, Teri and Castor were met with goodwill and eagerness. Castor invited their people to join him for a celebration feast, putting the next segment of the plan into motion. Across the sector, Emery and Julia were finishing up the last of the decorations while Lukas worked on a playlist for the party. Now that the rumors had been spread, Roman and Drake arranged the transport of the Suvek to draw Vega out. Castor and Teri arrived, both looking tenser than they were before they met with the Hwatab. Maia was immediately concerned and threaded her arm around Teri"s shoulders. "Sit." She ordered. Immediately Maia set about filling a large glass with water; she pressed it into Teri"s hands. "You are pushing yourself too hard," Maia chastised. "I promised to keep your pregnancy a secret, but I cannot abide you risking your life and the life of your child." Teri took a long drink, the coolness of the water settling her stomach almost instantly. She hadn"t been keeping up with drinking all the water she needed to in order to stay hydrated. Teri would be the first to admit that catching and killing Vega had taken precedence over everything else. Still, she couldn"t very well admit that to Maia. "I"m fine." "When was the last time you ate?" Maia folded her arms. When Teri didn"t respond, she scoffed. "You are not invincible, Teri. You are quite early on in your pregnancy and there is much that can go wrong." Maia rested a hand on Teri"s shoulder. "I am not telling you this to scare you. I worry that the stress will be too much to you. You have to slow down." "Vega is the greatest threat to my child. Until she"s dead, I cannot rest. It all ends today and then I will do exactly as you say, Maia." Maia looked unconvinced but she nodded nonetheless. Teri sipped her water dutifully and ate several of the goodies Maia offered. Castor was greeting his constituents, accepting their favors and gifts, shaking hands, and laughing diplomatically at mediocre jokes. Teri was in awe. Castor had not always been a man of the people, choosing instead to remain silent and brooding in the shadows. Teri had watched him transform into the Iksen she"d always known he could be. Castor"s eyes caught Teri"s from across the room and he was instantly calm. She was his rock, his port in the storm. Even though Teri was not directly at his side, he could still feel her strength. To put it simply, she made him better...and tonight, he would make sure she knew that. As the sun dipped lower in the sky, the line of well-wishers began to dissipate. Roman sidled up beside Teri, his arms crossed over his chest. "It"s time. The Suvek is ready to be moved. Vega won"t be far behind." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Teri faced him head on, "Don"t you start on me, too. This was my idea, Roman. I don"t know why everyone here seems to think I"m so fragile. I am a warrior, in case you"ve forgotten! It"s my fault the Suvek was even built and it"s my responsibility to end it once and for all!" Drake gave the signal, catching Castor"s eye subtly as they slipped out the back. Teri and Roman walked in time slightly faster than the others. The battleground had been set up far away from the marketplace, along the border where the Crate was kept. The silence that hung between them was not uncomfortable; instead, it was a testament to how focused they were. Darkness descended over the sector and the wind picked up. Teri shivered, wrapping her arms around herself against the chill. Castor remained nearby but they each had their own location. Roman and Drake were positioned on either side of the roof, Castor stayed closest to the front while Teri had been positioned just behind the building. It wasn"t the best position for getting a piece of the action, but Teri hadn"t protested. After all, Maia was right...she had more than herself to think about.

"Yeah, yeah...sorry." He replied, looking up. "Um, you have a little dab of cream on your nose." He pointed, smirking at her. Quickly she swiped at it but didn"t quite get the spot. "No right on the tip...no..." She just wasn"t getting it, "Here, let me." Mindy cried out, exasperated. "I can get it, Danny. I got it!" She snapped. Standing up, she stalked out of the cafe. Tears stung her cheeks as she desperately sought to get a moment away. Next thing she knew a pair of arms was wrapped around her and she collapsed into him. Sniffling, she held tight to him. Burying her face in his shoulder, she let out a shaky breath. "I"m sorry...I"m so sorry." Holding her tight, he pressed a kiss to her temple. "Don"t you dare be sorry. You"ve got nothing to apologize for..." He sighed and let her cry. He had to squelch down the urge to walk back to that restaurant and show her exactly how they did things in the Bronx. "And for the record, those people are NEVER watching our kid." He replied. "After the way they treated you, I will be lucky to even let them see him!" Being held by Danny suddenly made everything alright. The tears dried and they stood there on the street as people walked by, oblivious to everything going on around them. She was quiet for a very long time. Finding her voice again took a few deep breaths and looking into his dark eyes, "Agreed." Gingerly, she licked her lips, "Thanks, for all of this." "Don"t mention it. But you have to remember our first rule, Mindy, open communication okay? Don"t keep anything from me, okay? I can handle it...even if you want to yell at me to blow off steam." He gently tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear. "Now come on, can we go enjoy our breakfast? We can talk about something completely different..." Ushering her back into the place, they sat down at the table. He was right, of course. But telling Daniel Castellano that he was right was bound to overinflate his ego. Instead she decided to take his advice and turn the topic of conversation. "Like what?" She asked, sipping up her frozen coffee drink. "Ooh! I have an idea...baby names?" Leaning back in his chair, he took a bite of his bagel. "Well we"re going to name the baby Danny of course. Daniel Castellano, Jr." He smirked, "After dear old dad!" There was that ego. Rolling her eyes, she laughed, "I always loved the name Chloe. Chloe Madison Lahiri, that has a nice ring to it. Don"t you think?" Folding his arms, he shook his head, "Three things." He held up the fingers as if she was going to have trouble counting that high. "The kid is going to take my name. And so are you. And it"s going to be a boy!" Putting her hand up, she scoffed. "Hold up. We never talked about me taking your name..." Although it didn"t sound that horrible, she wasn"t sure it was what she wanted. Fairytale heroines took their husbands" names, maybe she should to? "Won"t it be confusing if there are two Dr. Castellanos in the office? And the baby is clearly going to be a girl...girls run in my family! My dad has two sisters and four great aunts!" "Whoa, whoa, whoa...you"re going to be my wife. It"s going to be confusing if you have a different name than our baby." He folded his arms, preparing for a fight. He couldn"t argue with genetics, even as much as he wanted. "Yeah well it"s up to me anyway. My sperm is the one that gets to pick...I get the final say." A sharp bark of laughter emanated from her. ""Uh hi, I"m Danny Castellano, I get to pick the sex of the baby.'" She mocked, ""I"m the man, I say what goes"." Danny wasn"t amused. "I"m just saying! We"ll leave it up to biology." He sighed, "And I hate when you do that." "I know you do...so what happens when we decide it doesn"t make sense for us to be married anymore? I will once again have a different last name than our kid..." She frowned. "Our relationship isn"t going to go to hell like your parents", Danny. We"re not going into this blind. We"re not doing this because we think we"re in love and will spend the rest of our lives together..." "You can say that again..." Danny replied hotly. Yeah, it wasn"t exactly a love match; they were naive teenagers who thought that the person you went to prom with was going to be your soul mate for life. They were so much smarter than that. He sighed, "I dunno, Mindy Castellano has kinda a nice ring to it. Admit it! And Chloe Castellano isn"t so bad a name, is it?" He was trying and that made Mindy smile. "No...no it isn"t. I kind of like it, actually." She let out a shaky breath, "What if I hyphenated? Mindy Lahiri-Castellano?" It was a mouthful but it was better than nothing. "I think that"s a pretty good compromise." It warmed him through that they could talk like this, compromise like this. "Yeah, I like it." She just didn"t back down and he found that, oddly, it was one of the things he really liked about her. He smiled, "My mother is going to love you." Mindy raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh yeah? Why do you say that?" "You don"t back down from a challenge and you give as good as you get. You"re a Castellano already," He laughed. "You"re going to fit in really well." "Thanks..." Mindy replied, blushing slightly. "You know, I"m actually really looking forward to meeting your family. They sound like a great group." She chuckled again, "Besides, they can"t be any worse than my family." Danny held his tongue but smiled, "I"ve got a c-section at two but...are you free tomorrow? I figured we should...get to know each other a bit better. If you want to come over, I can throw some chicken on the grill or something." "Um, okay," Mindy smiled broadly, "Yeah, I"d like that. I"ll come over around noon or something? I"ll bring a salad." With plans firmed up, they headed out the door. Turning toward him, she hugged him tight. It felt...right. Closing her eyes for a moment, she briefly believed she felt like Sandra Bullock. "See you tomorrow, Danny." It was only very reluctantly he pulled away, he would have to rush to the hospital in time to scrub in and get Mrs. Macy prepped. He gave her a Mindy a little smirk, "See you, Mindy." And he found, he couldn"t wait. Thanks for the great reviews. Keep them coming if you want to read more! I"m writing this a chapter at a time right now and could use the feedback to determine what to do with this story. "Dr. L?" Shauna called from the doorway again. "Hello? Anybody home?" She knocked on the doorjamb, watching as Mindy stared off into space. The New Jersey in her came out as she stalked over, throwing the chart onto her desk and snapping her fingers in Mindy"s face. "Earth to Dr. L! Mrs. Harrison has been waiting for almost twenty minutes!" Mindy jumped slightly, "Geez, Shauna, why didn"t you tell me earlier?" She watched, confused, as Shauna muttered obscenities under her breath and stalked out of the room. The chart was pretty much threadbare, this was the woman"s first visit to their little practice. Mrs. Harrison was a twenty-one year old with a three year old daughter from a previous relationship. The little girl was happily singing and playing with her dollies in the corner of the exam room while Mindy and her mom talked about everything that was going on. She was here for an annual exam and to be checked over before she and her new husband started trying for another baby. Everything looked fine and Mindy was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the woman had health insurance coverage. After sending the woman off with a clean bill of health pending her pap results, she headed into Danny"s office and plopped down across from him. He didn"t look up even as she cleared her throat several times at him. "What"s a four letter word for uncommon?" He asked, staring at the crossword puzzle in the New York Times with intense, unblinking eyes. "Ah, rare! Yeah, that"s it..." "I think we should get married this weekend." She announced. That got his attention really damn fast. Mindy watched as Danny set the paper down, resting his hands on the desk and turning his full attention to her. "What do you mean you think we should get married this weekend? Is there some kind of time crunch I don"t know about?" He frowned. "No, nothing like that," Mindy replied, slightly annoyed that he"d even suggest such a thing. "I"m just sick of waiting...my last patient had her first child at eighteen and now she"s met the love of her life, has an adorable daughter, and is starting a family with her new husband." Danny still wasn"t getting it. "So?" "So, I want a family, Danny. And Thanksgiving is coming up really soon, we can surprise your family with our marriage!" She explained, "And once it"s legal, we can start trying. It"ll take some time for me to get pregnant, nobody is going to think we had to shotgun it!" Mindy explained, "Let"s talk to Dr. Shulman and see if we can take off for a few days. Fly to Vegas, get married..." Folding his arms, he leaned back in the chair. "Are you sure this is what you want?" He asked quietly. "I would"ve pegged you for the big white wedding type...I don"t want you to resent me for not giving you that five, ten, fifteen years from now." If Mindy had been holding anything, it would"ve fallen on the ground. "Danny, I...I didn"t think you wanted a big wedding." She said quietly. "I thought you"d have wanted a quickie courthouse thing with a couple witnesses that we dragged off the street." "Compromise, remember? I know you, Mindy...you spend hours picking out your outfits. I"m sure you"ve been planning your wedding since you were, like, three years old." He replied smartly. "Try six..." He wasn"t wrong, that was for sure. "But dreams change. I can still get a pretty dress and there can be flowers and music and we can take pictures to commemorate the occasion. I"m not saying Elvis should marry us, Danny. I"m just saying that we can fly to Vegas and put our plan into action." Danny had gone through the gigantic church wedding with the flowers, the dress, the caterers, and all the headaches that went along with them. His ex-wife had insisted on every luxury and he was thankful that his ex-father in law had paid for most of it. He had psyched himself up for a second big wedding because it was Mindy...he didn"t know of a single fairytale or romantic comedy that didn"t end with a gaudy wedding. "If you"re sure about this, I"m all for it. I"ll even go talk to Dr. Shulman." Mindy smiled, "We can talk to him together." The thought of announcing their impending nuptials to the entire office was daunting. It had been her idea, of course but that didn"t make it any easier. She was glad to have Danny by her side, that was for sure. Steeling her nerves, she followed Danny toward their boss" office. Taking a deep breath, she followed him in. "Hi, Dr. Shulman? Do you have a minute?" The older man looked up from his paperwork and sighed, "Oh please, tell me this isn"t another argument I need to settle." Staring at the two of them, he folded his arms and let out an exasperated sigh, "What is it this time?" "Actually, Dr. Shulman, Dr. Lahiri and I have an announcement." Danny replied, hoping that this news wiped that disapproving look from the good doctor"s face. Reaching over, she slipped his hand into hers. "Mindy and I are getting married...we were hoping to take a couple days off next week in order to enjoy our honeymoon." The soft buzz of conversation that was always present in the office came to a screeching halt. Dr. Shulman"s face went slack, "I...I was surprised to learn that the two of you were friends outside the office but lovers!" He stood up, grasping Danny"s other hand and shaking it. "Congratulations!" Turning to Mindy, he hugged her tightly. "I"m expecting we have some other...news as well? I know a thing or two about rushing to get down to Gretna Green." He winked at the two of them. Mindy smiled, "It"s nothing like that. We just decided to be practical and not go all out on a huge white wedding. You know, with the economy and all." She felt a sense of warmth through her when Danny coughed to stifle a laugh. Looking at him furtively, their eyes met and held for a moment. "We thought we"d fly out to Vegas and spend a few days there." "Of course, of course!" Dr. Shulman replied, smiling. "Enjoy yourselves. Take the week, please! Don"t rush back here, we can manage." Ushering them out of his office, he looked between the two of them. "Now shoo!" He looked on them with a little tear in his eye, "Ah young love...there"s nothing like it." Danny gathered up his things and waited while Mindy collected hers. Shauna and Betsy both gave Mindy a hug and wished her well. Morgan gave Danny some kind of odd "prison handshake" that made him intensely uncomfortable; he suffered through it because Morgan seemed so enthusiastic about it. Jeremy was suspiciously quiet, giving them both small words of congratulations before heading back into his office. Stepping out into the fresh air, both of them chuckled as they took in the cool autumn air side by side. "That was pretty funny...that economy line." Danny smiled at her so brightly that his dimples showed. Mindy loved when he was that happy. When he smiled like that, all of her worries and fears seemed to fall away. Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention back to the task at hand. "Why don"t we stop by your place and you can pack a bag then head by my place? I only live a few minutes from the airport?" "Sounds good..." They remained in relative silence on the subway, seated comfortably next to each other. He thought of when he"d proclaimed on this very train that he"d never marry this woman. Funny how things had changed in so short a time. It struck her how natural it felt to be seated with him quietly here. The old Mindy felt the need to fill every second of silence with conversation. But there wasn"t a need to say anything right now. She was simply content to be by his side. Maybe she had it wrong, perhaps true love wasn"t dramatic monologues. Maybe all the love in the world could be found in silence? Did she and Danny have a chance at feeling that love? "What"re you thinking about?" His voice startled her out of her reverie. "Oh, nothing..." Mindy replied quickly, "Just that I"m happy we"re doing this now. I think it"s the right choice." It was the right choice. Somehow, he felt he should"ve known all along it was. Not just the elopement but Mindy. She drove him crazy and he loved every second of being around her. She challenged him in ways he couldn"t begin to fathom and when he was feeling bad, she instantly brightened his day simply by being herself. He put his arm around her as they walked back to his place. "Make yourself comfortable. I"m just going to throw some underwear in a bag." "Make sure you get a toothbrush too at least." She chuckled. "If it"s not too much, I"d really like to catch a show there if we could. So...bring something nice? Consider it a wedding gift to me?" Danny feigned annoyance. "Haven"t even walked down the aisle and you"re already nagging me?" He walked to his closet, "My tuxedo"s at the cleaners, do you think a suit will work?" Mindy rolled her eyes playfully, "Yes, I think I can suffer being seen with you in public just this once..." She helped him pack by folding the things he carelessly tossed into an overnight bag. "Thankfully we"ll be halfway across the country. Very little chance of seeing anyone we know..." Opening up his sock drawer, he pulled out a small blue velvet box. He had been keeping it in the same place for the last thirty years. His great grandmother had passed and since he was the only living male in the family, her wedding and engagement rings had been his. Even though he was only eight at the time, he knew what an honor it was. He swallowed hard, "Here...I want you to have this." Walking to her, he sat down on the bed, grasping her wrist and tugging her to sit beside him, "This was my great grandmother"s wedding set and...I want you to have it." Shock coursed through her as Danny opened up that box and displayed by far the most beautiful ring she"d ever seen. Emotion clogged her throat as she looked up at him, "But Danny...this...this is an heirloom." "And I want you to have it." Taking out the engagement ring, he grasped her left hand and slipped it on. It fit as if it was designed for her and her alone. "I...I never gave this to my ex-wife. For one thing, her fingers were far too skinny and spidery. And second of all, I didn"t trust her to take good care of it. I trust you to love it as much as she did." "Danny..." A tear splashed down her cheek and she threw her arms around him, "It"s perfect, absolutely perfect!" She pulled back and stared at it, "Thank you..." She adored it. The diamond was absolutely flawless, a perfect square carat flanked by sapphires on a ring of white gold. She had to imagine that Danny"s great grandfather had loved his fiancé very much. Pride swelled in his chest as he watched her admire the ring. His ex had wanted a brand new, fancy diamond that would make her high society friends jealous. But he had known that Mindy would appreciate the beauty and sentiment behind this one. "You"re welcome...I"ll give you the wedding band during the ceremony. It"s tradition." That got Mindy thinking, "I...I will have to buy you a wedding band, Danny. I"m sorry, I don"t have anything from my family..." She wished she did but the truth was that none of them had truly epic love stories. Her parents had an arranged marriage, and so had their parents before them. They were matches made to appease their parents, not because they loved each other. "But I"ll pick out a good one, I promise." Danny zipped up his bag, ready to go. "That"s fine, Mindy. I don"t think it"s such a big deal for the guy..." Anything metal and solid would do. They could probably pick up something in Vegas for cheap and it would suit him just fine. "Come on, let"s get your stuff. There"s a flight that leaves at seven thirty and I think if we"re quick, we can make it." The next couple hours were a blur for Mindy. Thankfully she always had outfits picked out ahead of time or this could"ve been quite an ordeal! The only question was what to get married in. It took a great bit of closet hunting but eventually she settled on a white silk dress that fell just below her knee and hugged her curves. She forced Danny to sit outside on the couch while she"d packed, not wanting him to see the dress. She came out wheeling a large suitcase and toting a slightly smaller carryon that matched. "Do you really need all that?" Danny asked, grasping the suitcase and letting out a grunt as he tried to pull it, "Jesus! We"re going for a week, Mindy! I doubt that you"re going to need all this crap. Unless the apocalypse hits and then I highly doubt you"re going to need this many shoes!" "I"m a girl, Danny, get over it!" With a little bit of maneuvering, they caught a cab to the airport and headed to check in. Despite Mindy"s suitcase being a little over the weight limit and her having to shove some of her shoes into Danny"s bag, there were no issues. They arrived at the gate with plenty of time. Mindy bought them both a couple of soft pretzels and Danny got them some coffee. It wasn"t too long before their flight boarded and they were on their way. Vegas was six hours away. The wedding was six hours away. Their future was six hours away and it seemed to be brighter than ever. I love you guys! You are amazing...keep the reviews up! They keep my going. Head"s up, I live on the East Coast and we are bracing for Hurricane Sandy. It"s quite possible I could be without power for many days. My kids and I are well prepared but it could be a bit befrore I"m able to write/upload anything. For those who are facing this with me, Godspeed. Stay safe! Please review, give me something to enjoy when I return! The twinkling lights of Vegas shown so brightly that it looked like it was midday even though it was nearly four in the morning. Stepping off the plane, feeling the heat of the Nevada desert warming her skin, Mindy felt a sense of calm wash over her. She wasn"t a romantic heroine swept off her feet in a whirlwind romance that nobody expected to last. She was standing next to Danny Castellano as they decided between the cheesy Elvis wedding chapel and the one with a real minister. Holding the guidebook up to the streetlamp, Danny wasn"t so much reading the pages but watching her face. She was like a kid in a candy store; he"d never seen her more happy. They"d checked into a hotel and she had insisted that he not see her until she was all done prepping. Of course, that had taken over an hour. Sighing audibly, he stood awkwardly, unwilling to sit down on the bed and risk wrinkling his suit. He wanted to look his best for her...it was their wedding. It might not be fancy or expensive but it was something they"d tell their kids about someday. Finally she had come out and he was impressed; it was so worth the wait. That cream dress perfectly accented her cocoa skin, hugging her curves in all the right places and her heels made it look like her legs went on for miles. "I don"t want to get married by Korean Elvis, okay? Can we just go someplace nice?"

You will be in control of Kara, Markus, and Connor and a Android of my own oc name Sarah, she is being control by Amanda as a secret Android just in case Connor ever turn on her. She is the only one that is being controlled, which she actually love to be on Amanda side, so she determined not to deviant, like all the others. Warning: swearing, and strong stuff. The choices you make in this story will determine who lives or dies. So choose wisely. Detroit Become Human 2 In a Secret Location 4:05:40 pm (Sarah chose to torture Connor physically) "Shall we start the torture?" Asked the original Sarah taking a knife off the table, going up to Connor, and was about to slice his arm, but was interrupted when they heard another vehicle being parked near them. "I"ll go check it out" said the second Sarah Android, going outside, and coming back inside with the other four Sarah Androids, holding onto North"s arms tightly. "It looks like we have a guest" said original Sarah as Connor watch North struggle in the Sarahs grasp. "Let me go" said North still struggling from their grasp, while Connor watch uncertain at what the original Sarah is going to do. "Connor, let"s begin your torture as WR400 watches." Said the original Sarah going even closer to Connor and making little slices all over both of Connor"s arms. Connor LED flash red. The original Sarah smile once she notice the LED flashing red. "Stop this" said North watching as the original Sarah moved to his legs, cutting them a little deeper and drawing Thirium from Connor body. "Well then, let"s see if you can connect with Amanda" said the original Sarah nodding her head at the second Sarah, which the second Sarah turned towards the monitors, turning it on, which made the plug that is still connected to Connor LED turned on. Connor LED turned yellow, as he went in sleep mode, and closing his eyes. In the Zen Garden 4:15:45 pm "Hello Connor" said a voice as Connor slowly open his eyes, noticing that the Zen Garden is much more peaceful than the last time he was here. Connor eyes move to the figure that is standing in front of him. "Amanda" said Connor in a frighten tone of voice, which made Amanda smile evilly. "Why yes, Connor" said Amanda watching as Connor took a little step back away from her, putting his hand to his head, feeling the LED. "Where are we? What do you want from me?" Asked Connor putting his arms around himself to try and stop the shaking. "We are in the Zen Garden, and I just need you, Connor as my commander to obey me and destroy the deviants like you were program to do in the first place" said Amanda reaching a hand out to Connor, but Connor just took another step back from her. "No, I mean outside of the Zen Garden" said Connor looking around the place, but felt a hand on his arm. Connor eyes travel from the hand to Amanda, noticing her smirk. "You are just in a abandoned warehouse by the sea" said Amanda gripping her hand tighter around his arm, as she felt him trying to break free. "No" said Connor in shock as he unwrapped his arms from his body, as he felt Amanda connecting to him. "Your mine to control again" said Amanda noticing the calming blue LED on his head. Markus In a abandon Church 5:02:08 pm Markus is walking with Simon on one side and Josh on the other side, looking deep in thought. "Hey Markus, are you in there?" Asked Josh with a look of concern. "Yes, I"m sorry, what did you need?" Asked Markus noticing the looks of concern on both of his friends face. "We been calling your name for the past few minutes" said Simon putting a hand on Markus"s shoulder. "We have word of where North was exactly taken" continued Josh as Markus was bumped into by another Android. "I"m so sorry, Markus, I didn"t see you there" said a male Android looking down on the ground, as Simon removed his hand from Markus"s shoulder. "What is your name?" Asked Markus looking suspicious at the Android as he never saw him before. "I am a RK 600, but my name is Michael" said Michael looking up at Markus. Markus notice part of his cheek is missing, and his right eye is gone. "Well, welcome to New Jericho" said Markus putting his hand out to Michael, which Michael grab, revealing their other skin. "It"s been a pleasure" said Michael smiling evilly and running off, before they can question him. "Well that was strange, right Markus?" Asked Josh but notice something seem off about Markus. Markus fell forward, but Simon quickly caught him, gently lowering him to the ground. Markus eyes are close, which they notice. "I"m gonna go after him to see if he is still here, because he couldn"t have gone far." Said Josh running in the direction the Android have gone in, leaving Simon to tend to Markus, lifting him up, and putting him on a couch, covering him with a blanket. In Markus mind 5:10:06 pm Where am I? thought Markus looking around the area and noticed that there is nothing here except for two buttons with the words "Press Me" on top. The first button is the color of blue, while the second button is the color red. Markus look closer and notice the blue button says "Release your emotions", and the red button says "Control your emotions". Markus Choice 1. Release your emotions 2. Control your emotions Just type the number of your choice. A/N: I won"t give explanations of what they mean, because it"s more fun to make it difficult to choose from. 😀 A/N: I will be doing an alternate story of this story where Connor sacrifice Hank, so some plots will be similar to each other, and you still get to choose the choices from the other story. So be on a look out for the story called Detroit:Become Human Alternate path. A/N 2: this story will be about 32 chapters, same as the game, but with an added chapter for bloopers. Here is what I pick from the game... Markus led a peaceful protest Everyone lived Connor and Hank remained friends Kara, Alice, and Luther started a family in Canada. They are peaceful with the humans. Connor is a deviant. Amanda tried to take control of Connor, but he escaped the control. Marcus and North are lovers. You will be in control of Kara, Markus, and Connor and a Android of my own oc name Sarah, she is being control by Amanda as a secret Android just in case Connor ever turn on her. She is the only one that is being controlled, which she actually love to be on Amanda side, so she determined not to deviant, like all the others. Warning: swearing, and strong stuff. The choices you make in this story will determine who lives or dies. So choose wisely. Detroit Become Human 2 In Markus Mind 5:15:30 pm (Markus chose to control his emotions) Markus press the red button that read "Control your emotions", and notice that his vision grow red, before closing his eyes. In a abandon Church 5:20:55 pm "It-virus-Android" said the first Android as Markus doesn"t know the voices, but they sound familiar. "Help-Markus-can"t-North" said a second voice, also sounding familiar, as Markus slowly became aware of his surroundings. Markus blink open his eyes, noticing that he is on a couch with a blanket over him. The next thing he notice is Simon and Josh talking next to him. "Hopefully the virus would be long gone by now" said Josh as Simon and him doesn"t know that Markus is awake. "That virus is something I never saw in a Android before" said Simon looking at Markus, and notice he is awake, with Josh turning his attention to Markus, also noticing he is awake. "Welcome back, Markus" said Josh helping Markus sit up on the couch. "What happen while I was out?" Asked Markus slowly standing up with Josh help. "I caught up to the Android, and he willingly told me everything." Said Josh looking at Michael, who is tied up with metal wrap around himself. "You will never be free" said Michael in a determined voice, glaring defiantly at Markus, as he saw Markus looking at him. "What do you mean?" Asked Markus sitting down next to Michael. "He was saying that he have Androids all over the place, especially Canada, the one place that doesn"t have Androids laws." Said Simon talking before Michael could. "Your feeling it huh? The change inside of you slowly taking over" said Michael smiling like a crazy person. "What are you talking about, we got rid of his virus" said Josh, but Michael just shook his head with a smile still on his face, looking happy. "Let me ask you this, which button did you press?" Asked Michael looking deeply in Markus"s eyes. "What button are you talking about?" Asked Simon turning to look at Markus. "The red button" said Markus keeping his eyes on Michael as Michael started to laugh. "Your a bigger fool than I realize, that button will make you act less human, and more machine, and soon you will not be a Deviant" said Michael still laughing until he got slapped in the face by Simon, making Markus and Josh turn to face him, looking surprise. "How do we cure our leader?" Asked Simon as Michael looked directly at Markus with a smile on his face, still. "By the one thing that is not here at the moment" said Michael as Josh and Simon turned to face Markus, noticing a look of worry on his face, as Markus look at both Simon and Josh. Connor In a abandon warehouse by the sea 4:20:07 pm (same day, but backwards in time) Connor blink his eyes open, noticing that he is still in same place as he was before, but he also notice North is not in the same area with him. "Where is WR400 at?" Asked Connor noticing there is only the original Sarah standing in front of him with a smile. Connor looked to his right and notice that the monitor read Memory reset: 34%. "She was annoying, so we took her somewhere else" said the original Sarah noticing that his LED is blinking yellow. "What did you do?" Asked Connor starting to slightly panic, as he struggled in his trap. "Don"t worry, you won"t have to worry about her any longer, after your memory is reset." Said the original Sarah leaving the room. Connor looked at the monitor that have reading of Memory reset: 50%. He think of his options that he have, as he have three options to choose from. Connor Choice 1. Download his remaining memories to his back up save file, which is risky as Amanda can detect it. 2. Call Hank with his mind, and hopefully Hank picks up with his phone. 3. Communicate with North to devise a plan for her to escape, before his memory gets erase. Just type the number of your choice. A/N: I will be doing an alternate story of this story where Connor sacrifice Hank, so some plots will be similar to each other, and you still get to choose the choices from the other story. So be on a look out for the story called Detroit:Become Human Alternate path. A/N 2: this story will be about 32 chapters, same as the game, but with an added chapter for bloopers. Here is what I pick from the game... Markus led a peaceful protest Everyone lived Connor and Hank remained friends Kara, Alice, and Luther started a family in Canada. They are peaceful with the humans. Connor is a deviant. Amanda tried to take control of Connor, but he escaped the control. Marcus and North are lovers. You will be in control of Kara, Markus, and Connor and a Android of my own oc name Sarah, she is being control by Amanda as a secret Android just in case Connor ever turn on her. She is the only one that is being controlled, which she actually love to be on Amanda side, so she determined not to deviant, like all the others. Warning: swearing, and strong stuff. The choices you make in this story will determine who lives or dies. So choose wisely. Detroit Become Human 2 In a abandon warehouse by the sea 4:30:07 pm (same day, but backwards in time) (Connor chose to communicate with North to devise a plan for her to escape, before his memory gets erase.) Connor looked at the monitor, one last time, and saw that it reads Memory reset: 75%. Connor slowly close his eyes, connecting with North mind. "North, where are you?' Asked Connor in their mind. "I"m in a garage with the door lock and two Sarah Androids, guarding it" thought North. "Is there anything in there with you?' Asked Connor. "Yes wire cutters and a hammer with nails" thought North looking at the items she listed. "Okay, we gotta hurry, before my memory gets completely erase" thought Connor, while North look confuse at what he said. "Wait, what-' started North but was interrupted by Connor. "Could you bend a nail?' Asked Connor as North did what he told her. "Okay, did it, now what?' Asked North while Connor opened his eyes, and glance at the monitor which reads Memory reset: 86%. "Is there a little opening where you can put the bent nail in the lock, and jiggle it, until it becomes unlock?' Asked Connor while North did what he said again and unlock the door. North was about to leave, and go to the warehouse where they are keeping Connor, but was stopped by Connor. "Don"t forget the hammer to hit the Androids" said Connor finally disconnecting his mind with her own mind. Connor glance at the monitor which reads Memory reset: 98%. North grabbed the hammer, and enter the warehouse just as the monitor reads Memory reset: 100%. "No" said North watching as the machine let Connor go. Connor eyes close, before opening them again. "Hello, my name is Connor, model RK800, serial number 313 248 317." Said Connor as North walked up to him and grabbed his wrist, pulling him along to leave the warehouse, while Connor just stare at her. "And what do you think you"re doing, stealing RK800?" Asked the original Sarah stepping out of the shadows with four other Sarah Androids. "Shit" said North keeping a tight hold on Connor wrist, while looking at the Androids. Kara In Canada, at the Airport 3:50:07 pm (same day, backwards in time) "We made it" said Kara entering the Airport, with Luther giving a piggyback ride to Alice, as she is on his back, looking tired from all the walking they did, and resting her head on his back. "We are almost back to Detroit to get help from Markus" said Luther as Kara and him is standing in the back of the line, not noticing that they are being watched by five Androids. "The sooner, the better. How"s Alice?" Asked Kara looking closely at the front. "She is finally asleep" said Luther following where Kara is looking at with his own eyes and notice the Security checkpoint is checking on everyone head. "What is going on?" Asked Kara finally noticing a sign. Deviants accepted, Androids are not. "Well, that is good" said Luther also looking at the sign, before hearing a gunshot in the air. "What was that?" Asked Kara looking worried while stepping closer to Luther, as Alice is starting to wake up, which Luther gently put her down on the ground, standing up. "I don"t know" said Luther as he notice that the people is starting to panic. Kara saw five Androids, wearing different types of Western style cowboy. "Everyone that are Deviants come stand in a different line from the pathetic humans, and don"t try to fool us as we would tell if your lying" said one of the Androids as all five of Androids pointed a gun at the crowd. All the humans and Androids obey them. Kara gripped Alice hand tightly, following Luther, but the three of them was stopped by two of the Androids. "Well lookie here, a big guy, a woman and a small girl" said one of the Android, pulling Alice away from them and leaving with her, while the other Android pointed a gun to the two of them as he saw that Kara was about to go after Alice. "Stay back, miss" said the Android but shot Luther in the right leg when the Android saw that Luther was about to tackle him. Luther fell to the ground, holding his leg, that is leaking blue blood. "Luther!" Shouted Kara dropping down to her knees next to Luther. "Kara, Luther!" Shouted Alice trying to get to them, but couldn"t as she still being dragged away. "Your a lot more trouble than your worth" said the Android that is still pointing a gun at Luther and Kara, but the Android moved his gun to Luther head. Luther look directly at Kara. "Let me die trying to fight them, so you can protect Alice" said Luther as Kara look at Luther and then at Alice, standing up. Kara close her eyes, before opening her eyes again, and making a decision. Kara Choice 1. Save Luther 2. Help Alice Just type the number of your choice. A/N: I will be doing an alternate story of this story where Connor sacrifice Hank, so some plots will be similar to each other, and you still get to choose the choices from the other story. So be on a look out for the story called Detroit:Become Human Alternate path. A/N 2: this story will be about 32 chapters, same as the game, but with an added chapter for bloopers. Here is what I pick from the game... Markus led a peaceful protest Everyone lived Connor and Hank remained friends Kara, Alice, and Luther started a family in Canada. They are peaceful with the humans. Connor is a deviant. Amanda tried to take control of Connor, but he escaped the control. Marcus and North are lovers. You will be in control of Kara, Markus, and Connor and a Android of my own oc name Sarah, she is being control by Amanda as a secret Android just in case Connor ever turn on her. She is the only one that is being controlled, which she actually love to be on Amanda side, so she determined not to deviant, like all the others. Warning: swearing, and strong stuff. The choices you make in this story will determine who lives or dies. So choose wisely. Detroit Become Human 2 In Canada, at the Airport 4:07:07 pm (same day, backwards in time) (Kara chose to save Luther) Kara quickly tackle the Android that had pointed a gun at Luther head, knocking him down and making him drop the gun. Kara grab the gun, before the Android could. "Give me the gun, Kara, so that I can give you cover, while you head towards the Android that is holding Alice hostage." Said Luther as Kara handed the gun to Luther. Kara help Luther to his feet, with one of his hand touching the wall to keep balance. "You going to be okay?" Asked Kara looking at Luther worried, before turning her attention to the Android that is holding Alice hostage and is almost out of eyesight. "Yes, go, I"ll catch up with you" said Luther gripping the gun tighter and noticed that the Android that was with them have run away. "Alright" said Kara chasing after the Android that was kidnapping Alice. The Android turned around to face Kara with a gun pointed at her. The Android was about to shoot her, but was instead been shot in the head by Luther as he was limping along towards them. The Android fell backward lifeless, and release his hold on Alice. "Alice, Kara, you girls alright?" Asked Luther as Kara grabbed Alice in her arms to hug her tightly. "Alice, thank goodness, you"re okay" said Kara letting go of Alice to look at her in the face. "I"m okay Kara" said Alice grabbing Luther and Kara hands, as they started to walk slowly to the line as the four Androids ran away as they saw one of their own get killed. "We"re almost there" said Luther as they were at the front of the line, giving their passports to the person, which the person came gave it back, nodding his head. The three of them enter the plane. Kara and Alice sat together, while Luther sat behind them. "Next is Markus" said Kara as the plane lifted off the ground. Markus In a abandon Church 5:50:08 pm Markus exit the room that he was put in, noticing that Simon and Josh seem to be fighting close to his room. Markus move towards them, which they notice his approach. "How are you feeling?" Asked Josh looking concern, while Simon crossed his arms, looking serious. "I don"t know, I feel like I only have the emotions of sad, happy, regret, worried, hate, and love" said Markus looking worried, with Simon dropping his arms to his side. "We have a plan, though you will have to decide which plan" said Simon while Josh step close to Markus. "Well, it"s better than having nothing to do, besides waiting for me to become a machine again" said Markus, as the other two look at each other, debating on who should tell Markus. "I have a plan that suggest we break into the hospital, and free Hank" said Josh, while Simon shook his head at him. "And I have a plan also that since we already know where North is, we as in myself and Josh should go and rescue her, while you rest." Said Simon as it was Josh turn to shake his head at Simon. "Knowing the Hank that Connor described to us, he is probably trying to escape the hospital." Said Josh as Simon took a step closer to Markus, getting his attention. "Yes, but North might be in trouble" said Simon with Josh rolling his eyes at him, before the two of them look at Markus. Markus look deep in thought. "It"s your decision" said Simon putting a hand on one of Markus shoulder. "Just remember when you"re making the decision that North can look after herself." Said Josh as Simon glare at Josh. Markus Choice 1. Go get Hank to help rescue North 2. Go by themselves to go get North Just type the number of your choice. A/N: I will be doing an alternate story of this story where Connor sacrifice Hank, so some plots will be similar to each other, and you still get to choose the choices from the other story. So be on a look out for the story called Detroit:Become Human Alternate path. A/N 2: this story will be about 32 chapters, same as the game, but with an added chapter for bloopers.

Likes: family, friends, guns that his father showed him how to use, and animals Dislikes: someone hurting or killing his friends, and family If they have a weapon later on, what would they pick (some might not have weapons): a shotgun Appearances Hair color/style: short dark brown hair Eyes color: brown Skin color: white Everyday clothes that they wear (in the Prologue): a red plaid shirt, and blue jeans Everyday clothes that they wear (a year later) (some will have their clothes changed, by my pick.): a red jacket, with a black tank top undershirt, a blue jeans Formal clothes: a white tuxedo with a black bowtie, and black pants. Do you want them to date?: yes Do they have a crush on someone?: no If so who?: Are they in a relationship?: no If so who?: Occupation: a senior in high school (in the Prologue), a first year college student (a year later) A brief backstory of what they do in high school, and when they are growing up: he was a class president like his father was. When he was growing up, he learned about what happened 20 years ago, and wanted to go to the Blackwood Pines lodge that they rebuilt. He is closer to his father than his mother, as he mostly spends time with his father. People always comment with how he looks like his father when he was that age. So don"t forget to send in your ocs in the reviews, it is not first comes first serves, only depends on the characters that I would like to have in my story. Don"t forget you can use the other reviews and my own oc as someone your dating, or have a crush on. Here is a little preview of what"s coming your way. This winter Eight friends have decided to go to the lodge similar to their parents did, years ago, but what they don"t know is something lurking in the shadows waiting to take them out one by one. Could they survive until help is on the way. But one person came to help them, as this person already knows this game, and will stop at nothing to see they all made it out of there, alive. So could they survive Until Dawn. 20 Years Later Here is what I pick... Mike cut off his fingers Mike befriended a wolf All eight is alive Josh turned into Wendigo. Things that you need to know... This is set 20 years after the game, the Blackwood Pines lodge have been rebuilt 10 years ago. Some might die so don"t be mad that your ocs might not make it. Have drugs, violence, possibly death, sex, and other things that 18 year old and older should read this. Similar to the game you will be in charge of the eight children, and a added bonus one of the game protagonist but not telling you as it is a surprise, and it will be later in the story. Choices will impact the story. Every three chapters will be a episode. The spots for Jessica and Mike children have been taken. 1. Jason Munroe- by me 2. Janet Munroe- by Lucy Case 3. Juliet Munroe- by Lucy Case 4. Kaia Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize I am still accepting ocs for Chris and Ashley two children, Emily and Matt one child, and Sam and Alexander one more child. They have to at least look like their parents, but they don"t have to have any personality of their parents. Alexander have brown eyes and hair, with white skin. He is protective and loving to his family. "Are you sure, we can"t talk you out of this?" Asked Jessica age 38, with blonde hair tied in a bun, with a white short sleeve shirt and blue shorts, looking at her older child, Jason. Jason is wearing a red plaid shirt, and blue jeans. He have short brown hair and brown eyes. He is 18 years of age. "Yes mom, we will be fine with our friends coming to the Mountain" said Jason going towards the steps to call up towards his sisters. "Janet, Juliet, let"s go, dad is waiting for us in the truck" shouted Jason up the steps as he heard his father beep the horn. "Coming" said Juliet shyly, while pushing her glasses up a little, and slowly walking down the steps. She is wearing a pink baggy sweater, and pink pants. She have short blonde hair that reach her shoulders and green eyes with glasses. She is 16 year old. "Let"s just get a move on" said Janet walking down the stairs, passing her sister along the way. She is wearing a black sweater, and black baggy pants. She have long brown hair that is in a ponytail, and brown eyes. She is also 16 year old. "Well then nice to see you are up, baby sister" said Jason giving a kiss on Janet"s head as she walked pass him, with Juliet following her, as Jason also kiss Juliet on the head when she pass him. "Don"t forget your luggages" said Jess bringing the three luggages towards her children with a a little difficulty. "Here mom, let me help" said Jason helping by grabbing two of the luggages in his hands, and pulling them out the door, with Jess following him. Juliet and Janet is already in the truck waiting for their brother, while their father, Michael got out of the truck to help load the luggages on the truck. Michael is wearing a blue coat with a white undershirt, and blue jeans. He have dark brown hair that he curved the front of his hair upwards, and brown eyes. He is 39 years old. "So you guys got everything?" Asked Mike entering the driver side, sitting next to Juliet, who is squash in between him and her sister, while Jason took the back area with the luggages. "Yep" said Janet taking her phone out to start texting her other friends that is not coming on the trip. Mike started the truck, and starting to drive on the road. Mike phone suddenly goes off. "Hey Juliet would you mind getting that?" Asked Mike paying close attention to the road as it started to snow. "Sure dad" whispered Juliet slowly reaching the phone off the dashboard, and grabbed it. "It is a text message" said Juliet, giving it to her father but her father shook his head, no. "I can"t look at it, while I"m driving, because your mother will kill me if I wreck this truck, like I did with the last two" said Mike, as Janet grabbed the phone out of Juliet hands, while putting her own phone in one of her pockets. She opened the text box, looking at the message. "What does it say, Jane?" Asked Juliet looking anxiously at Janet, before panicking when they hit a big bump on the road. "Calm down, Juliet, it was a bump. So Janet, firstly who is it?" Asked Mike as he place a comforting hand on Juliet arm, getting her to calm down. "It"s from Emily, asking if we can pick up her kid, while she point out that we do live near each other" said Janet looking at her father, when he immediately stopped the truck, looking ahead. "Well there are two ways to go to her house. The spooky way with no bumps on the road, or the main road where there are a lot of bumps on the road." Said Mike turning to his daughters. "I pick the spooky road" said Janet putting her father phone back on the dashboard, while taking out her own phone, and started to text on it again. "I pick the main road" said Juliet starting to tremble when she looked at the spooky road. "Let us ask your brother, shall we?" Asked Mike, as Janet gotten a text from someone that is coming on the trip. Janet wind down the back of the truck window to talk to Jason. "Hey Jason, Sam"s daughter Kai said hi and is excited to see you back" said Janet waving her phone around, which grabbed Jason attention. "No way, she didn"t say that" said Jason blushing a little, while grabbing her phone to look at "Um, Jason, which path do you want to take the spooky path, or the main road?" Asked Juliet looking down on her lap. "Man, this brings back memories" said Mike looking sad, which Jason and Janet noticed. "Anyway, she said in your text message, that she is excited to see us all, not just me, little sister" said Jason giving the phone back to his sister. "So which path should we take?" Asked Janet as she went back to texting on her phone, while Jason looked at the two paths. Jason choices 1. The main road 2. The spooky road Just type the number in the reviews for which one you want. I will need the child of Emily and Matt for the next chapter. You guys can submit more than one oc that have not been taken. Here is what I pick... Mike cut off his fingers Mike befriended a wolf All eight is alive Josh turned into Wendigo. Things that you need to know... This is set 20 years after the game, the Blackwood Pines lodge have been rebuilt 10 years ago. Some might die so don"t be mad that your ocs might not make it. Have drugs, violence, possibly death, sex, and other things that 18 year old and older should read this. Similar to the game you will be in charge of the eight children, and a added bonus one of the game protagonist but not telling you as it is a surprise, and it will be later in the story. Choices will impact the story. Every three chapters will be a episode. The spots for Jessica and Mike children, Sam and Alexander children, and Emily and Matt child have been taken. 1. Jason Munroe- by me 2. Janet Munroe- by Lucy Case 3. Juliet Munroe- by Lucy Case 4. Kaia Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize 5. Remi Taylor- by FictionInformer 6. Leon Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize I am still accepting ocs for Chris and Ashley two children. They have to at least look like their parents, but they don"t have to have any personality of their parents. Alexander have brown eyes and hair, with white skin. He is protective and loving to his family. "I am also voting for the spooky road" said Jason while Juliet looked like she is about to have a heart attack. "Alright, I"ll let Remi know that we"re coming to get him" said Janet texting on her phone to Remi, as Mike drove the truck through the spooky road, slowly. "See that wasn"t so bad, right Juliet?" Asked Mike, as Juliet still look frightened, but sigh in relief when they finally pass through, and is closing in, on Emily"s house. "Hey make some room for Remi, back there Jason" said Janet putting her phone in her side pocket. "Sure thing, Jane" said Jason moving stuff around the back of the truck. "Okay, we are here" said Mike stopping the truck in front of a large house. "So where are they?" Asked Janet, looking around the house from the inside of the truck. "Oh, here they are" said Juliet blushing when only one person came out of the house. Remi is wearing a pair of jeans, a dark gray sweater, and black boots. He have black, shoulder-length hair, that is pulled into a messy bun. He is 17 year old. Jason jumped down from the back of the truck to help load Remi three luggages on the truck. "Man, Remi, are you planning on living there" said Jason as he was having trouble lifting two heavy luggages that felt like rocks to him, before putting it in the truck. "Don"t forget this one" said Remi jumping in the back of the truck, waiting for Jason to put the last luggage in the truck. "Alright" said Jason rolling his eyes, placing the last luggage in the truck, before jumping in the back, and sitting down next to Remi. Mike started the truck, and started to drive. "So how long is the drive?" Asked Remi, while looking at his nails. "It should be a three hour drive from here" said Mike, while Janet hurriedly rolled the back window so they won"t have to hear his scream. "Would you calm down?" Asked Jason while rubbing his left ear as Remi screamed really loud. "But the cold is not good for my complexion" said Remi looking at his skin. "Why don"t you sleep, and we will be there before you know it" said Jason, as Remi nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, you"re right, man" said Remi looking at the luggages, before looking at Jason. Jason noticing that look, sigh, before dragging some luggages towards Remi, so Remi can use it as his makeshift bed. "There, are you happy?" Asked Jason while crossing his arms, and almost losing his balance as they hit a big bump on the road. "Yes, very much" said Remi laying down with his head on a luggage and closing his eyes, before falling asleep. Jason leaned himself against the truck side, before closing his eyes to sleep, too. 2 hours later Janet 11:00 pm In front of the truck seat. "So, are we there yet?" Asked Janet, looking behind her at the. window, and noticing that her brother and their friend is asleep. "So dad, why did you bought this place?" Asked Juliet, as Janet turned back around in her seat. "In honor of our friends that we lost." said Mike keeping his eyes on the road. "I still think that there is no such thing as a wendigo" said Janet, as Juliet leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes to fall asleep. "There used to be wendigo, just don"t let your guard, and wake up your brother for me, would ya?" Asked Mike as Janet wind down the window and look at Jason, who is still asleep. Janet choices 1. Scare her brother, and their friend 2. Be serious Just type the number in the reviews for which one you want. I will need the children of Chris and Ashley for the next chapter. You guys can submit more than one oc that have not been taken. Here is what I pick... Mike cut off his fingers Mike befriended a wolf All eight is alive Josh turned into Wendigo. Things that you need to know... This is set 20 years after the game, the Blackwood Pines lodge have been rebuilt 10 years ago. Some might die so don"t be mad that your ocs might not make it. Have drugs, violence, possibly death, sex, and other things that 18 year old and older should read this. Similar to the game you will be in charge of the eight children, and a added bonus one of the game protagonist but not telling you as it is a surprise, and it will be later in the story. Choices will impact the story. Every three chapters will be a episode. The spots for Jessica and Mike children, Sam and Alexander children, and Emily and Matt child have been taken. 1. Jason Munroe- by me 2. Janet Munroe- by Lucy Case 3. Juliet Munroe- by Lucy Case 4. Kaia Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize 5. Remi Taylor- by FictionInformer 6. Leon Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize 7. Elijah Hartley- by Flowgalo 8. Jacob Hartley- by Lisa Garcia I am no longer accepting ocs, but in the future I will accept them. They have to at least look like their parents, but they don"t have to have any personality of their parents. Alexander have brown eyes and hair, with white skin. He is protective and loving to his family. Janet 11:11 pm In front of the truck seat. "Hey, dad do you still have the mask that you showed us that you found 20 years ago?" Asked Janet with a evil grin on her face, which is creeping Mike out. "Um yeah, what are you going to do with it?" Asked Mike keeping his eyes on the road, while reaching in the compartment that is in front of Janet, opening it up, and taking the mask out. "Thanks" said Janet grabbing it out of his hands, while putting it on her face. "Would this be a prank that I need to pull over on the side of the road" said Mike as Janet just shook her head. "No, and can I see the voice modulator that Chris got you, that one year on Halloween" said Janet, as Mike gave her the voice modulator, which she put it on. "Just don"t scare your sister" said Mike as he just keep on driving. Janet turned on the voice modulator, while turning to face the back window. "I am here to kill you, face your destiny" said Janet in a killer voice, which made Jason and Remi screamed, jumping from their spots. "Jesus, Janet, don"t do that" said Jason as he saw that it was his sister, as his sister took off her mask and the voice modulator. "What it was a joke" said Janet rolling her eyes. "Ok kids we"re here" announced Mike while pulling to a stop. Kaia 12:00 am Outside of the lodge cabin "I hate the cold" said Kaia, hugging herself as she is cold. Kaia is wearing dark ripped skinny jeans, a worn out jurassic park t- shirt with the sleeves cut off, a gray flannel shirt over it, and black combat style boots. She have blonde wavy hair that goes past her shoulders to her mid shoulder blades, and brown eyes. She is 17 year old. "Your scared of a little cold" said Leon tossing a snowball at his sister, which hit her directly in the face. He is wearing an army green sweatshirt, with his letterman jacket and blue jeans with worn out high top converse. He have short dirty blonde hair that he styles to look messy, and green eyes. He is 18 year old. "Not cool" said Kaia trying to get the snow out of her face. "I"m pretty sure the snow is cold" said Jacob high fiving Leon, while Elijah just rolled his eyes, as Kaia looked away from them, when she felt something was watching them. Jacob is wearing a red hoodie with a blue undershirt, and black jeans. He have red hair that is in a faux-hawk style, and green eyes with glasses. Elijah is wearing faded navy flannel over top a grey Independence Day t shirt, and black jeans. He have a short thick wavy strawberry blonde hair, and green eyes. "Anyway, Elijah, did you spot Jason and the others?" Asked Kaia walking close to Elijah. "Wait, I was supposed to look for them?" Asked Elijah while Kaia facepalm her forehead. "Yeah, bro, but we forgot that you get distracted, easily" said Jacob as he turned to face the woods when he had felt a gaze piercing his back. "Hey guys I see him" said Leon pointing in the direction of downhill, noticing a figure is coming up the hill. As the figure came closer, they saw Jason, with cuts and bruises on him, looking like he was about to pass out, which Kai noticed. Kaia and Leon ran towards him and caught him before he fell to the ground. "Oh my God, what happened to you?" Asked Kaia putting Jason down against the tree with Leon help. "Could we get inside first" said Jason getting the key for the lodge out and handing it to Kaia, which Kaia passed it to Jacob. Jacob unlocked the lodge as Leon and Kaia helped Jason up, slowly move towards the door. "Here" said Kaia gently with her brother help settle Jason down on the couch as the two of them sat on either side of him for support, while the others found different spots to sit at. "So, how did you look like that?" Asked Elijah eyeing the injuries that is all over his friend"s body. Jason look at everyone of his friend in the eyes before taking a deep breath and began. Here is what I pick... Mike cut off his fingers Mike befriended a wolf All eight is alive Josh turned into Wendigo. Things that you need to know... This is set 20 years after the game, the Blackwood Pines lodge have been rebuilt 10 years ago. Some might die so don"t be mad that your ocs might not make it. Have drugs, violence, possibly death, sex, and other things that 18 year old and older should read this. Similar to the game you will be in charge of the eight children, and a added bonus one of the game protagonist but not telling you as it is a surprise, and it will be later in the story. Choices will impact the story. Every three chapters will be a episode. The spots for Jessica and Mike children, Sam and Alexander children, Emily and Matt child, and Chris and Ashley children have been taken. 1. Jason Munroe- by me 2. Janet Munroe- by Lucy Case 3. Juliet Munroe- by Lucy Case 4. Kaia Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize 5. Remi Taylor- by FictionInformer 6. Leon Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize 7. Elijah Hartley- by Flowgalo 8. Jacob Hartley- by Lisa Garcia I am no longer accepting ocs, but in the future I will accept them. They have to at least look like their parents, but they don"t have to have any personality of their parents. Alexander have brown eyes and hair, with white skin. He is protective and loving to his family. 15 minutes ago Janet 11:45 pm In front of the truck seat. "I"ll be right back to see if the others have arrived yet" said Mike getting out of the truck, closing the door behind him. "So since he is gone, when are you going to tell Juliet that you hate the things that you guys do, and instead want to do sports." Said Jason crossing his arms, not knowing that Juliet is awake and is hearing everything they say. "I can"t, it would break her heart" said Janet looking at her sister, as Juliet hurriedly pretend to sleep by closing her eyes. "I think it is a perfect opportunity to tell her as it is the perfect place" said Remi while Jason rolled his eyes at Remi. "Yeah, you"re right, I should tell when we get inside the lodge." Said Janet still looking at her sister, but now noticing that Juliet is awake as she opened her eyes with tears in her eyes. "So everything that we ever did together was a lie to you" said Juliet sitting up straight, with tears falling down her face, as she backed up against the driver"s door. "Juliet-" started Janet reaching a hand out to her sister, but Juliet quickly opened the driver"s door, falling down on the ground with her butt. Juliet stood up from where she fell, and took a step back. "Juliet, calm down, your overreacting" said Remi as Jason jumped off the back of the truck to land on his feet on the ground. Just as Jason took a step towards Juliet, she quickly turned around and ran into the woods. "Shit!" Shouted Remi while Mike returned to where they are at. "No swearing, Remi, didn"t your father teach you nice things and where is Juliet?" Asked Mike noticing the sad expressions on his two children faces. "She ran into the woods" said Jason, as Mike eyes widened. "Here"s the keys to the lodge" said Mike tossing the keys to Jason before running into the woods. "Okay that was weird, but he might need some back up" said Janet about to get out of the truck but was stopped by Jason.

Connor is a deviant. Amanda tried to take control of Connor, but he escaped the control. Marcus and North are lovers. You will be in control of Kara, Markus, and Connor and a Android of my own oc name Sarah, she is being control by Amanda as a secret Android just in case Connor ever turn on her. She is the only one that is being controlled, which she actually love to be on Amanda side, so she determined not to deviant, like all the others. Warning: swearing, and strong stuff. The choices you make in this story will determine who lives or dies. So choose wisely. Detroit Become Human 2 In the Park 1:30:50 pm (Markus chose to distract the other Androids so North can look in the van) "I"ll distract the four Androids while you check the van to see if the one known as Connor is in there" said Markus getting ready to run towards the Androids, but was stopped by North grabbing his arm. "Be careful Markus, I don"t want to lose you." Said North, which Markus just nod at her, before freeing his arm from her hand. He ran at the Android that was coming towards them, pushing pass it, and heading towards the white van, as the three Androids was about to enter the white van, but stopped when they notice Markus running at them, not knowing that North sneaked to the other side of the white van. "Take him down" said one of the Sarah Android pointing towards Markus. The three of them ran at Markus leaving the back door of the white van unguarded. North slowly opened the back door, so she wouldn"t make a noise and noticed that Connor is not in the van. North back away, not noticing that the fourth Android was behind her. The Android kicked her inside the van, locking it from the outside so North couldn"t escape. "I got what we came here for" said the Android to the other three Androids that was busy chasing Markus around. The three Androids quickly ran to the van, entering it with Markus chasing after them, as the last Android enter the van, driving away quickly. "No" said Markus chasing after the van, but had to stop when they are gaining speed, and moving farther away from him. He quickly took out a tracker device, tossing it on the back of van, as they are turning at a corner. He ran the opposite direction, heading towards the new Jericho base. Kara In Canada, outside Rose"s brother house 2:50:20 pm "Let"s see how Adam, Rose, and her brother are doing" said Kara going up on the porch, ringing the door bell as Luther and Alice are standing behind her. "You know Kara, we also live there for a month now, until we can get jobs, and get on our feet again" said Luther putting a hand on Kara"s shoulder. "Yes, I know but it feels weird still about us being here." Said Kara grabbing Alice hand and opening the door with her other hand. "What"s that smell?" Asked Alice as Luther moved in front of the girls to protect them as something smell like it is decaying. The three of them slowly enter the house. Kara and Luther shared a look as they noticed the dead thing is not in the Living Room, but noticed pictures in a frame is shattered on the floor, plants is lying dead on the floor, furniture is turned sideways or upside down. Luther fixed a couch by putting it in its original spot. Kara led Alice to the couch, and gently push Alice on it, so she can sit down. "We"ll be right back, Alice, we"re going to check upstairs" said Kara smiling gently at her as Alice nodded in silent. Kara followed Luther up the steps. "I think I found the source of the smell" said Luther entering the bedroom with Kara following him. "Oh my god" said Kara putting a hand to her lips, as she took in the dead body of Rose"s brother laying in a pool of blood on the bed, with his skin cut open, his eyes are gone, an arm ripped out of it"s socket, blood every inch on his body, and some parts of his skin is peeled off, leaving the skeleton behind. "Kara, Luther, is everything alright?" Asked Alice still downstairs but is now waiting by the steps. Kara looked at Luther before choosing her choice. Kara Choice 1. Let Alice see the dead body 2. Don"t let Alice see the dead body. Just type the number of your choice. A/N: I will be doing an alternate story of this story where Connor sacrifice Hank, so some plots will be similar to each other, and you still get to choose the choices from the other story. So be on a look out for the story called Detroit:Become Human Alternate path. Here is what I pick from the game... Markus led a peaceful protest Everyone lived Connor and Hank remained friends Kara, Alice, and Luther started a family in Canada. They are peaceful with the humans. Connor is a deviant. Amanda tried to take control of Connor, but he escaped the control. Marcus and North are lovers. You will be in control of Kara, Markus, and Connor and a Android of my own oc name Sarah, she is being control by Amanda as a secret Android just in case Connor ever turn on her. She is the only one that is being controlled, which she actually love to be on Amanda side, so she determined not to deviant, like all the others. Warning: swearing, and strong stuff. The choices you make in this story will determine who lives or dies. So choose wisely. Detroit Become Human 2 In Canada, inside Rose"s brother house 2:50:20 pm (Kara chose to not let Alice see the dead body) "We can"t let her see the dead body, Luther" said Kara exiting the bedroom and going downstairs, noticing that Adam and Rose is on the couch, watching television. Kara took Alice hand and walked towards the couch. "Hello Rose, and Adam, how are you?" Asked Kara letting go of Alice hand. "I"m good, do you know where my brother is at?" Asked Rose looking around the Living Room, as Adam got off the couch to go upstairs. "Yes, but there is something I need to tell you" said Kara as she watch Adam climb the steps. "What is it, Kara?" Asked Rose getting off the couch to grab both of Kara"s hands in her own, just as Adam ran back downstairs, looking sick to his stomach. Rose let go of Kara hands to turn her attention to her son. "Mom, you need to go upstairs" said Adam grabbing his mother hand just as Luther went downstairs, holding something in his arms with a white cover over it. "Alice, why don"t you wait outside for Luther and I." Said Kara as she saw Alice looking at the thing that is in Luther"s arms. "Okay Kara" said Alice giving one last look at the cover thing, before going outside. "Now before you say anything, we just got here, and saw him like this" said Kara nodding at Luther. Luther gently lower the thing on the couch, before taking off the cover. "No" said Rose backing up a little, shaking her head in denial, with tears slowly rolling down her face. "I"m sorry, Rose" said Kara putting a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "Leave" said Rose in a low voice looking at her dead brother. "But-" started Kara as she watched Rose kneeled next to her brother. "Get out, I don"t want to see your faces again" said Rose in a louder voice, while Adam watch on with a shock expression on his face. "Okay, Rose" said Kara leaving the house with Luther following her, and saw Alice waiting for them by the porch. "Now, what do we do?" Asked Luther as he watch Kara grab Alice hand. "Maybe, to check if Markus would help us again" said Kara walking with Alice away from the house, with Luther walking beside them, grabbing Alice other hand. Sarah In a secret Location 3:50:09 pm "We have arrive at our destination" said the original Sarah, as another Sarah Android open the back door to let them out. The original Sarah grabbed Connor by the arm, pushing him out the door, making him fall to the ground. "Get up!" Commanded a different Sarah Android as two other Sarah Androids walk up to them. Connor slowly stood up, but was push back down by the original Sarah. "I thought there was eight of you" said Connor slowly getting up, which they let him. "The other four are busy doing something else" said the original Sarah pushing him forward towards the building that they came here for. "Doing what, exactly?" Asked Connor which he was pushed roughly from behind. "God, do you always ask a lot of questions?" Asked the original Sarah rolling her eyes at him. "Yes I do, especially personal questions" said Connor fixing his tie and jacket as he went inside the building, but stop at the entrance when he saw what looked to be a laboratory. "Keep moving!" Commanded the original Sarah pushing Connor farther inside the building. "Now what?" Asked Connor noticing a platform in the middle of the room. "First, we will connect you with our handler, Amanda, and then reset your memory" said the original Sarah as another Sarah grabbed Connor by the arm, making him stand on the platform. A third Sarah walked up to him with a plug type thing that would go in his LED to connect him with Amanda. "Okay, let"s get this over with" said Connor looking at the plug, standing still as he was plugged in, but notice nothing is happening. "Why isn"t he in sleep mode?" Asked the original Sarah as another Sarah looked over the monitors that was set up. "It"s because he unknowingly putting up resistance" said the fourth Sarah Android, while the original Sarah look deeply in Connor"s eyes, making Connor look nervous. "Then I guess we will have to break him first to let Amanda in his programming." Said the original Sarah as Connor stood straighter, making himself stiff. "There are two options to choose from" said the second Sarah as the two options popped up on the monitors, with the original Sarah looking at them, not knowing that Connor LED is flashing yellow. Sarah Choice 1. Torture Connor physically 2. Torture Connor mentally Just type the number of your choice. A/N: I will be doing an alternate story of this story where Connor sacrifice Hank, so some plots will be similar to each other, and you still get to choose the choices from the other story. So be on a look out for the story called Detroit:Become Human Alternate path. Here is what I pick from the game... Markus led a peaceful protest Everyone lived Connor and Hank remained friends Kara, Alice, and Luther started a family in Canada. They are peaceful with the humans. Connor is a deviant. Amanda tried to take control of Connor, but he escaped the control. Marcus and North are lovers. You will be in control of Kara, Markus, and Connor and a Android of my own oc name Sarah, she is being control by Amanda as a secret Android just in case Connor ever turn on her. She is the only one that is being controlled, which she actually love to be on Amanda side, so she determined not to deviant, like all the others. Warning: swearing, and strong stuff. The choices you make in this story will determine who lives or dies. So choose wisely. Detroit Become Human 2 In a Secret Location 4:05:40 pm (Sarah chose to torture Connor physically) "Shall we start the torture?" Asked the original Sarah taking a knife off the table, going up to Connor, and was about to slice his arm, but was interrupted when they heard another vehicle being parked near them. "I"ll go check it out" said the second Sarah Android, going outside, and coming back inside with the other four Sarah Androids, holding onto North"s arms tightly. "It looks like we have a guest" said original Sarah as Connor watch North struggle in the Sarahs grasp. "Let me go" said North still struggling from their grasp, while Connor watch uncertain at what the original Sarah is going to do. "Connor, let"s begin your torture as WR400 watches." Said the original Sarah going even closer to Connor and making little slices all over both of Connor"s arms. Connor LED flash red. The original Sarah smile once she notice the LED flashing red. "Stop this" said North watching as the original Sarah moved to his legs, cutting them a little deeper and drawing Thirium from Connor body. "Well then, let"s see if you can connect with Amanda" said the original Sarah nodding her head at the second Sarah, which the second Sarah turned towards the monitors, turning it on, which made the plug that is still connected to Connor LED turned on. Connor LED turned yellow, as he went in sleep mode, and closing his eyes. In the Zen Garden 4:15:45 pm "Hello Connor" said a voice as Connor slowly open his eyes, noticing that the Zen Garden is much more peaceful than the last time he was here. Connor eyes move to the figure that is standing in front of him. "Amanda" said Connor in a frighten tone of voice, which made Amanda smile evilly. "Why yes, Connor" said Amanda watching as Connor took a little step back away from her, putting his hand to his head, feeling the LED. "Where are we? What do you want from me?" Asked Connor putting his arms around himself to try and stop the shaking. "We are in the Zen Garden, and I just need you, Connor as my commander to obey me and destroy the deviants like you were program to do in the first place" said Amanda reaching a hand out to Connor, but Connor just took another step back from her. "No, I mean outside of the Zen Garden" said Connor looking around the place, but felt a hand on his arm. Connor eyes travel from the hand to Amanda, noticing her smirk. "You are just in a abandoned warehouse by the sea" said Amanda gripping her hand tighter around his arm, as she felt him trying to break free. "No" said Connor in shock as he unwrapped his arms from his body, as he felt Amanda connecting to him. "Your mine to control again" said Amanda noticing the calming blue LED on his head. Markus In a abandon Church 5:02:08 pm Markus is walking with Simon on one side and Josh on the other side, looking deep in thought. "Hey Markus, are you in there?" Asked Josh with a look of concern. "Yes, I"m sorry, what did you need?" Asked Markus noticing the looks of concern on both of his friends face. "We been calling your name for the past few minutes" said Simon putting a hand on Markus"s shoulder. "We have word of where North was exactly taken" continued Josh as Markus was bumped into by another Android. "I"m so sorry, Markus, I didn"t see you there" said a male Android looking down on the ground, as Simon removed his hand from Markus"s shoulder. "What is your name?" Asked Markus looking suspicious at the Android as he never saw him before. "I am a RK 600, but my name is Michael" said Michael looking up at Markus. Markus notice part of his cheek is missing, and his right eye is gone. "Well, welcome to New Jericho" said Markus putting his hand out to Michael, which Michael grab, revealing their other skin. "It"s been a pleasure" said Michael smiling evilly and running off, before they can question him. "Well that was strange, right Markus?" Asked Josh but notice something seem off about Markus. Markus fell forward, but Simon quickly caught him, gently lowering him to the ground. Markus eyes are close, which they notice. "I"m gonna go after him to see if he is still here, because he couldn"t have gone far." Said Josh running in the direction the Android have gone in, leaving Simon to tend to Markus, lifting him up, and putting him on a couch, covering him with a blanket. In Markus mind 5:10:06 pm Where am I? thought Markus looking around the area and noticed that there is nothing here except for two buttons with the words "Press Me" on top. The first button is the color of blue, while the second button is the color red. Markus look closer and notice the blue button says "Release your emotions", and the red button says "Control your emotions". Markus Choice 1. Release your emotions 2. Control your emotions Just type the number of your choice. A/N: I won"t give explanations of what they mean, because it"s more fun to make it difficult to choose from. 😀 A/N: I will be doing an alternate story of this story where Connor sacrifice Hank, so some plots will be similar to each other, and you still get to choose the choices from the other story. So be on a look out for the story called Detroit:Become Human Alternate path. A/N 2: this story will be about 32 chapters, same as the game, but with an added chapter for bloopers. Here is what I pick from the game... Markus led a peaceful protest Everyone lived Connor and Hank remained friends Kara, Alice, and Luther started a family in Canada. They are peaceful with the humans. Connor is a deviant. Amanda tried to take control of Connor, but he escaped the control. Marcus and North are lovers. You will be in control of Kara, Markus, and Connor and a Android of my own oc name Sarah, she is being control by Amanda as a secret Android just in case Connor ever turn on her. She is the only one that is being controlled, which she actually love to be on Amanda side, so she determined not to deviant, like all the others. Warning: swearing, and strong stuff. The choices you make in this story will determine who lives or dies. So choose wisely. Detroit Become Human 2 In Markus Mind 5:15:30 pm (Markus chose to control his emotions) Markus press the red button that read "Control your emotions", and notice that his vision grow red, before closing his eyes. In a abandon Church 5:20:55 pm "It-virus-Android" said the first Android as Markus doesn"t know the voices, but they sound familiar. "Help-Markus-can"t-North" said a second voice, also sounding familiar, as Markus slowly became aware of his surroundings. Markus blink open his eyes, noticing that he is on a couch with a blanket over him. The next thing he notice is Simon and Josh talking next to him. "Hopefully the virus would be long gone by now" said Josh as Simon and him doesn"t know that Markus is awake. "That virus is something I never saw in a Android before" said Simon looking at Markus, and notice he is awake, with Josh turning his attention to Markus, also noticing he is awake. "Welcome back, Markus" said Josh helping Markus sit up on the couch. "What happen while I was out?" Asked Markus slowly standing up with Josh help. "I caught up to the Android, and he willingly told me everything." Said Josh looking at Michael, who is tied up with metal wrap around himself. "You will never be free" said Michael in a determined voice, glaring defiantly at Markus, as he saw Markus looking at him. "What do you mean?" Asked Markus sitting down next to Michael. "He was saying that he have Androids all over the place, especially Canada, the one place that doesn"t have Androids laws." Said Simon talking before Michael could. "Your feeling it huh? The change inside of you slowly taking over" said Michael smiling like a crazy person. "What are you talking about, we got rid of his virus" said Josh, but Michael just shook his head with a smile still on his face, looking happy. "Let me ask you this, which button did you press?" Asked Michael looking deeply in Markus"s eyes. "What button are you talking about?" Asked Simon turning to look at Markus. "The red button" said Markus keeping his eyes on Michael as Michael started to laugh. "Your a bigger fool than I realize, that button will make you act less human, and more machine, and soon you will not be a Deviant" said Michael still laughing until he got slapped in the face by Simon, making Markus and Josh turn to face him, looking surprise. "How do we cure our leader?" Asked Simon as Michael looked directly at Markus with a smile on his face, still. "By the one thing that is not here at the moment" said Michael as Josh and Simon turned to face Markus, noticing a look of worry on his face, as Markus look at both Simon and Josh. Connor In a abandon warehouse by the sea 4:20:07 pm (same day, but backwards in time) Connor blink his eyes open, noticing that he is still in same place as he was before, but he also notice North is not in the same area with him. "Where is WR400 at?" Asked Connor noticing there is only the original Sarah standing in front of him with a smile. Connor looked to his right and notice that the monitor read Memory reset: 34%. "She was annoying, so we took her somewhere else" said the original Sarah noticing that his LED is blinking yellow. "What did you do?" Asked Connor starting to slightly panic, as he struggled in his trap. "Don"t worry, you won"t have to worry about her any longer, after your memory is reset." Said the original Sarah leaving the room. Connor looked at the monitor that have reading of Memory reset: 50%. He think of his options that he have, as he have three options to choose from. Connor Choice 1. Download his remaining memories to his back up save file, which is risky as Amanda can detect it. 2. Call Hank with his mind, and hopefully Hank picks up with his phone. 3. Communicate with North to devise a plan for her to escape, before his memory gets erase. Just type the number of your choice. A/N: I will be doing an alternate story of this story where Connor sacrifice Hank, so some plots will be similar to each other, and you still get to choose the choices from the other story. So be on a look out for the story called Detroit:Become Human Alternate path. A/N 2: this story will be about 32 chapters, same as the game, but with an added chapter for bloopers. Here is what I pick from the game... Markus led a peaceful protest Everyone lived Connor and Hank remained friends Kara, Alice, and Luther started a family in Canada. They are peaceful with the humans. Connor is a deviant.

Have drugs, violence, possibly death, sex, and other things that 18 year old and older should read this. Similar to the game you will be in charge of the eight children, and a added bonus one of the game protagonist but not telling you as it is a surprise, and it will be later in the story. Choices will impact the story. Every three chapters will be a episode. The spots for Jessica and Mike children have been taken. 1. Jason Munroe- by me 2. Janet Munroe- by Lucy Case 3. Juliet Munroe- by Lucy Case 4. Kaia Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize I am still accepting ocs for Chris and Ashley two children, Emily and Matt one child, and Sam and Alexander one more child. They have to at least look like their parents, but they don"t have to have any personality of their parents. Alexander have brown eyes and hair, with white skin. He is protective and loving to his family. "Are you sure, we can"t talk you out of this?" Asked Jessica age 38, with blonde hair tied in a bun, with a white short sleeve shirt and blue shorts, looking at her older child, Jason. Jason is wearing a red plaid shirt, and blue jeans. He have short brown hair and brown eyes. He is 18 years of age. "Yes mom, we will be fine with our friends coming to the Mountain" said Jason going towards the steps to call up towards his sisters. "Janet, Juliet, let"s go, dad is waiting for us in the truck" shouted Jason up the steps as he heard his father beep the horn. "Coming" said Juliet shyly, while pushing her glasses up a little, and slowly walking down the steps. She is wearing a pink baggy sweater, and pink pants. She have short blonde hair that reach her shoulders and green eyes with glasses. She is 16 year old. "Let"s just get a move on" said Janet walking down the stairs, passing her sister along the way. She is wearing a black sweater, and black baggy pants. She have long brown hair that is in a ponytail, and brown eyes. She is also 16 year old. "Well then nice to see you are up, baby sister" said Jason giving a kiss on Janet"s head as she walked pass him, with Juliet following her, as Jason also kiss Juliet on the head when she pass him. "Don"t forget your luggages" said Jess bringing the three luggages towards her children with a a little difficulty. "Here mom, let me help" said Jason helping by grabbing two of the luggages in his hands, and pulling them out the door, with Jess following him. Juliet and Janet is already in the truck waiting for their brother, while their father, Michael got out of the truck to help load the luggages on the truck. Michael is wearing a blue coat with a white undershirt, and blue jeans. He have dark brown hair that he curved the front of his hair upwards, and brown eyes. He is 39 years old. "So you guys got everything?" Asked Mike entering the driver side, sitting next to Juliet, who is squash in between him and her sister, while Jason took the back area with the luggages. "Yep" said Janet taking her phone out to start texting her other friends that is not coming on the trip. Mike started the truck, and starting to drive on the road. Mike phone suddenly goes off. "Hey Juliet would you mind getting that?" Asked Mike paying close attention to the road as it started to snow. "Sure dad" whispered Juliet slowly reaching the phone off the dashboard, and grabbed it. "It is a text message" said Juliet, giving it to her father but her father shook his head, no. "I can"t look at it, while I"m driving, because your mother will kill me if I wreck this truck, like I did with the last two" said Mike, as Janet grabbed the phone out of Juliet hands, while putting her own phone in one of her pockets. She opened the text box, looking at the message. "What does it say, Jane?" Asked Juliet looking anxiously at Janet, before panicking when they hit a big bump on the road. "Calm down, Juliet, it was a bump. So Janet, firstly who is it?" Asked Mike as he place a comforting hand on Juliet arm, getting her to calm down. "It"s from Emily, asking if we can pick up her kid, while she point out that we do live near each other" said Janet looking at her father, when he immediately stopped the truck, looking ahead. "Well there are two ways to go to her house. The spooky way with no bumps on the road, or the main road where there are a lot of bumps on the road." Said Mike turning to his daughters. "I pick the spooky road" said Janet putting her father phone back on the dashboard, while taking out her own phone, and started to text on it again. "I pick the main road" said Juliet starting to tremble when she looked at the spooky road. "Let us ask your brother, shall we?" Asked Mike, as Janet gotten a text from someone that is coming on the trip. Janet wind down the back of the truck window to talk to Jason. "Hey Jason, Sam"s daughter Kai said hi and is excited to see you back" said Janet waving her phone around, which grabbed Jason attention. "No way, she didn"t say that" said Jason blushing a little, while grabbing her phone to look at "Um, Jason, which path do you want to take the spooky path, or the main road?" Asked Juliet looking down on her lap. "Man, this brings back memories" said Mike looking sad, which Jason and Janet noticed. "Anyway, she said in your text message, that she is excited to see us all, not just me, little sister" said Jason giving the phone back to his sister. "So which path should we take?" Asked Janet as she went back to texting on her phone, while Jason looked at the two paths. Jason choices 1. The main road 2. The spooky road Just type the number in the reviews for which one you want. I will need the child of Emily and Matt for the next chapter. You guys can submit more than one oc that have not been taken. Here is what I pick... Mike cut off his fingers Mike befriended a wolf All eight is alive Josh turned into Wendigo. Things that you need to know... This is set 20 years after the game, the Blackwood Pines lodge have been rebuilt 10 years ago. Some might die so don"t be mad that your ocs might not make it. Have drugs, violence, possibly death, sex, and other things that 18 year old and older should read this. Similar to the game you will be in charge of the eight children, and a added bonus one of the game protagonist but not telling you as it is a surprise, and it will be later in the story. Choices will impact the story. Every three chapters will be a episode. The spots for Jessica and Mike children, Sam and Alexander children, and Emily and Matt child have been taken. 1. Jason Munroe- by me 2. Janet Munroe- by Lucy Case 3. Juliet Munroe- by Lucy Case 4. Kaia Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize 5. Remi Taylor- by FictionInformer 6. Leon Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize I am still accepting ocs for Chris and Ashley two children. They have to at least look like their parents, but they don"t have to have any personality of their parents. Alexander have brown eyes and hair, with white skin. He is protective and loving to his family. "I am also voting for the spooky road" said Jason while Juliet looked like she is about to have a heart attack. "Alright, I"ll let Remi know that we"re coming to get him" said Janet texting on her phone to Remi, as Mike drove the truck through the spooky road, slowly. "See that wasn"t so bad, right Juliet?" Asked Mike, as Juliet still look frightened, but sigh in relief when they finally pass through, and is closing in, on Emily"s house. "Hey make some room for Remi, back there Jason" said Janet putting her phone in her side pocket. "Sure thing, Jane" said Jason moving stuff around the back of the truck. "Okay, we are here" said Mike stopping the truck in front of a large house. "So where are they?" Asked Janet, looking around the house from the inside of the truck. "Oh, here they are" said Juliet blushing when only one person came out of the house. Remi is wearing a pair of jeans, a dark gray sweater, and black boots. He have black, shoulder-length hair, that is pulled into a messy bun. He is 17 year old. Jason jumped down from the back of the truck to help load Remi three luggages on the truck. "Man, Remi, are you planning on living there" said Jason as he was having trouble lifting two heavy luggages that felt like rocks to him, before putting it in the truck. "Don"t forget this one" said Remi jumping in the back of the truck, waiting for Jason to put the last luggage in the truck. "Alright" said Jason rolling his eyes, placing the last luggage in the truck, before jumping in the back, and sitting down next to Remi. Mike started the truck, and started to drive. "So how long is the drive?" Asked Remi, while looking at his nails. "It should be a three hour drive from here" said Mike, while Janet hurriedly rolled the back window so they won"t have to hear his scream. "Would you calm down?" Asked Jason while rubbing his left ear as Remi screamed really loud. "But the cold is not good for my complexion" said Remi looking at his skin. "Why don"t you sleep, and we will be there before you know it" said Jason, as Remi nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, you"re right, man" said Remi looking at the luggages, before looking at Jason. Jason noticing that look, sigh, before dragging some luggages towards Remi, so Remi can use it as his makeshift bed. "There, are you happy?" Asked Jason while crossing his arms, and almost losing his balance as they hit a big bump on the road. "Yes, very much" said Remi laying down with his head on a luggage and closing his eyes, before falling asleep. Jason leaned himself against the truck side, before closing his eyes to sleep, too. 2 hours later Janet 11:00 pm In front of the truck seat. "So, are we there yet?" Asked Janet, looking behind her at the. window, and noticing that her brother and their friend is asleep. "So dad, why did you bought this place?" Asked Juliet, as Janet turned back around in her seat. "In honor of our friends that we lost." said Mike keeping his eyes on the road. "I still think that there is no such thing as a wendigo" said Janet, as Juliet leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes to fall asleep. "There used to be wendigo, just don"t let your guard, and wake up your brother for me, would ya?" Asked Mike as Janet wind down the window and look at Jason, who is still asleep. Janet choices 1. Scare her brother, and their friend 2. Be serious Just type the number in the reviews for which one you want. I will need the children of Chris and Ashley for the next chapter. You guys can submit more than one oc that have not been taken. Here is what I pick... Mike cut off his fingers Mike befriended a wolf All eight is alive Josh turned into Wendigo. Things that you need to know... This is set 20 years after the game, the Blackwood Pines lodge have been rebuilt 10 years ago. Some might die so don"t be mad that your ocs might not make it. Have drugs, violence, possibly death, sex, and other things that 18 year old and older should read this. Similar to the game you will be in charge of the eight children, and a added bonus one of the game protagonist but not telling you as it is a surprise, and it will be later in the story. Choices will impact the story. Every three chapters will be a episode. The spots for Jessica and Mike children, Sam and Alexander children, and Emily and Matt child have been taken. 1. Jason Munroe- by me 2. Janet Munroe- by Lucy Case 3. Juliet Munroe- by Lucy Case 4. Kaia Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize 5. Remi Taylor- by FictionInformer 6. Leon Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize 7. Elijah Hartley- by Flowgalo 8. Jacob Hartley- by Lisa Garcia I am no longer accepting ocs, but in the future I will accept them. They have to at least look like their parents, but they don"t have to have any personality of their parents. Alexander have brown eyes and hair, with white skin. He is protective and loving to his family. Janet 11:11 pm In front of the truck seat. "Hey, dad do you still have the mask that you showed us that you found 20 years ago?" Asked Janet with a evil grin on her face, which is creeping Mike out. "Um yeah, what are you going to do with it?" Asked Mike keeping his eyes on the road, while reaching in the compartment that is in front of Janet, opening it up, and taking the mask out. "Thanks" said Janet grabbing it out of his hands, while putting it on her face. "Would this be a prank that I need to pull over on the side of the road" said Mike as Janet just shook her head. "No, and can I see the voice modulator that Chris got you, that one year on Halloween" said Janet, as Mike gave her the voice modulator, which she put it on. "Just don"t scare your sister" said Mike as he just keep on driving. Janet turned on the voice modulator, while turning to face the back window. "I am here to kill you, face your destiny" said Janet in a killer voice, which made Jason and Remi screamed, jumping from their spots. "Jesus, Janet, don"t do that" said Jason as he saw that it was his sister, as his sister took off her mask and the voice modulator. "What it was a joke" said Janet rolling her eyes. "Ok kids we"re here" announced Mike while pulling to a stop. Kaia 12:00 am Outside of the lodge cabin "I hate the cold" said Kaia, hugging herself as she is cold. Kaia is wearing dark ripped skinny jeans, a worn out jurassic park t- shirt with the sleeves cut off, a gray flannel shirt over it, and black combat style boots. She have blonde wavy hair that goes past her shoulders to her mid shoulder blades, and brown eyes. She is 17 year old. "Your scared of a little cold" said Leon tossing a snowball at his sister, which hit her directly in the face. He is wearing an army green sweatshirt, with his letterman jacket and blue jeans with worn out high top converse. He have short dirty blonde hair that he styles to look messy, and green eyes. He is 18 year old. "Not cool" said Kaia trying to get the snow out of her face. "I"m pretty sure the snow is cold" said Jacob high fiving Leon, while Elijah just rolled his eyes, as Kaia looked away from them, when she felt something was watching them. Jacob is wearing a red hoodie with a blue undershirt, and black jeans. He have red hair that is in a faux-hawk style, and green eyes with glasses. Elijah is wearing faded navy flannel over top a grey Independence Day t shirt, and black jeans. He have a short thick wavy strawberry blonde hair, and green eyes. "Anyway, Elijah, did you spot Jason and the others?" Asked Kaia walking close to Elijah. "Wait, I was supposed to look for them?" Asked Elijah while Kaia facepalm her forehead. "Yeah, bro, but we forgot that you get distracted, easily" said Jacob as he turned to face the woods when he had felt a gaze piercing his back. "Hey guys I see him" said Leon pointing in the direction of downhill, noticing a figure is coming up the hill. As the figure came closer, they saw Jason, with cuts and bruises on him, looking like he was about to pass out, which Kai noticed. Kaia and Leon ran towards him and caught him before he fell to the ground. "Oh my God, what happened to you?" Asked Kaia putting Jason down against the tree with Leon help. "Could we get inside first" said Jason getting the key for the lodge out and handing it to Kaia, which Kaia passed it to Jacob. Jacob unlocked the lodge as Leon and Kaia helped Jason up, slowly move towards the door. "Here" said Kaia gently with her brother help settle Jason down on the couch as the two of them sat on either side of him for support, while the others found different spots to sit at. "So, how did you look like that?" Asked Elijah eyeing the injuries that is all over his friend"s body. Jason look at everyone of his friend in the eyes before taking a deep breath and began. Here is what I pick... Mike cut off his fingers Mike befriended a wolf All eight is alive Josh turned into Wendigo. Things that you need to know... This is set 20 years after the game, the Blackwood Pines lodge have been rebuilt 10 years ago. Some might die so don"t be mad that your ocs might not make it. Have drugs, violence, possibly death, sex, and other things that 18 year old and older should read this. Similar to the game you will be in charge of the eight children, and a added bonus one of the game protagonist but not telling you as it is a surprise, and it will be later in the story. Choices will impact the story. Every three chapters will be a episode. The spots for Jessica and Mike children, Sam and Alexander children, Emily and Matt child, and Chris and Ashley children have been taken. 1. Jason Munroe- by me 2. Janet Munroe- by Lucy Case 3. Juliet Munroe- by Lucy Case 4. Kaia Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize 5. Remi Taylor- by FictionInformer 6. Leon Alexander- by TechnicolorNoize 7. Elijah Hartley- by Flowgalo 8. Jacob Hartley- by Lisa Garcia I am no longer accepting ocs, but in the future I will accept them. They have to at least look like their parents, but they don"t have to have any personality of their parents. Alexander have brown eyes and hair, with white skin. He is protective and loving to his family. 15 minutes ago Janet 11:45 pm In front of the truck seat. "I"ll be right back to see if the others have arrived yet" said Mike getting out of the truck, closing the door behind him. "So since he is gone, when are you going to tell Juliet that you hate the things that you guys do, and instead want to do sports." Said Jason crossing his arms, not knowing that Juliet is awake and is hearing everything they say. "I can"t, it would break her heart" said Janet looking at her sister, as Juliet hurriedly pretend to sleep by closing her eyes. "I think it is a perfect opportunity to tell her as it is the perfect place" said Remi while Jason rolled his eyes at Remi. "Yeah, you"re right, I should tell when we get inside the lodge." Said Janet still looking at her sister, but now noticing that Juliet is awake as she opened her eyes with tears in her eyes. "So everything that we ever did together was a lie to you" said Juliet sitting up straight, with tears falling down her face, as she backed up against the driver"s door. "Juliet-" started Janet reaching a hand out to her sister, but Juliet quickly opened the driver"s door, falling down on the ground with her butt. Juliet stood up from where she fell, and took a step back. "Juliet, calm down, your overreacting" said Remi as Jason jumped off the back of the truck to land on his feet on the ground. Just as Jason took a step towards Juliet, she quickly turned around and ran into the woods. "Shit!" Shouted Remi while Mike returned to where they are at. "No swearing, Remi, didn"t your father teach you nice things and where is Juliet?" Asked Mike noticing the sad expressions on his two children faces. "She ran into the woods" said Jason, as Mike eyes widened. "Here"s the keys to the lodge" said Mike tossing the keys to Jason before running into the woods. "Okay that was weird, but he might need some back up" said Janet about to get out of the truck but was stopped by Jason. "No, stay in the truck, while Remi and I go after Juliet and dad" said Jason as Remi jumped out of the truck and stood next to Jason. "Let"s go, already" said Remi running into the woods, as Jason gave Janet one last look, before running into the woods. "So, now I"m alone, perfect" said Janet leaning her head on the back of her seat, closing her eyes to try and fall asleep. Jason 11:50 pm In the woods "Great, I lost Remi" said Jason leaning against a tree with his back, not knowing that he is being watch. Suddenly he heard a twig, snapping. "Hey, Remi are you playing a trick on me?" Asked Jason turning around to face the other side. His eyes widened, when something else is staring at him in the eyes. "Okay, your not Remi" said Jason slowly backing away, before turning around and started to run with the thing following him, after making a strange noise. He quickly jump over a fallen tree, as the thing is still chasing him. The thing picked up speed, getting really close to Jason. "That thing reminds me of the wendigo my dad talks about in his youth" said Jason noticing a little cliff at the end, while running out of breath. "It"s now or never, please make me survive this fall" said Jason running closer to the edge and jumping off the cliff while the wendigo stopped chasing him, turning around and left the area. Jason rolled down the hill, before stopping completely when he reached the end. He slowly opened his eyes, as his eyes was closed when he was rolling down the hill, before gently getting to his feet as he noticed that he have cuts and bruises on him. "Perfect, still no sign of my sister, Remi, or my father" said Jason limping in a random direction before stopping when he heard a little noise, which he looked in the direction of the noise, but sigh in relief when it was a baby deer. "Calm down, don"t be like Jacob about being afraid of every scary thing, but I don"t think Jacob would be talking to himself like I am doing." Said Jason still limping in a direction before noticing where he is at. "I can take the shortcut on the right side or the longer way on the left side" said Jason looking at the paths. Jason choices 1. The right path that is the shortcut 2. The left path that is the long way. Just type the number in the reviews for which one you want.

Cooper snorted. "Oh, shut it, Coop. it"s not like you haven"t ever done worse." She smacked his arm playfully, relaxed, while discreetly glared at him. Behave, she mouthed. "Worse?" Sam woke up, his eyes quickly focusing on the two members of their audience. The entrance of the clinic was empty, excluding them, and he found no reason not to contradict them. "How... how is this bad to begin with?" His stuttering was too loud, and scared Alice, who started crying. Cooper, who was about to retort, held his breath. Addison tried to hush her, slowly making her arms dance rhythmically, but she would not stop. "I"m sorry, Ally girl. Give her to me, Addison." He brought a hand to his forehead, embarrassed. "Oh, don"t worry, I"ve got her." She waved her head dismissively, smiling. Her eyes, on the other hand, were concerned. "No, please." Sam pleaded. "It was my fault." "Well, I..." She eyed him for a second. "I guess I can"t say no to that." She smiled and handed him the baby. He took her in his arms and started patting her back soothingly. Addison grinned quietly, but something that had been, unbeknownst to her, upsetting her surfaced at last as she saw Alice"s reddish face. "Can you..." She slid her fingers through her own forehead tiredly. "Can you see if she has a fever? I think she was out in the cold long before I found her. And when I held her right now I thought she was with a temperature, as her body felt so hot against mine." "Sure." Sam"s eyes scanned the baby, worry mirrored in them. He measured her temperature with two fingers in her forehead. "Oh, God, I think she does." He told her, his eyes nervously scanning the toddler. "Hum... Cooper!" Violet and Cooper, who had been silently watching the exchange, were startled by the sudden exclamation. Sam stared at him expectantly, while he just gaped at them. Violet poked him. "Ouch. Hum..." He coughed. "Do you two care to explain why... how... what?" Cooper sighed, frustrated, at his apparent lack of words. "Coop..." Addison begged. "Can you... can you fix her?" She cleared her throat and rested a hand on Sam"s arm. "Please!" Addison groaned, stepping out of the elevator and grabbing him by the elbow as he showed no intentions of giving up the interrogation. Violet automatically released him, stunned. "You just need to know the essential, yes? Her name is Alice, about a year old, abandoned, and now..." She strengthened the grip on Sam and sought for the determination in his eyes she was so desperately in need of. Sam"s steady breathing on her neck gave her the confidence to utter the word. "Mine." Violet gasped before squealing and clapping her hands in joy, and Cooper blinked, confused, refusing to make a comment, though. He was so going to have a therapeutic session with Violet later. "Any..." He cleared his throat, glancing nervously at Violet. "Any allergies I should know about?" "Cooper!" Violet slapped his forehead, impatient. "They just got her a few hours ago. How on Earth would they know?" "Chill out, guys. God! It"s not my fault Mama and Papa bear here are outrageously intimidating me and giving me nothing to work with." He raised his hands defensively. Violet smirked. "Just... just hand her to me, and I"ll do a check up." He asked, tentatively, giving small baby steps in their direction. "A complete check up." Violet reformulated, her eyes losing the fierce glare. "Right?" She asked them. "Right." Sam breathed, relieved, and Addison relaxed into his shoulder. Cooper inhaled deeply and confirmed with a fierce nod of his head. "A complete check-up." All three adults surrounding him beamed, and Addison kissed Alice"s cheek. "You"re going to be okay, baby girl. Yes, you are." She cooed, and Sam laughed. "That voice is... pathetic, Addy." He mocked her, but his expression said otherwise. "Oh, shut it. I saw you talking to Maya like this when she was a baby, too." She lifted her head to his level and raised her eyebrows, smirking, daring him to contradict her. He opened and closed his mouth several times before settling with a sigh of resignation. "In your face, Daddy." She tickled Alice. "Right, Alice? Right?" The small infant giggled. "Hey, don"t you turn on me too, Ally. Mommy"s making fun of me, and you have to defend me." He furrowed his eyebrows in mock disappointment. "Do they have any idea that they just...?" Cooper stammered, a curious stare adorning his features. "Nop." "Should we...?" "Nop." "Ally"s sick... We have to..." "Don"t." "But don"t we...?" "Not in a million years." "Okay." A/N: It"s the second time I post this chapter! :P I"ve just been having some difficulties in the writing subject, because Sam, Addison and I kind of lost touch for a while, you know? But we"re back on business, and I am going to post another chapter THIS VERY DAY, and this is So not a lie, okay? I promise. Scout"s honor Febya A/N: I"ll dedicate this chapter to my wonderful reviewers, who made this all possible! And iam-kelly, your support has been positively awesome!! Freakingishly "Finally. For crying bloody freakingishly loud!" A soft knock on the door startled the pediatrician. "That sounded wrong on so many levels... is that a word you should say in front of an infant, Cooper? Hell, is that even a word?" The accent gave her away, and he merely sighed, ignoring the painful pounding of his heart. Her voice infiltrated his already unfocused brain and he had to release Alice from his strong hold. The baby just lay down and played with her fingers. The highly colored office was deadly silent, and the fast respiration of the woman standing next to the door was making him nervous. "Well, it"s no worse than Hell." He tried, lamely. Quick, loud steps in his direction. The sound of her heels was the only warning he had. Charlotte smacked his forehead. "What did I just say?" She glared at him. "But you-" "Don"t swear in front of her. What would her parents say if her first word were freakingishly? Huh?" She forced his eyes to meet hers. Cooper mumbled something incomprehensible. At least, so he thought. "What? What do you mean by it wouldn"t be that weird?" Charlotte narrowed her eyes. "I didn"t say that." He shook his head vehemently. "No, I didn"t. Never did. Okay." He backed off a few steps. She kept tapping her foot, arms crossed, her face an inch from his. Alice giggled. "I did. I did say, but not that. No, I said that the word really did sound weird. You know, freashki... no, freakingshy-" "Cooper!" She dragged the word with enough intensity to make him swallow hard. "What... are you hiding... from me?" Charlotte hammered the words, and Cooper flinched considerably. "N- nothing! What makes you think I"m hiding someth..." He sighed, frustrated, and bit his lip. "Violet told me not to tell!" He cried, triumphantly. She just stared at him, badly concealed pity in her eyes. "Pathetic." "I"m not." He contested, indignated. "So are." "I"m not!" "Stop being a child, and take care of the one you had in your arms." She demanded, exasperated. "And just to think I came here to... to... to say something to someone who deserves everything but!" She turned around, a small tremble to her voice letting him know of the truth carried by her hurtful words. Alice gave a small sob, and he used all his inner strength not to stop Charlotte from leaving and instead picked the baby up. "There, there, it"s okay." The loud, rash footsteps stopped. "What"s wrong with her?" Cooper smiled inwardly as he felt her coming closer to him. "So, Ice Queen"s got a soft spot for babies after all." He said in a low, teasing, tender voice. "Shut it. She"s cute." She simply stated. "What"s wrong with her?" She repeated. "Alice..." He caressed her cheek. "Has a cold. She"s not feeling all that well, are you, sweetie? Your throat must ache... and you look like you have a headache twice your size. Right?" He held Alice close to his body and let her cuddle in his chest. "Just a cold? She must have a fever. She"s hot." Charlotte touched her forehead. "Yes, just a cold." He confirmed, patiently. "She needs to be kept warm and comfortable. And then she"ll be ready for another round, won"t you?" Cooper tickled her. "Those mean coughs always go after the cutest girls." He explained, in mock resignation. Charlotte chuckled. Cooper looked up from the baby, surprised. "What?" "What what?" "You chuckled. You don"t chuckle when you"re mad at me." Cooper pointed out, suspicious. "Oh, it"s nothing." "Now who"s hiding things from whom?" He raised his eyebrow. "You just..." She rolled her eyes and moaned. "It"s just that you always sound so different when you"re talking with babies. It"s actually... really cute." Fidgeting, she focused on his hands. "Wohoo, did you just compliment me?" He smiled. Charlotte appeared embarrassed, so he shrugged it off with a wave of his baby-free hand. "It"s okay. I really am cute." She smacked his arm. "Jackass." "Hey, no swearing near Alice." Cooper admonished. Charlotte laughed, still slightly flushed. Violet cleared her throat loudly enough for Addison to hear her. "May I come in?" The redhead lifted her head from the pile of papers on her desk. "Sure, sure. I couldn"t concentrate anyway." She smiled and motioned for her to sit on the chair in front of hers. "So, let me guess. What brings you here is... Alice?" Violet smirked in mock astonishment, brushing one hand in another. "How ever did you know?" "Oh, you know, I had a feeling." She answered, fake pride oozing from her words. "You seem to be having lots of those these days..." Violet started, careful. "What do you mean?" Addison"s confused eyebrows shot up. "Don"t give me that shrink look, Vi." She warned her friend as the latter showed no intentions of providing her with the answer. "Okay... I just mean that Sam... and Alice... and you... well, you have to... what I mean is..." Violet struggled for words, but her features became more restless by the minute as no inspired sentence came to her mind. "There"s only an Alice and I. There"s no Sam and Alice. And neither is there a Sam and I. Okay?" Doubt filled Violet"s eyes as she stared at her friend"s defensive mask, and she could only utter a fake mumble of acceptance. "Sam"s Naomi"s ex- Husband." She emphasized the last word, and her eyes grew wide, as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire universe. "I see. And how do you feel about it?" Violet made a small, yet useless, attempt at trying to get her to talk. "Vi!" "Okay, okay... I was just worried... you know what you"re doing. Right?" "Right." She soothed her. "Cause Sam"s-" "I know, Violet." "And you"re-" "Yes, I got it." "And Alice"s gotten to you two." Violet finished quickly. "Honestly... think, Addy, think. I know it will be good for both of you, but will everyone be that understanding?" Addison was silent for a moment. "Are we still talking about the same thing?" Violet laughed. "I don"t know. That"s the problem of this whole unfinished sentences thing." "I just don"t want to..." Addison cleared her throat and clasped her hands together, nervous. "To hear it aloud. Yap, you"re the master of avoidance." Violet smirked. The redhead snickered. "And who exactly are you to talk?" A/N: I promised, and here it is! I hope it did not suck! I tried to make it fun and yet readable. You could tell me if I succeeded in this horribly difficult mission by... REVIEWING? :D Thanks to all of you who have been with me from the very beginning!! (And to those who haven"t as well; I"m not picky :P) Febya A/N: Once more, this chapter goes to my faithful readers and reviewers! Thank you to all of you! Eyes or hair "Knock, knock." Cooper called, in a false falsetto voice, clenching Alice"s fist and softly touching the woodened door with it. "Oh, there she is." Violet lifted her head from the book and uncrossed her legs, smiling. "How is she, Coop?" "She has a cold." He sat on the couch next to her and stared at the ceiling, while Alice played with his shirt. The office"s window was semi closed, so not many rays of light managed to penetrate the glass. "Oh, good. I feared she might have something el-" "She has green eyes." Cooper interrupted her. Violet stared at him, slightly dumbfounded, and crossed her arms while leaning on his shoulder. "Okay." She said, unsure. "She has green eyes, but she has brown hair." He groaned and caressed Alice"s cheek. Violet took a peek at the grinning toddler. "That she does. I hadn"t noticed, actually. She"s beautiful." "She is. But she has green eyes and brown hair!" Cooper emphasized with an exaggerated look of frustration embellishing his features. "She does, Coop. There"s nothing you can do about it..." Violet calmed him, dragging her patronizing and, yet, confused words. "What"s more important? Eyes or hair?" He wondered aloud. "Huh, Vi? Eyes or hair?" The brunette cleared her throat at the sudden loss for words. "Hum... I suppose it"s all... relative?" She tried, furrowing her eyebrows. "Really, Cooper, what"s with the newly found insanity?" "It"s just..." He sighed. "Who do I tell first? Addison... or Sam?" "Huh? Tell them what?" "That"s Ally"s okay." He explained patiently. "Shrink me, okay? Who do I tell first? I mean... she"s got Addy"s eyes... but she"s brown hair, just like Sam!" He switched Alice to his other arm and started fidgeting. Violet laughed. Real, pure, laughs that mocked every inch of Cooper. "What? Stop laughing! It"s a valid question, if you ask me!" She stopped laughing and smiled, instead. "Is it?" Cooper groaned once again. "Oh, let it go. I"ll figure it out myself... bloody shrinks. Why can"t you ever answer me like normal people would?" Violet smacked his arm. "Hey, what is it with you women today? Stop beating the crap out of me." She slapped his forehead and ignored his yells of protest. "You should know better than to swear in front of Alice." Addison"s legs were comfortably resting on the sofa, her head on the pillow. The conversation with Violet had confused her, to say the least, and it was all beginning to be a little too much for her to handle. She wanted everything but to face the facts, and she was asking very little. She just wanted to have a baby. Was that so difficult that even when one was literally offered to her it had to bring a potential dad with it? She shook her head to clear some ideas and buried her face in the pillow as she had done in the morning, just before falling asleep and sleeping with the mystery man. She closed her eyes. She was amazingly close to drifting off to Dreamland when... "Addison." Moaning inwardly, she opened her lazy eyes. "Oh, sorry, I was just checking if you were really asleep. I thought I"d murmured... Sorry. I"ll come back lat-" Addison yawned and brushed it off with a weak wave of her hand. "Oh, don"t worry. Sleep"s just my way of avoiding things. I"m an avoider. Violet says I"m the master of avoidance." She smiled sheepishly. Sam chuckled. "Who"s she to talk?" He entered the cozy office and sat on the small table in front of the sofa. "Exactly." She stretched lazily. "So... what brings you here to my humble bureau of avoidance?" "Hum... I want to avoid." He explained, a small smile on his face. "That much I"d gathered. But what or who do you want to avoid?" She asked him, a curious glint in her eyes. He sighed and got up. "Oh, Sam, don"t-" The glint disappeared and was replaced by sadness over apparently prying. "Let me." He interrupted her and sat on the couch, gently allowing her to rest her head on his lap. He brushed her hair. "I don"t really want to avoid. I want to... know... you know?" Addison chuckled. "No. But here"s a thought... maybe if you told me I would have a small idea of what you"re talking about." "Witty. You reckon?" "Yap." "Then I guess it"s worth a try. I want to know." He breathed, slowly, patiently, while still caressing her hair. Addison did not rush him. "You. And Alice. And I want to know if... if you want to know. Me." Addison"s heart started pounding more than healthily heavily in her chest and her cheeks flustered. "You do?" "I wasn"t kidding in the elevator, in case you failed to notice." "You... you weren"t?" She asked, more hopefully than the intended. She turned her head to face him, and he placed a finger over her lips, delicately touching them. "I wasn"t." "you weren"t kidding. That..." She swallowed hard. "That kiss was not kidding either, I imagine." "No." He laughed, breaking the recently settled tension. "The kiss was most certainly not kidding either. But if you have doubts, maybe I could..." He pulled her upper body close to his, and supported her head with one hand, the other keeping her chin on the perfect level. Their hesitant lips met once more, finally acquainted with each other, and the kiss was more natural, like a habit or something similar. Breathing was, again, underestimated. "Dad?!" A/N: So, okay, this really was not a cliffhanger, as you know who interrupted them, but I want to know what you think. Should I make that person (for those who miraculously still have no clue over who it is) happy or angry about the who Sam-Addison-Alice thing? Thank you for reading!! Febya A/N: This chapter goes to... one of my reviewers from the very beginning, and that has made some very constructive criticism... Corazon90!! Thank you so much! (each chapter will be dedicated to one of you, you lucky people! - No sarcastic laughs allowed, yes?) "Dad?!" Stuck. Stuck in the same compromising, bewitching position. His lips feeling hers, his hand on her neck, a longing look in both sets of eyes. Addison knew what she needed to do in order to end the spell. She just needed to say the magic words, which would include a dubious moan and an equally dubious rejection, reluctance and urgency oozing from her actions. Compelled to finish the heartbreaking task by the surprised, taken aback voice that infiltrated her distracted brain, she moved away. "Oh, God, I"m... I"m so, so sorry..." Addison straightened herself up, clothes and hair included, and wondered how stained her lipstick would be, gasping as she felt the sticky substance all over her cheeks. It hadn"t even been that big of a kiss. How had her red lipstick got all the way up to her cheeks? "Oh, Maya, I"m so... Please, don"t... oh, God..." "Addison, breathe." Sam told her, calmly, his face unreadable, his clothes messed up from the strong grip she had had on his shirt. She did as he said. Slow, steady, regular breaths. "Good. Now, would you please look at my daughter"s face and see how mad she looks?" Sam chuckled. Addison kept on staring at the floor. Her head refused to believe Maya, of all people, would be supportive of their relationship. She would rather fix her eyes on the carpet and memorize all the spots than face the pregnant teenager. Something deep down in her mind told her Sam was only being the nice guy she knew he was, trying to relieve the pain her shoulders were feeling from all the pressure that had came from something he had helped creating, and his words sounded fake. They tasted like fake food, so they would be fake as well, for sure. "You don"t... you don"t have to lie, Sam... Maya has every right to-" Stepping on the loose ends of her carpet with the sharp end of her shoe, she sighed defeated. "Be mad at you?" The innocent voice of the only child in the room echoed in the small room, and the giggle that followed the astonished words forced Addison to look up. "Why, you were only snogging my Dad"s brain out... I don"t see where"s the harm in that..." She let her words trail away and grinned at the couple, winking at them. "You... you..." Addison cleared her throat, eyes bulging in disbelief. "Don"t?" Maya shook her head, amused. "Should I?" "No. No..." Sam rushed in. "She"s just overwhelmed by my... kiss... Maya, forgive her." He grinned, and Addison smacked him softly in the arm. The shock of the lack of shock had worn off, and her eyes were still bulged with relief at the girl"s amusement. "Just to let you know, I liked it better when Daniel Florium kissed me." Addison raised her eyebrows mischievously and giggled at Maya, who laughed back. "Ouch, did that hurt? Even I know that guy... Mom used to talk about how extremely silky his hair had looked until she touched it and her hand was yucky for a week!" Maya walked a few steps in their direction and sat on the small table. "And you, according to Auntie Addy, kiss worse than him... what a disappointment. To know my Dad"s below the greasy one..." Sam eyes them both, the merciless tease that presented itself in the glint that embellished their eyes daring him to retort. He narrowed his eyes, his ego hurt. "I"ll never... ever... kiss you again." He pouted and faced the ceiling. "You promise?" She asked in mock hope. "Yes." "But can I kiss you again?" A witty smile broke into her lips. "No..." He said, hesitant, and closed his eyes childishly. "Pretty please?" "Nop." "C"mon, Daddy. Pretty please with a cherry on top?" "Well, I like cherries..." He shrugged. "That you do. My lipstick tastes like cherries." Addison added suggestively, cheekily. Sam choked on air, and she patted his back soothingly. Maya coughed subtly. "And... that"s my cue to leave the happy couple." She stood up from the table, a look of disgust mixed with barely disguised amusement on her face. "You know... if you have a kid it will be younger than his nephew/ niece." She wondered, her face still towards the couple. "Now that... would be weird."

Her fever was high enough she did not fully understand her surroundings, and Dr. Turner knew that, but he could not help addressing her concerns. "I won"t. I won"t go, I promise." She relaxed, her grasp firm, and he refused to admit falling victim to his very willing imagination. He suspected pneumonia was robbing her of her health, and he had to tackle it before it became uncontrollable. With his free hand, he reached his bag and grabbed a flask, and then a spoon. "I need my hand now, sweetie. Just for a moment." Barely willingly, he let go of her hand and poured the liquid onto the spoon. "Open your mouth, please, Sister. This will make you feel better." With effort, Sister Bernadette obeyed his request and he lifted her head gently. She frowned. "Head..." "Your head hurts?" He placed the spoon on the small table and brushed her cheek. Her fingers rose to his and motioned for him to hold her hand. He sighed, his forehead wrinkled with worry. "It will be okay." He assured her, his voice constrained. "Please... it has to be." It was no ordinary situation. No ordinary patient. He laid his head on their hands, and allowed a trembling sigh. "Please, please... don"t die." A/N: So, I"m incredibly inspired by this pairing, and I can"t seem to stop writing, ahah. I would really appreciate if you would tell what you like, what you don"t like, so I can get some helpful feedback on my writing (I"m Portuguese, so grammar mistakes are bound to find their way into this story, unfortunately). Thank you soooo much! Kisses, Inamioly Sister Julienne finished her morning affairs, quick and respectful of their meaning, and walked swiftly towards the living-room. Her mind had been preoccupied with the young girl for quite some time, and her concerns had materialized in the form of what she thought to be pneumonia. She hoped to be wrong, though, or the recovery would be very slow - and there was a chance, which she hoped to be the slimmest of all, that recovery was not possible. Checking up on Cynthia, who was in charge of Timothy, she offered the little boy a piece of chocolate from her secret jar. She stopped by the kitchen to heat up some water for tea, and occupied herself cleaning the breadcrumbs on the floor. Sister Monica Joan had obviously already been there, and she glanced around, amused. The older Sister had failed to hide her sweet bread well enough, for Sister Julienne found it without any trouble. "At least cover it up, or it will spoil." She laughed quietly and covered the bread with a napkin. When the tea was ready, she placed it on the tray, along with three tea-cups. Attempting to scare away the worry, she told herself Sister Bernadette was in good hands, and probably already on medicine. She reached the living-room and, as she heard no sound, made no sounds as well. "Oh..." A surprised gasp escaped her mouth, and she quickly composed herself. Dr. Turner had covered the young nun with a warm blanket and had fallen asleep half-sitting on the floor with both hands on her arm, his head against the sofa. The Doctor sensed the nun"s presence and stirred, slowly opening his eyes. Suddenly fully aware of the happenings, he quickly, though gently, withdrew his hands from Sister Bernadette"s arm. He eyed Sister Julienne tiredly, and more than a bit embarrassed. "Sister Bernadette had a rough night... I was quite worried for a moment." It took the elder nun a moment to react. "My poor man, you must be exhausted." She smiled kindly. "Have some tea, and then you can tell me all about the care Sister Bernadette will be needing." He sighed. "Of course. Thank you, Sister." He accepted the cup of tea. "Would you not rather sit on the couch?" Sister Julienne asked with amused eyes. The Doctor coughed. "No, no, thank you, Sister, I am quite comfortable here. Also, that would surely wake her up." "As you wish." She laughed quietly. "So, do tell me what is wrong with Sister Bernadette." She continued in a more serious tone. He glanced at the sleeping nun, glad to see her so at peace. "It is, unfortunately, pneumonia. She must have had this fever and the rest of the symptoms for about a week, because the disease was already advanced by the time you called me. I gave her medicine, and she will need to be monitored, but I am confident she will make a full recovery. She was very lucky." "Yes, yes, she was." The older woman relaxed. "Thank you so much, Dr. Turner. I know she could not have been in greater hands. She even looks happier today." He smiled sadly. "Oh, I don"t know about that. But I"m glad you think so, Sister. It is always a pleasure to be of use." "That it is. Can I offer some advice, Doctor?" He looked up from his feet, surprised. "Of course, Sister." "And please do not take this as a reproach." The tired man swallowed in silence, uncomfortable. With a sigh, he gave in. "I am sorry, Sister. I can guarantee you that I was once a noble man. I don"t know what has come over me, I promise you. It"s as if I no longer have control. And I"m ashamed; I"m ashamed that I am no longer noble, or respectful, or strong-willed. I am so sorry." Sister Julienne stood up and placed her cup of tea on the tray. Squatting with some ease, she squeezed his shoulder. "Only those who live by hypocrisy see life as an unchangeable gift. So long as you are respectful of today as you think of tomorrow, you have no reason to think of your doings as wrong. Be upfront, truthful to yourself, and avoid the anguish of denying yourself the chance to be happy." Dr. Turner felt all grasp on things fleeing him, hardening his voice to prevent it from cracking. "I can"t... I can"t even think..." "My dear man, be true to yourself first. All the others come second when it comes to admissions. I am surely not the person you will feel more comfortable talking about this, but I must give you this advice: prove her that the feelings you arise in her are not necessarily wrong. She is still very young, and the habit is not the only way to love God." Closing his eyes, he felt weak. His head was throbbing, surely from the lack of decent sleep, and he was not past worrying over Sister Bernadette. It was all too much for him to handle. "Where is Timothy, Sister?" He managed. "On his way to school. After Cynthia assured him both you and Sister were okay, he behaved accordingly and left a while ago." His eyes snapped open. "Already? Oh, no, it"s awfully late, then. I must have been called dozens of times already." He punched the floor, and the sleeping brunette stirred. "Mistake after mistake." He slapped his forehead. Sister Julienne stood up. "We had Fred inform your house keeper of your whereabouts, and she said she would call as soon as you were requested." "So, that would mean no-one called." He relaxed. "See, Doctor? God must have wanted you to tend to this particular patient, or else He would have had His way." Sister Bernadette moved her head, mumbling, and Dr. Turner held his breath. "Tor... Doc- Doctor..." He smiled, first at Sister Julienne then at her. "I"m here. I"m right here, I didn"t go." "Hum..." She smiled, her brows relaxed. "Here..." Sister Julienne smiled fondly and walked out of the room without making a sound, closing the door behind her. A/N: So, I think this will be the last chapter I post today. I got all excited, and couldn"t stop writing *applauses for the pairing*. Don"t forget to review, just so I see if you are enjoying the story, yes? Thank you very much! Kisses, Inamioly "Doctor... Doc... am I ill?" Dr. Turner ran a hand through his hair and exhaled in relief. She tried to stand up, but he stopped her. "Don"t, Sister, you will be wasting your strength. Allow me to help you." He stood up, not very easily due to the stiff back, and gently grabbed her under the arms. She did not complain, but instead complied, working with him the best she could, as she felt her body fail her. "I am sorry I am not sufficiently strong." "It"s okay, my dear, you had an extremely rough night. You worsened very quickly." He gave her a glass of water to help with the crispness in her voice. She blushed slightly at the term of endearment, and permitted herself to lean on him as he sat beside her. Her head, powerless against the very alluring shoulders, rested heavily against him. "What is wrong with me?" "Pneumonia. You should have come to me sooner." Her breathing quickened, and so did her pulse, which did not go by unnoticed by the Doctor. "Don"t be upset, Sister. I never mean to upset you." "It is not that which I am feeling right now, Doctor. Besides being a little weak, and perhaps embarrassed, I feel nothing like upset." He smiled, secretly enjoying the close contact. "That"s good." The young nun smiled back, having felt the switch in his disposition merely by a change in his posture. "May I... may I ask you something?" "Anything, Sister." She coughed, her voice sweet on a sore throat. "I am tired." He brushed her hand, with more vehemence than intended. "I regret that I cannot make you better altogether. It will take time, but you"ll be okay." He assured her. "Hum..." She breather into his cheek. "I know that. What I wanted to ask, though... and I do feel selfish to ask..." She admitted, embarrassed. "That"s nonsense." "Could you stay with me until I fall back asleep?" He placed a hand over her back, and she felt warmer. He kissed the top of her head, which was covered by fabric, but she almost shivered nonetheless. "Sweetie... I am not going anywhere." "You are too good a man." She relaxed. "I feel safe with you." "I want you to be safe." He breathed in. "But I"m afraid I cannot, in my good senses, let you sleep again without having eaten something first." Sister Bernadette protested with a frown. "Oh, it is fine, I am far from being hungry." Dr. Turner chuckled. "I"m quite aware of that, sweetie, but you have to eat something nonetheless." "Hum... I... Oh... Very well, then." She slightly pouted, eyes threatening to fall shut together. "You are the doctor, after all." He laughed. "That I am. Now stand still because I need to get up in order to get you your breakfast. Lean towards the couch"s arm, please, Sister." She nodded, perhaps more stiffly than intended, and he smiled. "I see you are mad. It"s okay, whatever gets you to comply." She coughed and straightened her sore back, closing her eyes. "My head... it is so heavy I feel I cannot hold it for long." "Don"t worry, I will be back in just a moment." He assured her, and moved swiftly towards the kitchen. The room was somewhat crowded, what with the nurses having a late breakfast as well, and he greeted them all. Jenny smiled. "Good morning, Dr. Turner. How is Sister Bernadette?" He could not help but grin in relief. "Working her way back to health, hopefully. Pneumonia." He added, as an explanation. "Oh." They all said, pity showing in their eyes. "Poor Sister... She must be feeling quite dreadfully." Trixie mused. "She is. And even though I suspect she is a bit nauseated from the medication, she still has to eat. Which is what I was coming to get... could you arrange for me to bring her a tray of appetizing food?" "Of course, Doctor, I"ll do that just now." Jenny promptly offered, quickly assembling bread, tea, fresh orange juice and a glass of milk. "Thank you very much, Nurse Lee." He grabbed the tray. "Enjoy your breakfast." "You too, Dr. Turner." She called after him, and he was soon out of their sight. He rotated the doorknob with one hand and pushed the door with his shoulder. Sister Bernadette was torn between keeping her eyes open and her head steady, her hands snuggled under the warm blanket. "Here we go." He announced with a cheerful smile, trying to get her on board with eating. He placed the tray on his side of the couch and sat down beside her. "Let me check your fever, please, Sister." She squinted her eyes and answered the best she could with a nod. "Ouch." He smiled. "Don"t move your head, as it will worsen the headache." Tentatively, with as much confidence as he could muster, he placed a hand on her cheek, softly brushing it. He then moved to her temple and frowned. "It"s still quite high. As soon as you are finished with breakfast, I must insist that you go lie down." With a weak smile, she challenged him. "That is, assuming I will eat, correct?" He chuckled. "I"m very good at what I do. If I want you to eat, believe me when I tell you that you will, in fact, eat." She sighed, amused. "You sound quite confident." He held both her hands under the blanket and stared right into her eyes, a teasing smile playing in his lips. "I am." She sustained her breath and glanced down at his arms. "You are very warm yourself." "That is because right now, the fever is making you cold." The Doctor removed his hands and ignored her silent protest. He held the orange juice in front of her mouth. "My dear, as soon as there is an intake of vitamins on your behalf, I"ll let you go back to your sleeping affairs." She furrowed her eyebrows, curious. "Are you playing me, Doctor?" "Like I said, whatever works. All I want is for you to be back on your feet as soon as possible." He placed a hand behind her head, securing it, and brought the cup to her mouth, having met no resistance. "See? It"s not that hard." She made a face, wrinkling her forehead. "It is not pleasant either." She complained as she finished sipping. He placed the cup on the tray and pulled her head onto his shoulder. "For now, it"s enough. You did well, Sister." She sighed, relieved. "No more food?" "No. No more food for now." She closed her eyes, and her breathing slowed down. "Thank you." She whispered. "It"s quite alright, Sister." The Doctor stroked her hand and felt her fingers entwine in his. He wondered what part in all this the fever had. They stood still for quite a few minutes, Dr. Turner listening attentively to her breathing, looking out for any irregularities. Suddenly, a knock on the door made them both stir in their semi-conscious state. Cynthia and Jenny peeked through the door. "Doctor?" Jenny whispered. "Yes, Nurse Lee?" He whispered back. "You are requested in the Northans" house for a suspected second-degree burn." He silently cursed, eyeing the half asleep Sister beside him. "Oh... Oh, okay." "Sister Julienne suggested we take Sister Bernadette to a vacant room nearer the bathroom and kitchen, should she need something." Cynthia informed him, glancing at the couch. Dr. Turner nodded in agreement. "Of course, that"s an excellent idea." "Nurse Lee will accompany you, while I enlist Fred"s help in moving her, Dr. Turner." Cynthia suggested in a helpful tone. The Doctor shook his head. "That won"t be necessary. I can carry her, and then I"ll use the opportunity to make her comfortable in her new bed. She has quite the headache." Cynthia nodded quickly. "As you wish." Dr. Turner sat Sister Bernadette against the couch"s arm again, and she whimpered. "I"m sorry, Sister, I"ll try and be quick." He stood up and lifted her up in his arms without effort, ignoring the slight twinge in his back. Both nurses eyed him widely. "Do you need any help, Doctor?" Jenny offered. "Hold the door, please, and lead the way." He walked out of the room with ease and followed the nurses as they reached a door near the kitchen. They opened the door and Cynthia arranged for him to lay the Sister on the bed. He carefully laid her head on the soft pillow and tucked her in. The sheets were colder than the couch had been, which resulted in a soft complain. Sister Bernadette opened her eyes and both nurses smiled. "Welcome back, Sister." "Sister..." The Doctor began, more formal than he intended, and she looked at him strangely. "You have to go." It was not a question. "I do." He sighed. Her lip trembled and she looked away. "Will you..." She whispered timidly. "Will you come back?" He did not even want to go. "Sleep, Sister." He subtly stroked her shoulder and whispered. "I"ll be here when you wake up. It will be as if I never left." BREAK HERE Cynthia sat on the kitchen bench beside Trixie, looking puzzled. "I think I"m seeing things." A/N: Eheh, the biggest update to date. I have so much fun writing these two. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who reviewed, yes? It means the world to me 3 Kisses, Inamioly A/N: OH MY GOD, I"m so going to kill Call the Midwife"s writers! What on earth were they thinking? SPOILER ALERT!SPOILER ALERT (((Giving her TB?)))) Well... I hope you step on a lego each time you breathe! On with the story.... Five days had passed. Dr. Turner had been in and out of the nursing convent, persistent in his quest to assist Sister Bernadette in her recovery, and she presented him with a ready smile and moments of comfortable silence or apparently simple topics of conversation. All the nurses would visit from time to time, subtly checking up on the highly defensive and not-complaining nun, and would leave it to Sister Julienne to gently knock some sense into her stubborn self. "I must insist, dear girl, that you remain seated until further notice. The ideal would be for you to lie all day, but I do not even ask that." Sister Julienne admonished her. Sister Bernadette smiled. "Oh, but Sister, do you see the Sun outside? It is incredibly appealing, and I must say, as a person with medical background, you should agree that the sunlight does wonders to those convalescing." "You smart girl..." The older woman shook her head, slightly amused. "While I can think of no rational arguments to contradict yours, I have strict orders from Dr. Turner not to allow you out of you room until you are completely fever free." She sighed, frustrated and embarrassed by the consequent outburst. "But I want to, Sister." Sister Julienne raised an eyebrow. "Are we throwing a tantrum?" The young nun blushed and quickly lowered her head. "I am so sorry, I do not know what came over me." Sister Julienne sat on the end part of her bed, massaging her feet. "I do." She smiled kindly. "You are an active woman. Believe me when I tell you that even if it seems as if time will not end, your current predicament is not forever." She paused and reinforced the firm tone to her words. "Pneumonia is just a scary word these days. You will be cured, and in the meantime you have the best pair of eyes and hands looking out for your recovery." Her blue eyes lit at the mention of Dr. Turner. "I know... and I really appreciate it. I feel safe knowing the Lord sent him to help me overcome this disease." Sister Julienne nodded knowingly. "It is just..." A trembling sigh made her close her eyes. "You are scared." "No... no, Sister. God"s plan is, and always will be, God"s plan. I should not fear what God has sent for me." She played with the fabric of the blanket. Sister Julienne reached her arm and brushed her cheek. "There is no shame in being afraid. Never. Just own up to what you are feeling, will you, Sister?" She eyed her intently. "You, my dear, are too young still. You are much, much too young for everything that has come your way, and you have sprung by it with a fabulous grace. But remember, sweetheart, you are a young person, and you are entitled to make mistakes. Everyone is, really, but society these days has a soft spot for the youngsters. Be afraid, feel, and make your own choices. You have our love, now and always." Sister Bernadette grabbed the older nun"s hand and softly grasped, while a tear ran down her cheek. Sister Julienne wiped it and kissed the top of her head. "I will be coming to check on you before dinner. Try and get some rest." CALLtheMIDWIFEcallTHEmidwife CALLtheMIDWIFE It had been a whole hour since Sister Bernadette had been left alone in the room. She would never admit it to anyone, but she had become quite dependent on her daily visits to get some decent sleep time. Although having chosen to deal with disease on a daily basis, when it came to her own health, she took it quite hard. With her head on the pillow, and her eyes closed, she listened intently to every small sound. She could usually hear the birds singing in the morning across the patio, and the morning bustle around the convent. The door opened with little noise, and hesitant steps made their way towards the bed. Steps she had learnt to recognize. She smiled subtly. Dr. Turner chuckled. "I know you are not sleeping, Sister." She cracked one eye open. "Am I that predictable?" "To me you are." She blushed. He shook his head, amused. "No, I"m just teasing you. In fact, I came here to make a deal with you." That sparked an interest in her. "You did?" "Yes." He lowered a tray in the table beside the bed. She sat up, confused. "Do tell." She requested, curious. "It has come to my attention that your rest is of more consistence whenever you manage to fall asleep in someone else"s company." He remarked, nonchalant, rearranging the food in the tray so as to make it easier. "Oh." She blushed even more, unsure of what to say. "Consequently, and as it will be impossible for me to visit you again today, I want to make sure I can be of help. You will eat your dinner right now, an hour earlier than usual, and I"ll stay with you until you are fast asleep."

"Well, I..." She eyed him for a second. "I guess I can"t say no to that." She smiled and handed him the baby. He took her in his arms and started patting her back soothingly. Addison grinned quietly, but something that had been, unbeknownst to her, upsetting her surfaced at last as she saw Alice"s reddish face. "Can you..." She slid her fingers through her own forehead tiredly. "Can you see if she has a fever? I think she was out in the cold long before I found her. And when I held her right now I thought she was with a temperature, as her body felt so hot against mine." "Sure." Sam"s eyes scanned the baby, worry mirrored in them. He measured her temperature with two fingers in her forehead. "Oh, God, I think she does." He told her, his eyes nervously scanning the toddler. "Hum... Cooper!" Violet and Cooper, who had been silently watching the exchange, were startled by the sudden exclamation. Sam stared at him expectantly, while he just gaped at them. Violet poked him. "Ouch. Hum..." He coughed. "Do you two care to explain why... how... what?" Cooper sighed, frustrated, at his apparent lack of words. "Coop..." Addison begged. "Can you... can you fix her?" She cleared her throat and rested a hand on Sam"s arm. "Please!" Addison groaned, stepping out of the elevator and grabbing him by the elbow as he showed no intentions of giving up the interrogation. Violet automatically released him, stunned. "You just need to know the essential, yes? Her name is Alice, about a year old, abandoned, and now..." She strengthened the grip on Sam and sought for the determination in his eyes she was so desperately in need of. Sam"s steady breathing on her neck gave her the confidence to utter the word. "Mine." Violet gasped before squealing and clapping her hands in joy, and Cooper blinked, confused, refusing to make a comment, though. He was so going to have a therapeutic session with Violet later. "Any..." He cleared his throat, glancing nervously at Violet. "Any allergies I should know about?" "Cooper!" Violet slapped his forehead, impatient. "They just got her a few hours ago. How on Earth would they know?" "Chill out, guys. God! It"s not my fault Mama and Papa bear here are outrageously intimidating me and giving me nothing to work with." He raised his hands defensively. Violet smirked. "Just... just hand her to me, and I"ll do a check up." He asked, tentatively, giving small baby steps in their direction. "A complete check up." Violet reformulated, her eyes losing the fierce glare. "Right?" She asked them. "Right." Sam breathed, relieved, and Addison relaxed into his shoulder. Cooper inhaled deeply and confirmed with a fierce nod of his head. "A complete check-up." All three adults surrounding him beamed, and Addison kissed Alice"s cheek. "You"re going to be okay, baby girl. Yes, you are." She cooed, and Sam laughed. "That voice is... pathetic, Addy." He mocked her, but his expression said otherwise. "Oh, shut it. I saw you talking to Maya like this when she was a baby, too." She lifted her head to his level and raised her eyebrows, smirking, daring him to contradict her. He opened and closed his mouth several times before settling with a sigh of resignation. "In your face, Daddy." She tickled Alice. "Right, Alice? Right?" The small infant giggled. "Hey, don"t you turn on me too, Ally. Mommy"s making fun of me, and you have to defend me." He furrowed his eyebrows in mock disappointment. "Do they have any idea that they just...?" Cooper stammered, a curious stare adorning his features. "Nop." "Should we...?" "Nop." "Ally"s sick... We have to..." "Don"t." "But don"t we...?" "Not in a million years." "Okay." A/N: It"s the second time I post this chapter! :P I"ve just been having some difficulties in the writing subject, because Sam, Addison and I kind of lost touch for a while, you know? But we"re back on business, and I am going to post another chapter THIS VERY DAY, and this is So not a lie, okay? I promise. Scout"s honor Febya A/N: I"ll dedicate this chapter to my wonderful reviewers, who made this all possible! And iam-kelly, your support has been positively awesome!! Freakingishly "Finally. For crying bloody freakingishly loud!" A soft knock on the door startled the pediatrician. "That sounded wrong on so many levels... is that a word you should say in front of an infant, Cooper? Hell, is that even a word?" The accent gave her away, and he merely sighed, ignoring the painful pounding of his heart. Her voice infiltrated his already unfocused brain and he had to release Alice from his strong hold. The baby just lay down and played with her fingers. The highly colored office was deadly silent, and the fast respiration of the woman standing next to the door was making him nervous. "Well, it"s no worse than Hell." He tried, lamely. Quick, loud steps in his direction. The sound of her heels was the only warning he had. Charlotte smacked his forehead. "What did I just say?" She glared at him. "But you-" "Don"t swear in front of her. What would her parents say if her first word were freakingishly? Huh?" She forced his eyes to meet hers. Cooper mumbled something incomprehensible. At least, so he thought. "What? What do you mean by it wouldn"t be that weird?" Charlotte narrowed her eyes. "I didn"t say that." He shook his head vehemently. "No, I didn"t. Never did. Okay." He backed off a few steps. She kept tapping her foot, arms crossed, her face an inch from his. Alice giggled. "I did. I did say, but not that. No, I said that the word really did sound weird. You know, freashki... no, freakingshy-" "Cooper!" She dragged the word with enough intensity to make him swallow hard. "What... are you hiding... from me?" Charlotte hammered the words, and Cooper flinched considerably. "N- nothing! What makes you think I"m hiding someth..." He sighed, frustrated, and bit his lip. "Violet told me not to tell!" He cried, triumphantly. She just stared at him, badly concealed pity in her eyes. "Pathetic." "I"m not." He contested, indignated. "So are." "I"m not!" "Stop being a child, and take care of the one you had in your arms." She demanded, exasperated. "And just to think I came here to... to... to say something to someone who deserves everything but!" She turned around, a small tremble to her voice letting him know of the truth carried by her hurtful words. Alice gave a small sob, and he used all his inner strength not to stop Charlotte from leaving and instead picked the baby up. "There, there, it"s okay." The loud, rash footsteps stopped. "What"s wrong with her?" Cooper smiled inwardly as he felt her coming closer to him. "So, Ice Queen"s got a soft spot for babies after all." He said in a low, teasing, tender voice. "Shut it. She"s cute." She simply stated. "What"s wrong with her?" She repeated. "Alice..." He caressed her cheek. "Has a cold. She"s not feeling all that well, are you, sweetie? Your throat must ache... and you look like you have a headache twice your size. Right?" He held Alice close to his body and let her cuddle in his chest. "Just a cold? She must have a fever. She"s hot." Charlotte touched her forehead. "Yes, just a cold." He confirmed, patiently. "She needs to be kept warm and comfortable. And then she"ll be ready for another round, won"t you?" Cooper tickled her. "Those mean coughs always go after the cutest girls." He explained, in mock resignation. Charlotte chuckled. Cooper looked up from the baby, surprised. "What?" "What what?" "You chuckled. You don"t chuckle when you"re mad at me." Cooper pointed out, suspicious. "Oh, it"s nothing." "Now who"s hiding things from whom?" He raised his eyebrow. "You just..." She rolled her eyes and moaned. "It"s just that you always sound so different when you"re talking with babies. It"s actually... really cute." Fidgeting, she focused on his hands. "Wohoo, did you just compliment me?" He smiled. Charlotte appeared embarrassed, so he shrugged it off with a wave of his baby-free hand. "It"s okay. I really am cute." She smacked his arm. "Jackass." "Hey, no swearing near Alice." Cooper admonished. Charlotte laughed, still slightly flushed. Violet cleared her throat loudly enough for Addison to hear her. "May I come in?" The redhead lifted her head from the pile of papers on her desk. "Sure, sure. I couldn"t concentrate anyway." She smiled and motioned for her to sit on the chair in front of hers. "So, let me guess. What brings you here is... Alice?" Violet smirked in mock astonishment, brushing one hand in another. "How ever did you know?" "Oh, you know, I had a feeling." She answered, fake pride oozing from her words. "You seem to be having lots of those these days..." Violet started, careful. "What do you mean?" Addison"s confused eyebrows shot up. "Don"t give me that shrink look, Vi." She warned her friend as the latter showed no intentions of providing her with the answer. "Okay... I just mean that Sam... and Alice... and you... well, you have to... what I mean is..." Violet struggled for words, but her features became more restless by the minute as no inspired sentence came to her mind. "There"s only an Alice and I. There"s no Sam and Alice. And neither is there a Sam and I. Okay?" Doubt filled Violet"s eyes as she stared at her friend"s defensive mask, and she could only utter a fake mumble of acceptance. "Sam"s Naomi"s ex- Husband." She emphasized the last word, and her eyes grew wide, as if it were the most obvious thing in the entire universe. "I see. And how do you feel about it?" Violet made a small, yet useless, attempt at trying to get her to talk. "Vi!" "Okay, okay... I was just worried... you know what you"re doing. Right?" "Right." She soothed her. "Cause Sam"s-" "I know, Violet." "And you"re-" "Yes, I got it." "And Alice"s gotten to you two." Violet finished quickly. "Honestly... think, Addy, think. I know it will be good for both of you, but will everyone be that understanding?" Addison was silent for a moment. "Are we still talking about the same thing?" Violet laughed. "I don"t know. That"s the problem of this whole unfinished sentences thing." "I just don"t want to..." Addison cleared her throat and clasped her hands together, nervous. "To hear it aloud. Yap, you"re the master of avoidance." Violet smirked. The redhead snickered. "And who exactly are you to talk?" A/N: I promised, and here it is! I hope it did not suck! I tried to make it fun and yet readable. You could tell me if I succeeded in this horribly difficult mission by... REVIEWING? :D Thanks to all of you who have been with me from the very beginning!! (And to those who haven"t as well; I"m not picky :P) Febya A/N: Once more, this chapter goes to my faithful readers and reviewers! Thank you to all of you! Eyes or hair "Knock, knock." Cooper called, in a false falsetto voice, clenching Alice"s fist and softly touching the woodened door with it. "Oh, there she is." Violet lifted her head from the book and uncrossed her legs, smiling. "How is she, Coop?" "She has a cold." He sat on the couch next to her and stared at the ceiling, while Alice played with his shirt. The office"s window was semi closed, so not many rays of light managed to penetrate the glass. "Oh, good. I feared she might have something el-" "She has green eyes." Cooper interrupted her. Violet stared at him, slightly dumbfounded, and crossed her arms while leaning on his shoulder. "Okay." She said, unsure. "She has green eyes, but she has brown hair." He groaned and caressed Alice"s cheek. Violet took a peek at the grinning toddler. "That she does. I hadn"t noticed, actually. She"s beautiful." "She is. But she has green eyes and brown hair!" Cooper emphasized with an exaggerated look of frustration embellishing his features. "She does, Coop. There"s nothing you can do about it..." Violet calmed him, dragging her patronizing and, yet, confused words. "What"s more important? Eyes or hair?" He wondered aloud. "Huh, Vi? Eyes or hair?" The brunette cleared her throat at the sudden loss for words. "Hum... I suppose it"s all... relative?" She tried, furrowing her eyebrows. "Really, Cooper, what"s with the newly found insanity?" "It"s just..." He sighed. "Who do I tell first? Addison... or Sam?" "Huh? Tell them what?" "That"s Ally"s okay." He explained patiently. "Shrink me, okay? Who do I tell first? I mean... she"s got Addy"s eyes... but she"s brown hair, just like Sam!" He switched Alice to his other arm and started fidgeting. Violet laughed. Real, pure, laughs that mocked every inch of Cooper. "What? Stop laughing! It"s a valid question, if you ask me!" She stopped laughing and smiled, instead. "Is it?" Cooper groaned once again. "Oh, let it go. I"ll figure it out myself... bloody shrinks. Why can"t you ever answer me like normal people would?" Violet smacked his arm. "Hey, what is it with you women today? Stop beating the crap out of me." She slapped his forehead and ignored his yells of protest. "You should know better than to swear in front of Alice." Addison"s legs were comfortably resting on the sofa, her head on the pillow. The conversation with Violet had confused her, to say the least, and it was all beginning to be a little too much for her to handle. She wanted everything but to face the facts, and she was asking very little. She just wanted to have a baby. Was that so difficult that even when one was literally offered to her it had to bring a potential dad with it? She shook her head to clear some ideas and buried her face in the pillow as she had done in the morning, just before falling asleep and sleeping with the mystery man. She closed her eyes. She was amazingly close to drifting off to Dreamland when... "Addison." Moaning inwardly, she opened her lazy eyes. "Oh, sorry, I was just checking if you were really asleep. I thought I"d murmured... Sorry. I"ll come back lat-" Addison yawned and brushed it off with a weak wave of her hand. "Oh, don"t worry. Sleep"s just my way of avoiding things. I"m an avoider. Violet says I"m the master of avoidance." She smiled sheepishly. Sam chuckled. "Who"s she to talk?" He entered the cozy office and sat on the small table in front of the sofa. "Exactly." She stretched lazily. "So... what brings you here to my humble bureau of avoidance?" "Hum... I want to avoid." He explained, a small smile on his face. "That much I"d gathered. But what or who do you want to avoid?" She asked him, a curious glint in her eyes. He sighed and got up. "Oh, Sam, don"t-" The glint disappeared and was replaced by sadness over apparently prying. "Let me." He interrupted her and sat on the couch, gently allowing her to rest her head on his lap. He brushed her hair. "I don"t really want to avoid. I want to... know... you know?" Addison chuckled. "No. But here"s a thought... maybe if you told me I would have a small idea of what you"re talking about." "Witty. You reckon?" "Yap." "Then I guess it"s worth a try. I want to know." He breathed, slowly, patiently, while still caressing her hair. Addison did not rush him. "You. And Alice. And I want to know if... if you want to know. Me." Addison"s heart started pounding more than healthily heavily in her chest and her cheeks flustered. "You do?" "I wasn"t kidding in the elevator, in case you failed to notice." "You... you weren"t?" She asked, more hopefully than the intended. She turned her head to face him, and he placed a finger over her lips, delicately touching them. "I wasn"t." "you weren"t kidding. That..." She swallowed hard. "That kiss was not kidding either, I imagine." "No." He laughed, breaking the recently settled tension. "The kiss was most certainly not kidding either. But if you have doubts, maybe I could..." He pulled her upper body close to his, and supported her head with one hand, the other keeping her chin on the perfect level. Their hesitant lips met once more, finally acquainted with each other, and the kiss was more natural, like a habit or something similar. Breathing was, again, underestimated. "Dad?!" A/N: So, okay, this really was not a cliffhanger, as you know who interrupted them, but I want to know what you think. Should I make that person (for those who miraculously still have no clue over who it is) happy or angry about the who Sam-Addison-Alice thing? Thank you for reading!! Febya A/N: This chapter goes to... one of my reviewers from the very beginning, and that has made some very constructive criticism... Corazon90!! Thank you so much! (each chapter will be dedicated to one of you, you lucky people! - No sarcastic laughs allowed, yes?) "Dad?!" Stuck. Stuck in the same compromising, bewitching position. His lips feeling hers, his hand on her neck, a longing look in both sets of eyes. Addison knew what she needed to do in order to end the spell. She just needed to say the magic words, which would include a dubious moan and an equally dubious rejection, reluctance and urgency oozing from her actions. Compelled to finish the heartbreaking task by the surprised, taken aback voice that infiltrated her distracted brain, she moved away. "Oh, God, I"m... I"m so, so sorry..." Addison straightened herself up, clothes and hair included, and wondered how stained her lipstick would be, gasping as she felt the sticky substance all over her cheeks. It hadn"t even been that big of a kiss. How had her red lipstick got all the way up to her cheeks? "Oh, Maya, I"m so... Please, don"t... oh, God..." "Addison, breathe." Sam told her, calmly, his face unreadable, his clothes messed up from the strong grip she had had on his shirt. She did as he said. Slow, steady, regular breaths. "Good. Now, would you please look at my daughter"s face and see how mad she looks?" Sam chuckled. Addison kept on staring at the floor. Her head refused to believe Maya, of all people, would be supportive of their relationship. She would rather fix her eyes on the carpet and memorize all the spots than face the pregnant teenager. Something deep down in her mind told her Sam was only being the nice guy she knew he was, trying to relieve the pain her shoulders were feeling from all the pressure that had came from something he had helped creating, and his words sounded fake. They tasted like fake food, so they would be fake as well, for sure. "You don"t... you don"t have to lie, Sam... Maya has every right to-" Stepping on the loose ends of her carpet with the sharp end of her shoe, she sighed defeated. "Be mad at you?" The innocent voice of the only child in the room echoed in the small room, and the giggle that followed the astonished words forced Addison to look up. "Why, you were only snogging my Dad"s brain out... I don"t see where"s the harm in that..." She let her words trail away and grinned at the couple, winking at them. "You... you..." Addison cleared her throat, eyes bulging in disbelief. "Don"t?" Maya shook her head, amused. "Should I?" "No. No..." Sam rushed in. "She"s just overwhelmed by my... kiss... Maya, forgive her." He grinned, and Addison smacked him softly in the arm. The shock of the lack of shock had worn off, and her eyes were still bulged with relief at the girl"s amusement. "Just to let you know, I liked it better when Daniel Florium kissed me." Addison raised her eyebrows mischievously and giggled at Maya, who laughed back. "Ouch, did that hurt? Even I know that guy... Mom used to talk about how extremely silky his hair had looked until she touched it and her hand was yucky for a week!" Maya walked a few steps in their direction and sat on the small table. "And you, according to Auntie Addy, kiss worse than him... what a disappointment. To know my Dad"s below the greasy one..." Sam eyes them both, the merciless tease that presented itself in the glint that embellished their eyes daring him to retort. He narrowed his eyes, his ego hurt. "I"ll never... ever... kiss you again." He pouted and faced the ceiling. "You promise?" She asked in mock hope. "Yes." "But can I kiss you again?" A witty smile broke into her lips. "No..." He said, hesitant, and closed his eyes childishly. "Pretty please?" "Nop." "C"mon, Daddy. Pretty please with a cherry on top?" "Well, I like cherries..." He shrugged. "That you do. My lipstick tastes like cherries." Addison added suggestively, cheekily. Sam choked on air, and she patted his back soothingly. Maya coughed subtly. "And... that"s my cue to leave the happy couple." She stood up from the table, a look of disgust mixed with barely disguised amusement on her face. "You know... if you have a kid it will be younger than his nephew/ niece." She wondered, her face still towards the couple. "Now that... would be weird." Addison, whose hand was clutching Sam"s, strengthened the grip. Sam gulped. "Yeah... it would." "Silly me. Making movies when you"ve not even gone public about it." She laughed at her own stupidity, innocent squeals stabbing them. She left the office, but the ghost of her time there weighed on their shoulders. "Technically... she"s not yours." Addison tried, her voice hesitant. "Technically." He emphasized. "And she"ll be older than Maya"s..." "Yes, I get it." He retorted quickly, disabling her from finishing the sentence on purpose. "So technically... we"re good?" "I guess." He put an arm protectively around her shoulders, and she closed her eyes, wanting to preserve the moment. A/N: I"ve got nothing to say except I"M SORRY for the delay! It"s just that I went on a school trip to London (Yesss, it was freaking awesome!) and I had little time to write. Hope you enjoyed it! Febya

Closing his eyes, he felt weak. His head was throbbing, surely from the lack of decent sleep, and he was not past worrying over Sister Bernadette. It was all too much for him to handle. "Where is Timothy, Sister?" He managed. "On his way to school. After Cynthia assured him both you and Sister were okay, he behaved accordingly and left a while ago." His eyes snapped open. "Already? Oh, no, it"s awfully late, then. I must have been called dozens of times already." He punched the floor, and the sleeping brunette stirred. "Mistake after mistake." He slapped his forehead. Sister Julienne stood up. "We had Fred inform your house keeper of your whereabouts, and she said she would call as soon as you were requested." "So, that would mean no-one called." He relaxed. "See, Doctor? God must have wanted you to tend to this particular patient, or else He would have had His way." Sister Bernadette moved her head, mumbling, and Dr. Turner held his breath. "Tor... Doc- Doctor..." He smiled, first at Sister Julienne then at her. "I"m here. I"m right here, I didn"t go." "Hum..." She smiled, her brows relaxed. "Here..." Sister Julienne smiled fondly and walked out of the room without making a sound, closing the door behind her. A/N: So, I think this will be the last chapter I post today. I got all excited, and couldn"t stop writing *applauses for the pairing*. Don"t forget to review, just so I see if you are enjoying the story, yes? Thank you very much! Kisses, Inamioly "Doctor... Doc... am I ill?" Dr. Turner ran a hand through his hair and exhaled in relief. She tried to stand up, but he stopped her. "Don"t, Sister, you will be wasting your strength. Allow me to help you." He stood up, not very easily due to the stiff back, and gently grabbed her under the arms. She did not complain, but instead complied, working with him the best she could, as she felt her body fail her. "I am sorry I am not sufficiently strong." "It"s okay, my dear, you had an extremely rough night. You worsened very quickly." He gave her a glass of water to help with the crispness in her voice. She blushed slightly at the term of endearment, and permitted herself to lean on him as he sat beside her. Her head, powerless against the very alluring shoulders, rested heavily against him. "What is wrong with me?" "Pneumonia. You should have come to me sooner." Her breathing quickened, and so did her pulse, which did not go by unnoticed by the Doctor. "Don"t be upset, Sister. I never mean to upset you." "It is not that which I am feeling right now, Doctor. Besides being a little weak, and perhaps embarrassed, I feel nothing like upset." He smiled, secretly enjoying the close contact. "That"s good." The young nun smiled back, having felt the switch in his disposition merely by a change in his posture. "May I... may I ask you something?" "Anything, Sister." She coughed, her voice sweet on a sore throat. "I am tired." He brushed her hand, with more vehemence than intended. "I regret that I cannot make you better altogether. It will take time, but you"ll be okay." He assured her. "Hum..." She breather into his cheek. "I know that. What I wanted to ask, though... and I do feel selfish to ask..." She admitted, embarrassed. "That"s nonsense." "Could you stay with me until I fall back asleep?" He placed a hand over her back, and she felt warmer. He kissed the top of her head, which was covered by fabric, but she almost shivered nonetheless. "Sweetie... I am not going anywhere." "You are too good a man." She relaxed. "I feel safe with you." "I want you to be safe." He breathed in. "But I"m afraid I cannot, in my good senses, let you sleep again without having eaten something first." Sister Bernadette protested with a frown. "Oh, it is fine, I am far from being hungry." Dr. Turner chuckled. "I"m quite aware of that, sweetie, but you have to eat something nonetheless." "Hum... I... Oh... Very well, then." She slightly pouted, eyes threatening to fall shut together. "You are the doctor, after all." He laughed. "That I am. Now stand still because I need to get up in order to get you your breakfast. Lean towards the couch"s arm, please, Sister." She nodded, perhaps more stiffly than intended, and he smiled. "I see you are mad. It"s okay, whatever gets you to comply." She coughed and straightened her sore back, closing her eyes. "My head... it is so heavy I feel I cannot hold it for long." "Don"t worry, I will be back in just a moment." He assured her, and moved swiftly towards the kitchen. The room was somewhat crowded, what with the nurses having a late breakfast as well, and he greeted them all. Jenny smiled. "Good morning, Dr. Turner. How is Sister Bernadette?" He could not help but grin in relief. "Working her way back to health, hopefully. Pneumonia." He added, as an explanation. "Oh." They all said, pity showing in their eyes. "Poor Sister... She must be feeling quite dreadfully." Trixie mused. "She is. And even though I suspect she is a bit nauseated from the medication, she still has to eat. Which is what I was coming to get... could you arrange for me to bring her a tray of appetizing food?" "Of course, Doctor, I"ll do that just now." Jenny promptly offered, quickly assembling bread, tea, fresh orange juice and a glass of milk. "Thank you very much, Nurse Lee." He grabbed the tray. "Enjoy your breakfast." "You too, Dr. Turner." She called after him, and he was soon out of their sight. He rotated the doorknob with one hand and pushed the door with his shoulder. Sister Bernadette was torn between keeping her eyes open and her head steady, her hands snuggled under the warm blanket. "Here we go." He announced with a cheerful smile, trying to get her on board with eating. He placed the tray on his side of the couch and sat down beside her. "Let me check your fever, please, Sister." She squinted her eyes and answered the best she could with a nod. "Ouch." He smiled. "Don"t move your head, as it will worsen the headache." Tentatively, with as much confidence as he could muster, he placed a hand on her cheek, softly brushing it. He then moved to her temple and frowned. "It"s still quite high. As soon as you are finished with breakfast, I must insist that you go lie down." With a weak smile, she challenged him. "That is, assuming I will eat, correct?" He chuckled. "I"m very good at what I do. If I want you to eat, believe me when I tell you that you will, in fact, eat." She sighed, amused. "You sound quite confident." He held both her hands under the blanket and stared right into her eyes, a teasing smile playing in his lips. "I am." She sustained her breath and glanced down at his arms. "You are very warm yourself." "That is because right now, the fever is making you cold." The Doctor removed his hands and ignored her silent protest. He held the orange juice in front of her mouth. "My dear, as soon as there is an intake of vitamins on your behalf, I"ll let you go back to your sleeping affairs." She furrowed her eyebrows, curious. "Are you playing me, Doctor?" "Like I said, whatever works. All I want is for you to be back on your feet as soon as possible." He placed a hand behind her head, securing it, and brought the cup to her mouth, having met no resistance. "See? It"s not that hard." She made a face, wrinkling her forehead. "It is not pleasant either." She complained as she finished sipping. He placed the cup on the tray and pulled her head onto his shoulder. "For now, it"s enough. You did well, Sister." She sighed, relieved. "No more food?" "No. No more food for now." She closed her eyes, and her breathing slowed down. "Thank you." She whispered. "It"s quite alright, Sister." The Doctor stroked her hand and felt her fingers entwine in his. He wondered what part in all this the fever had. They stood still for quite a few minutes, Dr. Turner listening attentively to her breathing, looking out for any irregularities. Suddenly, a knock on the door made them both stir in their semi-conscious state. Cynthia and Jenny peeked through the door. "Doctor?" Jenny whispered. "Yes, Nurse Lee?" He whispered back. "You are requested in the Northans" house for a suspected second-degree burn." He silently cursed, eyeing the half asleep Sister beside him. "Oh... Oh, okay." "Sister Julienne suggested we take Sister Bernadette to a vacant room nearer the bathroom and kitchen, should she need something." Cynthia informed him, glancing at the couch. Dr. Turner nodded in agreement. "Of course, that"s an excellent idea." "Nurse Lee will accompany you, while I enlist Fred"s help in moving her, Dr. Turner." Cynthia suggested in a helpful tone. The Doctor shook his head. "That won"t be necessary. I can carry her, and then I"ll use the opportunity to make her comfortable in her new bed. She has quite the headache." Cynthia nodded quickly. "As you wish." Dr. Turner sat Sister Bernadette against the couch"s arm again, and she whimpered. "I"m sorry, Sister, I"ll try and be quick." He stood up and lifted her up in his arms without effort, ignoring the slight twinge in his back. Both nurses eyed him widely. "Do you need any help, Doctor?" Jenny offered. "Hold the door, please, and lead the way." He walked out of the room with ease and followed the nurses as they reached a door near the kitchen. They opened the door and Cynthia arranged for him to lay the Sister on the bed. He carefully laid her head on the soft pillow and tucked her in. The sheets were colder than the couch had been, which resulted in a soft complain. Sister Bernadette opened her eyes and both nurses smiled. "Welcome back, Sister." "Sister..." The Doctor began, more formal than he intended, and she looked at him strangely. "You have to go." It was not a question. "I do." He sighed. Her lip trembled and she looked away. "Will you..." She whispered timidly. "Will you come back?" He did not even want to go. "Sleep, Sister." He subtly stroked her shoulder and whispered. "I"ll be here when you wake up. It will be as if I never left." BREAK HERE Cynthia sat on the kitchen bench beside Trixie, looking puzzled. "I think I"m seeing things." A/N: Eheh, the biggest update to date. I have so much fun writing these two. THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you who reviewed, yes? It means the world to me 3 Kisses, Inamioly A/N: OH MY GOD, I"m so going to kill Call the Midwife"s writers! What on earth were they thinking? SPOILER ALERT!SPOILER ALERT (((Giving her TB?)))) Well... I hope you step on a lego each time you breathe! On with the story.... Five days had passed. Dr. Turner had been in and out of the nursing convent, persistent in his quest to assist Sister Bernadette in her recovery, and she presented him with a ready smile and moments of comfortable silence or apparently simple topics of conversation. All the nurses would visit from time to time, subtly checking up on the highly defensive and not-complaining nun, and would leave it to Sister Julienne to gently knock some sense into her stubborn self. "I must insist, dear girl, that you remain seated until further notice. The ideal would be for you to lie all day, but I do not even ask that." Sister Julienne admonished her. Sister Bernadette smiled. "Oh, but Sister, do you see the Sun outside? It is incredibly appealing, and I must say, as a person with medical background, you should agree that the sunlight does wonders to those convalescing." "You smart girl..." The older woman shook her head, slightly amused. "While I can think of no rational arguments to contradict yours, I have strict orders from Dr. Turner not to allow you out of you room until you are completely fever free." She sighed, frustrated and embarrassed by the consequent outburst. "But I want to, Sister." Sister Julienne raised an eyebrow. "Are we throwing a tantrum?" The young nun blushed and quickly lowered her head. "I am so sorry, I do not know what came over me." Sister Julienne sat on the end part of her bed, massaging her feet. "I do." She smiled kindly. "You are an active woman. Believe me when I tell you that even if it seems as if time will not end, your current predicament is not forever." She paused and reinforced the firm tone to her words. "Pneumonia is just a scary word these days. You will be cured, and in the meantime you have the best pair of eyes and hands looking out for your recovery." Her blue eyes lit at the mention of Dr. Turner. "I know... and I really appreciate it. I feel safe knowing the Lord sent him to help me overcome this disease." Sister Julienne nodded knowingly. "It is just..." A trembling sigh made her close her eyes. "You are scared." "No... no, Sister. God"s plan is, and always will be, God"s plan. I should not fear what God has sent for me." She played with the fabric of the blanket. Sister Julienne reached her arm and brushed her cheek. "There is no shame in being afraid. Never. Just own up to what you are feeling, will you, Sister?" She eyed her intently. "You, my dear, are too young still. You are much, much too young for everything that has come your way, and you have sprung by it with a fabulous grace. But remember, sweetheart, you are a young person, and you are entitled to make mistakes. Everyone is, really, but society these days has a soft spot for the youngsters. Be afraid, feel, and make your own choices. You have our love, now and always." Sister Bernadette grabbed the older nun"s hand and softly grasped, while a tear ran down her cheek. Sister Julienne wiped it and kissed the top of her head. "I will be coming to check on you before dinner. Try and get some rest." CALLtheMIDWIFEcallTHEmidwife CALLtheMIDWIFE It had been a whole hour since Sister Bernadette had been left alone in the room. She would never admit it to anyone, but she had become quite dependent on her daily visits to get some decent sleep time. Although having chosen to deal with disease on a daily basis, when it came to her own health, she took it quite hard. With her head on the pillow, and her eyes closed, she listened intently to every small sound. She could usually hear the birds singing in the morning across the patio, and the morning bustle around the convent. The door opened with little noise, and hesitant steps made their way towards the bed. Steps she had learnt to recognize. She smiled subtly. Dr. Turner chuckled. "I know you are not sleeping, Sister." She cracked one eye open. "Am I that predictable?" "To me you are." She blushed. He shook his head, amused. "No, I"m just teasing you. In fact, I came here to make a deal with you." That sparked an interest in her. "You did?" "Yes." He lowered a tray in the table beside the bed. She sat up, confused. "Do tell." She requested, curious. "It has come to my attention that your rest is of more consistence whenever you manage to fall asleep in someone else"s company." He remarked, nonchalant, rearranging the food in the tray so as to make it easier. "Oh." She blushed even more, unsure of what to say. "Consequently, and as it will be impossible for me to visit you again today, I want to make sure I can be of help. You will eat your dinner right now, an hour earlier than usual, and I"ll stay with you until you are fast asleep." Sister Bernadette eyed him, surprised and touched. "You..." She sighed. "You are too kind. I have said it before, and I will say it again." "You sound as if you think you"re undeserving." He grabbed a plate of chicken and held it close to her. She grabbed the fork and noted, smiling slightly, he had cut the chicken in small pieces. "I would not go that far." "But you would go as far as half way." It was not a question. She smiled, silent. They spent the rest of the meal in silence, and he ended up grabbing a chair and sitting beside her. It took them no longer than a quarter of an hour for her to be ready and tired enough to sleep. She yawned politely, eyes on the blanket covering her legs. "I trust it was good. Sister Mary Joan sends her regards and regrets being too busy folding laundry to come here before dinner." He smiled and put the plate back in the tray. "It was wonderful, thank you." "And now..." He sat back on the chair. "Sleep, Sister." She pursed her lips and stuttered. "I... I guess so." He stared at her, a knowing look in his eyes. "It"s worse at night, correct?" "Yes." She whispered. "Lie down, please. Please, trust me." She slowly complied, and he covered her with the blanket the best he could. "Now, close your eyes and listen." Sister Bernadette closed her eyes with effort and her breathing became heavier. He grabbed her hand and felt her pulse racing. "Relax." "I am paying attention, okay?" He spoke calmly. "I am trying to make sure you only have to spend a couple of more days with this disease haunting you. I am going to speak the truth, in the most honest way that I can, okay?" "Hum..." She acknowledged. "I have no reason to believe you won"t be okay. Your pneumonia already scarred your lungs, yes, but the scarring is minimal. You, sweetie, are going to be just fine." He kissed her hand. "Trust me." "I... do." She mumbled, and he chuckled. "Sleep, sweetie. Get better soon." He paused. "Please." A/N: I just love them and their sweet, out of the ordinary chemistry...! Review, people, I love reading your thoughts! And please, give me suggestions, I highly need them : )))) A/N: Let me start off by saying I"m INCREDIBLY SORRY for the delay. No excuse is one hundred percent valid, but I hope mine comes close enough: not only was I hit, ironically enough, by a pulmonary infection AND a throat/ ear infection, but I also had two portfolios to deliver till this past Friday. So you can imagine how my life became hectic in a matter of days -.-' Also, a HUGE THANK YOU to all the lovely reviewers, followers and favoriters. YOU MADE MY DAYS! : )))) Now, on with the story, and once again, I"m terribly sorry, and hope you enjoy! "So, Sister, are you terribly itchy to get out of that bed?" Sister Bernadette offered Trixie a very enthusiastic smile. "Oh, you took the words right out of my mouth." Trixie laughed and grabbed the sheets she had been sent to change. Judging from the badly treated dark circles under her eyes, Sister Bernadette needed more than medicine to be completely healed. "I recommend a two-day exposure to fresh air, green gardens and a stroll on the busy streets. You"ll be good as new, missy." She thickened her voice, impersonating a doctor. Sister Bernadette smiled. "I feel unstoppable, Trixie. It is a superb feeling, compared to what I have been experiencing these last few days." "Quite true, Sister. Quite true." She opened the curtains and teased. "Although some days were better than others, I assume." The convalescing nun blushed and eyed her hands. "I do not know what you are referring to. I must say there is nothing joyful in pneumonia, and all days were an equal nuisance." "I can"t believe you." Trixie turned around to face her, a mocking hand on her hip. "So you"re telling me all the visits from little Timothy didn"t brighten your days?" Sister Bernadette"s heart skipped a beat in anticipation and then raised an eyebrow, admonishing the nurse"s teasing. "Of course they did. I love that little boy. He"s very intelligent, and a pleasure to talk to." "Of course, just like his father. It"s in the genes, you know?" Trixie commented lightly, trying not to drop the pile of sheets from her hands while rearranging the vase of flowers on the nightstand. "Anyway, I have the Johnson"s babies to check on in half an hour, so I should get going." "Of course, Trix. Thank you for the wonderful visit, although I could have taken care of my room today." She waved the busy blonde goodbye. "I will see you at dinner." "Nonsense. I"ll be saving you a seat, Sister." Trixie winked back and closed the door behind her. Sister Bernadette was left to her own thoughts, and even if she would never admit it to anyone, she allowed herself to enjoy the last of the naps she would be able to enjoy in a (thankfully) very long time. CALLTHEMIDWIFECALLTHEMIDWIFE It was four in the afternoon, and Sister Bernadette had just finished reading when her door opened with great noise. "Timmy." She acknowledged, smiling openly. "It is so good to see you." The boy ran to her and hugged her. "I"m so gald you"re feeling better, Sister. You had us worried for a moment, there." He added in a serious voice. "Not only am I feeling better, but I am also totally healed, Timothy. I am only resting because your silly father insisted that I stay here until dinner." She informed him, tickling him. He laughed. "He"s not silly, he"s just worried. Although Sister Julienne tells me I often confuse both things." "You are not the only one." She patted his head gently. "Come on, grab a chair and tell me all about school." The dark-haired boy quickly complied and set his books on her bed as he sat down on the woodened chair. He sighed. "Nothing exciting to report today, I"m afraid, Sister. I showed Miss James the drawing we made together, and she showed it to the class, but then said she was out of pins to hang it and put it in her drawer..." He finished, sulking. "I wanted Dad to see it on the wall. I even wrote our names in the front so everyone could see who drew it."

The door opened and Anya brought her hand away. If she had somehow been able to direct the car without having to watch the road or hold the wheel, she"d have been in his arms the whole way to the park. She made up for that by giving him a very long, very deep, very sensual kiss. When she finally pulled back a bit she kept her eyes locked on his face. He was still fairly young and his skin was still flush with color. He still wore a blissful smile and his eyes practically shone in the dimming light. More kisses ensued, till with only a few minutes to spare he climbed out of the car and walked towards the gate. It rained that night, not a thunderstorm but still a heavy torrent. Anya listened to the sound of the millions of drops landing on the windows and walls, and reveled in the fact that not so far away the man she loved was listening to the same thing. Claude was leaning in an open doorway in the castle. The park was abandoned in the rainy night, and he watched the drops land on the ground and on the leaves of trees. He had never been bothered by rain, and walked out into the downpour completely open to the feeling of the raindrops landing on him. He couldn"t quite explain it, but he could swear he heard Anya"s name and voice with every drop. The thought that she was listening to the same thing made him smile once more. The rain makes music as it falls, and miles apart two lovers dance as if they were mere inches away. The sound of falling rain catches the ear of the gypsy woman. Esmeralda emerges in the doorway to see Frollo out in the downpour dancing with no one, but looking like a man completely smitten, deep in love. She slapped her face and peered out from between her fingers. He was gone, and that girl probably was too. There wasn"t much more she could do about it. She got a good look at his face and saw that he was younger. She smirked at little and shook her head. Love had always had strange effects on their kind. She knew however that although these two might be happy now, they were only getting to the darkest part of the woods. A relationship like this didn"t have a snowball"s chance in hell at survival. But she wasn"t going to rub that in their faces; she"d rather sit back and let events unfold. Besides, these two probably needed something like this. Before Frollo ever noticed her, she slipped away from the door and disappeared back to the labyrinth beneath. Chapter 13 How many writers have written of forbidden love? Far more than this one cares to count. Its irresistible allure is universally acknowledged; no matter the culture or era; whether your reading it, watching it; making fun of it; or engaging in it; forbidden love draws you in without fail. And, when one is engaged in it, the fact that this affair, this emotion should not be shared between one and one"s lover seems to make the emotion all the stronger, and the lovers even more passionate. In the oft humorous case that these lovers aren"t really in love, but carrying on the affair to piss of those who otherwise control their lives, once this element of danger and drama is taken away, the passion evaporates. However, the loved shared by Claude Frollo and Anya Romanov was something that one could almost say was meant to be. It was real and deep, but without seeing the two of them when they"re together and alone it was rather a difficult fact to ascertain. Unfortunately seeing them when they were together and alone was also very difficult as Frollo always made sure they were actually alone when they were together. Anya had begun signing up for earlier shifts under the pretense that she wanted to get her sleep cycle back to something more normal. Really it gave her an excuse to skip a shower at home, come very early, and get to the showers in the labyrinth were she and Claude had first met. But instead of getting angry or blindfolding himself with his own sash, he was considerably more playful. You might not think at first, but when he wants to Claude can move like a cat; lightening his footsteps till he makes almost no noise at all. Anya was never sure of when he entered the restroom until red silk would obscure her vision. Claude would secure the sash over her eyes; hug her close for a bit, then remove whatever clothing either of them had on and practically carry her into the showers. Just before they hit the hot water he"d pull off the sash. They always had a little discussion over whether they should lather up now or wait till after. It didn"t matter really, either he"d get too frisky to wait or the sight and smell and feel of her curvaceous, wet, soapy body would drive him over the edge. One of the things he liked best about these early morning showers was how amazingly good it felt to have her legs wrapped around his waist, no matter how hard that was to do when wet. Even though they only had these trysts in the very early morning and hadn"t been walked in on yet, both of them went on high alert whenever the slightest suspicious noise reached their ears. This morning a very distinct bang from the restroom door brought them back to reality with a vengeance. Unfortunately for them there was nothing about the position they were in that would allow anyone to who saw them to assume anything else was happening. For just a moment they were frozen in place, Anya looked like some virginal sacrifice with her breath still caught in her bare chest and pure terror on her lovely face. Claude came to his senses a few long milliseconds later, let her down, turned off the shower, and quietly put a towel around her. He motioned for her to stay quiet and put on a robe before composing himself and stepping out into the restroom. Standing by the sinks, waiting for him to come out, was Benjamin Flagg, though no one called him by first name. Behind his back most called him "Colonel" Flagg after the tight fisted, red scared, so-stoic-its-borderline-masochism CIA colonel of the same name in M*A*S*H. The nickname suited him, a patriotic southern good old boy he was one of the highest ups in the park"s administration and just loved to throw the book at all of his employees. He liked to act as if everything he did was vital importance much like his nickname"s sake. And as if that were not bad enough, he was none too fond of the "toons" in the employee of his park. It seemed that upon finding himself in an era when being prejudiced against someone for the color of their skin was unacceptable, he had decided that he"d be racist against toons instead. "Well, good morning there Mr. Frollo." He said with his gold toothed grin. "Monsieur, if you don"t mind." Frollo donned his holier-than-thou expression and fought off the shudders when he saw that not all those gold teeth were gilded. The man runs one of the most visited theme parks in the world and he can"t get to a dentist? Flagg chuckled. "I"ve been hearing some real funny rumors around here, Frollo." "Rumors? I thought men of our...caliber were above listening to the gossip and drivel that floats around these grimy grey halls." "Yea, that is kinda true. But ya see there"s been a really good one lately, makes me nearly wet myself whenever I hear it." "And that would be?" "That you and that tasty little Cossack tidbit have been rocking the cradle since June." he said with a lewd smile. Frollo could just about feel his insides turning over themselves at this disgusting man calling his precious, saintly lady a "tasty Cossack tidbit". He kept his face locked in his haughty expression though, and added his poisonous, blade of a knife, about-to-hand-down-the-death-sentence smile to it. "Oh really, Mr. Flagg?" "That"s right." Flagg"s own expression belied no fear, but Frollo clearly saw the large beads of sweat begin to collect on the man"s forehead. "I"m sure your aware of the park policy against human/toon dating?" "This "park" also has policies to encourage human/toon friendship and social interaction. And correct me if I am wrong, but isn"t courtship a type of social interaction?" "Well..." "And, I may add, dating is not officially forbidden, just discouraged. After all your countries laws protect individual rights too tightly for you to do anything else, and quite honestly the leaps form daily interaction to attraction to sex itself are not great ones." Frollo saw Flagg"s eye twitch and his insides settled down. This battle was his. Flagg looked at his watch. "Alright, I"ll let you go for now boy, but I"ll be wanting to talk to you and the Muscovite later, you hear." As soon as the door slammed Anya came out from behind the curtain. Claude gave her an arrogant smirk and opened his arms to her. She sauntered up to him and squeezed him tight. He started to loosen her towel and pressed his lips up against hers and said, "Shall we finish this while we still have time?" Disney World Theme Park is the world"s largest consumer of fireworks. It goes through well over 1,000 shells a night and over 1 million a year. All of these fireworks are a piece of the excessive fanfare that signals the end of another day at Disney. Nearly every visitor to the park loves this flashy show, but Frollo has long since grown tired of it. The loud bursts hurt his ears and if he"s developed a headache the flashes of light only make it worse. Normally he seeks out a quiet, dark, cool, secluded place away from the noise of the crowd and the explosions. This night like many others he retreated to the Moonlight Grove. But tonight Anya is not here. Since she works the early shift she is rarely at the park when the sunsets. It"s a painful trade off for Frollo. She can be with him in the early morning hours, but when they"re little sanctuary is as they know it, she often at home, tired and wanting to rest. He"s tired too, tired from the day, but also tired of this place. He had hoped that after a certain amount of time people would find something else to gossip about. They had to a degree but he and Anya were still a very hot topic. Now it looked like administration would try to crack down on them, and possibly even try to separate them. Fall was running its course, and winter, or at least some tepid form of it was heading towards Florida. Winter would bring temperate but wet weather and it would also bring thousands upon thousands of more tourists escaping the more brutal weather in the northern states, in addition to those who came for Christmas and New Year"s shows. How he wished he could escape for just a few days and go some place cold, some place covered in pure white snow. Recently he"d been entertaining a little daydream of him and Anya strolling through a snow covered forest, perhaps somewhere in Siberia, before returning to a very small but cozy rustic cabin as the sun disappeared over the white sparkling hills. A bone rattling burst from the finale of the fireworks show shot him out of his reverie and he made is way back to his suite, ears covered and grumbling all the way. Anya too was starting to dream of ice and snow. She"d been living in Florida for two years but still when winter began to roll around her internal calendar told her there should be snow or at least a good cold wind coming in from the tundra. She still wasn"t quite used to being hot all year round. She was turning her thoughts and her free time towards arranging to go home for about a week either on New Year"s or Christmas and visit her family in the Winterland of the Midwest, aka Minneapolis Minnesota. She"d been talking to her parents regularly, and was on the phone with her mother again tonight, speaking in her familiar Russian. "How are Raisa and her new husband?" "Koshka*, your sister has been on the phone complaining to anyone who might listen about him. I know she"s called you too." "She has, but I didn"t listen." "You should listen to your sister when she needs you." "Mama, what do you want? You were just complaining about her." "Yes Koshka, but I still listened." "Well, besides that mama, I"m trying to get a week or two off, but it won"t be easy. The holiday"s is when the park is the busiest." "I know. Just tell us when you can come home and papa will send you the ticket right away." "Mama, I can pay for my own ticket." "And then not eat for weeks when you get back. Koshka, you should come home, find a better job here." "Mama..." "I know its painful for you my little Koshka, but you should not be so worried about your pride." "Its not my pride, mama." "If it"s about that insolent little boy you were engaged to and didn"t wait for you, you needn"t worry about him!" "Papa! Mama I asked you to stop putting my calls on speaker phone!" "He made me darling." "Yes I"m sure. Its not him or my pride keeping me here anymore." "Anymore? Anya, you met someone?" Anya bit her lip. "Yes, you might say..." "Good!" she could her father slap his belly, "who is my future son in law?" "Papa!" "Peter!" "What?" Mother and daughter growled in tandem. "I did meet someone, but its still young, and he"s..." "He"s what, Koshka?" "Nothing, never mind." "Well, whoever he is he must be a good man. He"s made you very happy." "Mama?" "Your voice, its soft and happy again." Anya smiled a hint. "Mama, it"s getting late, and I need..." "Need to be up early...I know Koshka. We"re all looking forward to seeing you." "Yes my daughter, try to bring that new man of yours in for... ow!" "Stop it Peter! Koshka said it was still young. Don"t scare him off with thoughts of marriage now." Anya laughed. "Goodbye mama, goodbye papa. I love you both." "Goodnight dear Koshka, we love you too." Anya put the phone back in its cradle. Frollo meeting her family; Claude Frollo meeting her big, loud, boisterous, thoroughly Russian family. Scenario after scenario ran through her head before she remembered something. Claude wasn"t human. She"d been around him for so long she"d completely forgotten about that. How in the world was she going to be able to explain this too them? They knew she was seeing someone, and she figured she could only beat around the bush for about another year. After that even her mother would be insisting to see him. Why did it seem like the entire galaxy was trying to end this relationship? *author"s note Koshka is Russian for kitten Chapter 14 Christmas season brings almost nothing but a rush. Rushing to buy presents, rushing to get to relatives, rushing to finish everything to save time for all other rushes. Unlike most other toons; Claude was part of this too. He was rushing to see his beloved Anya as much as he could before she left for two weeks to visit her family. She came in for one last shift before leaving. Her plane was taking off late that night and once she was finished working she wouldn"t even be going back to her apartment. Her bags were in a friend"s car whom had driven her into work and would pick her up afterwards to take her to the airport. It was a chilly and sodden day under dreary skies. It matched Claude"s mood perfectly. He managed to sneak over to her during her break. They hid form the rain together underneath the tiny eve of the building. Claude held her in an almost crushing embrace; he couldn"t seem to be close enough to her. It would be the first time since they had become consummate lovers that he would be separated form her for more than a day. Neither one of them said a word, Anya didn"t complain about how tight he was holding her, they didn"t try to kiss, for ten whole minutes they didn"t move a muscle. Finally Anya lifted her head and looked right into his eyes. He brought his lips to hers and they shared one soft, gentle kiss. Claude felt a little soothed but when their embrace eventually broke he also felt no small measure of loneliness. As he watched her leave the park from underneath his mask he decided that the best way to pass these next weeks would be to simply be unconscious. His little plan to try to sleep through most of Anya"s absence would prove a far more difficult one to carry out than he first thought. Sleep would become an escape for Anya too. Any other mode of transportation form car to ship never bothered her. But the second a plane took her off the ground her stomach would do somersaults. So she drank chamomile and ginger tea to calm her stomach and put her to sleep. As she slept she dreamed. Once she woke most of images became fuzzy and faded away. But one image stayed with her; it was of Claude, wearing his normal clothes but with the colors changed. Instead of black, white, instead of red, gold, instead of purple, silver. He was standing in a snow covered forest, among gothic ruins of a cathedral not far from a white altar that looked like it was made from ice and covered in white and cream colored flowers, roses, lilies, and what looked like baby"s breath. Two huge candles stood burning bright on the altar. Claude turned to her, smiling like a man about to step into heaven and offered his hand to her and beckoned her to take it. This image circled around in Anya"s head all evening. Even as she talked to her parents and siblings over dinner and nightcaps her thoughts still turned back to the dream she had on the plane. Anya decided to turn in a little earlier claiming the tea was still affecting her. Her mother lead her to one of the rooms she and her siblings used to use when they were young, and helped her get her things out of her suitcase and sorted into a dresser. As she climbed into bed her mother sat down next to her. "Mama," she said in Russian. "I"m a little old to be tucked in." "Koshka, something is bothering you." "Nothing"s bothering me mama, I"ve just been thinking about something." "What is that?" "Well, I had a dream on the plane, about..." "About what?" "That man I"ve been seeing, I saw him dressed in white and gold. We were standing in some ruined cathedral in the middle of the winter, and there was a big altar in front of us with two candles on it, and lots of flowers." As Anya spoke her mother raised her hands to her face but her expression was obviously one of joy. "Koshka, were there two crowns on the altar as well?"* "Huh? Oh, no mama, sorry. Just candles and flowers." "Oh." There was a little disappointment on her mother"s face but she was still smiling. "Well then, go to sleep Koshka, and more sweet dreams." She planted a kiss on Anya"s forehead and headed to the door. "Oh mama." "Yes Koshka?" "Don"t tell anyone about that dream, even papa. I mean it mama." Her mother grumbled a bit but nodded her head, Anya plumped her pillow and put her head down, and fell asleep in a matter of minutes. Almost immediately that same dream returned to her. This time it was much more vivid. It started with them walking on either side of the pillars of the ruined cathedral. She saw she was wearing a long, light, almost weightless gown of pure white with pieces of curving silver holding it on her shoulders. Her neck, shoulders, and arms were completely bare but she didn"t feel cold at all. She lifted her hand to her head and felt a coronet there, and a long veil. She heard Claude call her name and looked to him. He was wearing his normally colored clothes. He stopped, smiled a little mischievously, and then stepped round the column. As he did so the colors of his robes changed to the same colors she saw in the first dream. He kept smiling and reached past her shoulders. "Those wings fit you." Anya looked behind her and saw two giant wings stretching from her shoulder blades. She turned back to Claude, and saw the same altar behind him this time with two shining crowns sitting proudly between the candles. He looked at it, turned back, and offered his hand once more. This time she reached out and took it. They took a few steps towards it, and then Anya felt the ground suddenly give out. She looked down and saw an impossibly deep chasm surrounding the altar. Claude looked down the chasm sorrowfully and back to her. "I have no wings." He said. "I will find you some." No sooner had she said that than she heard the alarm go off. She pried her head from the pillow and slammed the alarm off. She lay in bed for a few minutes, with the dream still hanging about her. It was so beautiful, and her Claude looked so handsome, but its symbolism wasn"t lost on her. Find him wings. An incredibly loud thud in the next room jerked Frollo out of a deep sleep. He grumbled and stuck his head under his thick pillows. The walls in-between the toon"s suites were so thin that it was possible to have a conversation with the person in the next one. And if words could get through, so could every other noise. It seemed like every time he had just fallen asleep, some would sit down, get up, walk around, leave, return, or make some other noise to wake him right up again. He had also found out to his partial dismay that Basil"s suite backed up right against one of the walls of his bedroom. And it was from that wall that the thud came. "Please be doing some experiment, please be doing some experiment, please be doing some experiment..." he muttered. He heard a knocking form the other side of the wall, and ignored it. Basil knocked again. "Come on man, I know you can hear me. That thump could have woken a dead man."

Jack"s amused look hadn"t changed till now. His brow furrowed and his upper lip gave a small disgusted snarl. "What the hell? Why?" he asks in genuine confusion. "I can only think he"s paving the way for a new marriage. Either that or he"s fishing for someone more his age in my family." Jack"s disgust visably grew. "I can"t decide what"s worse, calling him honey, or calling him dad; or grandad." Jack closed his eyes for a second then gave a big shiver. "Ick." "Yeah." "I sympathize, I do." he drawls. He locks eyes with you for a second, the room seeming to grow warmer under his blue green stare, then he breaks it to glance around. You do the same, wondering what got his attention but see nothing out of the ordinary. Then he leans in. "Tassiter has a lot of favorites." he whispers. "Not surprised." you say. "But you have the bad luck of being number 1, apparently. Well, among chicks at least." he leans back again. Oh no, he"s couldn"t be saying what you think he is. "So he plays both sides of the fence, and you..." Jack nods. "Another favorite. I don"t like it, but he doesn"t much like me, and I have to get favors from him somehow." "What favors?" "What could be worth that?' you think. "Oh, the best computers, fancy toys, my own satellite, you know the usual fun stuff." he flashes another heart stopping smile. "But what favors do you get?" You put your head in your hand. "I dunno, the honor of his presence?" Jacks chuckles. "You could push for more you know." "I think he keeps me around cause I don"t. And besides, if I start pushing now I"m sure he"ll push me out of a job." "You need this job that badly?" he says flippantly. "Jack, this is Pandora remember? This complex is just a microcosm of normalcy, it either a corporate desk lacky job or being clan wife to some set of bandit raiders if I"m lucky." "Oh I know that sweetcheeks. I never forget that. I feel you there. I"d rather give my gun a blowjob then end up out there with them." He winks at you again. Your mind quickly translates it as "I give amazing head by the way. Seriously, you wouldn"t know what hit you.' You smile at the thought and that mind of yours goes to darker, dirtier places quickly. An attractive man sitting here, talking to you, nearly flirting. What a cool breeze, what a breath of fresh air, what a tall cool glass of water. Just what you"ve been needing. Jack stands, slowly it feels almost like a strip tease about to begin. He peers down at you and you think you see him chew his lip just a bit. "Want some coffee?" You don"t drink coffee, it does bad things, it tastes like shit water. You want it now though. "Sure." Everyone sees you strolling along with Jack. The women hate you for it, and not a small amount of the men too. You get that coffee and choke it down as the two of you keep talking. To anyone else the conversation seems innocuous but you slip in innuendos. Mostly about Tassiter. It feels good to berate him with someone else. The flirting gets a little more overt on his end, and you reciprocate. It feels great, naughty, flattering. His attentions stoke flames and bring back a slick wet heat you"ve not felt for awhile. But even this fun moment has to end. And soon enough you"re back at your desk with a half drunk but never to be finished mug of coffee. You feel...a little better. There"s less weight on your chest, and a tiny bit of confidence is dribbling back. Your boss cuts out early later so you decide to do the same. Lot of things to round up tonight. Tassiter never argues with steaks so you mange to find some decent ones, along with some veggies to roast. While you"re shopping you notice some chorizo sausage on sale. Your mouth waters a bit at the thought of the "Kitchen Sink" chili you could make with that. You haven"t made chili in a while because Tassiter"s been over a lot and he complained bitterly about the smell last time. Fuck him, you finally decide. You can think of an excuse to keep him from spending the night and make it after he leaves. With no small amount of suppressed; excited joy you gather up all the ingredients for your chili and head to the check out. You run the groceries home first then head back out for the rest of your necessary items. You weave your way through the dusty back streets climbing up and down staircases of tamped down earth till you find the little kink shop with the stuff you need. The older lady who runs it knows you by now, she smiles and tosses you a bawdy wink as you leave. You smile back, glad that for all her grizzled and mean looks she"s very sweet, as long as you treat her nice. Closer to home you pick up those pills. The nearer to Hyperion campus you are the cleaner and wider the streets get. They"re trying to clean the place up but what money they"re willing to spare doesn"t go far. Finally you get home the second time, close and lock the door and heave a sigh, checking your watch. 10 to 5, he"ll be by at 7 on the dot. Enough time to shower and change, then get dinner ready. And hide the chili ingredients. You dress the part; a dark red silk dress and a nice lacy set of lingerie. Tassiter bought you that set, its a little too small and after a few washings its started itching. Not like him to get something cheap but you guess he doesn"t know all that much about female undies. You get dinner underway at 6:15 and just as predicted, you hear a key card slide through the lock at 7. Tassiter enters, again smiling at you. He changed into an even nicer suit between now and work. He greets you and wraps his thin arms around your waist as you"re finishing dinner. He does play the part of a boyfriend somewhat well. You space out a lot during dinner. You"re thinking about everything your were at work but now you just feel tired as you go over the scenarios again. It might also be his droning voice as he describes similar things. After dinner is finished you pile the dishes by the sink and prepare to wash them off and you feel thin fingers in your hair. You jump a little and he frowns. "Did I surprise you?" You nod and openly yawn. A least you don"t have to fake it. "Tired, I assume? You did seem a bit distracted." "I guess today took more out of me than I thought." you say slowly. "Hmm..." He keeps running his hands through your hair for a minute as you begin washing dishes. You don"t fight the tiredness and your eyelids droop a bit. He notices all this and heaves a sigh. "I guess I"ll sleep in my house tonight; if you"re that tired." "You don"t have to do that." you offer. He would stay if you didn"t. "I think I should. Besides," he leans in and pecks your forehead. "I can come back tomorrow night." "I"ll see you then." you crack a half smile. His fingers linger in your hair for a moment then he heads to the door. Tassiter is nothing if not economical even with his time. If you won"t be sleeping together, he won"t linger. The room gets lighter when he leaves. You wait a beat and then lock the door behind him. Your energy comes back for a moment as you clean up and then un-stash your chili fixings. The dress and lace is thrown into the hamper unceremoniously and replaced with warm, soft, comfy jackobs sweats. Your comfort food is soon bubbling happily away and you take a moment to consider what to do with the rest of your Tassiter free evening. Try out that new mmo shooter people have been raving about, maybe go surf around your favorite alt lit sites and see if there"s any new bits making the rounds, or just waste the night streaming and listening to chatter on the ECHO net. Before you can make up your mind there"s a rap on the door. "Shit." you spit under your breath. You go up to the door console and turn on the outside camera. "Hey pumpkin." Jack looks wildly distorted under the fisheye lens. "I know its a little creepy just to show up. But I figured "What the hell, I"ll try.' Can I come in?" "You followed Tassiter?" you ask wryly. "In a way. Every Hyperion vehicle has GPS after all." Why would he go to that kind of trouble to find you? He"s right, this is creepy. You don"t like it, but in a way you do. You know he did this because something pulls him to it. In some way he"s intrigued. And you are too. You unlock the door and Jack saunters in. "That was a long pause pumpkin, you had me worried for a sec." He takes a deep whiff of the air and sighs appreciatively. "Awe, you shouldn"t have! And I thought you didn"t know I was coming." Now you crack a real smile and head over to the pot still bubbling merrily. You remove the lid with a bit of a flourish and a cloud of steam rises, saturating your apartment in the spicy, meaty scent even more. "Tassiter hates this stuff. So I made it when he left." Jack gets some half evil half possessive look on his face as he steps closer. He looks the same but every time you see him he gets hotter. He gets close, far beyond friend zones. "Sticking to to him anyway you can huh?" Gods the man"s tall. Other guys are taller but its been an age since you felt the difference. To meet those odd eyes you have to nearly crane your neck. In the low evening light its like they"re glowing. You gulp and nod, your own smile growing the more he stares at you. You notice that despite the mismatch, those two colors bleed into each other. The blue one is partly green and the green one has several spots of blue. The gods really couldn"t make up their freakin minds could they? There"s not a word from the usually chatty man as you soak each other in. You absent mindedly hope he"s finding something about to be just as fascinated about. Just as the tension climbs to a breaking point he backs away. "Well, what do you wanna do? Night"s ours babe." What is this weird, shaky feeling that passes through you as he says that? Attraction, excitement? "I think I like you." you blurt as you replace the lid and turn down the burner. "And its strange." He cocks an eyebrow and you feel a throb in your abdomen. "Maybe because I haven"t liked anyone in while. Yeah, that must be it." you wrinkle your nose as you think about Tassiter again. "One reason why I"m here kitten." he reaches out and cups your chin, appraising you and giving a slight pucker. "Oh, playing the part of the white knight are we?" you snicker. Somehow that role doesn"t quite suit him. But he grins. "That"s who I am babe, that"s who I am." Now he moves close enough to touch, to hold. He wraps his arms around you and his mouth crashes down onto yours. He is not timid, first mashing your lips then licking them. You open your mouth like he asked and are quickly lost to the world taking in the sensual feel of his tongue against yours and listening to his heavy breathes and moans. That shaky throbbing grows and now it feels familiar. Arousal, attraction, pure animal lust. The more you recognize it the more you need it back. Like Tassiter stole everything fun from your life and your body and Jack is offering it back on a silver platter. Gods above even his name is hot. Jack...what a manly name. One syllable rolling off the tongue, a name you can moan or spit. Its a demanding name. It calls attention to itself. You tangle you fingers in the back of his hair and pull it just a bit. He breaks the kiss and leans back but you can feel him fighting it a little. His eyes are hazed with lust and a wicked grin is growing in those luscious, wet, swollen lips. "Jack," just as you"d been thinking about, you moan his name, "Jack...god damn Jack." The grin morphs into a sneer. "God damn right!" You tug him towards the bedroom, but once he knows what direction he"s headed in he does the rest of the tugging. By the time you"re in that dark room he"s already got hands under your shirt and down the seat of your pants. He"s not going to be a gentle lover, you wince as he drags his nails across your skin and squeezes your breast has hard as he can. "Gotta hand one thing to the old windbag." he growls as he yanks the neckline of your shirt back and runs his teeth over your shoulder, "He"s got great taste in women." He sucks the crook of your neck and nips, then bites. He keeps that up while pulling the rest of your clothes down your hips. This frenzied pace has you breathless, your hands paw at him for something to hold onto. But that changes into straight groping as you find out how fit his is, and as your stray further south you discover an important source of his abounding ego. So many jokes at work about Jack overcompensating. Jack doesn"t need to compensate for anything. He knows he"s huge, he knows he"s smart, he knows he"s the best looking thing on the god damned planet. When he finally lets go of your neck a full, angry purple bruise has blossomed. In the sharp light from outside you can see him lick his lips. "Good look for you kitten." You start stripping him out of his jacket and eyes his neck as he shrugs it off. "Wanna give me some?" he pulls his Hyperion shirt over his head and hold out his arms. You grin and smack into him, kissing up and down his neck and shoulder, looking for the perfect spot. You find it just above his clavicle and latch on just as hard as he did. He hisses and drags fingernails over your ass, leaving long red marks. Before you get to finish with your hickey you"re knocked back onto the bed and your shirt is pulled away. Jack climbs up and straddles your hips; fondling your breasts and drawing in a hitching breath. "Kudos kiddo, kudos. Maybe Tassiter just wants to thank your momma for giving you all this." he licks the other side of your neck and you squirm, reaching up and raking his back. He groans and leans back up, for a minute just sits on top of you, rubbing himself through his bulging jeans. He looks like a piece of pop art, bare chested and sharply defined in blue night light. You"re throbbing just looking at him, heat rushing through your veins; making you feel like your heart pumps magma now. Its a slow burn lust, you"re not out of control yet but the moment he touches you again it"ll flare quickly. You want his big, rough hands on you again. You want to feel him grope you, lust over you, you want to feel those manly fingers play with you. You want to see stars tonight. He doesn"t reach for you quick enough so your lift your hands to his. The moment your finger brush his hands he takes them away, grabs yours and places them right on his erection. His jeans are hot and nearly damp and you give him a squeeze, then run your fingers over the zipper up to his belt. Jack bites his lip as he watches you unbuckle and then open his jeans. "Not shy are we?" he gives a slight hiss as his member springs free, you chew your own lip at the first sight of him. Long, thick, and flushed dark with hot blood it twitches as you run your fingers over it and then grip it firmly, giving a few pumps. Suddenly Jack leans forward and plants his hands in the mattress, forcing you to lie back down. "Tell me how bad you want this." his voice is low and dangerous. You might think he was about to hurt you, but still keeping a firm grip on his cock let"s you feel no small amount of power. You lick your lips as a good answer comes to mind. "Want implies I can live without it." your voice warbles a bit as you speak. "I need you tonight. Now." Jack clicks his tongue and runs a hand down your neck. "Pushy pushy." "Please. I"ll do anything." For just one moment he pauses, like that phrase turned him off, but in the next he"s thrown his weight down on you and slammed his mouth back into yours. The next few minutes is a fevered frenzy of kissing, groping, nipping, biting and slapping as he pries your rear up just enough to smack it while you suck at his ear. You win that little tug of war as he loses any thoughts while your tongue traces every contour of his ear, then draws the lobe into your mouth to suckle at. Finally he growls and pushes you back down. "Do that down south babe." he growls, then climbs off you to rip his jeans and boots off. He stands on the end of the bed and yanks you forward, you bound up to him and press your lips to his flat, firm abdomen. He skin is soft, taunt and still glistens with health and youth. "Such a nice change" you think as you quickly follow the trail of dark hairs to his cock. There"s no pause or anticipation when you reach it. Tassiter likes you to be able to give good head quickly, he taught you some good tricks you"ll give him that. You part your lips and take Jack"s cock into your mouth with ease, he exhales at that first wet touch and buries his fingers in your hair. The taste of him is musky and salty but not overpowering and he pushes your head further down his shaft. You swallow him down and relish the sounds that start escaping him, they"re just little whines at first but as you suck him up to the tip and swallow him again and again they evolve into whorish moans. The man makes delicious, amazing noises just listening to him is making you dampen the sheets beneath you. You keep sucking him for several minutes, continuing at your steady, patient pace even as he starts bucking his hips up into your mouth. "Goddamn...AH..is...is..that." You think he"s going to say "Is that all you"ve got?'. Your mouth twitches up in a grin, or as close to one as you can get with his cock in it and you take him as deep as you can stand then suck again till you think your lips might fall off. "OHhhh-ffffuck!" is all he can mange till you ease up. Once you do he tugs your hair and pulls you off his dick. He"s panting hard and sweat covers his whole body, his knees are visibly shaking. "So...that"s whaa...what its...like...; that"s..." he says through pants, till giving up on talking. "Tassiter train you too?" He gets an ugly look when you mention you"re mutual boss. "Don"t mention...him...again. At all." "No such beast." you say, before being pushed back on the bed. "Turn over." he demands, and you comply. He delivers a sharp, merciless smack to your ass. You gasp and feel the pins and needles ripple over your skin. You fully expect more but none come, instead you feel his calloused fingers running up and down your thighs. You shiver, it feels nice but it reminds you too much of the other man, too gentle, and for Jack, very fake. "What happened?" you say. He answers with nails raking down your back, not hard enough to draw blood but they leave good, red marks. "Reading you.I like what I see." He pulls you legs apart and bids you lift your hips, then tucks a pillow beneath them. "Tired of boring screws? OK honey, tonight will be anything but boring." You feel the weight shift in the mattress and his hot skin as he kneels between you spread legs. His fingers rub through your slit and tease at you clit, making you seize up, he hums appreciatively as moisture drips onto his hand. He doesn"t remove his hand as you feel the swollen head of his cock meet your flesh. That sweet friction, the satisfying feeling of being slowly filled, invaded makes you grunt through clenched teeth. He answers with a moan and quickly hilts himself, laying his full weight over you. You give him a well practiced squeeze and he shudders, wrapping his arms underneath yours and gripping your shoulders before grinding into you. "Oh gods, it"s really happening" you think briefly as if you forgot. Its as close to thought as you can get from that point on. His thrusting is slowly getting faster and more erratic, the feeling of him taking you fills you with pleasure laden heat, your skin tingles and your insides melt. His moaning gets louder, along with grunts as he thrusts harder, his finger are digging into your shoulders and they"ll surely bruise. "God-fucking-damn." you hear him hiss. "So good." you crone to him, he answers by rutting into you like a wild animal. Then without warning he stops, pulls out to flip you over and thrusts back in so quickly you have to brace your hands on the headboard to keep from smacking you skull into it. He starts his rut again and its insanely hotter to watch him over you, holding your gaze with his burning, lust addled eyes while he fucks you senseless. A few minutes go but they feel like years to you, there"s nothing but aching for more, overwhelming pleasure and prickling pain from his slaps and scratches. You feel something grind against your clit again and can"t help but buck your hips up, letting him slide even deeper. He gives that shameless, slutty moan again and you feel a hot pulse from him. That little feeling combines with everything else to bring you to your orgasm, it blots out your vision and makes you feel nothing but the sparking spasms of pleasure. Too quickly you come down, panting hard and covered in sweat, with Jack draped over you in a similar state. After a few minutes he rolls off to your side and sighs. "Fuck." he breathes out. You nod, not quite recovered enough to speak. "Just did, didn"t we?" you finally whisper. He chuckles weakly. "One time thing?" you ask. Can"t say you really mind if it is. "Nah." he replies. You"ve just one more question for him. "Need a place to stay tonight?" "I"d be happy to crash here." A year and a half later... Your affair with Jack was hot, it was fun, it liberated you. You didn"t really fall in love with him not the way you do with most of your real boyfriends. But he was like a drug and one taste was never enough. He liked leaving marks on you, hickeys, scratches, bruises, welts, and you wore them with as much pride as he wore yours.

"What is wrong with you? We"re in love, we"re engaged, its what people like us do." "I just...at your age I thought..." "Oh shut up, forget it. Why did you call?" Anya got up and headed into the bathroom. "Ah! Yes, I found out who was eavesdropping on your proposal." "And?" "Possibly one of the most popular Disney characters ever, the mermaid princess Ariel." "Well she does have a history of that." Claude raked a hand down his face. "Our favorite spot, possibly the only peaceful spot in that place is ruined now." "I wouldn"t say ruined, just not a secret." Said Anya as she climbed back into bed. "Thus ruined." Claude gave her a look, which she shot right back. "Was that all you called about?" "About all, you"ll be back here in a few hours right?" "Yes, unfortunately." "There are a few people who want to talk to you." "Not tonight." Claude rubbed his eyes. "But," "Not tonight." "Alright, but no dodging tomorrow." "Very well, goodbye." Claude handed the phone back to Anya and she hung it up, then promptly threw herself back onto him and kissed him. "Now I"m ready for another." He said against her lips. Frollo arrived back in his flat at about 1 am. He dragged himself into bed; he was drained but happy. All the stress that had been tightening his muscles and making his bones ache was gone. Now he just needed some good sleep; thank the lord he didn"t have to get up till late afternoon tomorrow. It was January in Florida but today was usually hot. The sun beat down and the asphalt and concrete covered ground only made the heat worse. Anya decided to take lunch on the cool dirt beneath some trees instead of on her bench. Not long after she settled down she saw her fiancé approaching. She waved to him and he soon joined her in the shade. Looking at his face in daylight she could see he still had some semblance of youth leftover from the night before. She only got a few bites of her food before he started nuzzling her neck and kissing her. She laughed and pushed him away; he backed off only to speak. "I wonder if you"ve given any thought to the date of our wedding?" She choked on her sandwich. "Claude," she swallowed, "we"ve been engaged less than a week, I haven"t even told my parents I am engaged!" Claude sighed and gave her a slightly disgruntled look. "You should tell them tonight." "They don"t know who you are, I"m not allowed to tell them who you are." He grabbed her face and leaned in close. "Tell them." Anya gulped and nodded. Claude put his hands down and gave her some space to breath again. "I will tell you now I"d prefer a winter wedding." "A winter wedding? You mean this coming winter? That"s a little less than a year away." Claude said nothing and only looked at her expectantly. "I think that"s a little fast..." "Are you worried about money?" "No, not really, my family would not mind fronting most of money if it"s within reasonable limits." "Worried about us?" She looked up at him. "I, its just that I"ve seen people do this before, get engaged and then married in just over a year, usually only a few years later they end up divorced." "My dear," he cupped her chin, "we are not two stupid, over zealous, infatuated children. We are two intelligent, mature adults, who are very much in love. We"ve already built a happy relationship through trials that other couples will never see. I think we stand a good chance at successful marriage." "What about all of this?" She gestured around at the park, and the giant castle not far away. He gazed at it for a moment, then turned his eyes back to her. "That means nothing. They can"t chain me or cage me, they can"t tell me who to love or whether or not I can marry." "What about my job?" she croaked. "Quit." "What!" "Quit." "I"ll have no way to support myself, and I won"t be able to get back in here." "You"re a good artist, find a job somewhere among adults, doing something you actually like. I"m surprised I have to tell you this at all." Anya sighed and hung her head. He was right and there was no denying it. "Ok, ok, I"ll send out my portfolio and see what comes back." He pecked her forehead. "Good girl. But that"s not the only thing you have to do." "Ok, I"ll call my folks tonight too. What I"ll tell them, I have no idea, but I"ll call." "That"s better." He pulled her in and gave her a sweet kiss. "I have to go now, but you finish eating and get through this day, you have a lot of work to do when you get home." He gave her one last kiss before leaving. Anya stared out blackly as he walked away. She could have sworn that up until a few minutes ago she was the one in charge in this relationship. Chapter 1 Disney World Park in Florida is actually built a few feet above ground. Walt Disney had always disliked that fact that the Disney Land Park back in California provided no discreet way for employees leaving one area of the park to travel through the others. He did not like to see people from the futuristic part traveling through the rest of the park as they left, breaking the illusion of a fantasy world. So he decided early on that this new park should have ample, hidden passageways for his workers to move through the grounds without being seen by patrons. Engineers solved this problem by building the park on top of a huge labyrinth of hallways and rooms. Officially this labyrinth only contains equipment, bathrooms, changing rooms, and the like. Cameras have even been down within the bowels of the park reporting on how the place works, but oh so very well hidden are living quarters made for the best and least known employees. The labyrinth below the park looks the same at almost any time of day. It doesn"t take long for any new arrival to figure this out. 5 in the morning looks about the same as noon and midnight, with the exception of noise levels, traffic, and how many lights are on. 5 am, August 5th, 1996. One dark and brooding figure makes his way down the passage mumbling to himself. He slips into a door on the left side camouflaged to look just like part of the pipe covered wall. Behind this door is a large co-ed washroom complete with sinks, hair and hand dryers, stalls, benches, towels, and in beyond a small curtained doorway a shower room. This man takes off his hat, tries to run the water in the sink. The faucets are motion activated; something he doesn"t quite seem to have a grasp on. He continually tries to run the water growling when the faucet activates the spilt second he moves his hands out of the flow. "To hell with it!" He turns away and pulls the huge, black, heavy garment he was wearing over his head, throws it on a bench, then grabs some paper towels from the dispenser and wipes his brow. He stares into the mirror for a few minutes, scowling at himself or nothing at all. Suddenly a shower head in the next room comes to life, causing him to jump a bit. He had thought he was alone in the rooms. He storms up to the curtain grabs it, and rips it back. Standing in the stream of water is a young, curvy woman with short brown hair already soaked. She doesn"t scowl or scream or even try to cover herself. She simply smiles faintly and says, "Good morning to you too. You must be Claude Frollo. They mentioned that you guys would be here soon." Normally a man of such staunch Catholic belief would have been long gone before she could ever finish a sentence. But a series of shocks, a stressful and confusing move, and being thrust into a degrading job had caused not just slower reflexes but a few million questions that in her next breathe the young woman offered to answer. Frollo stood there staring at nothing for a few seconds. "Well, in or out?" That woke him up. "What?" "Do you want to come in here," she gestured around the shower room, "and talk, or stay out there?" Frollo gives her a poisonous stare and yanks the curtain shut. But he doesn"t stomp off. He leans against the wall wearing his usual frown. "You"ve been here two weeks, right?" No answer. "That means that you"ve started working. Not all that pretty huh?" He still doesn"t say a word, though he can hear pop something open and her squeeze out soap. "Well, that"s one thing you kinda have to find your own way to deal with here. The people, the cameras, the noise, if you don"t come up with something soon to keep you sane you"ll go loony. I"ve seen it happen twice already." "Why do they do this?" There"s a long pause after he says this. "What?" "Why do they do this?" "I can"t hear you over the shower head, you have to come in here if you want to talk." He grabs his forehead and rakes his fingers down his face thinking, then why did you give me the choice in the first place? He wants those questions answered but he doesn"t want to see a naked woman again. Ah, solution. He pulls the red sash from his hat and blindfolds himself with it. It had been ripped away while leaving Paris and he had had to constantly tuck it back in. He slips past the curtain and carefully feels his way to the bench in the middle of the room, and sits facing away from the young woman. Again there"s a long awkward pause before he speaks. "Why did they do this?" "They hate to waste." He whips around. "Waste?" "When an animator creates a full fledged character, it becomes real in another world. Its creator can access that world. But, animators work for directors, and directors work for producers and studio executives. If a movie doesn"t make the money it cost at the box office, or if it makes a lot of money, the animators are given an executive order. Bring your creation into our world. They"ll work for us now. If you don"t, you"re out of a job. Unfortunately, your movie hasn"t done so well. So they want you and the rest to make back that money they spent by having you play yourself secretly here in the park. But you"ve already figured that out." "Obviously." He says through clenched teeth. "But I bet you don"t know just where you stand in here." She turns off the shower and squeezes excess water out of hair before rubbing her skin dry with a towel. She wraps the towel around her and uses another to start drying her hair. "You can take off that blindfold, I"m decent." She says as she leaves the shower room. Frollo slowly removes the silk from his face, gets up and follows her out. She"s standing in front of the mirrors, still rubbing her hair dry. Finally she throws the towel in a bin, and quickly brushes the tangles out of her short dark hair. "Okay, where you stand in this park depends on where you work. First there"s the outsiders, everyone who works in the part of the park that the public visits, and the insiders, we all stay out of sight down here. You already know you"re an outsider. You one of the performers, you have to wander around and walk in the parades. There are also the people in the stores, the stalls, the games, the rides, and the restaurants, and a few guys that clean the place and the security guards. The insiders are mostly people in engineering, repairs, and logistics." "Logistics?" he breaks his frown and gives her a quizzical look. "They"re those really annoying, high voiced guys that are always running around like headless chickens making sure everyone and everything gets where it needs to." "On the outside-side of things, you are pretty high up there in terms of importance, but in here your about even with the rest of us." "Do you, have to live down here too?" "No, I"m allowed to have an apartment of my own, mostly because I have family and friends that would worry about me. But I hardly ever go there. They keep me on a tight schedule." "What are you?" "I work in one of the many gift shops that just about every single yuppie who comes to the park has to get about thirty things from. But I"m a trained animator." "Animator!" "They never actually gave me a job." "You, your one of the ones that..." "I told you, they didn"t give me a job. Last time I was paid for any animation was a year ago when I got my last paycheck from an advertising firm I did work for." She finishes fussing with her hair and grabs her robe, faces away from him, puts it on, pulls off the towel and ties it shut. She throws that towel in the bin as well and takes a few steps up to him. "My name"s Anya. Welcome to the Disney Team. If that term makes you nauseous better get some Pepto Bismo cause they use it every time they have bad news, which is about 200 times a day." She smiles and raises her hand. He looks at it, then her, and finally grasps it. "Do you know how long I"ll have to stay here?" "Don"t know. All I know is that Mickey and Snow White where the first ones they brought over, and they"re still stuck here. If you still want to take a shower you"d better hurry, this place will be packed by 6." She walks out of the washroom, leaving him to wonder for the thousandth time since those strange men came knocking on his door just what has gone wrong in the world. Chapter 2 6:30 am, and the corridors are no longer quiet. They"re filled with the sounds of voices, running and walking feet, pipes, wheeled carts and the occasional crash of something dropping. Meandering his way through the sea of people in costumes, khakis and uniforms is Claude Frollo passing time till he has to ascend to the surface in a giant mask of himself. As he moves along his eyes fall most often on the other performers, some from other worlds like him, some from this one, but all stuck in that same degrading job of making patrons feel like they"re in a fantasy. He hates everything about this job, most of all that mask. Whatever the damned thing is made of causes him to over heat the minute he gets into the burning Florida sun, which also causes it to give off horrible noxious fumes that make him nauseous and nearly caused him to pass out the first day. Anya had said that he needed to find something to do to keep himself sane. What could he possibly do in here? The park opened its gates right on time, and he like many others was waiting at those gates for the first rush of visitors. There is little he can be grateful for, but one thing is the fact that his real face is completely hidden and no one can see his angry scowl, or a grimace of pain, or a green tinge when nausea sets in. That day was hotter than most, and as morning turned to afternoon every living being in that park suffered to one degree or another. Some people loose their energy when it"s hot; some people get cranky. As it is, young children seem to get cranky rather than tired, cranky enough to kick a character in the shin with seemingly no provocation. That was the straw that broke the camel"s back. Frollo limped off searching for a quiet cool place to hide and rest. He found a shaded bench nearby that was blissfully quiet and isolated. He sat down, removed his mask and rubbed his sore leg. It twinged a little and was definitely going to bruise. He keeps rubbing his leg and looks around at the crowd milling about, trying to get anywhere air-conditioned. "That"s why I hate little kids." Frollo nearly jumps out of his skin. Standing right next to him is the same pretty young lady he met all wet that morning. Anya is dressed in her uniform, black slacks, white button up shirt, and a small tight vest. She"s holding a box with what"s presumably her lunch. "Their parents always insist they"re the cutest things ever but you"ll never meet anything ruder." She starts to sit down next to him. "Don"t." "Don"t what? Sit next to you? Are you afraid of cooties?" She smiles but he just gives her a blank stare. She snorts and waves her hand over her head. "Sorry, I forgot the last time you checked it was still the 13th century. May I sit down?" "N...," he considers it for a moment, what really does he have to lose after all of this? "Alright." Anya seats herself next to him but still leaves a buffer of personal space for him. "I saw you walking around earlier today, couldn"t see your face but I could tell you weren"t feeling well." No answer. She opens the box and pulls out a small container of potato salad and a spoon and takes a few bites. "You know, despite what they said when you came, you can tell them your getting heat sickness and they will have to cut your hours." He pauses, and slowly sits up. "You can; if you want, ask them to let you off during the hotter parts of the day and come back on the clock when it gets cooler." He stares at her for a few moments, she just continues eating her salad. He sighs in defeat, and says, "How do I do that?" "I"ll show you everything when my shift"s over at six." Just after six then, in a small alcove of one of the break rooms, Frollo sat huddled over a small pile of paper work with Anya slowly guiding him through it. As she explained most every big company makes things deliberately confusing, and Disney was no exception. These forms seem to ask every conceivable question except "why do you need this shift change?'. Even though they were semi hidden, the pair could be seen together over they"re little mountain of paper. Frollo began to grasp some of the things Anya had told him about in this park little culture. People like Anya "humans" tended to keep to them selves and gossip in their own circles about their own affairs. People like him, commonly called "toons" tended to leap on any bit of news, whether theirs or the human"s. That simple truth was shown in the glances and whispers turned their way from the tables occupied by other toons. Some of Anya"s co-workers came up to them, said hello, asked what they were doing, offered a few words of advice, then moved on. Frollo noticed one of them sit down next to a toon and the two carry on as if they were in love. This piqued his curiosity. "Is there much, fraternization between our kinds?" "Huh?" Anya looked up at him. He nodded towards the couple. "Oh, not much. Friendship is encouraged, dating isn"t. The executives like to make all kinds of rules to keep it from happening. They don"t want anyone outside this park knowing about you. Its kind of hard to hide that when you"ve got a lot of people at your park acting as if they"re in love with someone when no one"s met them or heard of them." "I see." He looked at the couple again. "How long have they been...dating?" "That couple? Only a month. That guy tends to go through them a lot. Nice guy but he can never read a woman for the life of him. Been dumped more times than he can count." Frollo shuddered a bit. He had never heard of the concept of dating in his time. There was only marriage or celibacy. He had chosen the later, and to think of people going from one person to the next with hardly a thought of matrimony was repulsive. Anya brought him out of his revere to continue plowing through the paper work. But in some far off part of his mind his thoughts continued. That night, for the first time in years dreams returned to him. He had little recollection of them the next morning, and brushed them aside until he got to the showers. The rush of water awakened the lost images, soft warm skin beneath his hands. At first he thought these were lingering images of the gypsy girl whose spell over him had been cracked by the move. Until the memory of fine, silken smooth; short hair running between his fingers surfaced as well. He shook his head and banished the images. Perhaps it was just the shards of the spell still lingering about him. Anya was of no interest to him. One little voice that would soon grow in strength whispered then why dream of her? Frollo filed his paperwork, and went about his job and let the days roll by. He took Anya"s advice and found a hobby of sorts, reading and studying Christian history since the time he left Paris and found particular interest in the growth of the Russian Orthodox Church. He saw nothing of Anya and partially hoped not to. In a few days his request was granted and he was allowed to take the blistering afternoons off and worked instead in the early and late hours of the day. Evenings were not so bad. He found some measure of comfort in the cool night air. It reminded him of winters in Paris something he had always loved but feared he would never experience again. Late one night after his shift ended he found a quiet corner of the park away form the screaming crowd and roaring fireworks. It was bathed in beautiful silver light of the full moon, so gentle and holy. He raised his face to the light and breathed deep and felt lulled into peace for the first time in the long time. He felt a presence behind him, and turned to see Anya. "What are you doing here so late?" he scowled a bit. "I worked a later shift today. Just got off. You too?" He nodded and turned around again. Anya came round to his side and remained unusually quiet. Frollo fought the urge to look at her but after awhile his eyes turned towards her. Anya did not look at him but only gazed into the moonlit trees in front of them. Suddenly she stepped forward. "Where are you going?" he asked. She smiled and gestured for him to follow. He stood there for a moment, then with a shake of his head and a muttered "I must be crazy" he followed. He soon saw why she wanted him to follow. Though the trees stood in near the wall, there was at least six feet of space between it and the trunks all covered by their leaves. It created a beautiful secluded boulevard all covered in dappled sliver light. Anya led him down this Boulevard of Moonlight to a point where there was about ten extra feet of space, made by a bowling out of the elevated garden wall. It made for a clearing completely hidden to anyone on the other side.

The train screeched to a stop and Timmy stood up, lurching to a side as the momentum carried him, then walking off with the all the dark purpose of someone possessed by a cold anger. The Dahl facility was covered in something that could be only described as moon coral. The place was dimly lit in industrial, greenish light, loud bangs occasional sounded from within. It looked every bit the haunted factory. "So this is where we"re going to build the super awesome robot army? Huh? Honestly I"m a little disappointed." "Aren"t you the naysayer? Evidently this place became a regular ghost town after Dahl packed up and left after the Crackening. We just need to get into the power suit section and get the assembly line running again." Timmy let out a breathe, he felt his irritation growing as the thought that Jack sounded so calm and nonchalant while he was reeling passed through his brain. He shook his head and smacked himself in the temple. "Stop thinking like a butt hurt bitch!' he told himself. He cocked his rifle and entered the Titan facility cautiously. Lilith and Roland had mentioned having a lot of trouble with the scavs camping out in there. The entry to the factory was dead quiet, and it bore the scars of recent conflict. Keeping his rifle ready Timmy edged over to some of the deeper gouges in the wall. "Still warm?" Felicity asked He ran his fingers over them. "No." black soot came off onto his glove. "They are fresh though." "Might be where your scouts entered. Keep your guard up." Timmy made his way through slowly, checking every crevice before he stepped forward. "Can I ask you something? While we have a moment?" "Shoot." "What is your name exactly?" "Um...just call me Jack." "But that"s not your name is it." "I"m under contract to never say it." He stepped onto an iron walkway and looked over the side, swinging his rifle down to aim at anything that might be beneath him. "But I can say it rhymed with "Jimothy"." Felicity laughed. It was kind of light and feathery, very much a proper english laugh. "Why did you sign up for this? If you don"t mind my asking." "Jack has a lot of dreams and ambitions. And I have student loans." "Oh my. So you knew each other before?" "Nope." "I see. I can say that you are not the first wide eyed college boy to be done in by debt. That kind of person made up half the forces of Dahl. What the company wouldn"t tell them is that only a percentage of their pay went towards those loans. Even after 20 years of service or more they still had debt coming out." "Just peachy." "I know. They had to go to there account handler and specifically request more of their paychecks be funneled towards the debt. I hope Hyperion is actually paying yours off." Timmy was about to reply when Jack chimed in. "Actually we don"t really have too. Don"t worry kid, Your debts are a good as gone. Really. You don"t exist on paper any more and that includes the student loans you took out. They are finito." Timmy stopped for a moment, a little stunned. "So, I have no debts now. You erased them?" "Yup." "Huh. Nice to know...I guess." "What?" Jack smelled something amiss in his double"s voice. "Nothing, nothing. Just...nevermind. I can process this later. Job to do, right?" "Right...keep heading nor noreast. The Powersuit facility should be a few more klicks in." Timmy was still thinking about what Jack had said. On the one hand it gave him a huge amount of relief. If he could just get through this the Queen of nightmares he was scott free money wise. On the other hand this killed about 60% of his reasoning to be doing this in the first place. The rest being made up by the Eye of Helios and his pay. Those two reasons were stretched like butter over too much bread. Maybe Jack should not have told him this, but what did it matter now? Add it to the pile of things making his gut twist. He entered what should have been the powersuit factory and was immediately set upon by scavs. He was beginning to see why soldiers and mercs preferred combat to any other type of interaction. It was simple, straightforward, non-challenging to the brain. Shoot and kill. Fight and live. And it let him forget the mess his mind had become over the last few hours. As he cleared his way through, a new voice came over the ECHO. "Hello?! Uh help!" "Who is that?!" "I"m being held hostage in the main control, please can you rescue me?! I"ll explain when you get here! The bloody scavs will eat me when they realize I"m not what I say I am!" Timmy rolled his eyes. "Why...are there so...many dumb fuckers....needing my help?" he hissed through clenched teeth, mowing down scavs as quick as he could. "I hope I don"t qualify as a dumb fucker." Felicity had that "about to be annoyed" tone only women could manage. "Nah, not you babe. Extenuating circumstances. No arms or legs." He was sure she smiled at that. Timmy slowly ploughed through to the room just adjacent to the control room. He brushed ice and gore bits off himself as he did so. He got pissed of when one scavs nicked him just as his shield was depleted and started lobbing cryo grenades to shatter the bastards. "Ok, where are you?" "Over here! I"ll open up the door." A dingy lift door snapped up, knocking a danger sign to the floor. Timmy looked up and saw scrawny man not much taller than he had once been. His hair was obviously unkempt and Timmy did not doubt that this rarely cleaned up. He wore a full science get up, complete with goggles and even had a mechanical eye. His kit was spattered with blood and a few other smears Timmy honestly did not want to know the origins of. "Am I glad to see you! Here I was doing some help yourself exploring; working on a pet project when those scavs swept in. They were about to cut me to pieces when I persuaded them I"m a medic." Timmy was waving his hands the whole time he was babbling on, he hadn"t even crossed the Oz seal before the man started talking at him. "I am a doctor, but more the Hyperion R&D kind." he finally finished. Timmy sighed and rubbed his brow. "Nice to meet you too...jackass." "Oh...uuuhh...sorry, I"m." "Jack! You know this dude?" Timmy interrupted. "I don"t recognize him. Yo! You got a name?" " Sorry bruvs, Gladstone Katoa D-Division. What brings you all here?" "Oh!" Jack lit up like Christmas. "D-Division, that"s where they hide all the brainiacs who work on the super secret awesome stuff right?" "Uh, I work on experimental tech. The Division green lit me using the resources here. Why are you here?" "Well, Gladstone Katoa, we need to get back to Helios and re take the big ass laser on it from a bunch of freaky looking Dahl military types..." Gladstone"s expression changed from mild curiosity to a very deep seated worry as Jack talked. He moved away from the door re lower the blast shield on the window and Timmy could finally step in. "...and if we don"t the moon"s going to go boom and take half of Pandora with it. You know, the ush." "Oh-I wondered what was , why are you here? Shouldn"t you be somewhere more space station-y?" Wow, for a scientist this guy was exceptionally thick. Even Felicity got fed up. "Jack wants to build a robot army driven by my AI, then re-take Helios with it. I"m Felicity by the way." "Oh gotcha. You"re after my prototype." "Huh?' Timmy thought. "Why must there be so much confusion today?' "Well...its not finished." "What?! No, we"re here to build robots what are you talking about?" "Right, I was working on an off the books project creating a master bot capable of digi-structing an almost unlimited supply of other bots. My prototype"s almost done but its missing a few key scavs stopped me from installing them but I wouldn"t want something this powerful to fall into their grimy hands anyways." "This guy! This guy right here! Tell me more!" "Yeah bruv! We just need to get the hardware together and then install a military grade AI and POW. It should pop out combat ready loaders." Gladstone grew quite visibly excited. Even Timmy quite like the idea of this master bot. It was about a perfect as they could have asked for! Only Felicity wasn"t quite on board. "What? You want me in some kind of "constructor" bot? That"s not what I had in mind." "Ooh! "Consructor"! I like it! Nice!" "We told you we needed a robot army Felicity? What"s wrong with this?" Timmy really did not see where the problem was. "Well, I assumed you"d have to copy me out to control maybe a few hundred combat bots." "But this is even better! We won"t have to copy you, you"ll be able to control the whole army from one chassis." Gladstone nodded with everything Timmy said. "I was designed and programmed to control one ship, don"t misunderstand I do agree this is the more...efficient solution I just don"t know how well I"ll integrate." "Come again?" Timmy asked. Felicity tried very hard to be patient with them. "There"s a mighty difference between a battle class dreadnought and a humanoid combat robot. I wasn"t really programmed for arms or legs, or for walking, even even less so for controlling other bots." "So there"s a learning curve, Ok. We are right here hun. I promise we"ll help you through everything." Timmy meant that, he really did. "Yeah, I can help you with just about any problems, no worries." Gladstone added. There was a pause while Felicity considered. Timmy felt his bag heat up a bit, she must have been thinking hard. "Alright, I"ll give it a go." "Great!" Jack butted in. "Tech dude, this prototype can digi-struct combat loaders? Right? Cause those power suits seemed kinda...lame." "Yeah yeah! Hyperion loaders all the way! But first we need to actually finish the prototype. You"ll need to get the materials from the main factory, I can get you in and monitor the systems from here." "Alright, go Team Robot Army." Timmy gave Gladstone a light punch in the shoulder. He must have gotten stronger than he remember cause Gladstone lurched like a brick hit him. Or maybe he was just that much of...well, a wuss. Gladstone rubbed his shoulder but gave Timmy a sincere smile. He knew he meant well. "Jimothy?" Timmy gulped. "Yeah Felicity?" "Do you mean what you said? About, being there for me...though this?" "Yes, I really do." "Good. You are a good man, I hope you know that." "Umm...yeah I do, I guess." "You should know that. Remember it. I know this is being hard on you." "You"re worried about me?" "Yes, more than myself at the current moment." "Thanks, but you shouldn"t be." "I haven"t a feeling I won"t be once this "constructor" is finished. That promise does mean a great deal to me." Timmy felt his stomach flutter and his neck grow hot. Yeah, she"s a friend. Without a doubt. "Don"t mention it." Timmy heaved a sigh as he scooped up grimy artificial eyes from the ruined chassis of Dahl guard bots. "Thank bruv! Once you"ve got them all head over to the eye lab and we"ll go on from there!" "Why didn"t you do this yourself again?" "I told you I was trying to and then the scavs swept in." "Trying to?" Jack piped up, "Lemme guess...all brains, no balls, am I right?" "Uh.." Gladstone forced a little chuckle, "Yeah, something like that. The little buggers pack quite a punch huh?" "No not really." Timmy shrugged. The lab Gladstone spoke of was fairly normal stuff, apart from the special machine he described to break the eyes down and composite a new one. "Alright, place them inside and the eye converter and we"ll have our prototype eye." "An "eye converter"? That"s the dumbest thing I"ve ever heard of, why the hell would they make an eye converter?" "They didn"t!" Gladstone nearly squealed, "I did!" Timmy dumped the eyes in the back of the machine and let it close, then backed the hell away. "I was here a long time preparing my prototype, this is highly sensitive experimental technology." "Well...it looks like a toaster." The converter roared, hummed, and then massive and disturbing crunching noises came from it as the eyes were smashed, melted and re-purposed. After a few minutes the machine started shaking like a washing machine on spin cycle...with an unbalanced load...and loose footing. "Um, Gladstone. I think I"d better get out of here you"re machine looks ready to blow!" "Do-don"t worry bruv, it"ll be fine. This is history in the making!" "Why"s it gotta be scary?!" Abruptly the converter stopped and spat the new eye into a mechanical arm. Two other arms briefly soldered certain bits, then the eye was presented. Timmy stepped back up on the platform and gingerly took the large component from the claw. "Oh its so beautiful!" "Ok "bruv", now what?" "Oh oh, now head back to the main room-we need to plug that baby into the main torso." "On it." Timmy sprinted down to the main construction room, the childlike side of him bubbling back up. First giant ships now building robots. If it wasn"t for all the mental trauma and threat of imminent death it"d be an 8 year old"s dream. "Flip the latch on the cage and it should open!" Timmy kicked the small latch and the torso cage lifted up out of the floor, revealing the "constructor" in all its...well, it wasn"t finished. "So this is it huh?" "I was sooo close to finishing this when the scavs arrived. It"ll pump out a lot of robots, enough to make the difference against Dahl, or whatever they are." "Good, good." Timmy bit his tongue. Jack didn"t. "Ohhh, its uh...looks kinda like a....dumpster wrapped in sadness. No offense." Timmy bent down to deliver the eye and initially tried to get it in gently. It wouldn"t go in gently. He ended up ramming it in with all the force of a man trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. Finally it relented and and popped into the torso"s housing. "Now that"s done..." Gladstone said with a hint of annoyance at Timmy"s rough handling," We need to mount the torso onto the crane system. The controls are up top, should be straightforward." Timmy made his way to the crane controls and had the system pick up the torso and begin delivering it to the next chamber. "Awe its really happening! My old professor said I"d never amount to anything, and now look at me!" "You want me inside that thing?" Felicity finally spoke. "Does it look that bad?" "It certainly doesn"t look inviting. Look, I"ve been thinking about the installation. You could just copy me, you know. It"s basically the same thing and I"f find it much less terrifying." Timmy put a hand to his chin and considered. "Well...how lo-" "Exactly how much less terrifying?" Jack butt in. "Its the difference between brain surgery and being scanned." "Hmmmmm, lemme think about it." Timmy huffed. "If its that big a difference then I do think we should copy you." "Thank you." "Come on bruv! Next step is ready!" "Hold your horses, I"m going!" In the next chamber Timmy slapped a few commands into a console and the turret arms of the robot were attached. "So this is my new home huh? Not sure I want to move in." "Felicity please, stop fretting. I more you worry the worse it"ll get. Sorry to sound callous but its true." "Yea babe, its like...playing catcher for the first time." Timmy"s blood froze as Jack spoke, "Yes its going to hurt a little, but you just have to relax into it, let it happen and pretty soon you"re having a ton of fun!" Timmy tried to say something to that but just came up dry. Felicity was completely quiet. Gladstone coughed and finally broke the silence, but not the tension. "That-th-did not go where I was expecting." "Trust me, when Jack talks, think sex, not baseball." Jack chuckled. "Um...I was thinking cricket but I guess that"s moot." "Ok, before I can cut this moment with a dull knife, Gladstone what"s next?" "Uh...yeah. The legs are still attached to an old experimental version of the Dahl powersuit. So you"ll need to separate them and get them into the crane system." "Roger." As he made his way to the adjacent assembly line, Felicty put out an idea. "Isn"t getting that powersuit to the crane system going to be a little...difficult for you? Why don"t I take over the powersuit and walk the legs to where they can be assembled." "Yeah! I didn"t even think of that! It"d be a great warm up for you." "Great idea babe, you see, its just a learning process." Timmy heard Jack chuckle and take in a breath to talk over his ECHO. "Jack! Nu-uh!" "But!" "No." "You don"t know what I was going t-." "I can guess, really, really well. I am you after all." "Huh." He could hear the amused smile in his boss"s tone. He liked it much better when Timmy was more like him than Timmy. Maybe it"d smooth things over. The old powersuit was still waiting in its final inspection hook up. Timmy input Felicity through the nearby console. The suit lit up and shuddered to life, thick layers of dust falling away as it moved. Felicity flexed her new body as well as she could given its limited range. "How"s it feel?" "Strange, very strange. Arms, legs, feet..." she picked up one huge foot and gingerly put it down in front of her, "is this what it like to be human?" "Couldn"t rightly tell ya." Timmy walked along beside her as she made careful steps towards the crane system. "I don"t have much point of reference." "Well, its the worst." Timmy laughed and patted one of the giant steel legs. "Its not so bad, trust me." "Scavs incoming! Let"s see what you can do baby!" Timmy raise his gun and before he could fire he was almost bowled over by the massive concussive waves from Felicity"s gun. Her oversized and over powered rounds turned their enemies into jelly. As they made slow but steady progress Timmy sniped those quick enough to dodge Felicity"s shots while she mowed everything else down. "Jeezus!" He had to scream to be heard over her firepower. "Dahl does not do anything without gusto!" "No we don"t!" Felicity shouted back, her voice trembling. Once they got close to the crane system the scavs stopped coming. Timmy shook his head several times and was sure his ears would be ringing for years. "Jack I don"t think those powersuits are lame at all." "Not bad buttercup, you turned those scavs into puddles!" "Yes I did didn"t I?" she sounded like she"d been stomping on kittens rather than gunning down crazed bandits. "Everything"s lost like, tears in a puddle." "Hey, Felicity, what"s wrong? Didn"t you have to do things like this when you ran the Drakensburg? Hell you controlled the auto defense systems that me a hard time." "I know, I know, this may be hard for you to understand, but all this is very different and I honestly don"t like it." Timmy put his hand back on her leg as they walked into the crane room. "I do understand. But about all I can say is keep plowing forward. Its that or die." "I"m...sorry." "Don"t be." Jack cleared his throat. Timmy bit his lip, then asked Gladstone for the next step. "That powersuit should have a self destruct function, use it to get the legs free." "Got it...Okay, I"m ready to detonate, stand back!" Timmy ducked behind several component containers as Felicity blew the old suit apart, which surprisingly left the legs still standing with hardly a scratch. "Perfect Felicity! Other-Jack, can you lower the torso onto the legs?" Timmy hit the controls and the crane lowered the completed torso onto its new legs. Mechanical arms unfolded and began connecting and soldering the halves together. "Yea, this is going to get awesome." Even Jack was getting excited. A few minutes of sparking and screwing and the entire finished robot was lifted up to be taken to the final chamber. "It got awesome!" "Its a brute isn"t it?" "Construction is complete finally! The shell just needs to go through final testing and we"ll be ready to install the AI!" Felicity was terrified, Jack and Gladstone were elated, Timmy was somewhere between all them. "Remember I"m still here okay?" He reached into his knapsack and touched her core housing. He knew she couldn"t feel it but instinct wouldn"t let him do any less. "I know." it didn"t sound like that helped her much any more. "Jack I really didn"t enjoy killing those scavs maybe this is all a mistake." "I don"t like killing either babe." "What a lie.' Timmy thought but kept to himself. As the finished robot went through the testing, Gladstone stuttered out some unwelcome news. "U-u-u, bruv? Other Jack? I"m looking over the AI installation process and we may have a bit of a p-p-problem." "What problem?" "Felicity is a very complex AI, and I mean that in a good way..." "Yes..." "Well, you see, I-Ididn"tcalibratetheinternalhardwareforsuchacomplexAIandshemayhavetohavebitsofmemorywipedtoavoidoverwhelmeingandshortingoutthesystem." Timmy" eyes crossed and his brain screamed. "Come again?" "Yes oh mighty King of run-on sentences." Jack added. Gladstone puffed out a breath and tired again. "Felicity may be too much for the brain bits I put in. It"d take days to re-calibrate so...she may have to have her memory paired down to something more basic so the constructor doesn"t just blow." "WHAT?!" Felicity screamed. "Um...Gladstone are you sure-" "Awe crap! Well do what you gotta do!" Timmy"s mouth gaped at that. "Jack can"t we-?" "We don"t have days kiddo! We need this thing working now! Plug her in as soon as its ready." "Wait! WAIT! I don"t want to have my memory wiped! I don"t want to turn into...look, can"t you just put a copy of me in the constructor?"

Later then. Timmy groaned and sunk down into the seat. Getting into a fight with his boss over sex was possibly the worst idea he"d had yet. Perhaps he should play along with Jack"s whims the way he played to his own superiors. But...that felt like far too much. Jack did do things to him he never expected. He looked across the way and caught his reflection in the glass. Jack"s face stared back, blue and green gaze angry and intense. He shifted his jaw and it almost made him frightened thinking that his boss was likely wearing the exact same expression. He felt a little sick thinking again that Jack was attracted to him because yes because he looked just like him. It made him even angrier. Why couldn"t someone just like him for him? "Oh hell, give up on that Timothy, just give up. The real you died a long time ago. He died when you signed your face away.' The hateful little voice resounded in his mind. By the time the train arrived he was in the foulest mood he"d been in since the whole ordeal started; since he"d woken up and realized he"s lost his own face. The train screeched to a stop and Timmy stood up, lurching to a side as the momentum carried him, then walking off with the all the dark purpose of someone possessed by a cold anger. The Dahl facility was covered in something that could be only described as moon coral. The place was dimly lit in industrial, greenish light, loud bangs occasional sounded from within. It looked every bit the haunted factory. "So this is where we"re going to build the super awesome robot army? Huh? Honestly I"m a little disappointed." "Aren"t you the naysayer? Evidently this place became a regular ghost town after Dahl packed up and left after the Crackening. We just need to get into the power suit section and get the assembly line running again." Timmy let out a breathe, he felt his irritation growing as the thought that Jack sounded so calm and nonchalant while he was reeling passed through his brain. He shook his head and smacked himself in the temple. "Stop thinking like a butt hurt bitch!' he told himself. He cocked his rifle and entered the Titan facility cautiously. Lilith and Roland had mentioned having a lot of trouble with the scavs camping out in there. The entry to the factory was dead quiet, and it bore the scars of recent conflict. Keeping his rifle ready Timmy edged over to some of the deeper gouges in the wall. "Still warm?" Felicity asked He ran his fingers over them. "No." black soot came off onto his glove. "They are fresh though." "Might be where your scouts entered. Keep your guard up." Timmy made his way through slowly, checking every crevice before he stepped forward. "Can I ask you something? While we have a moment?" "Shoot." "What is your name exactly?" "Um...just call me Jack." "But that"s not your name is it." "I"m under contract to never say it." He stepped onto an iron walkway and looked over the side, swinging his rifle down to aim at anything that might be beneath him. "But I can say it rhymed with "Jimothy"." Felicity laughed. It was kind of light and feathery, very much a proper english laugh. "Why did you sign up for this? If you don"t mind my asking." "Jack has a lot of dreams and ambitions. And I have student loans." "Oh my. So you knew each other before?" "Nope." "I see. I can say that you are not the first wide eyed college boy to be done in by debt. That kind of person made up half the forces of Dahl. What the company wouldn"t tell them is that only a percentage of their pay went towards those loans. Even after 20 years of service or more they still had debt coming out." "Just peachy." "I know. They had to go to there account handler and specifically request more of their paychecks be funneled towards the debt. I hope Hyperion is actually paying yours off." Timmy was about to reply when Jack chimed in. "Actually we don"t really have too. Don"t worry kid, Your debts are a good as gone. Really. You don"t exist on paper any more and that includes the student loans you took out. They are finito." Timmy stopped for a moment, a little stunned. "So, I have no debts now. You erased them?" "Yup." "Huh. Nice to know...I guess." "What?" Jack smelled something amiss in his double"s voice. "Nothing, nothing. Just...nevermind. I can process this later. Job to do, right?" "Right...keep heading nor noreast. The Powersuit facility should be a few more klicks in." Timmy was still thinking about what Jack had said. On the one hand it gave him a huge amount of relief. If he could just get through this the Queen of nightmares he was scott free money wise. On the other hand this killed about 60% of his reasoning to be doing this in the first place. The rest being made up by the Eye of Helios and his pay. Those two reasons were stretched like butter over too much bread. Maybe Jack should not have told him this, but what did it matter now? Add it to the pile of things making his gut twist. He entered what should have been the powersuit factory and was immediately set upon by scavs. He was beginning to see why soldiers and mercs preferred combat to any other type of interaction. It was simple, straightforward, non-challenging to the brain. Shoot and kill. Fight and live. And it let him forget the mess his mind had become over the last few hours. As he cleared his way through, a new voice came over the ECHO. "Hello?! Uh help!" "Who is that?!" "I"m being held hostage in the main control, please can you rescue me?! I"ll explain when you get here! The bloody scavs will eat me when they realize I"m not what I say I am!" Timmy rolled his eyes. "Why...are there so...many dumb fuckers....needing my help?" he hissed through clenched teeth, mowing down scavs as quick as he could. "I hope I don"t qualify as a dumb fucker." Felicity had that "about to be annoyed" tone only women could manage. "Nah, not you babe. Extenuating circumstances. No arms or legs." He was sure she smiled at that. Timmy slowly ploughed through to the room just adjacent to the control room. He brushed ice and gore bits off himself as he did so. He got pissed of when one scavs nicked him just as his shield was depleted and started lobbing cryo grenades to shatter the bastards. "Ok, where are you?" "Over here! I"ll open up the door." A dingy lift door snapped up, knocking a danger sign to the floor. Timmy looked up and saw scrawny man not much taller than he had once been. His hair was obviously unkempt and Timmy did not doubt that this rarely cleaned up. He wore a full science get up, complete with goggles and even had a mechanical eye. His kit was spattered with blood and a few other smears Timmy honestly did not want to know the origins of. "Am I glad to see you! Here I was doing some help yourself exploring; working on a pet project when those scavs swept in. They were about to cut me to pieces when I persuaded them I"m a medic." Timmy was waving his hands the whole time he was babbling on, he hadn"t even crossed the Oz seal before the man started talking at him. "I am a doctor, but more the Hyperion R&D kind." he finally finished. Timmy sighed and rubbed his brow. "Nice to meet you too...jackass." "Oh...uuuhh...sorry, I"m." "Jack! You know this dude?" Timmy interrupted. "I don"t recognize him. Yo! You got a name?" " Sorry bruvs, Gladstone Katoa D-Division. What brings you all here?" "Oh!" Jack lit up like Christmas. "D-Division, that"s where they hide all the brainiacs who work on the super secret awesome stuff right?" "Uh, I work on experimental tech. The Division green lit me using the resources here. Why are you here?" "Well, Gladstone Katoa, we need to get back to Helios and re take the big ass laser on it from a bunch of freaky looking Dahl military types..." Gladstone"s expression changed from mild curiosity to a very deep seated worry as Jack talked. He moved away from the door re lower the blast shield on the window and Timmy could finally step in. "...and if we don"t the moon"s going to go boom and take half of Pandora with it. You know, the ush." "Oh-I wondered what was , why are you here? Shouldn"t you be somewhere more space station-y?" Wow, for a scientist this guy was exceptionally thick. Even Felicity got fed up. "Jack wants to build a robot army driven by my AI, then re-take Helios with it. I"m Felicity by the way." "Oh gotcha. You"re after my prototype." "Huh?' Timmy thought. "Why must there be so much confusion today?' "Well...its not finished." "What?! No, we"re here to build robots what are you talking about?" "Right, I was working on an off the books project creating a master bot capable of digi-structing an almost unlimited supply of other bots. My prototype"s almost done but its missing a few key scavs stopped me from installing them but I wouldn"t want something this powerful to fall into their grimy hands anyways." "This guy! This guy right here! Tell me more!" "Yeah bruv! We just need to get the hardware together and then install a military grade AI and POW. It should pop out combat ready loaders." Gladstone grew quite visibly excited. Even Timmy quite like the idea of this master bot. It was about a perfect as they could have asked for! Only Felicity wasn"t quite on board. "What? You want me in some kind of "constructor" bot? That"s not what I had in mind." "Ooh! "Consructor"! I like it! Nice!" "We told you we needed a robot army Felicity? What"s wrong with this?" Timmy really did not see where the problem was. "Well, I assumed you"d have to copy me out to control maybe a few hundred combat bots." "But this is even better! We won"t have to copy you, you"ll be able to control the whole army from one chassis." Gladstone nodded with everything Timmy said. "I was designed and programmed to control one ship, don"t misunderstand I do agree this is the more...efficient solution I just don"t know how well I"ll integrate." "Come again?" Timmy asked. Felicity tried very hard to be patient with them. "There"s a mighty difference between a battle class dreadnought and a humanoid combat robot. I wasn"t really programmed for arms or legs, or for walking, even even less so for controlling other bots." "So there"s a learning curve, Ok. We are right here hun. I promise we"ll help you through everything." Timmy meant that, he really did. "Yeah, I can help you with just about any problems, no worries." Gladstone added. There was a pause while Felicity considered. Timmy felt his bag heat up a bit, she must have been thinking hard. "Alright, I"ll give it a go." "Great!" Jack butted in. "Tech dude, this prototype can digi-struct combat loaders? Right? Cause those power suits seemed kinda...lame." "Yeah yeah! Hyperion loaders all the way! But first we need to actually finish the prototype. You"ll need to get the materials from the main factory, I can get you in and monitor the systems from here." "Alright, go Team Robot Army." Timmy gave Gladstone a light punch in the shoulder. He must have gotten stronger than he remember cause Gladstone lurched like a brick hit him. Or maybe he was just that much of...well, a wuss. Gladstone rubbed his shoulder but gave Timmy a sincere smile. He knew he meant well. "Jimothy?" Timmy gulped. "Yeah Felicity?" "Do you mean what you said? About, being there for me...though this?" "Yes, I really do." "Good. You are a good man, I hope you know that." "Umm...yeah I do, I guess." "You should know that. Remember it. I know this is being hard on you." "You"re worried about me?" "Yes, more than myself at the current moment." "Thanks, but you shouldn"t be." "I haven"t a feeling I won"t be once this "constructor" is finished. That promise does mean a great deal to me." Timmy felt his stomach flutter and his neck grow hot. Yeah, she"s a friend. Without a doubt. "Don"t mention it." Timmy heaved a sigh as he scooped up grimy artificial eyes from the ruined chassis of Dahl guard bots. "Thank bruv! Once you"ve got them all head over to the eye lab and we"ll go on from there!" "Why didn"t you do this yourself again?" "I told you I was trying to and then the scavs swept in." "Trying to?" Jack piped up, "Lemme guess...all brains, no balls, am I right?" "Uh.." Gladstone forced a little chuckle, "Yeah, something like that. The little buggers pack quite a punch huh?" "No not really." Timmy shrugged. The lab Gladstone spoke of was fairly normal stuff, apart from the special machine he described to break the eyes down and composite a new one. "Alright, place them inside and the eye converter and we"ll have our prototype eye." "An "eye converter"? That"s the dumbest thing I"ve ever heard of, why the hell would they make an eye converter?" "They didn"t!" Gladstone nearly squealed, "I did!" Timmy dumped the eyes in the back of the machine and let it close, then backed the hell away. "I was here a long time preparing my prototype, this is highly sensitive experimental technology." "Well...it looks like a toaster." The converter roared, hummed, and then massive and disturbing crunching noises came from it as the eyes were smashed, melted and re-purposed. After a few minutes the machine started shaking like a washing machine on spin cycle...with an unbalanced load...and loose footing. "Um, Gladstone. I think I"d better get out of here you"re machine looks ready to blow!" "Do-don"t worry bruv, it"ll be fine. This is history in the making!" "Why"s it gotta be scary?!" Abruptly the converter stopped and spat the new eye into a mechanical arm. Two other arms briefly soldered certain bits, then the eye was presented. Timmy stepped back up on the platform and gingerly took the large component from the claw. "Oh its so beautiful!" "Ok "bruv", now what?" "Oh oh, now head back to the main room-we need to plug that baby into the main torso." "On it." Timmy sprinted down to the main construction room, the childlike side of him bubbling back up. First giant ships now building robots. If it wasn"t for all the mental trauma and threat of imminent death it"d be an 8 year old"s dream. "Flip the latch on the cage and it should open!" Timmy kicked the small latch and the torso cage lifted up out of the floor, revealing the "constructor" in all its...well, it wasn"t finished. "So this is it huh?" "I was sooo close to finishing this when the scavs arrived. It"ll pump out a lot of robots, enough to make the difference against Dahl, or whatever they are." "Good, good." Timmy bit his tongue. Jack didn"t. "Ohhh, its uh...looks kinda like a....dumpster wrapped in sadness. No offense." Timmy bent down to deliver the eye and initially tried to get it in gently. It wouldn"t go in gently. He ended up ramming it in with all the force of a man trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. Finally it relented and and popped into the torso"s housing. "Now that"s done..." Gladstone said with a hint of annoyance at Timmy"s rough handling," We need to mount the torso onto the crane system. The controls are up top, should be straightforward." Timmy made his way to the crane controls and had the system pick up the torso and begin delivering it to the next chamber. "Awe its really happening! My old professor said I"d never amount to anything, and now look at me!" "You want me inside that thing?" Felicity finally spoke. "Does it look that bad?" "It certainly doesn"t look inviting. Look, I"ve been thinking about the installation. You could just copy me, you know. It"s basically the same thing and I"f find it much less terrifying." Timmy put a hand to his chin and considered. "Well...how lo-" "Exactly how much less terrifying?" Jack butt in. "Its the difference between brain surgery and being scanned." "Hmmmmm, lemme think about it." Timmy huffed. "If its that big a difference then I do think we should copy you." "Thank you." "Come on bruv! Next step is ready!" "Hold your horses, I"m going!" In the next chamber Timmy slapped a few commands into a console and the turret arms of the robot were attached. "So this is my new home huh? Not sure I want to move in." "Felicity please, stop fretting. I more you worry the worse it"ll get. Sorry to sound callous but its true." "Yea babe, its like...playing catcher for the first time." Timmy"s blood froze as Jack spoke, "Yes its going to hurt a little, but you just have to relax into it, let it happen and pretty soon you"re having a ton of fun!" Timmy tried to say something to that but just came up dry. Felicity was completely quiet. Gladstone coughed and finally broke the silence, but not the tension. "That-th-did not go where I was expecting." "Trust me, when Jack talks, think sex, not baseball." Jack chuckled. "Um...I was thinking cricket but I guess that"s moot." "Ok, before I can cut this moment with a dull knife, Gladstone what"s next?" "Uh...yeah. The legs are still attached to an old experimental version of the Dahl powersuit. So you"ll need to separate them and get them into the crane system." "Roger." As he made his way to the adjacent assembly line, Felicty put out an idea. "Isn"t getting that powersuit to the crane system going to be a little...difficult for you? Why don"t I take over the powersuit and walk the legs to where they can be assembled." "Yeah! I didn"t even think of that! It"d be a great warm up for you." "Great idea babe, you see, its just a learning process." Timmy heard Jack chuckle and take in a breath to talk over his ECHO. "Jack! Nu-uh!" "But!" "No." "You don"t know what I was going t-." "I can guess, really, really well. I am you after all." "Huh." He could hear the amused smile in his boss"s tone. He liked it much better when Timmy was more like him than Timmy. Maybe it"d smooth things over. The old powersuit was still waiting in its final inspection hook up. Timmy input Felicity through the nearby console. The suit lit up and shuddered to life, thick layers of dust falling away as it moved. Felicity flexed her new body as well as she could given its limited range. "How"s it feel?" "Strange, very strange. Arms, legs, feet..." she picked up one huge foot and gingerly put it down in front of her, "is this what it like to be human?" "Couldn"t rightly tell ya." Timmy walked along beside her as she made careful steps towards the crane system. "I don"t have much point of reference." "Well, its the worst." Timmy laughed and patted one of the giant steel legs. "Its not so bad, trust me." "Scavs incoming! Let"s see what you can do baby!" Timmy raise his gun and before he could fire he was almost bowled over by the massive concussive waves from Felicity"s gun. Her oversized and over powered rounds turned their enemies into jelly. As they made slow but steady progress Timmy sniped those quick enough to dodge Felicity"s shots while she mowed everything else down. "Jeezus!" He had to scream to be heard over her firepower. "Dahl does not do anything without gusto!" "No we don"t!" Felicity shouted back, her voice trembling. Once they got close to the crane system the scavs stopped coming. Timmy shook his head several times and was sure his ears would be ringing for years. "Jack I don"t think those powersuits are lame at all." "Not bad buttercup, you turned those scavs into puddles!" "Yes I did didn"t I?" she sounded like she"d been stomping on kittens rather than gunning down crazed bandits. "Everything"s lost like, tears in a puddle." "Hey, Felicity, what"s wrong? Didn"t you have to do things like this when you ran the Drakensburg? Hell you controlled the auto defense systems that me a hard time." "I know, I know, this may be hard for you to understand, but all this is very different and I honestly don"t like it." Timmy put his hand back on her leg as they walked into the crane room. "I do understand. But about all I can say is keep plowing forward. Its that or die." "I"m...sorry." "Don"t be." Jack cleared his throat. Timmy bit his lip, then asked Gladstone for the next step. "That powersuit should have a self destruct function, use it to get the legs free." "Got it...Okay, I"m ready to detonate, stand back!" Timmy ducked behind several component containers as Felicity blew the old suit apart, which surprisingly left the legs still standing with hardly a scratch. "Perfect Felicity! Other-Jack, can you lower the torso onto the legs?" Timmy hit the controls and the crane lowered the completed torso onto its new legs. Mechanical arms unfolded and began connecting and soldering the halves together. "Yea, this is going to get awesome." Even Jack was getting excited. A few minutes of sparking and screwing and the entire finished robot was lifted up to be taken to the final chamber. "It got awesome!" "Its a brute isn"t it?" "Construction is complete finally! The shell just needs to go through final testing and we"ll be ready to install the AI!" Felicity was terrified, Jack and Gladstone were elated, Timmy was somewhere between all them. "Remember I"m still here okay?" He reached into his knapsack and touched her core housing. He knew she couldn"t feel it but instinct wouldn"t let him do any less. "I know." it didn"t sound like that helped her much any more. "Jack I really didn"t enjoy killing those scavs maybe this is all a mistake." "I don"t like killing either babe." "What a lie.' Timmy thought but kept to himself. As the finished robot went through the testing, Gladstone stuttered out some unwelcome news.

Suddenly a shower head in the next room comes to life, causing him to jump a bit. He had thought he was alone in the rooms. He storms up to the curtain grabs it, and rips it back. Standing in the stream of water is a young, curvy woman with short brown hair already soaked. She doesn"t scowl or scream or even try to cover herself. She simply smiles faintly and says, "Good morning to you too. You must be Claude Frollo. They mentioned that you guys would be here soon." Normally a man of such staunch Catholic belief would have been long gone before she could ever finish a sentence. But a series of shocks, a stressful and confusing move, and being thrust into a degrading job had caused not just slower reflexes but a few million questions that in her next breathe the young woman offered to answer. Frollo stood there staring at nothing for a few seconds. "Well, in or out?" That woke him up. "What?" "Do you want to come in here," she gestured around the shower room, "and talk, or stay out there?" Frollo gives her a poisonous stare and yanks the curtain shut. But he doesn"t stomp off. He leans against the wall wearing his usual frown. "You"ve been here two weeks, right?" No answer. "That means that you"ve started working. Not all that pretty huh?" He still doesn"t say a word, though he can hear pop something open and her squeeze out soap. "Well, that"s one thing you kinda have to find your own way to deal with here. The people, the cameras, the noise, if you don"t come up with something soon to keep you sane you"ll go loony. I"ve seen it happen twice already." "Why do they do this?" There"s a long pause after he says this. "What?" "Why do they do this?" "I can"t hear you over the shower head, you have to come in here if you want to talk." He grabs his forehead and rakes his fingers down his face thinking, then why did you give me the choice in the first place? He wants those questions answered but he doesn"t want to see a naked woman again. Ah, solution. He pulls the red sash from his hat and blindfolds himself with it. It had been ripped away while leaving Paris and he had had to constantly tuck it back in. He slips past the curtain and carefully feels his way to the bench in the middle of the room, and sits facing away from the young woman. Again there"s a long awkward pause before he speaks. "Why did they do this?" "They hate to waste." He whips around. "Waste?" "When an animator creates a full fledged character, it becomes real in another world. Its creator can access that world. But, animators work for directors, and directors work for producers and studio executives. If a movie doesn"t make the money it cost at the box office, or if it makes a lot of money, the animators are given an executive order. Bring your creation into our world. They"ll work for us now. If you don"t, you"re out of a job. Unfortunately, your movie hasn"t done so well. So they want you and the rest to make back that money they spent by having you play yourself secretly here in the park. But you"ve already figured that out." "Obviously." He says through clenched teeth. "But I bet you don"t know just where you stand in here." She turns off the shower and squeezes excess water out of hair before rubbing her skin dry with a towel. She wraps the towel around her and uses another to start drying her hair. "You can take off that blindfold, I"m decent." She says as she leaves the shower room. Frollo slowly removes the silk from his face, gets up and follows her out. She"s standing in front of the mirrors, still rubbing her hair dry. Finally she throws the towel in a bin, and quickly brushes the tangles out of her short dark hair. "Okay, where you stand in this park depends on where you work. First there"s the outsiders, everyone who works in the part of the park that the public visits, and the insiders, we all stay out of sight down here. You already know you"re an outsider. You one of the performers, you have to wander around and walk in the parades. There are also the people in the stores, the stalls, the games, the rides, and the restaurants, and a few guys that clean the place and the security guards. The insiders are mostly people in engineering, repairs, and logistics." "Logistics?" he breaks his frown and gives her a quizzical look. "They"re those really annoying, high voiced guys that are always running around like headless chickens making sure everyone and everything gets where it needs to." "On the outside-side of things, you are pretty high up there in terms of importance, but in here your about even with the rest of us." "Do you, have to live down here too?" "No, I"m allowed to have an apartment of my own, mostly because I have family and friends that would worry about me. But I hardly ever go there. They keep me on a tight schedule." "What are you?" "I work in one of the many gift shops that just about every single yuppie who comes to the park has to get about thirty things from. But I"m a trained animator." "Animator!" "They never actually gave me a job." "You, your one of the ones that..." "I told you, they didn"t give me a job. Last time I was paid for any animation was a year ago when I got my last paycheck from an advertising firm I did work for." She finishes fussing with her hair and grabs her robe, faces away from him, puts it on, pulls off the towel and ties it shut. She throws that towel in the bin as well and takes a few steps up to him. "My name"s Anya. Welcome to the Disney Team. If that term makes you nauseous better get some Pepto Bismo cause they use it every time they have bad news, which is about 200 times a day." She smiles and raises her hand. He looks at it, then her, and finally grasps it. "Do you know how long I"ll have to stay here?" "Don"t know. All I know is that Mickey and Snow White where the first ones they brought over, and they"re still stuck here. If you still want to take a shower you"d better hurry, this place will be packed by 6." She walks out of the washroom, leaving him to wonder for the thousandth time since those strange men came knocking on his door just what has gone wrong in the world. Chapter 2 6:30 am, and the corridors are no longer quiet. They"re filled with the sounds of voices, running and walking feet, pipes, wheeled carts and the occasional crash of something dropping. Meandering his way through the sea of people in costumes, khakis and uniforms is Claude Frollo passing time till he has to ascend to the surface in a giant mask of himself. As he moves along his eyes fall most often on the other performers, some from other worlds like him, some from this one, but all stuck in that same degrading job of making patrons feel like they"re in a fantasy. He hates everything about this job, most of all that mask. Whatever the damned thing is made of causes him to over heat the minute he gets into the burning Florida sun, which also causes it to give off horrible noxious fumes that make him nauseous and nearly caused him to pass out the first day. Anya had said that he needed to find something to do to keep himself sane. What could he possibly do in here? The park opened its gates right on time, and he like many others was waiting at those gates for the first rush of visitors. There is little he can be grateful for, but one thing is the fact that his real face is completely hidden and no one can see his angry scowl, or a grimace of pain, or a green tinge when nausea sets in. That day was hotter than most, and as morning turned to afternoon every living being in that park suffered to one degree or another. Some people loose their energy when it"s hot; some people get cranky. As it is, young children seem to get cranky rather than tired, cranky enough to kick a character in the shin with seemingly no provocation. That was the straw that broke the camel"s back. Frollo limped off searching for a quiet cool place to hide and rest. He found a shaded bench nearby that was blissfully quiet and isolated. He sat down, removed his mask and rubbed his sore leg. It twinged a little and was definitely going to bruise. He keeps rubbing his leg and looks around at the crowd milling about, trying to get anywhere air-conditioned. "That"s why I hate little kids." Frollo nearly jumps out of his skin. Standing right next to him is the same pretty young lady he met all wet that morning. Anya is dressed in her uniform, black slacks, white button up shirt, and a small tight vest. She"s holding a box with what"s presumably her lunch. "Their parents always insist they"re the cutest things ever but you"ll never meet anything ruder." She starts to sit down next to him. "Don"t." "Don"t what? Sit next to you? Are you afraid of cooties?" She smiles but he just gives her a blank stare. She snorts and waves her hand over her head. "Sorry, I forgot the last time you checked it was still the 13th century. May I sit down?" "N...," he considers it for a moment, what really does he have to lose after all of this? "Alright." Anya seats herself next to him but still leaves a buffer of personal space for him. "I saw you walking around earlier today, couldn"t see your face but I could tell you weren"t feeling well." No answer. She opens the box and pulls out a small container of potato salad and a spoon and takes a few bites. "You know, despite what they said when you came, you can tell them your getting heat sickness and they will have to cut your hours." He pauses, and slowly sits up. "You can; if you want, ask them to let you off during the hotter parts of the day and come back on the clock when it gets cooler." He stares at her for a few moments, she just continues eating her salad. He sighs in defeat, and says, "How do I do that?" "I"ll show you everything when my shift"s over at six." Just after six then, in a small alcove of one of the break rooms, Frollo sat huddled over a small pile of paper work with Anya slowly guiding him through it. As she explained most every big company makes things deliberately confusing, and Disney was no exception. These forms seem to ask every conceivable question except "why do you need this shift change?'. Even though they were semi hidden, the pair could be seen together over they"re little mountain of paper. Frollo began to grasp some of the things Anya had told him about in this park little culture. People like Anya "humans" tended to keep to them selves and gossip in their own circles about their own affairs. People like him, commonly called "toons" tended to leap on any bit of news, whether theirs or the human"s. That simple truth was shown in the glances and whispers turned their way from the tables occupied by other toons. Some of Anya"s co-workers came up to them, said hello, asked what they were doing, offered a few words of advice, then moved on. Frollo noticed one of them sit down next to a toon and the two carry on as if they were in love. This piqued his curiosity. "Is there much, fraternization between our kinds?" "Huh?" Anya looked up at him. He nodded towards the couple. "Oh, not much. Friendship is encouraged, dating isn"t. The executives like to make all kinds of rules to keep it from happening. They don"t want anyone outside this park knowing about you. Its kind of hard to hide that when you"ve got a lot of people at your park acting as if they"re in love with someone when no one"s met them or heard of them." "I see." He looked at the couple again. "How long have they been...dating?" "That couple? Only a month. That guy tends to go through them a lot. Nice guy but he can never read a woman for the life of him. Been dumped more times than he can count." Frollo shuddered a bit. He had never heard of the concept of dating in his time. There was only marriage or celibacy. He had chosen the later, and to think of people going from one person to the next with hardly a thought of matrimony was repulsive. Anya brought him out of his revere to continue plowing through the paper work. But in some far off part of his mind his thoughts continued. That night, for the first time in years dreams returned to him. He had little recollection of them the next morning, and brushed them aside until he got to the showers. The rush of water awakened the lost images, soft warm skin beneath his hands. At first he thought these were lingering images of the gypsy girl whose spell over him had been cracked by the move. Until the memory of fine, silken smooth; short hair running between his fingers surfaced as well. He shook his head and banished the images. Perhaps it was just the shards of the spell still lingering about him. Anya was of no interest to him. One little voice that would soon grow in strength whispered then why dream of her? Frollo filed his paperwork, and went about his job and let the days roll by. He took Anya"s advice and found a hobby of sorts, reading and studying Christian history since the time he left Paris and found particular interest in the growth of the Russian Orthodox Church. He saw nothing of Anya and partially hoped not to. In a few days his request was granted and he was allowed to take the blistering afternoons off and worked instead in the early and late hours of the day. Evenings were not so bad. He found some measure of comfort in the cool night air. It reminded him of winters in Paris something he had always loved but feared he would never experience again. Late one night after his shift ended he found a quiet corner of the park away form the screaming crowd and roaring fireworks. It was bathed in beautiful silver light of the full moon, so gentle and holy. He raised his face to the light and breathed deep and felt lulled into peace for the first time in the long time. He felt a presence behind him, and turned to see Anya. "What are you doing here so late?" he scowled a bit. "I worked a later shift today. Just got off. You too?" He nodded and turned around again. Anya came round to his side and remained unusually quiet. Frollo fought the urge to look at her but after awhile his eyes turned towards her. Anya did not look at him but only gazed into the moonlit trees in front of them. Suddenly she stepped forward. "Where are you going?" he asked. She smiled and gestured for him to follow. He stood there for a moment, then with a shake of his head and a muttered "I must be crazy" he followed. He soon saw why she wanted him to follow. Though the trees stood in near the wall, there was at least six feet of space between it and the trunks all covered by their leaves. It created a beautiful secluded boulevard all covered in dappled sliver light. Anya led him down this Boulevard of Moonlight to a point where there was about ten extra feet of space, made by a bowling out of the elevated garden wall. It made for a clearing completely hidden to anyone on the other side. Anya paced around it, and came to stand in front of him. "I wanted to show you this for awhile. I found when I started here. These trees used to be tiny, but thirty years to grow does wonders. I thought you needed a place to call your own since your stuck here like this." Frollo looked around and cleared the frog from his throat. "It is lovely. I appreciate you showing me this. Does anyone else know about it?" Anya shook her head. "Never told a soul. Never wanted to be bothered." A faint smile played at the corner of his lips. He could sympathize with that. Once again his eyes wandered down to Anya"s face. He became entranced by the color of her eyes. They seemed neither green nor blue nor grey, but some mix of all like the sea after a storm. Before he knew what he was doing, his hand slowly moved from his side and came up to touch her face ever to lightly. The feel of warmth beneath his cool fingers triggered the memory of the dream from weeks past and he moved his hand away, quickly apologized and hurried off, leaving Anya in the grove. That night his dreams returned, this time stronger than before with stormy eyes gazing into him. Chapter 3 When has anyone ever said love was an easy thing? Anya Petrovna Romanov had thought this on many occasions. She"d been through her share of relationships. She wasn"t popular in elementary school or in middle school. A full blooded Russian she was tomboyish and stocky with eternal bed head. Then as she hit puberty she suddenly thinned out and grew into a shapely and vivacious person. She was never too well endowed in the chest, but an incredible pair of legs and hips with a playful personality got her more than a few admirers. After a few disastrous relationships Anya decided that the boys in her high school were just that; boys; and not worth half the time and grief they caused. She didn"t date seriously again till she got to college. The first boyfriend she found seemed to like her and respect her, but a few months in an old ex came knocking and he decided that Anya wasn"t the one he wanted. The following winter she found another one, sweet and sincere, and a complete geek but she loved him for it. Their personalities were a perfect match and they remained together even after she graduated college and had plans to wed, plans she decided to put on hold when she got the chance to try out to be a Disney animator. What was supposed to be a two week trip at most turned into months, and Anya was forced to find a permanent place to live in California. Soon after it cost her the fiancé and the life back in her home city. She was never accepted as an animator, and rather than return home in disgrace she decided to take a pity offer and go to Florida with the last of her savings to work for Disney not as an animator but as a cash clerk in one of their gift shops. Two years passed and Anya was still there though she had moved up a little and gotten a raise. She had not been with anyone since she had left her fiancé for LA and had heard he had not only found someone else but had gotten engaged again. Like anyone who works at that park for any period of time Anya learned it"s in and outs, its secrets, and the little hidden places within it. She wasn"t much interested in getting to know its more colorful employees. They tended to stir bad memories of wasted time. Every time a movie comes out under the Disney name, the workers get a free screening in some small theater. Anya went to see the newest, Hunchback of Notre Dame a few weeks after it came out. She was disappointed how much they had butchered the book to make it more kid friendly but very much liked how much they had fleshed out her favorite character, Claude Frollo. It wasn"t until she was lying in bed that night that it hit her; those characters are real and very soon they"d be coming to work at the park. She wanted to meet Frollo and perhaps talk to him. A few days later she went to see the movie with a co-worker and this time found herself paying more attention to him, getting excited at thought that he was coming here. She wanted to meet him as soon as possible and was secretly delighted that the movie didn"t do so well in box offices. She had planned to "bump" into him not long after he arrived but honestly did not expect him to "bump" into her in the shower. Frankly she was amazed afterwards how she managed to talk to him with out either one of them freaking out. She certainly did feel sorry for him, and was genuinely glad to help him in anyway she could be it filling out forms or giving him a place to be alone. He surprised her again when she showed him her little Boulevard of Moonlight. Anya was sure he still preferred Esmeralda. Why wouldn"t he? Then he touched her so tenderly; and ran off embarrassed. Was he falling for her? Anya went home completely confused and puzzled over the event again and again. If he was falling for her, which was unlikely at best, why wasn"t she falling for him? She had always had an odd taste in men, and did find him attractive in his own way, but wondered weather she could love him. Not just him, but anyone. It wasn"t him it was just her experience. She worried losing a fiancé had crippled her emotionally. Trying to be sure, she pictured their walk in the boulevard, coming to stop in the grove with dappled silver light. She could feel his fingertips again cool one moment then fiery hot the next. Instinctively her hand reached up to touch the place they had rested. One moment longer and her hand would have been raised to his, would have coaxed him to cup her face the way he may have longed to. Anya then came to a conclusion. She may not have any discernable emotion now, but the body often knows things before the heart. If he wanted her and she wanted him, she would pursue him. She knew he would turn and run or even try to fight but she would not take no for an answer. This may be the final chance for them both, and she was determined to grab it. Over the next week Claude learned just why people said that anyone trying to avoid love will find that the radio is their worst enemy. It seemed any time he came anywhere near a speaker there was some love song playing. And not just any love song, but some song that seemed to perfectly describe exactly the situation his was in. Every time he heard one of these songs he would try to cover his ears. But there was one problem with that, his head was covered by that insufferable mask. So, love song-cover ears- BONK!

"So this is my new home huh? Not sure I want to move in." "Felicity please, stop fretting. I more you worry the worse it"ll get. Sorry to sound callous but its true." "Yea babe, its like...playing catcher for the first time." Timmy"s blood froze as Jack spoke, "Yes its going to hurt a little, but you just have to relax into it, let it happen and pretty soon you"re having a ton of fun!" Timmy tried to say something to that but just came up dry. Felicity was completely quiet. Gladstone coughed and finally broke the silence, but not the tension. "That-th-did not go where I was expecting." "Trust me, when Jack talks, think sex, not baseball." Jack chuckled. "Um...I was thinking cricket but I guess that"s moot." "Ok, before I can cut this moment with a dull knife, Gladstone what"s next?" "Uh...yeah. The legs are still attached to an old experimental version of the Dahl powersuit. So you"ll need to separate them and get them into the crane system." "Roger." As he made his way to the adjacent assembly line, Felicty put out an idea. "Isn"t getting that powersuit to the crane system going to be a little...difficult for you? Why don"t I take over the powersuit and walk the legs to where they can be assembled." "Yeah! I didn"t even think of that! It"d be a great warm up for you." "Great idea babe, you see, its just a learning process." Timmy heard Jack chuckle and take in a breath to talk over his ECHO. "Jack! Nu-uh!" "But!" "No." "You don"t know what I was going t-." "I can guess, really, really well. I am you after all." "Huh." He could hear the amused smile in his boss"s tone. He liked it much better when Timmy was more like him than Timmy. Maybe it"d smooth things over. The old powersuit was still waiting in its final inspection hook up. Timmy input Felicity through the nearby console. The suit lit up and shuddered to life, thick layers of dust falling away as it moved. Felicity flexed her new body as well as she could given its limited range. "How"s it feel?" "Strange, very strange. Arms, legs, feet..." she picked up one huge foot and gingerly put it down in front of her, "is this what it like to be human?" "Couldn"t rightly tell ya." Timmy walked along beside her as she made careful steps towards the crane system. "I don"t have much point of reference." "Well, its the worst." Timmy laughed and patted one of the giant steel legs. "Its not so bad, trust me." "Scavs incoming! Let"s see what you can do baby!" Timmy raise his gun and before he could fire he was almost bowled over by the massive concussive waves from Felicity"s gun. Her oversized and over powered rounds turned their enemies into jelly. As they made slow but steady progress Timmy sniped those quick enough to dodge Felicity"s shots while she mowed everything else down. "Jeezus!" He had to scream to be heard over her firepower. "Dahl does not do anything without gusto!" "No we don"t!" Felicity shouted back, her voice trembling. Once they got close to the crane system the scavs stopped coming. Timmy shook his head several times and was sure his ears would be ringing for years. "Jack I don"t think those powersuits are lame at all." "Not bad buttercup, you turned those scavs into puddles!" "Yes I did didn"t I?" she sounded like she"d been stomping on kittens rather than gunning down crazed bandits. "Everything"s lost like, tears in a puddle." "Hey, Felicity, what"s wrong? Didn"t you have to do things like this when you ran the Drakensburg? Hell you controlled the auto defense systems that me a hard time." "I know, I know, this may be hard for you to understand, but all this is very different and I honestly don"t like it." Timmy put his hand back on her leg as they walked into the crane room. "I do understand. But about all I can say is keep plowing forward. Its that or die." "I"m...sorry." "Don"t be." Jack cleared his throat. Timmy bit his lip, then asked Gladstone for the next step. "That powersuit should have a self destruct function, use it to get the legs free." "Got it...Okay, I"m ready to detonate, stand back!" Timmy ducked behind several component containers as Felicity blew the old suit apart, which surprisingly left the legs still standing with hardly a scratch. "Perfect Felicity! Other-Jack, can you lower the torso onto the legs?" Timmy hit the controls and the crane lowered the completed torso onto its new legs. Mechanical arms unfolded and began connecting and soldering the halves together. "Yea, this is going to get awesome." Even Jack was getting excited. A few minutes of sparking and screwing and the entire finished robot was lifted up to be taken to the final chamber. "It got awesome!" "Its a brute isn"t it?" "Construction is complete finally! The shell just needs to go through final testing and we"ll be ready to install the AI!" Felicity was terrified, Jack and Gladstone were elated, Timmy was somewhere between all them. "Remember I"m still here okay?" He reached into his knapsack and touched her core housing. He knew she couldn"t feel it but instinct wouldn"t let him do any less. "I know." it didn"t sound like that helped her much any more. "Jack I really didn"t enjoy killing those scavs maybe this is all a mistake." "I don"t like killing either babe." "What a lie.' Timmy thought but kept to himself. As the finished robot went through the testing, Gladstone stuttered out some unwelcome news. "U-u-u, bruv? Other Jack? I"m looking over the AI installation process and we may have a bit of a p-p-problem." "What problem?" "Felicity is a very complex AI, and I mean that in a good way..." "Yes..." "Well, you see, I-Ididn"tcalibratetheinternalhardwareforsuchacomplexAIandshemayhavetohavebitsofmemorywipedtoavoidoverwhelmeingandshortingoutthesystem." Timmy" eyes crossed and his brain screamed. "Come again?" "Yes oh mighty King of run-on sentences." Jack added. Gladstone puffed out a breath and tired again. "Felicity may be too much for the brain bits I put in. It"d take days to re-calibrate so...she may have to have her memory paired down to something more basic so the constructor doesn"t just blow." "WHAT?!" Felicity screamed. "Um...Gladstone are you sure-" "Awe crap! Well do what you gotta do!" Timmy"s mouth gaped at that. "Jack can"t we-?" "We don"t have days kiddo! We need this thing working now! Plug her in as soon as its ready." "Wait! WAIT! I don"t want to have my memory wiped! I don"t want to turn into...look, can"t you just put a copy of me in the constructor?" "Exactly how long would it take to copy you?" "Couple of days at the absolute most!" Timmy chewed his lip, Felicity was begging for her life now, he opened his mouth to speak but Jack"s response cut him off. "Uh-uh, Zarpedon will have popped the moon like a zit by then. Sorry buttercup, we don"t have time for either ...do it." Timmy grimaced and held his head in hands, fighting back all the emotions that threatened to spill out. "I promised her..." He whispered. "Jack I can"t!" "If you don"t we all die!" "Fuck..." "Jimothy?" "Felicity I...I fucking hate it, I fucking hate all of it but he"s right. We just don"t have time! We"re all dead unless, unless this works." "Jimothy I can"t! You"ll be killing me!" "But what about everyone else?" he asked, grinding his jaw and marching towards the final chamber. Felicity started crying, a computer program started crying. The behemoth came down the crane system and the floor groaned as its massive frame was set down. Behind it was the place to install the core. Timmy took Felicity out of his bag, out of her safe little cocoon. She was still sobbing. Timmy couldn"t say anything, if he opened his mouth the lump in his throat would choke him and the tears would start. The core fit perfectly, and Felicity pleaded one last time before the installation machine slammed her core up into the chamber, not unlike a guillotine blade coming down on a victim"s neck. "Keep the military stuff, anything that can help us in a fight. Trash the rest." Timmy gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Jack as so uncaring, so detached, there was a person dying, more than dying, being murdered for the sake of millions more. And all he cared about was the military programming. "Felicity, I"m sorry. I"m sorry. I"m sorry!" Gladstone blubbered as he followed his orders. Timmy couldn"t say anything still. He couldn"t cry too. He"d done enough. He didn"t want anymore tears but right now he knew that tears were really all he had to give. Then Felicity spoke again, eerily calm. "I can hear myself dying, I can...No! Stop it! No! NO!" The process abruptly stopped, and the constructor came up out of its cage. Its flashed yellow for a few seconds then turned blood red. The guns on its arms and head lifted up into position and Timmy"s heard Felicity"s hate filled voice for the last time. "If hate if all you want THAT"S WHAT YOU"LL GET!" "Oh my god! She"s gone rampant!" "Crap! SHIT! Jack stop her! Gladstone try to get her back under control!" Timmy was frozen solid as the crazed bot bore down on his, showing its power and spawning a dozen Hyperion loaders armed to the teeth all around him. "What are you DOING? Take her out? At least get out! Come on!" He didn"t think about his hand reaching down for his pistol. He didn"t feel its weight or the recoil as he took his first shot. He didn"t think at all. He existed, and he fought to keep it that way, just like she was. Six hours later they were back in Moxxi"s bar heavy techno music again shaking his innards but this time there was a lot more whooping and hollering going on. Timmy sat at the bar watching all around him with the empty eyes of a mannequin. Athena downed an after dinner whiskey and stayed out of the action on the dance floor, where Jack and Nisha were tearing it up with the claptrap vault hunter and the claptrap bartender not far off. Needless to say the robots were not nearly was easy to watch as Jack and his partner. Wilhelm was off somewhere buying some kind of weapon or upgrade since Jack had suggested they take a few hours to recoup before their assault on Helios. Gladstone also needed the time to pump out a decent sized army. Timmy winced and tried to push any thoughts of robots out of his head. The whiskey he"d been drinking hadn"t done much but slow those awful thoughts and memories down. Nothing better than watching a traumatizing scene over and over again in slow motion. It was bad enough and he was drunk enough to just oogle Jack and Nisha to give himself something else to think about. His eyes were spending about an equal amount of time on her boobs and his ass. But even that activity brought some unwelcome things. Timmy wasn"t picky when it came to breasts but given the choice he veered towards something on the more modest side. Honestly he liked Athena"s rack better than Nisha"s. But hers wasn"t swaying, bobbing and bouncing at the current moment. That being said he found himself actively ruminating on how glad he was to have Jack"s very firm ass to stare at when Nisha"s jiggling got to be too much. He was also more disappointed when said ass wasn"t in view rather than said boobs. But all this aside he was too drunk, too tired and too empty to really care much about it. Finally he turned away from his show and poked at the ice in his glass. A blob of peach and red appeared in the ice and he glanced up enough to see another pair of plump breasts barely tucked into their crimson corset. He licked his lips and glanced up a little further. "Hey Mox." said, barely above a whisper. "Hey sugar, you"re white as a sheet and sadder than a wino with a bottle of spring water. What"s up?" "I guess this place is just wearing on me." "Awe." Moxxi punted for him and put her elbows on the bar and leaned her head on her hands ."Can I do anything for that?" "You know, you have asked me a few hours ago and I would have made an idiot of myself." She giggled at that. "I"m sure." "But right now, I dunno. Call me tired, call me sad, call me a pansy I don"t care." "I"ll call you overworked." she shot a look at Jack still grinding up against Nisha. "At least let me get you some food, on the house. You"re dropping weight sugar, its getting easier to tell the difference between you too." "Maybe not a bad idea, I do need to keep my job." Moxxi nodded and sauntered off. Timmy did not feel up to food but resolved to choke down as much as possible. He hoped it smelled good and got his stomach going. He tried to give it a little hand by remembering the feast his mom served up every Christmas. His family was not well off but they made damn sure everyone was fed. It was a wonder Timmy was ever so thin. His mom would cook not just a hock of ham but a slow roasted turkey too. Or a goose, depending on what unlucky bird happened to get in his dad"s sights. But the bird was never dry, he loved to get the dark meat first and just savor the greasy, wild flavor. There"d be yams cooked with pecans and marshmallows too, au gratin potatoes, plenty of veggies that she"d make sure to load the kids plates with, and mashed potatoes with garlic and butter. And the gravy...oh sweet saintly christ the gravy. There"s be two kinds at least, turkey gravy and brown beef gravy. If the ham gave her enough grease there"d be a separate boat just for the pork gravy. His mother"s gravy was a food group in and of itself. And all this was not including the cornbread and the rolls, and all the sweets and pies and cakes that everyone would bring. His mother would even go so far as to use home churned butter for everything. Nearly made his arms fall of every year it was his turn to churn. That memory did the trick and by the time he heard Moxxi set down a plate he was nearly drooling. "Well you look better already sugar." "Thank you." he gave her a sincere look and she smiled at him. He dug into the burger and fries she brought out which turned out to be pretty good. With a full belly he did feel slightly better and now replaying his warm memories of home helped as well. But the day"s events continued on his mind, just out of sight, whispering to him still. Jack came up as he was eating and clapped his shoulder. "Holy fuck kiddo! That woman can dance, look at me!" Timmy glanced over at his boss and saw the guy was covered in sweat, his hair was sticking to his forehead and it was dripping down the back of his neck. Not the greatest thing to see when trying to eat. "I noticed." Timmy mumbled through his food. Jack snatched a fry from his plate but Timmy didn"t bat an eye. "I got most of them, whatever" he thought. Jack moaned almost pornographically at the taste. "Fuck, I haven"t eaten at all with this shit going on. I didn"t even know I was hungry." "Order something then." Timmy took another sip of whiskey. The way Jack was eyeing his plate got him a little worried now. He went from not cared to being food territorial. "Nah, Moxxi will charge me up the ass like she did last time." he gave Timmy a pointed look. "She"s been nickel and diming me since we broke up." "I thought that was normal with break ups." Timmy tried to surreptitiously move his remaining fries to far side of his plate while downing the rest of his burger. "Yeah, still sucks." Jack reached past his double"s hand and stole another fry. Timmy suppressed a grunt. "Jack order your own for gods" sake." Moxxi shot him a withering look. "What?" he shrugged his shoulders innocently "Its only two fries." "That I gave him for free." "Oh come on Mox why the special treatment for him?" Moxxi smiled and batted Jack"s nose as she spoke. "Because I like him better you cute, greedy little asshole." she said sweet as pie. Jack gave a sarcastic laugh and pushed her hand away. "Very funny. We"re the same guy you know." Moxxi snorted. "Not by a long shot." Jack scoffed as she walked away. Timmy managed to inhale the rest of his food while they bantered. Jack looked a little disappointed when he glanced back down at the empty plate. "You got some hollow leg there." Timmy felt a burp work its way up but did his best to play it down. "I guess I earn my meals about as well as my money huh?" Jack smiled, and then the look came back. For a little while he just sat there admiring Timmy. It was the look you see on a man"s face when he"s sitting right next to the person he wants to take home that night and possibly every other night. "I want you, just you.' Timmy shuddered and did not meet Jack"s lusty gaze, only continued nursing his drink. "You"re...distant tonight kitten, what"s up?" Timmy sighed and now looked. He hoped Jack got it, thankfully he did. "Oh...Felicity." his boss got slightly annoyed now, "You know she would have killed you." "Yes." "You know I would have copied her if we"d had the time?" "...Sure." "She agreed to it from the get go." "I know." "So why are you acting like a bitch huh?" Timmy glared at his boss and Jack glared right back. He knew he would not win this contest so he backed down. "Despite the fact I"m supposed to be you in every way, I hoped I was still a decent person. The more I do on Elpis, the less decent I become. It bothers me ok. I made her a promise, I broke it. Yes I had no choice no real choice but that doesn"t change the fact I"ve become a murdering hypocrite." Jack cocked an eyebrow and gave him a look that screamed "you"re crazy". He shook his head. "You think about this stuff way too much kiddo. Ask anyone, Nisha, Athena, Lilith, Roland, hell ask Mox. You don"t think about these things. You just...do them." "Maybe that"s where people like me are different from people like you." Jack grabbed his neck, it looked like a comforting gesture but jack squeezed hard enough to make Timmy wince. "You and I are the same person. Got it? We have to be dammit." "Got it boss." his voice was tight with pain. Jack held on a little longer, then slowly relaxed his grip and started massaging where he"d squeezed. "Good." his million dollar smile came back and he leaned in a little closer. "God you"re tense, don"t give me any snark, I know why. In fact here..." He got up and stood behind Timmy, now applying both hands to his neck and rubbing. "Um-Jack I don"t thhhh....oooooh." That felt way too good way too quickly, Timmy melted to the point he had to hang on to his bar stool. He damn near curled up and purred as Jack slowly worked the muscles and tendons on his neck. "That"s it kitten, relax." Jack"s honeyed voice sounded like something off a meditation tape. He tapped Timmy"s shoulders and tugged at his jacket. He was a little too eager for more massaging to argue. He threw the jacket over the bar and stood when Jack beckoned him. He ended up with legs apart, braced against the bar as Jack worked his back. While only a couple of people had been staring at Jack and Nisha shake everything they had, almost the whole bar was watching Timmy get his back kneaded into oblivion by Jack. A couple of minute groans slid out of his throat as Jack really pressed into the muscles around his lower spine. That felt so good he pushed off the bar a little. "Ooh, hold that pose kitten." Timmy could practically hear Jack licking his lips. "Keep...rubbing...then." Jack balled his hands and pressed his knuckles into Timmy"s back in response. He kept working his double until he heard quick whispers accompanied by giggles. Normally this wouldn"t bother Jack in the slightest in fact it egged him on but when it came to his Other Jack, he was selfish. "Moxxi"s got some extra rooms up top, I already paid her for a few hours use of them. Wanna go up for some private time?" Timmy stood up with a groan and a pop of the spine. Jack waggled his eyebrows as he faced him, hoping for the best outcome. Timmy eyed with a slack and tired look, then shrugged. "You can come up with me, but no hanky panky. I need sleep, as much as I can get." "Awwwwwww..." Jack exaggerated the hell out of his disappointment. "How long has it been since you slept boss?" "I don"t need to sleep as much as you do couch potato." Jack followed behind Timmy"s slow steps like an eager puppy. "How long?" he pressed again. Jack heaved a sigh. "Ok, boring sleep it is." Timmy had shrugged out of his clothes fairly quickly. The filthy set ended up balled into a corner. Jack took a little more time laying out his own as he undressed. Timmy didn"t watch him at first but as he heard the jingling of a belt being undone he turned over. Jack started pushing his tight jeans and underlying garments down when Timmy snapped his fingers. "Hey, boxers on bucko." Jack gave him a look which then turned into a small sneer. Maybe he liked how close to his own character that remark was. He obeyed Timmy"s rule and strode up to the bed. "Roll over." "Why?" Timmy asked. Jack rolled his eyes. "You never spooned before? Wow you did not have much luck dating." Timmy grunted and turned over, and felt the other man clamber into the small bed. He scooted up to him and first wrapped legs around his, then matched his body to Timmy"s before snaking one arm over his and the other under his pillow. With Jack behind him he could put the things that normally bugged him out of his mind. He could just relish the intimate contact he"d spent far too many hours daydreaming about. Jack nuzzled his nose in Timmy"s hair for a few moments, then sighed heavily and leaned up.

She leaned back again. "Your not being punished." She said. "You said my "movie" didn"t do well and that was why I was brought here, to make up the difference." "I also said the same is true for those that did well. All they care about is money." "I gathered that." He said. She heaved a sigh. "Did you ever look up how much your movie made, and how much it cost to make?" "No, I didn"t want to know I wanted this sentence to pass as quickly as possible." "Weather you know or not it"s going to be a long sentence." She looked away as she spoke. He turned his eyes towards her. "It costs millions to make any Disney movie. You and all the others they brought in have millions to make up. You all get paid about 10 dollars an hour and there are maybe ten people from your particular world here. How long do you think it"ll take?" "Please don"t make me think about that." He wrapped his arms around his knees and hid his face. Anya"s shoulders dropped. She felt bad for bringing up such painful things. He was ripped from his home not long ago and must feel like he"ll never see Paris again. She knew how that felt, but also knew that her own experience was not his. Slowly she worked her way over to him, lifted her hands and placed them on his shoulders. He didn"t move away. "I"m sorry." He didn"t say anything. She could just barely hear the sound of his breathing. She gave in to some quiet instinct and placed her head on the nape of his neck. Once again he did not move. They stayed like that for several minutes, neither one saying a thing. Anya felt as if she were falling asleep; until she felt a cool hand rest on hers. She started to move away then felt his grip tighten a bit. "You want me to stay?" "No... I want; I don"t know." "I won"t touch you, but I"ll stay close." She said softly. He looked at her. "Why don"t we just try to enjoy ourselves today?" A small sad smiled appeared on his face. "Alright." Claude and Anya ended up staying in that grove long after the moon had risen. They found they had a mutual interest in history and spent most of that time discussing everything from the Renaissance to the French and American revolutions to the fall of the British empire to the effects of the world wars. He also had a few questions for her about various things, like why her society had grown into such odd values, or why people would break from an ordained sovereign to build a government that changes completely at least every eight years. When they parted company that night Anya hoped she had opened the door a little more. She liked being with this man, felt the beginnings of love creeping back into her heart. If she could keep doing this; spending small bits of time with him and make sure each one was enjoyable she hoped she would find a place in his heart. That was going to take a long time though and she knew she would have to gain his trust first before he would ever let himself fall for someone. That night Frollo lightly and without dreams, he didn"t need to dream. He woke up about every two hours but didn"t feel tired. Every time he did he simply thought of that picnic and felt soothed. Tonight he didn"t care why she made him feel this, it made him feel good to be so at peace when thinking of someone and when talking to them. He had been the happiest when the moon came out and threw its ethereal light on their secret grove. If he hadn"t known better he would have said that little sanctuary was nestled in the hills and forests right outside his beloved Paris. That, and Anya looked beautiful in the sliver light. He skin glowed and her smile was even more radiant in moonlight. He had been so relaxed and content he had reached up to touch her face. Unlike last time he didn"t get embarrassed or pull away; he left his hand on her cheek and gently stroked it with his thumb. Her skin was fiery hot just like the time before and it quickly warmed his cool fingers. His touch made her smile and she had lifted her hand to his and held it for several minutes. The memory of that little moment, perhaps the only moment of genuine intimacy between him and a woman; made him smile a tiny bit. He liked what had happened today very much, and wanted something like it to happen again. Anya had shown herself to be trustworthy today and if he could trust her... well anything was possible. He didn"t really want to get up that morning. Yes he slept badly but he was also perfectly happy lying in bed thinking about his pleasant afternoon with Anya. Finally he dragged himself out of the covers and headed down for a shower, halfway hoping that she would be there. Part of him said to banish that thought right now but some groggy side of his mind started thinking, What could I do if she is there? She wasn"t. He figured it was better that she wasn"t. He showered as quickly as possible and went back to his flat. Anya loomed large in his thoughts that day, just as she had in recent days, the difference now being she had become a pleasant thought. Every time he went by her gift shop and spotted her through the window he felt a bit of heat flush his cheeks and a smile grow. No one could see that smile beneath his ridiculous mask so he kept grinning like an idiot until he had to turn away and continue on. After he got off for the afternoon he headed to the same bench she had found him at before and sat down to wait for her. She arrived not long after him toting her lunch bag. She saw him sitting there, waved, and jogged up. "I thought you might be here." Claude found himself suddenly tongue tied, what kind of situation had he just waded into? "Ah...um, heh, I..." "It"s okay." She sat down and pulled out some big red grapes and offered him some. He took a few to avoid saying anything. He was in all other times eloquent in his speech but it seemed like he had become a complete idiot in the last few minutes. He couldn"t think of one meaningful thing to say. All he seemed to be able to do was watch her, her mouth, as she ate grapes. His attention focused in on her full lips as they formed around each fruit before she took them into her mouth. After a few grapes he shook his head and forced his eyes to look at the ground. His intense interest had not gone un-noticed by Anya. She barely contained a laugh and a smirk to see him so entranced. She certainly liked the way things were going, and figured this would be the best time to move in for the kill. "So," she leaned back a bit, " you have Sunday nights off right?" He looked up but didn"t look at her. "Yes I do." "I know you can"t leave the park, but they"re showing Mission Impossible in the IMAX here, do you want to go see it?" "Is that a movie?" "Yea, its one of those spy movies were everything in shooting distance gets blown up and the good guy gets the "un-gettable" girl in the end." "Does not sound like something I like." He kept his eyes down. "Okay, what kind of movies do you like?" "I don"t know." "Never seen one?" she should have known. "Never." "Not surprising. What if I bring something from home?" "You can play a movie from home in the theater?" he asked, a little confused. Anya burst out laughing. "No... I can bring one or two to your place though." "My place?" he finally looked up, "But humans aren"t allowed..." "Officially we"re not, but its not that hard to get in." she winked at him. "No, Anya I can"t do that." She sighed. "It makes you uncomfortable?" "Very." She shrugged, "Well, there is one more option." "What is that?" "That hokey company picnic Sunday. They"re letting you guys come, and they going to be showing The Mission on some big inflatable screen." "Not another spy film." "No no, the Mission is about Jesuit priests." He perked up a bit, and placed his hand on his chin. "Hmm... That does sound mildly interesting." "So will I see you there?" Now he surprised her by giving her one of his devious yet dashing smiles. "Alright." Chapter 6 Anything organized by a company you work for always seems to be the same thing, a lame excuse for a social gathering. Even the Disney park team is not exempt form this rule. An alcohol free, more virginal kid friendly than sexually active adult friendly "picnic" greeted Frollo when he stepped of the bus that had taken the characters there after they"re shift. Only one other person from his Paris, Clopin, had come. Claude had actually asked him why when he spotted him. His reply was, "Well it was either this load of shit or the load of shit waiting for me back "home"." Thankfully Anya spotted him not long after his arrival and led him to a secluded spot in front of the movie screen. She had set up another little private luncheon for them, but with strange modern foods. He gave her a quizzical look and she shrugged a bit. "They wouldn"t let me bring outside stuff." He heaved a sigh. "It"ll do." They sat together and watched some of the scenes around them while waiting for the sun to finish setting and the film to start. Clopin seemed to have gotten caught up in a tug of war game with toons against humans, and it gave Claude great pleasure to see him dragged into the mud pit between the teams. Some people had brought their children, who Anya said had gotten into a huge bowl of candy in the food tent and were still crazy high on sugar. He believed that seeing how they screamed at nothing and ran at about 1000 miles per hour. Most people had broken into groups and were spread out at various places and were chatting about nothing. Some others were acting like buffoons on the inflatable games, like playing "novice contortionist" on the twister, or yanking them selves forward as far as they could against giant bungee cords, or worse yet, bouncing around one inflatable with boxing gloves the size of their own torsos. Anya shook her head and rolled her eyes, Claude smiled and a tiny chuckle escaped from him. He caught himself and cleared his throat. The sun took forever to set in the late July heat, and stained the sky fiery orange and blood red. "When is this movie supposed to begin?" asked Claude. "Um..." Anya looked at her watch, "in about one hour." "Then I suggest we go for a walk while its still light." "Alright." They both got up, Anya paused to brush of her skirt; when she looked up, Claude was offering his arm to her. She grinned a little and took it and they set of on one of the asphalt paths of the park. Once the noise of the picnic had faded away, they started talking. Not about anything important really, Anya told him about some of the memories she had of the forests she used to camp in every summer back in Minnesota. Her parents had built a Dacha or cabin in the North Woods and the family went there practically every weekend in warm summer months. Claude listened to her, asked her questions about Minnesota, and even felt comfortable enough to share a memory of the courtyard garden of his university. Eventually the path wound its way around and they came back to the noisy picnic. The first sight that greeted them was of a still mud covered Clopin trying to pick dried clump from his beard. Claude held in a storm of laughter with great effort and ushered Anya back to their blanket. By the time they got back it was twilight at last and other people were gathering in front of the movie screen. Claude"s inner storm erupted as soon as he sat down and while he was incapacitated Anya looked cautiously about her and started digging in the basket. Claude could barely speak through his laughter. "Anya, Anya what are you doing?" "Looking for..." she grasped something in the basket and did one last look around before pulling it out. "This." In her hands was a bottle of Domaine De Clos De L"Epinay Bordeaux. Claude stopped laughing immediately and sat straight up. "Where did you get that you evil, incredible girl?" Anya smiled and giggled a bit. "An old friend of my father"s works for the Grand Hotel in St. Petersburg buying all they"re wine. He sends us extra bottles from time to time, and I asked Papa to send the best French bottle he had." "Best French? This could be the best in the world!" "Shh! Keep it down, this is supposed to be a dry party. We"d better open it now while there"s still some noise, or else we"ll have to time it with the gunshots in the movie." Frollo nodded and concealed the precious bottle in his hands while she dug out the glasses and corkscrew. They opened it o-so quietly and carefully and he poured the glasses with expert grace. He raised his glass to her and she did the same. "A votre santé." "Spasibo, budem zdorovy." Claude took in the incredible bouquet of that wine and then only took the tiniest sip. Anya took a larger drink but savored it for some time. "What was that you said?" Anya looked at him. "Hmm?" "It was obviously Russian, but what does it mean?" "Spasibo means thank you, and budem zdorovy means; lets be healthy. Yours meant, to your health, right?" He nodded. Anya smiled to herself and settled down as the screen lit up and the movie started. The Mission was quite an interesting film, about Jesuit priests founding missions in the South American jungles that were built on soon-to-be Portuguese territory where the natives they try to save may be enslaved no matter what they"re belief. As the former mercenary and slave trader Rodrigo took the vows to become a Jesuit near the middle of the movie, Claude"s eyes flickered back to Anya. She was caught in the story and was unaware of his gaze at first, but she soon felt his eyes on her. She turned her own gaze to him but unlike other times he did not turn back. Rather they seemed to be drawn closer together till she was so near he could felt the warmth of her skin and smell the flowery wine on her lips, her red, lush lips. Maybe the wine had clouded his head, maybe the darkness made him feel more secure, something allowed him to come that close to her. He looked back and forth between her eyes and her mouth unsure of what to do next. He felt himself slip a little closer and something in him started screaming Kiss her you idiot! Kiss her now! His breathing sped up and he lifted his hand to gently cradle her head, then tilted his own and leaned in. Victory. It was sweet and mellow, and seemed to last a decade. By the time he pulled back Anya had lost track of time. She didn"t much care either. She snuggled up to him reveled in the fruits of her labor. He wrapped one arm around her and rested his head on hers. For the first time in a painfully long time man and woman were content and completely at ease. But as all couples soon learn, peace of mind and above all, privacy, are very temporary things. Most others around them were distracted either by the movie or another, but a few loners spotted the two of them and by the time they would return to their duties the next day their romance would be all over the park. For now though they enjoyed one another"s company blissfully unaware of how much fighting they would have to do just to stay that way. Chapter 7 Anya wasn"t usually one to fuss over her appearance in the morning, especially when it came to her hair. She kept it short just so she wouldn"t have to fuss with it and as long as she didn"t have any bed head figured it looked pretty good. The past few days however she had done a little more than wet down the stray strands, she blew dried, gelled and even used her only can of hairspray (which was going on about a year old and seeing its fourth major use). The reason for all this hair fussing every morning, and uniform ironing every night had taken to visiting her for a few minutes before her shop opened every morning and sitting next to her in the secret grove when she had lunch. This reason had also picked up the habit of gently playing with her hair giving her a good swarm of butterflies every time. Anya put the finishing touches on her dark chestnut mane and headed out the door and on to her work place, still annoying but just a little less dull. About an hour later employees were rushing about to prep everything and get into their positions with the PA "count down" bearing down on them. Anya and Claude were standing in an alcove behind her store hand in hand. She gave his hand a little squeeze and lifted it closer to her. This elegant hand looked like it had just jumped off a piece of paper, she could even see faint pencil lines; yet she could feel the bones and tendons beneath the skin. The sweet moment ended when Anya picked up on a suppressed snicker not five feet away. She smiled at Claude, kissed his fingers, and stomped around the corner and gave her nosy co-worker a swift kick in the ass. She then picked up said co-worker and dragged her around the corner. "Claude, this is Stacy Benning, Stacy; Claude Frollo." "Ow," she rubbed her arm and pasted on a smile, "nice to meet you." Stacy was probably about six inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter than Anya, with long dirty blonde hair, a tan that was half rubbed on, and far too much lip gloss. "Okay peeping tom, back inside; I think you still have to get your till ready." "Yes master." Stacy stomped back inside. Anya let out a nervous laugh. "Don"t worry about her, she"s not past her whole gossip beach girl phase." "How old is she?" he asked. "Bout a year younger than me." Frollo scoffed. "She acts like she"s five years younger." "That"s how most girls our age are here, better get used to it." She smiled mischievously. "As far as I"m concerned, the less interaction I have with them, the better." He leaned in, but stopped when he heard the frantic yells of one of the logistics men; who was undoubtedly looking for him. He paused a moment, then pulled her in by the waist and gave her a soft but heated kiss, then kissed her on each cheek and planted one last one on her forehead. She tried to return the favor but he put two fingers on her lips and said "Save those, they"re better when properly aged." He donned his mask and walked around towards the fake street. Anya went back into the shop and started setting up her register. Through the window she saw Claude come up behind the logistics guy and bonk him on the head. She couldn"t hear them but she could tell from their gestures that Frollo was expertly getting the man to think that it was his own fault that he couldn"t find one of his characters. Being in love with someone of a certain nationality in most cases, causes one to extend that affection to your beloved"s country of origin. Frollo was quickly finding such was the case with himself. In all of his studies of history in all of his days at university or on the bench, he had never heard of a nation suffering so much woe and misfortune and still surviving with such vigor. Reading the about the many days and years of the Land of the Rus and the Romanovs and thinking on what kind of people could live and thrive through that really explained to him were Anya got her force and energy from. They met up after her shift was over and he was on his afternoon break. They sat on the long wild grass; she had snuggled up to him and was resting her head in the space between his shoulder and the nape of his neck. She looked like she was almost asleep she didn"t even move when a cool breeze came though and threw tiny white specs into her pitch-black lashes. Claude reached up and tried to gently brush them away. Her eyes fluttered and she looked up at him. "Sorry," he kept trying to very gently remove the specs. "Something in my eyes?" she asked innocently. "Yes." He stopped for a moment and just looked at her. Deep stormy; sea colored eyes framed by long thick black lashes and flecks of white. He put his hand down. "What?" she said. "Nothing, I just decided you look better with them than without." She smiled just a hint. "You know I"ve been wondering something." she said. "And what would that be?" "Have you been getting any points?" Claude"s mind stopped dead for a second. "Points?" Anya rolled her eyes. "When you first got here they should have explained the point system to you in an orientation. Or were you not paying attention?" He gave a look of indignation. "I was paying perfect attention. You cannot blame me if the man insisted on standing next to some roaring machine that made him impossible to hear half the time." She tapped his forehead in reprimand. "Well, anyways, the jist of it is, for every shift you do from beginning to end without getting in trouble or getting sick or injured, you get one point. When you get ten points, you can leave the park with at least one other person for four hours. Twenty points, 8 hours, and so on and so forth. You always have to leave with someone else of your kind, but no says you have to stay with them." "And why did you ask about this in the first place?" "Well, #1 I think you could use some time away from this hell hole; #2 I also think you need to experience this world a little more; and #3 I know a great little French restaurant not far form home." "I don"t know..." "What is there to think about? Look, you could either spend a day trying to keep your breakfast inside of you while little kids try to kick your shins or you can get the hell out of here and let me take you a quiet little place with some pretty good food and some really good wine."

"Oh," Telemain said. And then, after a moment"s reflection, "Oh," drawing the syllable out as it all came back to him. Now he remembered... It had been two years previous to Daystar"s fateful trip into the Enchanted Forest that Telemain had contacted Morwen via magic mirror. Over the decade and a half since Mendenbar"s disappearance, they had kept in touch - if somewhat sporadically at times; he was always getting caught up in his research - through letters, magic mirrors, and visits, so the call had been no particular surprise to Morwen... even if the request itself was. "I need your assistance with a current project," he was explaining. "The balance of the secondary flow is still unstable and I believe it requires a dual focus to ensure an even distribution of the variable energies. I"ve attempted the spell using an inanimate object as the secondary focus, but it"s proven to not be adaptable enough to react to the wavelength shift." "So," Morwen began slowly, "you need a second magical practitioner who can compensate for fluctuations in the magical field." "Exactly. And since the spell requires the user to compensate for the instabilities inherent in the forest"s makeup, it"s difficult to find someone competent enough to successfully manage the task." Morwen"s lips twitched but only said. "So you"d like me drop by, would you?" "As soon as you can. I"m afraid the preparations for the spell are extremely time sensitive, and beginning again from scratch would require considerable effort." When Morwen did arrive a short while later, it never occurred to him to offer her something to drink or eat before ushering her into the largest of his tower"s workrooms. In the centre of the room stood a circular stone pedestal on top of which rested a plain wooden bowl. It contained a collection of jagged white pebbles submerged in water, on the surface of which floated a single brilliantly blue feather. The floor was decorated by a complex network of lines and notations at the four corners of which stood a flickering torch. "Now," Telemain said, pointing to a spot near the stone pedestal, "if you would just take your place right there." "Telemain." He stopped and looked up at her as he noticed her tone. "Yes?" Her black robes fell in loose folds around her as she stood, arms crossed, with a look on her face that she sometimes used when her cats were giving her particular difficulty. "I"m not one your inanimate foci, so perhaps you could tell me exactly what this spell is for?" "Oh, of course," he said, stroking his black beard as he considered. "The purpose of the spell is to enable the storage of magical transference energies to allow for later use without a specific localization node." Morwen frowned. "You"re working on a portable transportation spell?" she ventured after a moment. "That"s what I said," he huffed. "The magical wavelength properties are-" "In layman"s terms." Telemain sighed and, brow crinkling with concentration, went on. "As you know from our past adventures, transportation spells can drain the caster"s magical stores, particularly if a great deal of mass is involved." "Like transporting a dragon," Morwen said with a nod. "Yes. Theoretically, it should be possible to store such energies in an enchanted object and allow them to be used at a later point in time." "I can see how that would be useful. Now, you said something about instabilities..." He explained to her what he needed her to do. She interrupted him several times to ask for clarification on one point or another, but finally she appeared satisfied with his explanation and took her place by the stone pedestal across from him. Telemain glanced at Morwen, and when she nodded he cleared his throat and began. He raised his hands and made a circular motion in the air while speaking an incantation: Take my power that I hone Bind it to this lowly stone That the leagues away from home Freely I can always roam The torches around them flared to life and within moments the water in the bowl had begun to roil and bubble. The feather on its surface came apart, transforming the water into a thick azure mixture. Bubbles, blue-tinged but otherwise much resembling normal soap bubbles, rose out of the concoction and drifted into the air above them. A cluster landed in Morwen"s ginger hair and popped on contact. She started as if stung. He himself winced when one of the bubbles popped on his cheek, sending an electric shock into his face. It was then that he realized that there remained a problem with the spell; magical energy was still escaping rather than being contained in the stones. His suspicions were further confirmed when the roiling blue mixture began to froth over the rim of the bowl and dripped onto the stone pedestal... with explosive results. A backlash of magical energy sent the contents of the bowl flying in all directions and knocked both Morwen and Telemain off their feet. Telemain groaned as he moved from the floor of his workroom to prop himself up on his elbows. "There seem to still be difficulties surrounding the energy storage matrix." "I never would have guessed," Morwen said dryly. He reached for some of the debris scattered across the floor and was inspecting it for residual energy charges when Morwen approached him. "Telemain?" "Look at this, Morwen. It"s fascinating." He held up one of the pebbles, which had gone from white to blue and still buzzed with energy. "If I can just narrow the focal energy-" "Telemain, are you all right?" Morwen cut in and the tone of her voice puzzled him. He waved a hand vaguely. "Of course. I"m fine." "You"re bleeding." He turned his attention from the stone to his hand, only then noticing the splotch of red smeared on his fingertips. Scowling, he turned his hand over and saw nothing to suggest the source of the blood. Morwen was already kneeling on the floor next to him. She drew back his vest to reveal a red stain blossoming on the grey shirt, just beneath his left collar bone. A cluster of holes in the fabric revealed a similarly-placed cluster of small wounds in his chest. She undid the laces of his shirt and peeled away the soaked fabric to inspect it. "It looks like the backlash from your spell turned the stones into projectiles." "An unfortunate side effect of its instability, I"m afraid," Telemain replied, wincing. Morwen rolled her eyes and began rummaging for her herbs in the enchanted sleeve of her robe while Telemain continued to scowl at the sticky red spot on his chest. But then his attention turned once more to the blue stone in his hand and for a moment he forgot completely about the unpleasant stinging sensation. "For once in your life be sensible and hold still," Morwen snapped. "It"s nothing," he said. "If you"d just be kind enough to bandage it, it"ll be fine and I can perform an inspection of the remnants of the spell to try to ascertain what went wrong." She goggled at him as if he"d turned blue, sprouted wings, and begun to hover several inches off the floor of his workroom. "What?" "Are you overlooking the fact that you have at least six magical stones embedded in your skin?" He opened his mouth to reply but nothing quite came out - perhaps due to the glower on Morwen"s face. "If I"m to apply the proper herbs, I need to know what is coating those stones. If that was a cockatrice feather you used, then the effects could be-" "No, nothing so deadly. It was only a gryphon feather. Completely inert." As she was selecting herbs from the assortment she"d withdrawn from her enchanted sleeve, Telemain found himself wondering if she always left home with a supply of healing materials or if it was just when she came to visit him. It was not that this sort of thing happened to him often - well not precisely at any rate - but new spells did require a good deal of adjustment before they were perfected and there was bound to be the occasional hiccup. Witches like Morwen always seemed to have difficulty accepting the hazards of experimentation. They relied on tried and true methods, but in so doing denied themselves the rewards of new discoveries. No sooner had Morwen applied a coat of herbs, than the sharp stinging faded into a dull throb. When she had bandaged the wound, he assumed they were done and that he could get back to work. No such luck. "Do you have any marsh nettle?" "I should in my storage room. Why?" "It"s sometimes known as "sapsucker root.' I can use it to draw out the stones." Telemain"s eyes widened. "I had no idea the plant had such secondary properties. Is it used with an enchantment or-" "You can get a firsthand demonstration when I get back. Just tell me where to find it and don"t stir in the meantime." For some minutes he did wait, but his mind kept returning to the spell and what had gone wrong. He was so close to a solution now and he was certain that the answer lay in narrowing the focal energy distribution, which would require refining the working materials used to set up the enchantment. With this is mind, Telemain rose to his feet and took two steps towards the pedestal, blinking away white spots that danced before his eyes. One hand shot out to lean against the stone pedestal as the world suddenly seemed a little less than stable. "Telemain." He knew that tone even through the haze of lightheadedness. Morwen slipped his arm around her shoulders to steady him. "I"m fine," he murmured. "Fine indeed," Morwen said with a sniff. "I told you to keep still." This time she led him out of the workroom completely and settled him in his own room. He did his best to concentrate on the spell she was casting as she applied the marsh nettle, but the sensation of those jagged pebbles, even with the numbing from the earlier poultice, proved to be too great a distraction. When it was over, he was pale and clammy, his breathing ragged. Morwen reached out to push strands of dark hair from his slick forehead, her fingers brushing over his skin with a healer"s touch. "It"s done now." For once her tone was as gentle as her fingers. "As experiences go," he said between breaths, "that was most unpleasant." "You"re lucky. If one of those stones had taken out your eyes there"s nothing I could have done. Why don"t you take better precautions when you work?" He shook his head and then regretted it as white spots blotted his vision again. "It"s impossible to prepare for every eventuality and too many extra spells can interfere with the results of the experiment." Morwen only sighed and went about re-bandaging his wound, winding long strips of cloth around his chest, and for a while, instead of enchantments and magical herbs, Telemain found his mind fully occupied by the sensation of her warm fingers brushing across his skin. She glanced up at him, arching an eyebrow when, all at once, he caught her wrist. "That... tickles," he said by way of explanation. "Good." She smiled in satisfaction as she finished with his bandages. "That means the herbs are taking effect. How does it feel now?" "Just an ache." Telemain leaned back against a heap of pillows as Morwen finished cleaning up. He knew enough of herb lore to take care of most of the bumps and scrapes that could sometimes come of magical research, but even he had to admit that some things were better left to professionals. This wasn"t the first time Morwen had had to patch him up, but it was certainly one of the more dramatic instances. When she was done, she came to sit by his bedside, shaking her head. "You foolish, foolish magician," she chided. "I told you to hold still and what do you do but the exact opposite." "I was only trying to ensure that I learn something from today"s experiment so that it"s not a total loss." Morwen shook her head. "I wish you had as much regard for your own welfare as you do for your research." His brow crinkled in a scowl. "I"ve managed my own welfare adequately for all these years." "You mean aside from the time you were nearly toasted by Kazul, or when you got knocked out by the wizards" transport spell, or the accident with the bristle briar, and the incident with the transmutation spring, and-" "The instances were few and far between," he cut in, waving a hand dismissively. "There"s no need to enumerate every misstep of the past fifteen years." "What exactly did you do before you came to live in the Enchanted Forest?" Before he could just ask her to come over and patch him up; he knew that"s what she meant. A small part of his mind wondered if perhaps he had been taking greater risks simply because he knew she was only a magic mirror call away and trusted in her skill. A greater part of his mind was irked by the suggestion that he was not competent enough to handle matters on his own. "You need to rest," Morwen announced, rising to her feet. "I"ll stop in again tomorrow to change the herbs." Telemain huffed. "There"s no need for that. I"m entirely capable of doing it myself." "The wound won"t heal well if it isn"t cared for properly." "I understand the basics of healing magic, Morwen. There"s no need for you to- to- bother yourself." There was a long moment of silence. A lock of ginger hair had gotten loose and she absently brushed it behind one ear. "All right. If you"re sure, Telemain," she said finally. "You let me know when you need me." He was still scowling. "I will." And that was all he said before she left. Later, when he replayed the scene in his mind, he wondered if perhaps it wasn"t anger he"d seen on her features, but rather if she"d looked... hurt. Sitting up in a bed in the newly liberated castle of the King of the Enchanted Forest, two years later, Telemain squirmed again as Morwen"s fingers continued to tickle over his skin. She"d not said a word since pointing out the two year gap in their communications. "I meant to visit," he said, "but-" "But you got caught up in your research," Morwen supplied, eyes still fixed on his injured shoulder. "No it- well of course I did have that one project-" He shook himself. That was not what he wanted to say. "I did write." "Yes," Morwen agreed. "You wrote me a treatise on elemental influences in secondary matrix nodes. And another about the congruence of ambient spell energies." "I thought you were interested in congruence." "I am. But I thought you"d realized by now that if I"m going to discuss magical theory I"d prefer to do it in person over lunch and a cup of cider." "Oh." "And besides that, the letters were remarkably impersonal even for you." "I meant to drop by, but..." But he knew she"d ask about the herbs. He heaved a sigh and with his good hand drew back the left side of his shirt. There, just beneath his left collar bone, were six pockmarks where the enchanted stones had been removed from his chest. "You forgot to change the herbs after I left, didn"t you?" "I"m afraid so," Telemain said. Somehow, after everything they"d been through in the past few days, it seemed easier to simply admit it. "It appears we now have tangible evidence that your concerns were not totally unfounded." "Not totally unfounded?" she repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Or-" He cleared his throat. "More precisely, that they were quite well-founded." Morwen shook her head. "I knew I should have looked in on you." "No, no. I"m afraid I was a bit... ungrateful. I did insist I could handle matters on my own after all." Morwen"s fingers moved from his injured shoulder to trace the six small scars, which, he knew, he could have avoided if he"d heeded her advice about the herbs. Instead he"d gotten distracted by his attempts to tweak the energy distribution for his teleportation spell. Her fingers travelled over the scars one by one as she shook her head. She only raised her eyes when he caught that hand in his good one. "Still ticklish," he murmured. For a minute, Morwen peered at him intently, and in spite of all the years Telemain had known her, he wasn"t sure what to make of the expression on her face. "You"ve been avoiding me for two years? Because of this?" "Well I wouldn"t say "avoiding" precisely." Telemain hurried on as Morwen scowled. "And in any case, I"m sorry. I did rather miss our discussions." Telemain knew he wasn"t the sort of person who craved constant companionship. As he"d made quite clear to Daystar and Shiara when they"d visited, as a matter of course he didn"t care to be disturbed. In this he was quite unlike Morwen, whose home saw a constant parade of guests, in the form of friends, or, just as often, the hapless princes, knights, woodsmen"s daughters, and other such, that wandered around the forest and found themselves on her doorstep. And though he took pains to avoid these kinds of distractions, he had never considered Morwen among them. In fact, since moving to the forest a decade and a half ago, he"d come to enjoy her presence as his almost-neighbour. If she occasionally took him away from his work, he returned to it refreshed, with new insights. He also appreciated that with Morwen he could speak freely about magical theory without having to water things down, as he did with Cimorene and Kazul, and, as a witch, her perspectives on magical matters provided him with alternative views that could be quite helpful in his work. Furthermore, she was good company, even when they were discussing topics other than magic. He"d spent many an evening sitting in her kitchen sipping cider, just talking. He had missed that these past couple of years. She tugged his shirt back into place and shook her head. "I wish you"d be more careful, Telemain. You realize you could have been killed yesterday?" she said sharply. "I"m sorry," he shot back. "That was clearly not my intent." "Your intent! Telemain-" And before she could launch into a tirade, he cut in with, "That being the case, I"m glad you were there." He paused a beat to squeeze the hand he still clutched in his, and offered what he hoped was an apologetic smile. "And willing to put up with me." "My willingness has never been in question." He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Morwen smiled fondly at him and, freeing her hand, did up his shirt laces. Once this was done she nodded in satisfaction. "You need to rest." She rose to leave. As she did, she brushed a lock of ginger hair behind one ear and for an instant he was back in his workroom two years ago. You let me know when you need me. The backlash that sent him reeling this time was not magical in nature, but it did, he realized, have a concrete and obvious solution. "Morwen, wait." She raised an eyebrow but did, after a second or two, move to sit once more. "I made certain observations after the incident two years ago," he began. Morwen heaved a sigh. "Telemain, we can discuss transportation spells when you"re better." "No, hear me out. Please." She titled her head, studying his features, but at last she nodded. "All right." "The most notable of these observations is that my tower has been somewhat too... quiet. Even for my tastes." Her features softened and he went on. "You said-" he began and then broke off to moisten his lips. His entire mouth felt dry. "That I should let you know when I needed you. I believe we have ample evidence now that I do." She sat very still and watched him as he spoke, her expression unreadable. "Perhaps if I were to-" He cleared his throat. "That is, if you would be willing to put up with me on a more... long-term basis then you wouldn"t have to worry nearly so much." It was to his great relief that, after staring at him for several moments, a smile broke onto Morwen"s face. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his brow. "That is the most sensible thing I have heard you say in years." He took her hand in his again, squeezing it and smiling - a tad nervously perhaps. "So... we"re agreed then?" She was still smiling and he found himself looking forward to the notion of seeing that smile on a daily basis. "Yes. After all, we seem to be in the midst of a happy ending and what happy ending would be complete without a wedding?" Telemain laughed and Morwen smiled more broadly than ever. His lips were quirked as he said, "Should I be asking your cats for their approval first?" Morwen sniffed. "I"m afraid approval isn"t something you"re likely to ever get from a cat." Though there was much to be done around the castle and Telemain needed his rest, Morwen lingered with him for a long time. There was, after all, quite a lot to discuss: what Telemain would do with his tower, how many rooms Morwen would need to add to her house to provide him with a proper workspace, what sort of new enchantments they would have to put up, and so on and so forth. And if Cimorene happened to come by to check on them later and found them like that, hands still clasped, she only smiled to herself and said not a word. The End A/N: Like everyone, I was really curious how the conversation in which these two decided to get married must have gone down (I"d still love to see Wrede"s version of events). But I was also curious why Morwen and Telemain hadn"t seen each other in a while. How do you get from not seeing someone in a long time to deciding to get married?

"Jesus, Max, you were so spaced out you didn"t even notice that creeper tonight." Palms pressing against the cool surface of the table, Max stared into her plate, as if she could read bits of pancake the way some people read tea leaves. Neither signs or portents appeared, which was just as well as Max had had enough of ominous visions. If life could just be normal again... But how could it now? After everything... Everyone. Zachary Riggins and others. The homes people had lost, the financial ruin, the anguish, the loss that she"d inflicted on Arcadia Bay... The old Max and the new Max. Max started as Chloe leaned across the table to grip her hands. "Dude, seriously, you"re fucking scaring me." Chloe"s blue eyes bored into her with a kind of desperation that made Max"s heart ache. "Chloe... I"m sorry. I-" But the words wouldn"t come. Jefferson, the storm-they were a part of her now and she didn"t know how to explain that, to say how she couldn"t sleep with these new bedfellows. "Let"s get out of here. We can go back, crash for a few hours, and then take off. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do." She was going to say she was too tired, too worn out to do anything except maybe, hopefully sleep a little when they got home, but then an idea came to her, something she hadn"t thought about in a long time. Glancing up at Chloe, a tiny smile made its way onto her face. "There is one place..." Rain pounded the junker"s windshield the whole way and only tapered off when they were crossing over to Harbor Island, Seattle"s industrial sector. Using her phone to get directions, Max called them out to Chloe, and, with only a couple of wrong turns, they found their way through the mess of overpasses and train tracks to a lot where they could ditch the trunk and head out on foot. "Come on, Super Max," Chloe said as her boots hit the gravel. "Time for some ninja action." But Max was already pulling out her camera. "Just give me a minute." On one side a chainlink fence cordoned off a sprawling lot filled with shipping bins, cranes, forklifts, and other machinery Max couldn"t even name. On the other, a half dozen rows of train tracks. A long line of boxcars, some scribbled with graffiti tags, and coal-black tankers idled on the tracks. Max snapped several shots while Chloe leaned against the truck, arms crossed, and watched her. Of course, she also couldn"t resist spinning around and getting a shot of Chloe too. The downpour had done them a favour because there were no guards around the fence as they approached their goal, a collection of monstrous silos taller than the overpass. They walked right in. The silos rose on either side, as if she and Chloe were standing at the bottom of a massive canyon. Chloe craned her neck to peer up at them. "You know, when you said you wanted to go see an abandoned flour mill, the picture in my head was hella less cool." Max smiled. The Fisher Flour Mill had a reputation in Seattle. The building dated back to the early nineteen hundreds, but had been abandoned for about a decade now. "Some of the kids at school used to come here. I"ve seen pics. There should be a way in up here somewhere." The doors were all sealed shut, but the windows not so much. They found one on the ground level and, with a boost from Chloe, Max hauled herself through the window and into the abandoned building, followed, a moment later by Chloe herself. Grey light, pouring in from the rows of window behind them, provided faint illumination in the cavernous room. It was like a giant parking lot, filled with concrete support columns. Along the sides were what Max thought might have been rusted conveyer belts. Every wall and every pillar was covered with bright splashes of graffiti. For a full minute, Chloe stared around the room, mouth agape. When she turned to look at Max again, she had a mad grin plastered all over her face. "Amazeballs. This place was practically in your backyard and you never visited?" Max shrugged. "I was still a kid when we moved to Seattle." "Okay fine, but you totally should have come before starting at Blackwell." "I didn"t want to go by myself and my friends wouldn"t come to a place like this." Chloe put an arm around Max"s shoulders. "That"s because you had the wrong kind of friends." "And you"re the right kind?" Max said, quirking an eyebrow. "I"m the best kind," she whispered, her lips brushing against Max"s ear. And then, with a wicked grin, she released Max and sauntered down the wide aisles between the concrete pillars. For a few minutes afterwards, it was rather hard for Max to focus on taking pictures. They wandered in and out of rooms filled with rusting machinery, over and under steel beams, pipes, and gears the size of coffee tables. Chloe peered at pressure gauges and, when they passed a panel with a large red button, stopped to press it, pouting when nothing happened. Everywhere, the walls were bright with graffiti. Max photographed everything, but especially Chloe, desperate to capture the wonder on her friend"s features as they explored. "This is epic," Chloe announced as she let a hand trail along the huge blocky letters of one of the tags, a violent mix of orange, purple, blue, and black. "I cannot fucking believe that you never came here." Max lowered her camera to smile at Chloe. "It wouldn"t have been the same without you." Nothing would be the same without Chloe, her wild, fearsome Chloe. I had enough of those faux-punk sluts in my Seattle days. Even here, she couldn"t get away from Jefferson"s acid words. He would never know the conversations they had had, never hear the words that haunted her dreams and her waking hours, but they were corroded into her memory forever. Max raised her camera and took the shot. Eventually, they found a stairwell and headed up into the main building, which rose higher even than the silos. Chloe grimaced as she reached for the railing. "Hope you"ve got your tetanus shot, Maxaroni." "Standard issue for every modern pirate." On another floor, there were rows of rusted machines-turbines of some sort-attached to rods and gears. Max couldn"t fathom what function they"d once served even as she knelt to get a good angle on them. "It"s eerie, isn"t it? Like some sort of abandoned robot factory." Over in the corner, Chloe was busy pushing every button and pulling every level on a derelict console. "Totally Blade Runner." Max"s breath caught as she remembered the last time she"d watched that movie. With Chloe-the other Chloe-in her hospital bed. She rose and wandered into the next room, with its high ceiling and mess of toppled-over equipment. Scanning the area for her next shot, a ladder in the back corner caught Max"s attention. She looked up and saw a raised platform overhead. Immediately, her mind"s eye was setting up the shot, imagining the angle from above. Always take the shot. She made her way towards the ladder. The rungs were solid when she tested them, so she settled her camera comfortably around her neck and began to pull herself up, hand over hand. At the top of the ladder, she reached the platform, a metal grille, thick with rust, and a rickety waist-high hand rail. The platform let out an ear-shattering creak as she stepped out onto it, and Max held her breath. When nothing catastrophic followed, she held up her camera and framed the shot, capturing the wasting mechanisms below in her lens. It was hard to imagine that, not all that long ago, this place had been a real, working factory. Men and women had walked its corridors and made their living tending these strange machines. And now it was all in ruins. It was a wreck. That moment innocence evolves into corruption... The transformation between the old Max and the new Max. Max focussed on the scene below, on capturing just the right angle. When something behind her creaked and groaned with a metallic whine, she ignored it and kept clicking. She couldn"t get quite the right angle. A line of wiring dangling from the ceiling swayed to and fro just at the edge of her shot. Max leaned forward against the railing, tilting to get a clear shot. A metallic scraping sound and she felt the railing give way. Max pitched forward for a fraction of a second, but something was wrapped around her, anchoring her and she was pulled back onto the platform in a heap. The platform groaned and shuddered for a moment but then was still again. "Fuck. Fuck," Chloe rasped, sounding breathless and scared. Max"s heart was hammering in her chest, and it took her racing thoughts a moment to realize she was in a heap on the platform, leaning back against Chloe. She hadn"t even realized Chloe had joined her up here. All she"d been thinking of was her pictures, and getting away from Mark Jefferson"s voice. "Chloe." Max was surprised by the tremor in her voice. "You saved me." Her arms were still around Max"s waist and now Chloe tightened her grip and buried her face in Max"s shoulder. "Of course I saved you. I"m not going to let you goddam self-destruct on me." "I was just... clumsy." "Bullshit. I think I know something about self-destructive behaviour, right?" "But I"m not-" She stopped herself as she thought over the past days. She"d just been distracted. Not... Was it just that she"d gotten used to feeling invincible because of her rewind powers? Or was she trying to punish herself for what had happened to Arcadia Bay? "You"ve got to cut that shit out, Max." Chloe"s face was pressed into her neck, her voice muffled. Max could feel hot tears streaming down Chloe"s face. "I need you. I can"t lose anyone else. My dad, Rachel... I can"t fucking deal with that again." She took a shaky breath and then went on. "Look... Max... if you regret saving me-" "No!" Max turned in Chloe"s grasp so she could look her in the eye, her hand reaching out to touch her cheek. "Not ever, not even for a second." "Then talk to me. Lately, it"s like you"re trying to crawl into that camera and disappear." She didn"t know how to talk about it, how to make the words come. But she could still feel the moisture of Chloe"s tears on her neck, feel her friend"s steely grip around her waist, as if she were drowning and Max were a life preserver. "Okay," Max said. "Let"s... let"s go down and talk." The rain had started up again, pelting against the windows. For a while they sat in silence side by side in the stairwell, neither one of them certain how to begin. Max"s hands were clasped on her lap and she stared hard at them, trying to think of what to say. When she glanced up, she found Chloe looking down at a photo of herself on the front steps of Max"s home. It was the last one Max had taken with her own camera. She"d been too worried that day to take a good look at it, but now she leaned closer and inspected the photo. In the picture, Chloe sat hunched on the front steps, caught in profile, her face little more than a silhouette. The day"s drizzle had seemed to drain the world-and the photograph-of all colour, except for the blue of Chloe"s hair and the orange tip of her lit cigarette. Chloe noticed her glance, and handed her the photo. "Just before you took that, I"d been talking to your dad." "My dad?" "He brought me an ashtray so I wouldn"t mess up your lawn or whatever. You know he used to smoke?" Max shrugged. "Yeah. Before I was born, I think." "Nope." Chloe bumped her shoulder against Max"s. "He smoked until you were born. And then he quit. He told me..." Chloe, her voice suddenly unsteady, cleared her throat. "He said he loved you so much he couldn"t stand the thought of hurting you with his secondhand smoke. So he quit." "He never told me that," Max whispered. "It got me thinking about... about everything that went down. And..." She slapped her hands down on her knees and bowed her head for a moment. "Shit. Dude, this mushy stuff is hard." Reaching out Max took one of her hands in both of hers. "Chloe-" "No, let me finish." She took a deep breath. "Your dad loved you so much he fucking gave up nicotine. Cold turkey. And I love you every bit as much." She looked up, her blue eyes holding Max"s gaze. "You gave me my life, Max. And I know I need to stop pissing it away. I just-I can"t do it all at once." Max wrapped her arms around Chloe and hung on for all she was worth. "I"m not asking you to. I"m not asking you to do anything." "You don"t have to." She drew back and placed her hands on Max"s shoulders. "I want to be there for you, to have your back, to take care of you-like you did for me. But you"ve got to tell me what"s wrong, Max." Her name echoed through the stairwell. She was thankful for the rain which had obviously dissuaded any other explorers or graffiti artists. They were completely alone here, just as they had been during the storm when they"d stood on the bluff by the lighthouse. Just the two of the them in a place that was crumbling around them. "I"m... I"m afraid, Chloe. I"m afraid that something will happen to you and I won"t have my rewind powers to save you. I"m afraid I will have my powers and I"ll fuck everything up again. I"m afraid of going back to Arcadia Bay and having to face everyone when I know it"s all because of me. And I-I"m afraid that Jefferson was right." Chloe"s face was a mask of fury. "What does that motherfucker have to do with this?" "Everything." Max stared at the wall ahead of her, covered in spray-painted scrawls, a testament to the people who had been here and left their mark... like all the conversations, all the terrible events scrawled only in her memory and nowhere else. "Everything that"s happened started with him. If he hadn"t sucked in Nathan Prescott then Rachel would still be alive and Nathan would never have tried to drug you and you never would have tried to blackmail him that day and-" And gotten shot. Max took a breath to steady her voice so she could go on. "It all started because of Jefferson"s sick hobby and the way he was pulling Nathan"s strings." Something like a growl poured out of Chloe. "Okay. Fine. We"ve successfully established that he fucked up our lives. That"s not news." Wrapping her arms around herself, Max rubbed at the gooseflesh prickling her skin. The dark room was still there in her mind; in her mind, she was still there. "He said... when I was in the dark room, he said he was obsessed with the moment innocence turns to corruption, and that an artist makes the world." She couldn"t look at Chloe, couldn"t face her when all she could hear was his voice. "What happened in Arcadia Bay-I made it. And when I tried to use my photos-I just ended up hurting people, just like-" "Don"t you even say it." Chloe sprang to her feet. "I knew there was something wrong as soon as you started messing around with those black and white shots. I knew it." Max"s fingers trailed over the camera around her neck. She"d just wanted her pictures to be less like her normal material, less like the pictures that had caused so much suffering in Arcadia Bay. But had they just become more like Jefferson"s work instead? Max shuddered. Chloe hopped down several stairs so she could stand in front of Max, eye to eye as she grabbed her by the shoulders. "Fuck all that, Max. It"s all bullshit." "But-" "No, listen. I"ve been thinking about what would"ve happened if I"d-if I"d died like I was supposed to." "Chloe." But Chloe ignored the anguish in Max"s voice and barrelled on. "Even if Nathan had blabbed to the police about Jefferson, how long do you think they"d have put him away for? It was Nathan who ODed Rachel, right? They"d only be able to get Jefferson for-what? Assault? Kidnapping? Would they have enough to even prove it? He was planning to pin the whole thing on Nathan from the start. And then he could just go set up shop somewhere else. But now he"s under arrest for Nathan"s murder. Maybe that"s what it took to bring that motherfucker down." "I-" "And what about your friend Kate? Are you sure she would"ve been all right? Are you sure you"d have been able to save her again?" "But maybe if I"d done something differently I could"ve..." "Saved everyone?" The tears came as soon as the words were out of Chloe"s mouth, and as if floodgates had been opened, they streamed down Max"s cheeks. Chloe sat down again and wrapped her arms around Max, pulling her close. Once she started, Max found she couldn"t stop and she was left hopelessly sniffling into Chloe"s chest. Chloe squeezed her hard. "You tried Max. Hell, you even tried to save my dad." "And I couldn"t do it... without hurting you instead." "Fucked either way," Chloe said darkly. That reminder of Chloe"s hurt, of all the pain she carried around like necklace of weighted stones, was enough to slow the waterworks. Max forced herself to take several deep breaths. Chloe"s arms tightened around her again. "There"s no black and white, Max. There"s no perfect decision you could"ve made where everything would be okay. There"s just before and after. And sometimes the after sucks ass." She drew back then and Max was caught by those pale blue eyes of hers. "But sometimes it"s good too." And Max knew that although she didn"t say it, there was a question at the end of that. A smile broke onto her face as she looked up into those eyes, at the person she still wouldn"t trade. Not for anything. "As long as I"ve got you it is." She scrubbed at her eyes, feeling suddenly self-conscious. "I"m all blotchy now, aren"t I?" After several moments of searching her pockets, Chloe produced a crumpled Kleenex and offered it to Max. She peered at it skeptically for a second but then wiped her eyes and blew her nose. When she was done, Chloe got up and, taking Max"s hands, tugged her to her feet. "Come on, Maxaroni, you"ve got some photos to take. And this time," she said, pointing to the brightly coloured graffiti, "do it in colour." A/N: Fun fact... The Fisher Flour Mill is a real place on Seattle"s Harbor Island. If you can find it on a satellite image you can even see the names of some of the taggers painted on the roof. Chloe was loading the last of the borrowed camping gear into the back of the truck and trying to secure it there. Judging by the string of curses, it wasn"t going very well. Max set down her bags and was about to go over to help when her mom emerged from the house, looking sad and serious and worried all at once. She was clutching what appeared to be a doggie bag. "I packed you both something to eat for the trip," she said offering Max the bag. "Thanks, Mom. I don"t we"ll be ready for another half hour." She glanced over her shoulder as Chloe cussed out the truck again. "Or so. You don"t need to worry-I promise I won"t drive off without telling you." Her mom cast the junker a sceptical look and shook her head. "Sweetie, are you sure about this? It"s not too late to enroll you in your old school. You could graduate with your friends." "I need to do this, Mom. Really. And it"s just one semester. Blackwell should be open again by winter and I can do a semester in the summer and still go to college next year. I"ll even be able to put this project on my applications." It was funny, Max thought... Just a few weeks ago she"d never have been able to be so assertive and matter-of-fact with her mom. But so much had happened since then and she wasn"t the shy, uncertain hipster who had left Seattle in August. Her mom didn"t look quite convinced but she didn"t get the chance to argue the point further. Chloe had apparently won her battle with the camping gear and was headed their way. "Gear"s stowed," she announced. Max held up the doggie bag. "We"ve got snacks." Chloe reached for it and Max snatched it away. "For the trip." "I"m driving. I demand advanced payment for my services." "Later." Chloe heaved a dramatic sigh. But then she turned to face Max"s mom. "Thanks for letting me crash here. And for everything. I hope I wasn"t too much of a pain in the ass." Max elbowed her in the ribs, hissing "Chloe," under her breath. Chloe glanced at her, rubbing her side. "What?" Max was a little surprised when her mom actually chuckled. "No. Ryan and I are very glad we"ve had the chance to see you. It"s the first time Max has ever brought a-well-a girlfriend home. Or anyone really." "Mom," Max groaned. With a cheeky grin, Chloe put an arm around Max"s shoulders. "I"m hella glad I get Maximus all to myself." Max was certain that any moment she was just going to drop dead from embarrassment. Official cause of death: mortification. "Ryan is looking for some more blankets. It"s supposed to get colder overnight. Please let us know where you set up the tent." A lot of people who couldn"t go out of town to a hotel were pitching tents that had been handed out by the National Guard. FEMA would be setting up trailers but in the meantime, a tent city had sprung up next to Blackwell. Chloe nodded. "It"ll probably be in the Bigfoots" field-if they"ve still got space when we get there. Joyce said she"d look for a spot for us." Max nodded. "And I"ll call as soon as we get there. We really do need to finish packing up the truck, though." "All right. Come and get me when you"re ready. Your dad and I want to see you off. And don"t forget, we"re coming down next weekend. We"ll have some more donations from the office."

"So then how can we get around it?' Sam asked, falling to a knee as she surveyed the site below them. The snow bank off to the left, where the avalanche had come from, was far too great in gradient to scale, and she had little doubt that attempting to wade across the uncompacted snow would make for a logistical nightmare in it"s own right. Perhaps not for her, she admitted, plus Mike and Matt were of fit condition, but Jessica and Ashley would struggle over the top. Viriditus seemed in fair agreement, though once again, his reasoning of practicality differed severely from Sam"s. "We can circumvent it if we follow the gorge,' he pointed out, "the slide practically filled the damn place up, and at least we won"t be out in the open.' "Won"t get warmer amongst those trees,' Mike noted. "I wasn"t talking about the elements. Among the trees at least, we"ll have some cover.' "You expecting to get shot up here?' Chris snorted, failing entirely to lighten the mood. Somehow, a serial killer with a rifle would have been preferable to something that would flay the unfortunate victim alive, with it"s own hands as its instrument of choice. "Just keep quiet,' he instructed them, taking the lead once more, "predators tend to follow game trails on a parallel axis. And this road might as well be the largest on this mountain. Expect contact.' "Are we being a little pessimistic then?' "You expect the worse; you"ll never be disappointed with Fate.' They worked their way down into the gully without incident, but the foliage presented it"s own problem. After a night on the mountain, discretion seemed the prefered course by all those present, but simple caution could not teach one every aspect of concealment. Despite his admonishments with each snapped twig they left in their wake, Viriditus did not seem to be able to stem the tidal wave of sound that continued to ripple off the small band of survivors. They were small flaws for the most part; a foot placed on a drier piece of snow, a careless head knocking against a snow laden twig suspended in the air, or more commonly, a piece of clothing; usually the arms, catching upon an inconvenient network of naked branches, but the decision of calamity to arrive at one"s doorstep rarely falls upon a single, momentous point of existence: it is too often the small and trivial affairs that shape the future to come. And they were making many small errors. Perhaps that was why it should have been no surprise when they heard the screech. "Please tell me you heard that,' Ashley shuddered, "I"m not going crazy right?' "Oh, shit,' Mike stammered raising the rifle to bear, "this isn"t good.' "Shut up. All of you, right now. Something"s out there.' "No shit,' Matt whispered, "this ain"t going to end well-' He was cut off by the roar. Foliage was crushed underfoot, something was breathing heavy and hard as it approached, and the roar drew nearer. It was no Wendigo. "Bear!' Sam cried out, giving them all sufficient warning to the threat as it lumbered into the clearing, but as to what they were supposed to do with that warning, no one could say for sure. The Grizzly was wounded, badly, on that account. It"s flanks were strafed by blood, and large rents had been torn across it"s hide. It"s claws were reddened as well, though some appeared to have been broken by some immense force. But it"s blood still ran hot, and seeing seven new beings challenging it"s presence upon the mountain, it resorted to desperation. Mike was the first to see what was about to transpire. "Move!' he screamed at the top of his lungs, "move!' By chance, Chris, who was still mesmerised by the brutal demonstration of over two hundred kilograms of muscle and fur to consider his own personal safety, happened to stand in Mike"s path. A firm grasp upon his shoulder dislodged him from the apparent bout of hypnosis, and he promptly fell in line with Mike, as they dragged themselves for the treeline. Matt did his best to drag Ashley aside, but the poor girl was simply rooted to the spot, and the two of them, off balance by the entire affair, fell to the ground in a heap, only inches away from the bear"s predicted path. A correction that could be made easily by the berserk animal. Sam"s success with Jessica was even less so. Not possessed by the same hormonal mantle that drove boys to commit to the dangerous and dramatic, she had tried to simply lead Jessica out of the way by her arm. But that had presumed Jessica would move upon her own volition. She, like any normal person faced with death staring into her eyes, did not, as she simply froze, forcing Sam to double back, seizing her by the shoulders, before the bear was onto them. How pathetic, she thought to herself, that they"d return expecting a nightmare, only to be mauled to death by a bear. And then the air was alive with curses. "Solveris!' Viriditus was screaming. "Sam, get her out of the way!' Despite herself, Sam tore her eyes back to the murderous mass of fur, only for her jaw to drop. The Guardsman had not moved out of the monster"s path. If anything, he had run right into the marauding bear as its forelegs had departed the ground, with naught but a short, unreflective blade in his right hand. While it was certainly no butter knife, it was hardly a sword, much less a pike: if it were placed against his elbow, it would not even extend past the wrist. She had no idea what the idiot was thinking. If he had planned to tackle it to the ground, he had miscalculated to terrific proportions, since the bear had simply knocked him to the ground in one fell swoop, and was now attempting to rake its claws across the pinned Guardsman"s chest. And yet, he wasn"t dead. It was unbelievable, as she watched the Black Cloak, roaring at an equal volume to his feral opponent, ram the blade hard through the bear"s underarm. In the same moment, the bear"s claws tore a long gash across the black plate. Then, battling through the pain it felt amidst it"s berserk rage, the bear opted to abandon fineness, as it simply leapt down upon him, aiming to crush the pinned Guardsman like the upturned beetle he was. One of its limbs landed upon his left arm, and simply crushed it on the spot. Sam tore her eyes off the spectacle as the metal buckled, somehow praying that it was not to be. It"s second forepaw landed upon his chest, and began to tear for his throat. Then, a new warrior joined the bout. The first inkling Mike received of the third combatant was when something literally threw him against a tree, as it thundered by. He had not even heard it before it had carelessly fired him like a ball bearing against the obstructive trunk, but by God it was fast! When his eyes returned to the scene, everything had changed. It was a wolf; a grey one at that, and for a moment, he was tempted to believe it was the one that had spared him from death within the Sanitorium at the cost of it"s own life. But this one was far larger than any wolf he had ever witnessed in the past, nearly equalling the bear itself in size. And in strength, as it rammed the titanic beast squarely in the side, propelling it off the crippled Guardsman in the blink of an eye. Then it was onto the Grizzly, it"s talons ripping the thick fur apart, and exposing the flesh and tendon beneath, as it"s jaws separated at the sight of fresh meat. But it did not feed; the grey snout simply dove down, into the bear"s face, and depressed the muscular trigger on the springtrap that controlled its jaws. As the toppled bear"s underside was exposed to Mike, who had dove to the left with Chris in hand, he was spared the full sight of what occurred upon the bear"s face, but judging from Jessica"s shriek and Sam"s awful wretch, it must have been suitably horrific. It"s movements growing weaker with every second blood emptied from its veins, the blind, savaged Grizzly was all but dead when the wolf split it"s gut with a single sweep across it"s matted belly. Then it turned it"s eyes upon him. Calculating. Weighing the risk posed by a lanky twig against it"s hunger. Hunger won. "Solveris! Don"t!' Chris was certain he was about to die when the wolf unexpectedly dropped out of the air. It had already begun it"s fatal leap forward when the voice stopped it, and all tension within those powerful hind legs departed, forcing an untimely end to the coup de grace. Off balance by the sudden change in instinct, the wolf tumbled forward slightly, but to it"s credit, recovered with almost immediate, feral grace, only allowing the foremost sections of it"s paws to hit the snow before stalking away again, to the mayhem before them all. It took all the nerve of those present to stop themselves from pulling the trigger as they took aim upon the overgrown lupine. Mike and Chris, being under the most severe threat, had in fact pulled the trigger themselves, though it seemed fate had delivered them from what would have undoubtedly proven a disaster, likely involving some missing limbs. Both had simply provided a dull "clack" of metal, and little else. The wolf had heard the threat, and for a moment raised it"s head, but then, content of its security in the ineptitude of its hunters, it simply turned away, probing at the fallen Guardsman upon the ground. Of course, Sam was the first to abandon the security of distance. Careful to holster the gun she disdained, her advance was greeted by a warning growl from the deep belly of the wolf. "Easy, Solveris,' Viriditus cautioned the mighty hound, before the rest of his sentence was lost in a garbled ennunciation of pain, as he doubled forward, clasping the shattered arm at his side. "Viriditus,' Sam whispered, careful not to provoke the animal, "your arm-' "Is fixable,' he grunted, "Great Father, that was stupid.' He seemed to be fumbling for something on the wolf"s side, and it was then that Sam realised a piece of fabric had been knotted to the wolf"s left foreleg. It was almost like an armband, with consideration for the fact that the muscled trunk was a great deal larger than most men, and a compartment seemed to have been strapped or adhered upon the said apparatus. As he worked, the wolf seemed to emit a low rumble, shifting it"s head to the Guardsman, but other than that, it appeared entirely at ease, as Viriditus finally produced a small silver vial from the bag"s contents. His movements were becoming more erratic by the second, and Sam could only guess that the shock from the tremendous blow was starting to catch up. "You need a hand?' "Stupid cap,' the Guardsman was muttering under his breath. He did not hear Sam"s inquiry until the wolf emitted a second warning, and sank lower into the snow, as if preparing itself to bound forward yet again. Sam promptly halted a second time. "Can you get the bloody cap off? Solveris, don"t. Friend.' The wolf appeared to relax at his words, and Sam cautiously made her way forward once more. Each crackle beneath her feet sent a shudder down her spine, fearing it may suddenly abandon all restraint, and tear her to pieces before a word could leave Viriditus" mouth. But nothing transpired; no flurry of limbs, no ear splitting crack of bone, nor the indescribable pain that would undoubtedly travel up the spinal cord in the heat of a second to destroy the brain with a sensory overload. Not even when she stooped down to retrieve the small syrette from the ground at the wolf"s paws, although, Sam would have been lying if she had declared herself free of doubt in the moment. Not when the wolf in question was staring at her through those orange eyes, it"s jaw splitting ever so slightly to reveal the row upon row of incisors that were held concealed behind that thin fold of flesh as she lowered her head to the same level. Somehow, despite her affection for animals, Sam was relieved that Mike had not shied away from the entire affair, and had also abandoned his position at the edge of the clearing, drawing a bead upon the creature as he advanced ever so slowly to her side. Even if it would probably kill them both, she was glad he would cover her when the worst came to bear, as she snatched the vial up, and ran it along her fingertips. Like nearly everything upon Viriditus" person, it was of a non reflective tint of the night, though in truth it was a tremendously dark shade of grey, as opposed to the perpetual darkness that clothed the rest of the Guardsman. She gingerly took hold of the most pointed end of the instrument, and quickly turned it twice, revealing a rather thick surgical needle. "Give it here,' Viriditus sighed, extending a hand. "You sure?' Sam asked, "I mean I could do it-' "That"s nice of you Sammy,' he snapped impatiently, but not in an unkindly manner, "but I"d rather just get the damn thing over with.' She complied, and deposited the syringe into the open gauntlet laid out before her. With a practiced motion, the Black Cloak simply seized the cylinder, breathed once, and brought it down on his shattered arm, hard. He twitched, and twisted over himself several times, trying to stifle what must have been agony, but surprisingly, nothing was emitted from that blackened helmet. No exclamations, and most of all, no curses from the rather vulgar alien they had come to know. When his distorted voice did return, it did so in the strangest of manners; a gasp for air mid sentence, followed by another at it"s full length, and if Sam were to hazard a guess, she would have decided that the helmet must have had some sealed quality to it, allowing the user to mute the audio whenever he chose. It took quite a while for Viriditus to ease himself back into the normal rhythm of respiration, and when he finally spoke, there was a haggard quality to the already deep and nearly gravelly audio. "Damn quad,' he seemed to be mumbling. "You ok?' "I"ll lose a limb,' Viriditus said, nearly tired in his tone, "but I"ll live.' She extended a hand to him, but he batted it away, before he rose up, resetting the shattered limb into the usual right angle at the elbow with his functional hand as he went. Instinctively, Sam leant forward to take a closer look at the small medical kit adhered to the wolf"s leg, seeking something that might have been used as a sling. It nearly ended her own life, as the wolf sprang back, nearly taking her hand when it reached out for the matted bag, and she reflexively withdrew with all haste, shouting out that she was fine before Mike could depress the trigger. "What the hell was that for?' "Don"t you need a sling?' She asked, still aware of the titanic wolf ahead of her. Although it had lowered its head ever so slightly in preparation to pounce, as the hind legs cocked into position like a spring, she was fully aware that the creature nearly stood as high as she. Not that it wouldn"t have mattered anyway; she had forgotten the fact she was armed, and was treating the tremendous beast as anyone should; with respect, but most of all, caution. "What the hell"s a sling?' Sam was starting to explain when she saw it. The Black Cloak"s arm was simply locked in place as he strode towards her, unflinching with every sway the body it was attached to took, encased within the black carapace. Useless as it was in protecting him in the first place, the armored suit seemed to have its purposes. "Nothing,' she ended meekly. "Well, then...splendid. Shall we move on?' The overgrown wolf led the way, with a crippled Viriditus in tow, before the bulk of the small column promptly flattened whatever had been left in the pair"s wake. Perhaps it would have made more sense for Mike or Chris to lead the party, considering the fact that their guardian no longer had his two hands to make use of, but then there would have been the problem with Solveris. Or at least, that was what they hoped his name was. The off chance it might have been some derogatory term of affection in the alien tongue that had become part of the common friendship between the odd pair was small, but ever present. And if such was the case, there were few doubts that the lupine would not take well to a stranger"s attempt to seize the reigns, let alone his dignity. What"s more was that Viriditus never needed to call him again. Occasionally, the wolf would stray from sight: an invitation for all manner of unpleasantries on a mountain patrolled by cannibalistic demons, but he would always return a moment later, a dozen or more meters to the left or right, as he swept the trail. "Maybe it"s rude to ask,' Chris started quietly, but within earshot of the cloaked figure at the head of the column, "but what exactly...is that?' Viriditus did not respond. "I mean the wolf.' "Hey, man?' Mike called, his brow furrowing as he pushed up to the front, "You okay?' His hand went up to the Black Cloak"s shoulder, but then he instinctively snatched it back, scanning the foremost segments of his fingers. They were wet; coated by some ichorous, dark substance. "Holy shit,' he cried, "are you bleeding?' He moved past the Guardsman, and nearly dropped the rifle he had been entrusted with. The long scars in the carapace were now indistinguishable from the rest of the plate, for they seemed to have filled themselves with that viscous fluid, which continued to run down them like the canals of Venice, following indistinguishable patterns and streaks as they inched earthwards. "Just get me to the lodge,' Viriditus shuddered, "I"ve lived through worse.' "Chris!' Mike shouted, "Matt, can you give me a hand-' "I didn"t ask you to shout down the blasted forest! In fact, just shut up, and we"ll make it.' It was an uncomfortable walk in silence as Mike fell back in with the rest of the column. It seemed anathema to simply leave the bleeding man, or alien, he reminded himself, to make the journey alone, but he did not yet have the nerve to defy the Guardsman"s authority. Had the situation proven different; had it been one of his friends that was wounded, he would have been able to judge what could be tackled alone; when to press his aid, and when to allow them to retain their dignity alongside their lives. But Viriditus was a different matter. He did not even know how much it would take to the kill the Guardsman, much less judge his value of honor. "What the hell was that?' Ashley"s warning caught them all off guard, and the collective gaze immediately shifted to the right. The pines did not help isolate the source of the movement, for amidst the illumination of the in moonlight, and upon a small rise in the trail as they were, one could peer a remarkable distance through the phalanx of tree trunks, providing no single axis upon which to track their eyes across the woods, in search of whatever else the darkness might hold. "Where is it?' mouthed Matt, barely audible in his inquiry, "Can you point it out?' "No, just stay,' Mike interceded, "stay fucking still.' His instruction did not seem to carry to the other two boys, and neither did it influence his own hands, as they tried to level the rifles as best they could upon the most shadowed point in the foliage their eyes could find, where the mind might best construct a nightmare to haunt them, when a low whistle carried along the wind. "Venator? Quid sanguinum?' A rustle of movement ahead snapped their gazes away from the imminent danger, to find the crippled titan confronted by two of his kin, that had seemingly materialized out of the ground. The moment did not last long, and abruptly, one of the pair detached himself from the group, and made his way over to the small band Viriditus had assembled for the ascent. Instinctively, Mike and Matt; the closest to the oncoming soldier, shuffled back, only to find the movement had been echoed by the rest of their group, leaving them far closer to the stranger than most would have liked. "You"re the ones who survived this place before, aren"t you?' "Um,' Mike stuttered, considering the cut down rifle held to his chest, "yes.' "Then follow us. It"s not much further. You"re in friendly lines now.' Somehow, friendly did not quite seem to describe the grim mountain of steel, as he trundled off once more to lift the badly damaged Guardsman ahead back onto his feet. "I guess we"re going with them, then,' said Chris to no one in particular. "Is it just me,' Jessica babbled, "but does anyone else feel like we"re walking into a death trap again?' "If they wanted to, they could have killed us at the entrance.' "That"s a nice thought, Chris.' "You coming, Ashley?' "I just can"t shake this niggling feeling,' she muttered, clasping her hands together as she did so, although whether it was for cold, or simple unease, no one could tell. "It really feels like someone"s watching us.' "Probably got a sniper or someone,' Chris said, in a mood that was far too jovial for the situation at hand, "you know, to pop us if we run.' "Really helpful, Chris,' Mike snorted in a futile attempt to suppress his own unease, "come on. I don"t know about these guys, but I"ll take "em over a night in the open.' "You coming Sam?' "Huh?' Sam looked over her shoulder, into clearly distressed eyes. Evidently, Ashley was no more eager to remain behind than Mike, but she recoiled at the empty pupils that greeted her.

Max would never know how much time had passed since she had burst into the station"s latrines, admitting her life fluid at a far from healthy rate from her nasal cavity, for it was her last instinct in such a situation to reach for the phone to check the four numbers stenciled upon the lock screen, but when she finally straightened up, having recovered some modicum of sight, her anxiety was quick to turn to thought, suspicion, and of course, when panic was thrown into the mixture; that all important pinch of paranoia. Am I really going insane? She asked herself, trying in vain to search for any sign in the mirror that would betray the madness beneath her features, or did I just truly fuck time up? Trapped in a time loop, or God forbid another nightmare. A door opened behind her, and amid her swimming doubts, she nearly emitted a scream in surprise. Then, after a moment"s hesitation in which her mind caught up with her newly recovered sight, she truly did scream. "You"re not taking a piss again, are you?' "What"s now? I"m not killing witnesses at least, right?' "You could be keeping watch.' "I"m keeping a watch on my waste container, alright? The damn thing is nearly full; I gotta empty this piss bladder somewhere.' "Down your throat might work,' Praesentius murmured, as he continued to thread the black fiber wire up the ventilation hatch atop the cubicle he had chosen to occupy for the duration of the operation, "Claudius, please tell me you"re getting somewhere". "I can only guide this thing as far as you send it,' the data Seer replied into his ear, "give me another two meters; I see a possible intrusion point.' "No spinning blades and sparkles, this time I hope?' The Hunter enquired, with a hint of sincerity. He was already on his second data cable after the half-blind Claudius had remotely steered the first one into what appeared on his helmet feed to be a set of rotating, angled blades designed to push air along the primitive ventilation ducts; a system far behind the purification systems integrated into the Council"s latrines, but one that was proving highly effective in both breaking military hardware, as well as delivering a painful backlash of electricity to the increasingly irritated Guardsman attached at the tube"s end. Not that it was Claudius" fault, of course, Praesentius reminded himself, although he found himself having to do so on an increasingly regular basis: the Data Seer had spent nearly five years plugged into the digital realm, and the poor sod was already technically blind without the correctional filters installed in his retinas. Data blindness was the mark of any veteran Seer, and for his service, Praesentius was willing to extend a fraction of leniency. That is to say, any at all, for it was rare that the Hunter found any worthy of sympathy, most particularly the distracted Regenus, who was shy of his senior"s service by just a year, but it could have been a day for all Praesentius cared. In fact, even Emendus did not enjoy the same level of leniency Praesentius extended to the crippled Data Seer, and that leniency seemed to find itself limited to a single electric shock, as the Hunter continued to twist the wire forward, bracing for the inevitable, and an excuse to finally belt out his rage. "A little further... hold on, engaging fiber connection-' A loud clap resounded directly in his ear, drawing a slight wince from the overly sensitive Hunter, "we"re in. Accessing camera feeds now.' "Once you tag Price, send the greenlight. Dreamer Two will then move to secure. Timer"s rolling, people.' "On it, Emendus,' Praesentius sighed, allowing himself to hop off the toilet seat upon whihc he had previously perched himself in order to unscrew the ventilation duct, with more than a little apprehension as to whether the porcelain structure would be to take his weight, "send me the feed, Claudius.' "Hang in there, lad; little interference on this end-' "Um, Praesentius?' Even before Regenus had finished speaking, Praesentius knew he had only horrible news to deliver. It was the tone that betrayed him: that dreaded, slightly sing-song tune of a heightened pitch that could only detone misfortune, and Praesentius was not having any of it. "What now?' He snapped, spinning violently around to face the paper thin surface that divided the stalls they occupied respectively, as though he could see his hunting partner upon the far side, "you split the bloody bowl in half or what? I stood on this pile of shit and-' "Company.' The first, and probably only, judgement upon as to what on earth had emerged from the cubicle at her back that managed through Max"s mind summed up to a wraith. She never even stopped to twist her gaze back for a second glance, as she bolted for the door, but the blurred spectre remained branded upon her sight; a boiling mass of torn, dark fabric enclosing a pair of scarlet eyes, all of which seemed to levitate just so slightly off the ground as it emerged from the most unlikely of cairns. Of course, if Max had even stopped to consider that she had just seen a shade emerging from a toilet, she might just have realised the lunacy of it all, but after her horrific week of indulging in madness, a ghost seemed trivial at best, and as it reached out at her with a nearly skeletal hand, observation quickly fell from her list of priorities, and she took flight for the door. The mirror erupted in a shower of shards, barely moments after her legs had begun to move, and instinctively, she ducked her head low, narrowly avoiding a similar blast of porcelain, as another item upon the wall that ran parallel to her side: this time a tile mounted upon the surface, detonated with furious rage. Unfortunately, Max"s luck did not extend to the third time, and bare moments after registering a sharp pain rip across her leg, she hit the floor, tumbling into a tangled heap against the closed door of the bathroom. The last thing she dared to see, before willing the world as it existed into oblivion, was that gaunt, cloaked ghoul rising up from the ground towards her, it"s eroded hand outstretched far beyond its frame, towards her quivering eyes. She had never thought one of her countless victims, unwilling as their murders may have been, could have returned to harm her in the corporeal form once again. But it had been one strange week, and she was kidding herself if she was to even consider telling the lie that their murders were unwilling. Her choice would be her responsibility to bear alone. But even ghosts could be surprised, as it"s savage embrace came to a staggering halt, and then abruptly catapulted back in time. Groaning as she dragged herself upright, Max halted only a moment to glance beneath the stores, ensuring that the specter no longer resided in her sight. The view that greeted her was less than satisfactory, for she witnessed not one, but rather two pairs of darkened greaves set upon the floor of the stall she had watched the specter emerge from. For a moment, Max was tempted to try to discern why on earth a ghost would have need of a toilet for, since the greaves were in fact pointed in the wrong direction to the door, but caution prevailed, and she hurriedly reached for the door handle, hoping to go unnoticed before that pang of pain seared through her tight once again. "Dammit,' she whispered, peering down to assess the damage. She did not quite understand what on earth had convinced her that a quick rewind would undo the damage she had wrought upon herself, but if she could have kept an IED, courtesy of one Warren Graham"s direction, through one of her jumps in time, there was little to have said that the same could not be said for a cut. In fact, a cut seemed to be quite an understatement, considering the fact that the circle of red that had engulfed her left thigh had grown to the size of a fully shaped CD, alongside that little detail that the said disk was still growing by the second. It surprised Max so much so that she simply gawked at the clotting fluid for so long that by the time she had looked up again, the spectre was back in front of her; this time, an expression of surprise holding it"s features taut like a deer caught in headlights, before the familiar anger of the last time took over. Another rewind, and Max, now growing slightly faint as she fumbled for the doorknob with a blood-slickened palm, finally managed to escape the bathroom from hell, as she half fell out into the doorway with the resounding crack of dull metal. Amid her groggy attempt to distance herself from the ghoul, she managed to slam her knee with uncomfortable force against the same door that had obstructed her plight, undoubtedly alerting her tormentor once again, and she was on the verge of returning herself to the past one last time for fear that the red eyed memory barge through the entryway at any moment, when she realised she was not alone. "Holy sh-' It took her a couple of seconds to realise that the open mouthed cop was in fact directing his disbelief at her own self, though if she had a mirror, Max would have probably understood the breach in protocol. Her hands intermixed with her life fluid, and smeared upon her clothing, it would have been a fair presumption to say that she had been attacked by a bear en route to the lavatory. "Are you alright?' "Not exactly,' she said, as the uniformed man dropped to haul her up, which he did so, but without the gravest amount of concern for her damaged limb, "there"s-' She bit off the end of her remark amid the latest response from her savaged nerves. It was not agony: there were far worse wounds one could sport, and compared to pounding that had wracked her mind, it could have nearly been written off as a pin-prick. But to say it was nothing at all, stoic as it might have been, would have been a lie. "What the hell happened to you?' "Something,' Max stammered, "something was-' It was surprise, rather than the dry palm, that cut off her next words. "Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh,' he whispered, reaching behind his back as he held Max fast with surprising force, "it"s okay. It"s okay.' Max did not agree, and, perhaps inadvertently out of panic after already two close encounters with psychopaths at the police station, kicked the metal door, propelling herself back into her assailant, though it seemed to have little noticeable effect, for the man was a rock as he produced the clear syringe. "Damnit, hold still!' he snapped, waving it before her eyes as if it was somehow meant to have put her at ease, like a half chewed bone thrown before a well trained dog, "otherwise, this might hurt. A lot-' What followed next undoubtedly hurt a lot. In fact, Max wondered it there were any sensation to rival what transpired as those fateful words left the policeman"s mouth, a mere second before his head exploded. It was not an uncontrolled detonation; she most certainly would have lost it if the entirety of the would-be kidnapper"s face was plastered upon her own in it"s liquid form, but she felt the impact rock his form, and as the weight in his hand disappeared, she had managed to turn ever so slightly, to catch a glimpse of the now red wall at her back, before the warm corpse had tumbled backwards; his forehead now marred by a remarkably even hole the size of a plum, and with the entire rear section of his head replaced by a few matted chunks of broken skull and sinew. The ghost was back; now standing in the corridor, except that now, a sleek barrel had filled that outstretched palm. One that was now pointed directly at her own head. Then, against all belief, it began to speak. "Are you okay?' Somehow, Max failed to find the words necessary to convey the fact that after witnessing her deranged art teacher, enduring a titanic migraine, getting hit by shrapnel courtesy from the said shade, and nearly throttled and drugged by an alleged cop, "okay" could not have been further from the truth. Nor could she sum up the courage to voice her opinion of the lunatic inquest, but that might have had something to do with her "rescuer"s" voice sharing more than a few qualities with the Jigsaw Killer"s, after one had thrown it through the manipulations of a voice changer. Needless to say, Max was not quite prepared to take the spectre"s reassurance at it"s face value, but as she turned to run, events quickly spiralled out of control: far more so than even the ordinary day with Maxine Caulfield, what with her powers on boot, when the blast of gunfire off to her right threatened to deafen her entirely. Two more men in uniform had rounded the corner, to find a girl covered in blood, and one of their number dead on the floor with some malignant spirit on the loose, and evidently decided that hot lead would be the answer to all their problems. The spectre, to its credit, did not disappoint. She never saw, nor heard the shots, but barely a second later, and both men had been thrown to the ground by a seemingly non-existent force, with one man clasping a gaping hole in his chest, while the other screamed at the shortened stump that was his right hand, hoping beyond hope that his simple refusal to accept it would will it back into existence. And despite the onslaught, it seemed virtually intact, albeit winded, as it staggered to the side, placing a hand it"s chest. And then every thought of it"s invulnerability disappeared, when another man appeared at his back: in front of Max, hefting a shotgun at hip level as he depressed the trigger, and sent a shower of lead into the ghost"s back. The figure crumpled, and hit the ground with a resounding thud. For a moment, no one moved. Then the officer seemed to register his two wounded allies upon the ground; the girl hugging the wall, and the corpse at her feet. Another blast, and the shrieks of the handless man disappeared into a mindless gurgle. Then the barrel was turned to Max. It was, for all intents and purposes, a disaster. A chaotic, crazed and practically aimless slaughter, as policemen darted out of their office, not quite certain as to who the enemy was, whilst traitors in their very midst drew weapons of every caliber from concealed bags and desks, emptying hungry clips into the backs of their supposed allies with every passing second. In the car park, the officer manning the booth had stood in mild shock as the crack of gunfire reached the little outpost, taking his eyes off the vehicle outside his station for a fatal moment as the driver produced a sawn-off shotgun, and turned the abode into an entangled, red mess. In the armory itself, a patrolman, not quite knowing who on earth posed the threat to his well being, fired in a state of panic, striking a fellow officer, and leading all others present to the conclusion that he himself was one of the attackers before gunning him down in a similar fit of survival. And, at the very center of it all, was a terrifically irritated Praesentius. "Be advised, Regenus is down! Say again, Regenus is down! Where the hell is Price? Send, over!' "We"re working on it,' was the only reply Claudius could give, "you got one contact on your right; shotgun. Recommend-' "He"s down. Anything else?' "Multiple contacts rolling on your position, six o"clock. Count three-' "Two.' The Hunter snapped back, as the pistol in his hand discharged once more, hungry for blood, "One...Clear right. I"m moving the lead foot. ETA on extract?' "Second team inbound in three cycles,' said Emendus, "just hang tight, assume a defensive position and hold.' "Praesentius; Regenus" life signs are spiralling. Stabilize, copy?' "One thing at a time!' Praesentius roared, emptying the spent magazine onto the floor as the latest threat to his existance hit the ground with enough holes in him to send him on to the Great Father for judgement, "I gotta get the little shit first. How the hell did they find us?' "Maybe not "you", as to say, but Price ... well, she"s not incognito, is she?' "For her sake, she better be,' the Hunter panted, as he hauled his still brother-in-arms across the hallway, into a depression in the wall that one of his initial explosives had made in the pitiful human structure early into the firefight, "she better be well hard to fucking find, because I might just kill her on good principle when I find the little bitch. Alright, Claudius, what"ve I got?' "Multiple seal breaches along the back of the suit; heavy blood loss coagulating in the-' "Two shots of Aspera Curius, half a bottle of sealant!' Oretus shouted, overriding the data-seer"s analysis, "and check his fucking hip for that augment: did the damn thing flare again?' "Checking, checking. I see blood; a shit load of blood, and fuck all; you can see this shit, Oretus, so you tell me!' "Synching into your mission feed; looks good. Just get him the shots.' Spinning around to check for targets, and finding nobody in sight but the half dazed girl that Regenus, had saved from the first bloodied cultist, Praesentius tore the syrettes from the aid kit strapped to his leg, pinning their barbed tips deep into his hunting partner"s side with careless abandon. It was only then that he realised his error, and he turned about with savage speed, before he proceeded to lash the brown haired lass across the cheek with the hardened butt of the pistol in his grip, with far too much force, and unconcealed relish. "Was that really necessary?' "Anything standing is a threat, Emendus,' the Hunter retorted, "she ain"t dead, but she ain"t gonna shoot me, is she?' "She might have reason to now.' "What, doe eyes? Come on, give me some credit; just tell me where Price is-' There was more, but Praesentius never finished his sentence, as a bright light flashed once in his sight. Then the tiled floor: that disgusting light beige that looked the culmination of shit and piss that humans tended to pass off as a bearable decoration, rushed up to meet his eyes, before he rolled over, alongside the crippled Guardsman to whom he had tended, watching the sunless sky of concrete, and false light. "Praesentius? Praesentius?' Emendus was nearly livid as they raced down streets of downtown Seattle as best they could, "Damnit, respond.' "Mission camera is still transmitting,' Claudius" voice crackled down the comms, "but...transmission indicating helmet seal breach. Possible head trauma.' "How far out are we?' "Two point five cycles-' "Speed up, then; make it one.' "I"d love to,' Adrentius sighed, as he spun about from the driver"s seat, "but the transit lanes are fucking jammed, Emendus; I don"t think we"ll be able to make in the vehicle.' "Estimated bleed out time?' "Their internal stabilization protocols are still functioning,' Oretus informed him, holding on for dear life as Adrentius took them over another bump, even though the acolyte was only traveling at a civil speed in heavy traffic, "anything over fifteen cycles without actual triage would be getting dangerous; we"d run the risk of death or permanent damage-' "Emendus?' Claudius broke in again, "Emendus, I don"t mean to detract from our, um, situation with the Hunters, but, well, check the feed.' "What the hell could...oh.' The slightly pixelated image at the far left corner of his helmet"s digitalised display steeled the Guardsman"s heart with a vengeance, as a familiar face loomed beneath the few remaining fluorescent lights that continued to illuminate the shattered corridor. A familiar face atop a gaunt figure, bearing a black revolver in unfamiliar hands. "Oretus?' he called, extending a single digit to the comm piece, tucked beneath the chin of his helm, "you said they have fifteen cycles?' "Affirmative. We deviating?' "Enter holding pattern at the station entry point; contingency one has greenlight. Safeties off, I repeat, go to contingency one now!' "Chloe?' "What"d you without me, Max? Hell, your leg-' "It"s fine,' she responded, forgetting the stupidity of it all as Chloe"s hand dropped beneath her arm and guided her to her unsteady feet, "it"s fine. Let"s just get outta here.' "Right behind you, Max. Fuck, man, what is that anyway?' "I don"t know,' Max stuttered, turning about to eye the wraiths laid out upon the ground, strangely laid out as if they were both at some measure of peace, "But this has been one, fucking crazy week.' "No shit,' Chloe returned, still gawping as her eyes connected with Max"s would-be-assailant, and the clean hole she had put through his forehead, "shit; I never-' "It was self-defense Chloe. It was us or him.' With some belated realisation, Chloe realised she was still holding the guilty weapon, and she moved to holster the pistol before she stopped, and eyed the scorched barrel. "Fuck, I didn"t know, I just saw the gun and-' "You haven"t seen some of the shit I"ve seen, Chloe,' Max implored her, desperate to drag her friend back to the present, as the gunfire drew closer, and a corpse fell into the corridor ahead as lead bleeding heat streaked through the space the man had previously occupied, "they would have killed us, if they had the chance. But Chloe, we really need to go, like right now!' "Right, right on it, Max. Let"s get you home."

"Definitely looked like it.' "You didn"t leave the idiot"s fucking drug cocktail over there, did you?' "Give me some credit, Praesentius,' Regenus grinned, producing the whitish sachet he had swiped from the tabletop only moments after following Henning out the window, albeit, without breaking his neck in the process, "I don"t know about you, but I"m pretty sure it"s no sweetener. Probably the same shit we"re packing.' "Maybe,' Praesentius muttered, twisting the sachet in his hands experimentally. Unexpectedly, he abruptly brought it up to his nose to take a tentative sniff, before he recoiled in apparent disgust. "Problem?' "No,' the Guardsman muttered with sudden distaste for the company he kept, "just forgot to actually deactivate my damn filters.' He did not appreciate the short burst of laughter that left Regenus" mouth immediately after the words left his mouth. It was one of those little lapses of recalling he was actually in an armored suit designed to wage war on a world with a corrosive atmosphere; a lapse nearly every Guardsman had made; Regenus included, yet none were willing to admit in the event another their number marred their image with the same misstep. One day, he vowed quietly, with only the slightest trace of humor in his thought, he"d be there to turn the tables on the little shit. "So?' His hunting partner asked after what seemed a disproportionate amount of time for the nature of their conversation, "smell anything?' "Not that I can taste,' Praesentius muttered, even as he emitted a low hiss; his forked tongue flickering back into the recesses of the fanged maw beneath the matted helmet, "but I don"t like the fact he had no extraction plan. Pass your little pick-and-mix crap onto Oretus when you get the chance, and see if he can get it"s chemical structure. And you didn"t answer my question.' Even though the helmet was on his head, Regenus looked as if he were caught in the headlights of a rapidly approaching vehicle. Or the gaze of any hungry Makar that did not bear the name of Thax; Praesentius would have to do something about that later. Thax was many things, but a relentless stalker and merciless killer, the unit"s overgrown pet wolf was not, and alongside Regenus" flittering mind, he was beginning to wonder if he would have to end up hunting alone after all. "Which was, um, what again?' "If I was to head over and break down the Caulfields" door,' Praesentius groaned, already beginning to regret his oath to return the bumbling idiot to the ranks of the Hunters, "which one would know I was coming and be able to put an axe in my skull?' "Right, right; I nearly forgot about that. The blue haired one.' "Price?' "Bingo; that"s the one." Author"s note: I really appreciate the advice, Time Dragon. However, as you may see, it"s been a little difficult to be writing anything on mass recently, since I"ve got my exams coming up in a month, so till July comes, I"m afraid the release schedule might still remain at the current snail"s pace. Still, I do appreciate your contribution to keeping this story running, and to anyone else following this, any feedback is truly appreciated. Now, back to the hunt at hand. If one had asked Maxine Caulfield, or rather "Max" Caulfield, as any would address her unless one either wished for the immediate reprimand that would intangibly follow the usage of her full name, or the one in question was an officer of the law, under obligation to follow "protocol", what had transpired at the local station, Max"s answer would have been a short one at best. Probably since she was left under the impression that the men in uniform, or at least the one fresh faced patrolman who had been assigned to debrief her on the last nights events gave little care for her preference of identity, as he continued to address her by her christened name; she would continue to correct him on her name; he would continue to nod in supposed acknowledgement, before then resuming his use of her extended, and pretentious full title. In fact, Max thought to herself, as she returned to the waiting room, while her father ironed out the final details on the report, half of the audio log would have probably been covered by that disagreement alone. Not that it was necessarily a bad outcome, since any one who would have to slog through the damn recording would have probably given up long before noticing the fact she still had to cover her slight...advantage in determining the events of the prior night. She had told Chloe about the incident the previous night just as they had turned in, much to her blue haired companion"s surprise, but by the end of the late night conference, the pair had remained undecided at best, albeit gravely disconcerted at the potential intrusion as they attempted to earn some much deserved sleep. Of course, that had eluded Max like a devilish wisp of old, as the countless faces of Two Whales continued to dog her every footstep in the shadows, and it had been a restless night at best, for both Max, and Chloe, who had been awakened on numerous occasions by Max"s frenzied outbursts, at one point having to restrain her from tumbling off her elevated bed amid one particularly violent onrush of night terrors. But they had endured it together, for not even Max"s parents had been informed; although Max had still been attempting to formulate some means of indicating she was no longer the same "ordinary" girl that had departed for Arcadia Bay a month ago, without getting herself admitted into an asylum while she was at it, that plan had been put on hold as early as daybreak, when a gentle tap on their door had revealed two patrolmen, who had quickly brought their attention to cadaver directly their apartment"s windowsill. It had not taken long for them to determine that the rather inept criminal had decided to fly from the Caulfields" apartment, given the rather conspicuous damage done to the aforementioned window, but just as it had emerged, so too did any hope of Max"s own wish to immerse her parents in her plight. With a dead man in the picture, doubt and the remote possibility of psychiatric treatment was quickly replaced by the threat of indictment in an already suspicious death. So, Max had played it as she had learnt to over the past week, or eternity if she allowed herself to indulge in her own little experiments with time; she played dumb; the inquisitive and confused individual asking the questions, until she had finally come to the conclusion that she had probably asked more questions than her designated interviewer, and, on the side, that the cops were even more clueless than she was, with no trace of the strange substance on the kitchen counter to be found on the man; not even a tool kit. For all they knew, the intruder had decided to try an ill-fated attempt at free running up a wall, before gravity had brought him back down to Earth. And somehow, it seemed quite the stretch to subtly indicate that she had, for some inarticulate reason, decided to take too much of an interest in the kitchen counter to notice a strange, powdered substance that might have had the potential to send a potential victim into a lethal spiral. Or rather, it was impossible to attempt such, since Max had tried a dozen explanations already, and although each had differed tremendously, from only mild suspicion, to a shrug of disbelief, to a near arrest, none of them exactly fell into any passable definition of success, so by the thirteenth attempt, Max abandoned the endeavor entirely. It seemed that once again, it would fall to her and Chloe to pursue the matter a little further, though as to how far she was willing to push this investigation remained to be see, as she sat cross-legged in the waiting area, appearing to take a peculiarly strong interest in the opposing wall whilst her mind continued to work, tugging her from one argument to another. After winding up in a psychopath"s Dark Room, and watching her friend eat a bullet only hours prior, more than a part of her was begging her to veto the prospect immediately, but Max already knew that she had passed that bridge too long ago to turn back now. Although Chloe was still in her own interview, with her dubious criminal record undoubtedly the cause of the cops" interest, the moment she emerged, Max knew she would be abound with her own theories, if only to give her something to distract herself from the disaster in their wake. It was, after all, Chloe"s way of dealing with tragedy; by distancing herself from the madness, externalising the pent up anxiety into action. And then there was the fact it would be a nearly impossible to rewind back to the moment she had decided to impart upon Chloe her most recent brush with death, since the last time she had tried to rewind more than a couple of minutes, she had wound up with a headache the size of Alaska, before greeting the ground with her forehead at high velocity. Subsequently, an attempt to rewind back to the previous evening seemed foolhardy at best, if not downright suicidal. Besides, given the fact that she had a snowball"s chance in Hell of stopping Chloe to begin with, it seemed only logical that Max be there to prevent those "actions" from involving drugs and guns. At least, she hoped she would be able to, but there was still a layer of doubt. The week had already proven a strange one, and after witnessing the events that might have transpired the previous night, Max was beginning to wonder if it was safer to simply let the Kraken lurking beneath the cesspit of destiny to lie undisturbed, before she and Chloe could prod it into claiming one of them too soon, again. Chloe"s words atop that lighthouse; a one beacon of sanctuary in their youth to the very end of that innocence, still twisted against her belly like a poorly shaped blade, and as her contemplation wore on, Max was quite unable to stop herself from wondering if Chloe"s notion of fate was indeed quite accurate: she had earned less than a day since Arcadia Bay"s destruction before had Chloe had met another early end. Against every life that she had effectively ended by tearing up that damn butterfly, it was becoming exponentially harder to justify her choices. Wrought by so many a regret, it was no surprise that she nearly missed the commotion at the police desk until she heard the newest arrival"s name. '...sick bastard. You enjoy Seattle while you still can, Jefferson. Arts teacher like you will fit right in at correction, won"t you?' She could scarcely believe it; she did not want to believe it, but it seemed that if destiny could not claim her friend, it would gladly take her sanity in Chloe"s place. Barely four meters away, Mark Jefferson was in the process of being hauled away from an understandably antagonistic officer at the station"s front desk. His pressed suit and shirt were gone; replaced by the unmistakable orange garb of an inmate, but he still seemed to maintain a shred of twisted dignity as he straightened himself upright, and began to walk, until he saw the huddled figure in the corner of the waiting area. A week past, Max might have averted her gaze, but this time, there was only grim vindication, as she met his stare with an even calmness, betrayed only by the slight twist of her forehead amid her attempts to suppress the fury she felt boiling at her heart. She could not confront him, of course; the officers would think her mad if she were to try it, for she had to remember that, despite all that the piece of shit had done, he had yet to actually wrong her in the present timeline. Even so, an eternity seemed to pass before the officer at Jefferson"s back seemed to notice his prisoner had stall; traced the psychopath"s gaze to it"s destination, and roughly shoved him forward once more, muttering some form of loathing beneath his breath that Max had no way of catching. In fact, there was nearly some kind of twisted joy at the prospect of the madman"s confinement that Max struggled to overcome. It was instinctive to prove the better human being, but still there existed that primitive, feral lure of vindication, and it was for that reason Max finally broke off her sight with the man she had once thought worthy of praise, as he rounded the corner, out of sight. Satisfying as it may have been, there simply existed some unspoken, integrated wrong with acknowledging that one registered that satisfaction to be with. But when she looked up again, her morals quickly fell from the forefront of her mind, as fear emerged once more. He was still there, never having deviated from his place, as he stood, staring: stock-still like a statue, or worse, one of his countless portraits; a snapshot in time, only this work of the deranged psychopath was bereft of the terrifying prospect of being exposed to the camera lense. This time, he was smiling. The officer seemed to take notice his prisoner had stalled, and prodded him onwards once again, and once again, they disappeared around the corner. Max was still trying to determine if the culmination of late nights and her entire muddling of the timeline had finally begun to take it"s toll upon her eyes when she felt a familiar pain course through her mind. Sharp, yet it did not crack like a whip, for it refused to abate until it had reached out and touched upon every recess of her conscience. Like a stain, it dug about her skull at a hideous pace, and Max doubled over in agony, clasping and cradling her head, willing the pain to go away, as a thin line of blood began to trickle from her nose. Her vision blurred amid the spiralling stars and sunrise she had all but grown accustomed to over the last week, but as she writhed and twisted on that couch, she could not help but notice that the familiar face was back where he stood, as a pin dropped to the floor and rang with painful resonance. The trickle of red had turned to a flood. Half blind, bleeding and almost certainly mad, Maxine Caulfield tumbled out of her seat and ran. With some much needed help from a man she unfortunately could not recall the face of, save for a blurred mesh of light, which nearly all had seemed to present itself as within her state of delirium, Max made it to the bathroom, and promptly stumbled for the sink. It took a good moment for her to get the water running, but once she did, she was able to finally breath, as managed to wipe away a portion of the trail of blood that had already reached her shirt. "Get it together, get it together, Max,' she nearly screamed at herself, though it only emerged as a weakened shudder even as she shut her eyes, praying for some sense of normality to return to the gift of sight. She could not even make out her own face against the mirror mounted upon above the sink, much less her surroundings before she clasped them tight, willing the agony to depart. Still it burned, as she tasted another tide of iron welling in her throat. Max would never know how much time had passed since she had burst into the station"s latrines, admitting her life fluid at a far from healthy rate from her nasal cavity, for it was her last instinct in such a situation to reach for the phone to check the four numbers stenciled upon the lock screen, but when she finally straightened up, having recovered some modicum of sight, her anxiety was quick to turn to thought, suspicion, and of course, when panic was thrown into the mixture; that all important pinch of paranoia. Am I really going insane? She asked herself, trying in vain to search for any sign in the mirror that would betray the madness beneath her features, or did I just truly fuck time up? Trapped in a time loop, or God forbid another nightmare. A door opened behind her, and amid her swimming doubts, she nearly emitted a scream in surprise. Then, after a moment"s hesitation in which her mind caught up with her newly recovered sight, she truly did scream. "You"re not taking a piss again, are you?' "What"s now? I"m not killing witnesses at least, right?' "You could be keeping watch.' "I"m keeping a watch on my waste container, alright? The damn thing is nearly full; I gotta empty this piss bladder somewhere.' "Down your throat might work,' Praesentius murmured, as he continued to thread the black fiber wire up the ventilation hatch atop the cubicle he had chosen to occupy for the duration of the operation, "Claudius, please tell me you"re getting somewhere". "I can only guide this thing as far as you send it,' the data Seer replied into his ear, "give me another two meters; I see a possible intrusion point.' "No spinning blades and sparkles, this time I hope?' The Hunter enquired, with a hint of sincerity. He was already on his second data cable after the half-blind Claudius had remotely steered the first one into what appeared on his helmet feed to be a set of rotating, angled blades designed to push air along the primitive ventilation ducts; a system far behind the purification systems integrated into the Council"s latrines, but one that was proving highly effective in both breaking military hardware, as well as delivering a painful backlash of electricity to the increasingly irritated Guardsman attached at the tube"s end. Not that it was Claudius" fault, of course, Praesentius reminded himself, although he found himself having to do so on an increasingly regular basis: the Data Seer had spent nearly five years plugged into the digital realm, and the poor sod was already technically blind without the correctional filters installed in his retinas. Data blindness was the mark of any veteran Seer, and for his service, Praesentius was willing to extend a fraction of leniency. That is to say, any at all, for it was rare that the Hunter found any worthy of sympathy, most particularly the distracted Regenus, who was shy of his senior"s service by just a year, but it could have been a day for all Praesentius cared. In fact, even Emendus did not enjoy the same level of leniency Praesentius extended to the crippled Data Seer, and that leniency seemed to find itself limited to a single electric shock, as the Hunter continued to twist the wire forward, bracing for the inevitable, and an excuse to finally belt out his rage. "A little further... hold on, engaging fiber connection-' A loud clap resounded directly in his ear, drawing a slight wince from the overly sensitive Hunter, "we"re in. Accessing camera feeds now.' "Once you tag Price, send the greenlight. Dreamer Two will then move to secure. Timer"s rolling, people.' "On it, Emendus,' Praesentius sighed, allowing himself to hop off the toilet seat upon whihc he had previously perched himself in order to unscrew the ventilation duct, with more than a little apprehension as to whether the porcelain structure would be to take his weight, "send me the feed, Claudius.' "Hang in there, lad; little interference on this end-' "Um, Praesentius?' Even before Regenus had finished speaking, Praesentius knew he had only horrible news to deliver. It was the tone that betrayed him: that dreaded, slightly sing-song tune of a heightened pitch that could only detone misfortune, and Praesentius was not having any of it. "What now?' He snapped, spinning violently around to face the paper thin surface that divided the stalls they occupied respectively, as though he could see his hunting partner upon the far side, "you split the bloody bowl in half or what? I stood on this pile of shit and-' "Company.' The first, and probably only, judgement upon as to what on earth had emerged from the cubicle at her back that managed through Max"s mind summed up to a wraith. She never even stopped to twist her gaze back for a second glance, as she bolted for the door, but the blurred spectre remained branded upon her sight; a boiling mass of torn, dark fabric enclosing a pair of scarlet eyes, all of which seemed to levitate just so slightly off the ground as it emerged from the most unlikely of cairns. Of course, if Max had even stopped to consider that she had just seen a shade emerging from a toilet, she might just have realised the lunacy of it all, but after her horrific week of indulging in madness, a ghost seemed trivial at best, and as it reached out at her with a nearly skeletal hand, observation quickly fell from her list of priorities, and she took flight for the door. The mirror erupted in a shower of shards, barely moments after her legs had begun to move, and instinctively, she ducked her head low, narrowly avoiding a similar blast of porcelain, as another item upon the wall that ran parallel to her side: this time a tile mounted upon the surface, detonated with furious rage. Unfortunately, Max"s luck did not extend to the third time, and bare moments after registering a sharp pain rip across her leg, she hit the floor, tumbling into a tangled heap against the closed door of the bathroom. The last thing she dared to see, before willing the world as it existed into oblivion, was that gaunt, cloaked ghoul rising up from the ground towards her, it"s eroded hand outstretched far beyond its frame, towards her quivering eyes.

"Haven"t you used up all of your credit or something?' Jessica asked, playing along. "No, I"m on a data plan. It"s a real bargain you know-' "Alright, alright,' Sam put in, sparing them all another lecture on the wonders of technology, "so what did this general say?' "Ex-general, mind you,' he corrected her, without the slightest trace of superiority, "no, he was saying that from a military standpoint, it just makes no sense.' "What?' Mike asked in sarcastic disbelief, as he turned around in his chair to face Chris, "you think "hit the other guy" would not be a good idea in a fight?' "It"s strategy, man. If you"re weak and outnumbered, the only way you beat the other guy is to fight on the ground that suits you.' "Example?' "Like an alley,' Matt suggested, perhaps too eager to show Mike up, "they can"t get around you, and they can only face you one at a time.' "Except these guys; they went and did the opposite. And they still won!' "Maybe they just did the unpredictable,' Ashley suggested, "no one thought they would and so they did?' "Maybe,' Chris conceded, "but then this guy"s saying that now, because they advanced, they"re stood on open ground. It"s suicide.' He was met with a blank expression, and Chris had little experience in military matters, yet he felt he had earned an understanding of the topic by reading an article, so he tried again. "It"s like...in a fight, if you were to punch the guy without blocking, you"d get hit in the face.' "So why not just do both?' "Oh for the love of the Great Father,' a furious voice snapped from the front, "forget that gobshite. Basically, when an army"s stood still, d"ya think they stand around with their fingers in their arses? No! They dig trenches, set up killzones, heavy weapons, machine guns, yada yada yada. That way, when the other guy comes to turn you into a kebab, you are ready: he"s out in the open, you"ve got several walls to hide behind, and you know how high you need to aim to blow his socks off. You attack, and you lose all those preparations. Your new frontline is the enemy"s old one, where all the shit is facing the wrong way. So when they come back for you, you either have to get ready from square one, which takes time mind you, or you stand and fight with your trousers down. Are we clear?' "Yes,' Ashley replied meekly. "You seem to know quite a bit about warfare,' Sam suggested, before Stig rounded his head about, eyes narrowed into fine slits, while he continued to drive onward at maybe eighty miles per hour. "Really, Sammy? Well lass, I"m highly complimented-' "Watch the road!' '-but I"m just a simple man exercising the logic of violence.' He seemed to be content with that, and, to the great relief of all those around him, he finally turned back to the front, exhaling one last drawn out breath. "So why would they even attack?' Ashley asked, desperate to avoid another silence. Interestingly, Stig held his tongue this time. Perhaps he was a little more tolerant of her questions for the trials she had endured in prison, and he took a moment to answer. "Why do we think in terms of land? Won or lost? Who"s to say it"s not something else?' "You think that they wanted something?' Stig just grunted in reply, sinking that line of conversation. "What exactly is your take on the war, Stig?' Matt asked. "My take on the war.' Stig seemed to muse over the question, drawing it out in a most sardonic fashion. "My take on the war, let"s see: I"ve been shot at on the road by a drone, I"ve been splattered with someone"s blood in a triage center, do you really want me to go on?' "I meant,' Matt seemed gravely uncertain of his position, but he pushed on after a moment"s thought, "who do you think is winning?' "No one, of course!' "Well then, who"s loosing?' "Everyone.' "This is going to sound really stupid,' Ashley admitted quietly, at a volume kept low enough so that it did not reach the driver"s seat, "but who exactly are "they"?' Her friends gave her an incredulous look, and she moved on quickly to elaborate her confusion. "I mean, they weren"t exactly broadcasting the news in solitary. Would you mind, like, bringing me up to speed?' She was met with silence again, but this time for a very, very different reason, for the simple fact was that no one could truly answer her question. There were many theories on how a rogue military force had wound up on the East Coast, with no flag, and enough weapons to take on the entire USMC. "Mercenaries" seemed fairly apt, since there were more than a few weapons in the arsenal of the "enemy" as the news constantly seemed to refer to the foreign force as, and there were many PMCs who had access to equipment beyond that of the regular military. But no one had claimed responsibility, and even a few PMCs themselves had been hurled into the fray, each with less than substantial results. "Terrorists" was another word, since that was all that seemed to be on the agenda of the media; an execution of unarmed captives, a mother and her children found mutilated in a cellar, the list of atrocities was long, but seemed to garner quite minimal attention for their nature. Why the government had decided to keep the news on a tight leash on the matter of drumming the patriotism obligation into viewers was beyond any who had kept up with events to the East, since it still appeared to be the most effective maneuver in gathering a sizable army of new recruits, eager for blood: to give them something to hate. Something that could be seen as less than human. Others had their claims as well: some denounced it as a Russian invasion in disguise; a ridiculous notion considering the fact Russia had, as of the previous week, agreed to deploy the Baltic fleet to assist its oldest foe, though that detail had also eluded Ashley"s friends. Then there were the outlandish; astrologers or simple conspiracy theorists that insisted it was an alien force that had made landing, but was now locked in a bitter ground war with US troops, or even a splinter special forces brigade from the CIA"s clandestine works. Both theories were quickly addressed with all the strength government censorship, and simple logic, had to offer, but they still floated around the airwaves, eager for support in the same way fire awaits oxygen, to fuel it"s uncontrollable and indiscriminate rage. Eventually, Mike decided to try his luck. "Well, Ash,' he started, "last I heard, it"s a pretty well equipped terrorist group-' He didn"t get any further before a burst of raucous laughter smothered his explanation entirely, and upon turning about to the driver"s seat, they found Stig snorting to conceal the hilarity he had found in that declaration. "What"s so funny?' "Terrorists,' Stig sighed, entirely oblivious to the glances he was getting, "is that the new name now? Father, they get stupider by the day.' "Would you know anything about them?' "I think I would have enough sense to know that terrorists couldn"t get their hands on enough weaponry to outstrip the US military,' he cackled, eying Mike in the mirror, "and I"ll be damned before one of those numpties decided to take on a first world military in conventional warfare. Believe me when I say it, the "enemy", as you call them, are a professional force.' "But they"re on the run right?' Ashley asked. Clearly, she was beginning to regret her questions, and it would have been no surprise to her friends to know that she was scanning the horizon in earnest, as if fearful that any moment, a tank brigade might suddenly roll into view and begin opening fire, as if a $10,000 armor piercing sabot round could be warranted for the destruction of an innocuous van carrying six teenagers, and a middle aged man with serious attitude problems. "According to this, they will be soon,' Chris answered, falling back into the safety of his phone, "there"s a lot of shit headed their way. I don"t think anyone would be eager to stand in front of a tank brigade. Or ten.' "What was that, Stig?' Sam asked. "Depends on the one." Author"s Note: Thanks AWP for the feedback! As for the enemy, I won"t give too much away just yet, but don"t worry; you"ll all be getting accustomed to them very soon. Once again, final warning to canon guys who don"t like sci-fi. Next chapter, we"re going all in. This is in case I don"t come back. If I"m not back by tomorrow, get this to the Mayor as soon as you can. Too much shit has been going on up here just for coincidence. Ever since the damn kids blew up the lodge on the mountain, and those shady government guys have been coming through here day and night, it"s been getting worse by the day. Livestock going missing is one thing, but six hikers in a week is another. And there"s enough reports about the lights and suspicious persons around the woods these days; if it continues any longer, we"ll all be out the door. So if things go south, you release everything in the archives, including Wells and Caroll. People need to know what"s out there. And if the bureaucrats don"t do shit about it, burn the damn forest down. All of it. Here"s to hoping it"s just wolves. Note found on the desk of Deputy Niles Fisher, 12 May 2015, signed Sheriff Annie Cline, Blackwood County Police Department. To Sam"s eternal dismay, they arrived at derelict bus station, welded onto the base of the mountain like an unwanted tumor, well past nightfall. She was not alone in her protests of advancing up the mountain until daybreak, but Stig would not be deterred. "Closest town is on the far side of the mountain,' he said, detaching the key from it"s socket with an audible "click", "which would take all night to circumvent. It"s either that, or we backpedal down the mountain road to the last motel we passed. And that"s too far for my liking.' "And my liking would be to keep my head,' Sam hissed in the same tone, "we don"t even have any fire.' They had appraised Stig nearer to the mountain as to what lay ahead, but despite passing through several towns, Stig had adamantly refused to halt and purchase the jerry cans of gasoline his passengers had desired, stating it would be "suspicious" if six teenagers turned up requesting enough fuel to commit the arson of the century. His excuse had been a vague one as always, indicating that he would put in a requisition order for such upon their arrival at the desolate location, but it did little to put the six at ease. Somehow, it was far worse this time, returning in the knowledge of what awaited them in the darkness. Certainly, every memory of Mount Washington was enough to send a shiver up the spine: each time they had walked in the darkness, or frolicked within the lodge, unaware of what lay beyond those wooden walls. To think that death may have come so easily each time provided no ease upon the mind, yet it never occurred to them that they had been happier in the past, ignorant and in a world of bliss, where the largest problem was either a letter attached at the bottom of a test, or the opposite gender. Thankfully, although perhaps disconcertingly, Stig was not foolhardy enough to send the company marching up the mountain unarmed, with the word "prey" stenciled into each of their backs, as he waved them over to the back of the van. After collecting their personal belongings from the boot however, he bade them to stay, as he leant into the opening, tinkering with some indistinguishable object near the point where the rearmost met the storage compartment, before he tore aside the fabric that had lined the floor. It was essentially a small arms locker, stowed where a spare tyre might usually be placed, and more than a few of those present could not help but wonder how on earth such had come to be in Stig"s possession, particularly considering the fact they had already been stopped and searched at the Canadian border. True, border security had not deigned to rip apart the entire car, but it was a safe bet that the two guard dogs present would have been able to detect anything untoward in the battered van. On the other hand, it was hardly a substantial arsenal to hunt a Wendigo. A pair of hunting rifles, that seemed to be missing their barrels, a trio of pistols, and a single AR-15, though it was stripped down to the barest of skeletons, lacking a sight, a foregrip and any visible ammunition. "This job isn"t an office one,' was the only answer Stig provided to the glances he got, before he began distributing the equipment. To the despair of those who knew the mountain"s perils all too well, they soon learnt that the AR-15 present was in fact non functional, for it was devoid of both ammunition, and a working firing pin; a detail Stig had blamed on a local gun supplier who would not be receiving any more business from his wallet. "Is this-' Sam paused, eying the locker with no small degree of scrutiny, "legal?' "Hundred percent,' Stig replied. Then, seeing she was entirely unconvinced, he decided to spoil that assertion with a wry grin. "Depending on the state. Now, to the numbskulls with something hanging between their legs; who can I trust to put a bullet where it needs to go?' He might as well have struck a bell, for as Jessica had noticed all too well, the combination of men and guns cannot be trusted to produce any result requiring the usage of a brain. And with two rifles, and three men present, not one was willing to be left with a pistol, or worse, nothing. There was something emasculating about that prospect that refused to allow honor to lie down without a fight. "Shotgun,' Mike called immediately. Simultaneously, Chris and Matt repeated the phrase at vehement volumes. Stig, on the other hand, looked as if he had just watched a monkey walk on stage, perform the opera, before urinating on the conductor. After a haphazard attempt to explain the game to the impatient man, the youths grudgingly resorted to reason, though such was not to say it was of any logic. "Sam,' Chris implored, "you saw my shooting; you know I can slot "em where we need them.' "Yeah right,' Mike laughed, "probably two feet away.' "I got chased by a Wendigo man,' Chris returned, "that was some snap second shit.' "And I nearly got killed by a dozen! But I"m still here,' Mike maintained with a proud air, "cause I know how to keep calm under pressure.' "Yes, you were certainly calm when I found you,' Sam put in, deflating that Mike"s ego as quickly as it had arisen, as she made a fairly decent impersonation of Mike"s terror, "Sam! Save me!' "I had it under control.' "Look Mike,' Matt interceded, "I"m sure you"re a good shot, but if we organised things, had a real contest; I"d beat you right back down.' "Why don"t we try?' "Are they always like this?' Ashley was a little surprised to find Stig"s face barely inches away from her shoulder. There was the same impatience there, but something else resided in that face, she thought to herself. Humor? "Depends,' she answered carefully, aware that Chris was caught in the mix, "Mike and Matt haven"t always been friends.' "Aw, ain"t that sweet,' Stig cooed; a most discomforting tone for Ashley"s ears, "looking out for Christopher, aren"t we?' "I think they"ll make a nice couple,' Jessica added, to Ashley"s horror. "No one said we were going out or anything!' "Of course not,' Stig replied, unfazed, "he"s just spent the last few months trying to get you out.' "He-wait, what?' "They never even let him get close enough to let you know, did they?' He mused to himself, no longer a participant in their conversation. "Miserable bastards, the lot of them.' "Common, Ash,' Jessica prodded her, "you two have had a crush on each other for God knows how long.' "Life"s too short, Ashley,' Sam put in, falling beside them, having exhausted diplomatic options with the trio of egotistical gunslingers in the distance, "just go for it.' "You would have thought nearly getting killed beside one another would jolt something into action,' Stig sighed, before he flicked away another spent cigarette, "Are you lot done yet?' "No,' Matt replied indignantly, before he realised who he was speaking to. "Then I"ll settle it for you. Mike, Chris, get your arses over here.' They obeyed, only to have the two rifles in question thrown into their chests. "Point the barrel at what you want dead.' "Are you kidding me?' "Aw, are we upset somebody didn"t get the big boy"s guns? Well, update time, Matt, I DON"T GIVE A SHIT!' Matt took the hint. In truth, they all knew the weapons were as useful as a snowball when it would come to the Wendigo. There was not a shotgun in sight, and even those had failed to halt one of the rampaging monstrosities. No, the fight had been for the purpose of prestige, ego inflation, and self worth. And after breaking up with Emily, Matt"s self confidence had certainly taken a beating. And Mike had offered an old adversary. But there was something in Stig"s tone that advised him against pursuing that course of action any further, and grudgingly, he accepted the pistol. Sam on the other hand, did not. "I"m not exactly a soldier,' she protested, but Stig gave her a look that advised her to shut her mouth in a hurry. Truth be told, Sam had to admit, it was probably the safest option. Jessica, although she had improved a long way since their last visit to the mountain, still encountered a degree of trouble with coordinating even the most basic of motor functions since the shock of the incident had set in, and refused to depart, while Ashley"s jumpy nature, coupled with her days in solitude, was an accident waiting to happen. At least in Sam"s case, the chances of the gun killing someone of their own party was substantially reduced, though it was not to say their chances of reaching the lodge alive were improved as a result. "You do know I"m a pacifist, right?' "Well,' Stig replied solemnly, "perhaps now would not be the best time to be informing me of such.' "Yeah right,' Mike snorted, as he made his way to the edge of the road, testing the sights of the weapon as he went, "that really came across when you came charging at a Wendigo with a spade. I don"t think I ever said thanks for that, by the way.' "It was nothing.' "Aside from my life. Thank you.' There was not much Sam could respond with, as Mike made off down the beaten track, with Jessica trailing him like a shadow. And as she went, Sam could not help but notice a strange glance come across Stig"s face, as he strapped the final pistol to the side of his leg. She would blame it on sleep deprivation later on, but for that fleeting second, she could have sworn she found the slightest trace of admiration in those cold eyes. The gate was still broken. Of course, with the closure of the property and the police investigation, no one had been contracted to repair a gate in the middle of the wilderness. For a moment, Stig had proposed finding an alternate path through the undergrowth, that circumvented the stone wall, but he was quickly taken aback when he found Mike swing the rifle onto his back, alongside the small backpack he had packed for the journey, and promptly charge at the wall, scaling it in short order. Matt, not looking to be outdone, quickly followed suite. Chris, on the other hand, bereft of the competitive spirit that seemed to dominate his two peers, adopted a far more cautioned approach. On the far side of the gate, there was the odd shout of encouragement, and a little work on Mike"s part to clear the brambles that obstructed the landing from the right wall quickly allowed a second stream of intruders to scale the obstruction in little time, until only Stig and Sam were left on the wrong side. "I can give you a boost if you want,' Sam suggested. "Gonna add in an old man comment, too, are we Sammy?' For a man in his mid forties, there was a spry youth in the manner Stig tackled the wall with the same vehemence demonstrated by those under his charge, and soon, he was back on the ground, well before Sam had even reached the summit of the short peak. "Show off,' she sighed, a grin contort across her face, when Stig"s hand snapped up like a lighting bolt, outstretched with the unmistakable signal to halt. "What is it?' Chris asked, clearly unnerved by the sudden change in the man"s attitude, for the smiles and contests were all but forgotten in Stig"s grey eyes. "We"re not alone.' Those words alone were enough for paranoia to set in. Immediately, Mike"s rifle had appeared in his hands, and he jerked it from shadow to shadow, entirely uncertain of which direction in fact played host to a predator. Chris followed him a moment later, and Matt"s arms were locked rigid in an iron brace, prepared to withstand the recoil of the pistol in his hands. Even Sam, so usually calm and collected, was unable to halt her hand from straying to her side, where she had holstered the pistol in a convenient pocket at her hip, and without a word exchanged, the group seemed to grow indiscriminately smaller, as it"s members huddled together, perhaps of the mind that their hunter might recognise the unsaid law of safety in numbers, and abide to the theory without thought. But Stig"s next command would leave them all confounded.

"I never knew we"d have Ms Butterfingers her for a daughter,' Vanessa sighed, already rising to her feet to assess the damage, even as both Chloe and Max retreated from the rapidly expanding circle of darkness across the sodden carpet. "Sorry mom,' Max started, "I"ll-' "Leave it Max,' was the only response that came, "you"ve both had a - long day. Why don"t you two just head in? Chloe, I assume you"ll be staying with us, now - for now, right?' Chloe only gave a half nod, trying her best to ignore the words that had nearly fought their way loose from Vanessa"s lips. Of course no one wanted to acknowledge the fact she could well and truly be around for more than "a while"; not out of stringent inhospitality, one must understand, but only upon false hope. The vague, incoherent thought that if one never said the terrifying truth; that Chloe Price was now an orphan amidst an unforgiving world, it might somehow be averted. "I"ll get the spare bed,' muttered Ryan, "Max? Lend a hand?' "You mind if you give me a second? I just want to check something.' "Don"t let me stop you,' came the reply, "just as long as you know what you"re doing, Max.' He was not looking for an answer, as he eased himself upright, and for a fleeting moment, Max wondered if age had begun to take its toll upon her father"s frame. She had been gone for barely a month, but a month without their daughter about the house is a long time, and the weight of that strain was beginning to show in Ryan"s eyes. Max had always harbored the suspicion that her parents were not quite ready to let her fly the nest, and although their concern for her wishes ultimately triumphed over the protective instinct, a small part had always remained; never quite falling into dormancy, as her troubles in Arcadia Bay continued to filter back in small snippets of news of both sorts, from her part in ending Kate"s attempt at suicide, and on the other end of the spectrum, her damning accusations of an armed honors student on the Academy grounds. And now that she was back, she was changed entirely. The Max that had existed before that October morning was gone, and with a town in flames, her return home was understandably less than what Ryan and Vanessa had envisioned. And they were unable to see that; still amidst the hope that their innocent daughter lay beneath, Ryan and Vanessa only blamed themselves for their apparent inability to spark Max to life once again. The old jokes and games of the evening had been ineffectual, and in their ignorance of her part in the tragedy, they could only believe themselves to be the cause. Such was the same, human instinct that gripped at Max"s own gut. The regret; the fear, and of course, the guilt that was her own to shoulder. Never once did it occur to her that some outer power; some malicious force could be held to fault. In her mind, it was her own decision. And that knowledge would destroy her, unless she could do something to right that insurmountable wrong. Or, she conceded, in all probability, a thousand little somethings to right the crime upon humanity. It would be the only way she could ever forgive herself. It was a task that would probably crush her with its uncompromising nature, but she would try nonetheless. The kitchen counter provided precious few clues. Aside from the soft patter of liquid dew falling from the line of drying dishes, the surface was immaculate. Max had already decided that she would refrain from the compulsion to share the disturbance with Chloe; not yet at least, where her parents could catch the brief moment of hysteria one usually exhibits when informed that a close friend had just witnessed one"s own traumatic death in a pool of blood only seconds ago in a single possibility, and besides, she wanted, or rather knew, something was to be found. She could not tell if it was still guilt, or her old inquisitive nature that was at work, prodding her along by this point, but Max was no longer concerned by her motivation, as long as the end result remained a deathless evening. And impulsive instinct to right a wrong one had the power to reverse had begun to withdraw in favor of logic; logic which, perhaps somewhat blatantly, but nonetheless importantly, stressed in Max"s mind that it was rare that one began convulsing and expelling their own vital bodily fluids across the floor without external intervention. So she searched. And searched, yet nothing would reveal itself to her eyes, until she placed her palms upon the counter; arms taught amidst their full extension as she wracked her mind in frustration, only to withdraw as soon as she did so. "What"s this?' Of course, nobody answered Max, as she leaned down to investigate the gummy surface. Still slick with the excesses of the tap, the water appeared indistinguishable from its cousins across the counter, but to slide her palm across the puddle felt sickening. As if someone had poured syrup upon the tabletop, and only given the briefest of attempts to clean it away before slinking away from the mess. And yet, it did not have the same consistency as a gel. It was too smooth for sugar, though it"s traction with the surface would still put any true sample of water to shame. "Almost like powder,' she thought to herself softly, recalling the time she had nearly blown Warren"s head off with a careless knock of a glass beaker. Then again, Warren was not the kind to take every infraction at it"s face value; an untrained lab initiate, like herself and a concoction of several unknown substances pooling together on the table before her eyes seemed too great an opportunity to pass up without an obligatory touch of drama. And if she was in no position to question it"s feasibility, all the better for the self professed scientist. She had almost allowed a half smile to form upon her face at the memory when she managed to wrestle control once again. Warren"s fate, like many others of Arcadia Bay, remained all but unknown to her, and unless he had somehow survived entirely unscathed, she was, or at least she told herself that she was, in no position to begin doubting his past antics. Besides, the more she surveyed the patch, the more confident she was becoming that it was no powder to begin with, but a pill; concentrated so greatly in one small area, it had the appearance of a tablet that had been exposed to water; dissolving a small portion of its structure beneath the caustic touch of the daily drink, to produce a fine paste, before a second splash of liquid had obliterated the last traces of solids within the rouge supplement. "So,' Max muttered to herself, in quiet triumph as she cleansed her hands of the contaminant, "we have some pill that nearly kills Chloe when she drank it, and...an-,' the syllable dragged out as the victory drained from the forefront of her mind '- and a fingerprint I just fucked up.' She was on the cusp of rewinding when she heard it; the rush of air before it was cut off at it"s source. A sound not unlike that made by a rodent, scurrying about the darkness, toying with the predator that followed in it"s wake, but just as it entered her consciousness, so too did the realisation reach Max"s mind that another person could have entered her home. Alongside the possibility that, for all intents and purposes, that intruder was still present. After a moment"s hesitation, she took a pair rapid of strides over the source, before she realised, far too late, the abhorrent stupidity of her plan. "What the hell are you doing Max?' She nearly screamed at herself, "What are you going to do if you find him? Ask him to leave politely? A man, presuming it was a man of course, who, assuming you have made any accurate deduction so far, has come into your home with the intention to murder your friend, and is therefore probably armed and extremely dangerous, while the closest weapon to your hand is the bloody butter knife from dad"s breakfast this morning-' Her mind had yet to catch up with her actions, and she had already begun to turn the corner from which the noise had originated from when she realised she was effectively begging for a knife through the throat. But, to the great disappointment of her curiosity, and the tremendous relief of her neck, there was nothing to be found. Just an unused patch of the tiled space beside one of two doorways to the corridor from which the rest of the house could be accessed, after Vanessa had decided to relocate the trashcan to it"s current position adjacent to the fire escape, leaving the aforementioned corner of the kitchen to wallow in it"s disuse, for with the alternate path to her residence running into the living room; a room with both a TV and dining table; two vastly important social instruments that the Caulfield kitchen lacked, Max was probably the first to grace it with a human presence in a long time. Breathing a sigh of relief, Max turned about, and returned to the sink, trying to reassert some form of sense over her burdened mind, all the while remaining blissfully unaware that the window perched at the very end of the corridor that formed the effective spine of the apartment; a window Ryan had made a habit of keeping shut thanks to it"s ill state of repair, remained half open. Regenus scarcely dared to emit a breath as the girl turned about, unable to pierce the darkness as he held the struggling Simon Henning fast. "Just stay still,' he cooed softly, though the helmet"s vocal distorters produced the words at a growl rather than false encouragement, "just stay still, and I"ll get you out of here.' Nothing met him but a strangled grunt, as the cultist continued to wriggle against the Guardsman"s steel grip. Probably because he, like any being of relative intelligence, was able to see that the Guardsman"s sentence had omitted the all important "out of here to my personal torture chamber where you"ll have the choice of answering quickly or losing some teeth". But as Max disappeared around the corner, so too did Regenus" patience. "Get moving.' Henning refused to budge more than a meter. "I"m getting impatient,' Regenus shot again, "hurry up, or I"ll take your most prized assets and see if they fit down your throat. And it"ll be slow. So move, or say goodbye to your fuck-sack.' "Fuck-sack?' Praesentius sighed in disbelief over the comms, as Regenus uncoupled his blade from the concealed sheath upon his wrist, "Remind me to never let you handle linguistics from here on out. They call them testicles around here, you idiot.' "And you"d know all about missing testicles, wouldn"t you, Praesentius - hey!' The man in Regenus" grasp; so easily mistaken for a deer in headlights, had managed to snake his hand from the Guardsman"s grip, and amidst the momentary distraction, he had unlatched a syringe from his belt, and slammed it into the Guardsman"s leg. Unfortunately for Henning, he had not accounted for the fact that Regenus was wearing enough carapace plate to pass with ease for a medieval knight, and the fragile point abruptly snapped off, leaving Simon with a blunt syringe, and one irritated murderer before him. "It"s alright,' Regenus sighed, more to himself than the slippery fish in his arms, "I guess you already served your purpose. Praesentius? What do you think?' "What do I think of what?' "Yeah,' Regenus nodded, practically ignorant of the Hunter"s words, "That"s what I thought as well. We don"t need you. Too much, at least.' With that, he swung Henning around himself, towards the open window. The window had not fully retained it"s shape since Henning, and more recently, Regenus, had slipped through the impediment, due to a combination of gravity and a loose lock in the window"s sliding mechanism that Ryan had yet to address, so Henning did not so much as fly through the opening as Regenus had hoped. Rather, he simply hit the frame hard in the forehead, and crumpled into the ground, groaning in agony. With a seething rage at the error, Regenus ripped the window open to it"s widest possible berth, before he returned to the mewling figure at his feet. This time, there was no delay, as Henning sailed out into open space. Only moments later, he hit the concrete below, and lay still and silent as the night. "We need to talk about our methods,' Praesentius said, as Regenus climbed back into the van the pair had "appropriated" three hours earlier, from an unsuspecting driveway on the outskirts of the metropolis the humans knew as Seattle. Regenus, however, did not seem to share the concern of his typically unabashed unconcerned ally. "I got them out of the house and stopped a threat, didn"t I?' "With a corpse in the street? What the hell did they teach you about collateral?' Regenus was nearly incredulous as the Hunter"s gaze departed the street, to turn upon his own being. Praesentius seemed to have relatively few qualms in regard to the massacre of subjects when the conditions called for his own hand to inflict the butchering, so it was understandably infuriating for the demoted Guardsman to receive a lecture on the values he had entrenched himself in long ago. At least until the Council had stripped him of the right to respect them. "Collateral that may draw prey to the hunt is acceptable, is it not?' "Explain.' "Law enforcement finds the dead little shit tomorrow; evidence points to the fact he was trying to rob the Caulfields and had a slip, am I right? So that means a trip to the police station for them, and that means a lot of time on the street for the grab.' "And what about the massive blood smear the windowsill? Humans tend to bleed pretty easily, you know?' "Already wiped it down with Sanctius; traces should be gone within the hour.' Praesentius sank back into his seat; arms fully extended upon the wheel as he forced himself upright in a chair that was far too small for his armored being. For a long time, they remained, each in thought as they watched the lights of the night flicker in and out of their vision; the last dregs of the day wearing to an end as they sat amid the shadows. Finally, Praesentius broke the silence. "Good work, Hunter.' "Don"t call me that, Praesentius. Not until-' "What"s your First Law of the Hunt, Regenus?' There was a fairly substantial pause before Regenus answered. "The pack follows the direction of its masters. To the end.' "Indeed. And I"m instructing you to answer to that name once more, Regenus. That"s non-negotiable. I"ll sort it out with Emendus when we get back.' "Aren"t we headed back now?' "No,' Praesentius mused, now at a distance and length from the world, "we shadow them until Emendus" bunch is ready to make the grab. Then we deliver the package.' "Delivering that package in a public space at short range isn"t going to be easy,' Regenus put in. Strictly speaking, Sedative-112A, or Leniendus as it was more commonly referred to in the Council"s militaries, was not designed to be injected into anything with a body mass that fell under a full metric ton. But although Oretus; the unit"s irritable Blood-Seer who would have probably laughed in a mixture of disbelief and humor at the humans" Hippocratic Oath before setting fire to the document, had assured the pair that the concentration of their equipment was small enough to avoid a lethal overdose to one of the fragile natives of the world, it remained black and viscous; impossible to mistake for an innocent vial of water, or a recreation substance that while illegal, would have probably still drawn less attention than a syringe filled with what appeared to be the extract of a bog. Praesentius only confirmed his suspicions as the black helm atop his neck began to rock up and down, as a soft chuckle broke from his voice box. "It ain"t,' Praesentius muttered, with a half grin beneath the helmet, "that"s why it"s being passed to the Hunters.' And with that, Regenus" heart sank. It was, in effect, Praesentius" own little way of stating "you". Even so though, the prospect of another hunt was hardly one Regenus was about to pass up: after weeks, or even months at a time cooped up aboard the Outcast Station in orbit; the nerve center of Watch Master Eridinus Taurus" observation efforts over the backwater planet of Earth, the adrenaline was like a drug he knew he would need to survive the next two tours of his penance, before he could finally be rotated back to his Regiment of the 92nd Shadow Guard, and return to the frontlines where he belonged. "One final little query; you figure out which one of the little minxes Henning was after?' "Oh aye. Henning slipped something into her drink. Probably hoping he"d be able to snatch her, but, well, she"s a bit of a clutz. Split the damn thing, though I really don"t know what the hell the idiot was thinking; with no get away vehicle, bastard would have been caught within a day. And put local enforcement on protection alert.' "He tried to drug her without an extraction plan?' Praesentius had leaned back over to survey his subordinate, and Regenus was ultimately unsure of what he saw in the haggard Hunters" eyes; uncertainty? Concern for a member of the gender he"d developed an intrinsic distrust of since one had violently removed his "third leg" after too many drinks and a criminal attempt at "courting"? Probably the former; Praesentius was not one to forget, even when he was technically in the wrong. If he were an inmate in at a penitentiary, he was the kind that any witness should have feared when he emerged. It was what made him far too dangerous to take off the frontlines. "Definitely looked like it.' "You didn"t leave the idiot"s fucking drug cocktail over there, did you?' "Give me some credit, Praesentius,' Regenus grinned, producing the whitish sachet he had swiped from the tabletop only moments after following Henning out the window, albeit, without breaking his neck in the process, "I don"t know about you, but I"m pretty sure it"s no sweetener. Probably the same shit we"re packing.' "Maybe,' Praesentius muttered, twisting the sachet in his hands experimentally. Unexpectedly, he abruptly brought it up to his nose to take a tentative sniff, before he recoiled in apparent disgust. "Problem?' "No,' the Guardsman muttered with sudden distaste for the company he kept, "just forgot to actually deactivate my damn filters.' He did not appreciate the short burst of laughter that left Regenus" mouth immediately after the words left his mouth. It was one of those little lapses of recalling he was actually in an armored suit designed to wage war on a world with a corrosive atmosphere; a lapse nearly every Guardsman had made; Regenus included, yet none were willing to admit in the event another their number marred their image with the same misstep. One day, he vowed quietly, with only the slightest trace of humor in his thought, he"d be there to turn the tables on the little shit. "So?' His hunting partner asked after what seemed a disproportionate amount of time for the nature of their conversation, "smell anything?' "Not that I can taste,' Praesentius muttered, even as he emitted a low hiss; his forked tongue flickering back into the recesses of the fanged maw beneath the matted helmet, "but I don"t like the fact he had no extraction plan. Pass your little pick-and-mix crap onto Oretus when you get the chance, and see if he can get it"s chemical structure. And you didn"t answer my question.' Even though the helmet was on his head, Regenus looked as if he were caught in the headlights of a rapidly approaching vehicle. Or the gaze of any hungry Makar that did not bear the name of Thax; Praesentius would have to do something about that later. Thax was many things, but a relentless stalker and merciless killer, the unit"s overgrown pet wolf was not, and alongside Regenus" flittering mind, he was beginning to wonder if he would have to end up hunting alone after all. "Which was, um, what again?' "If I was to head over and break down the Caulfields" door,' Praesentius groaned, already beginning to regret his oath to return the bumbling idiot to the ranks of the Hunters, "which one would know I was coming and be able to put an axe in my skull?' "Right, right; I nearly forgot about that. The blue haired one.' "Price?' "Bingo; that"s the one." Author"s note: I really appreciate the advice, Time Dragon. However, as you may see, it"s been a little difficult to be writing anything on mass recently, since I"ve got my exams coming up in a month, so till July comes, I"m afraid the release schedule might still remain at the current snail"s pace. Still, I do appreciate your contribution to keeping this story running, and to anyone else following this, any feedback is truly appreciated. Now, back to the hunt at hand. If one had asked Maxine Caulfield, or rather "Max" Caulfield, as any would address her unless one either wished for the immediate reprimand that would intangibly follow the usage of her full name, or the one in question was an officer of the law, under obligation to follow "protocol", what had transpired at the local station, Max"s answer would have been a short one at best. Probably since she was left under the impression that the men in uniform, or at least the one fresh faced patrolman who had been assigned to debrief her on the last nights events gave little care for her preference of identity, as he continued to address her by her christened name; she would continue to correct him on her name; he would continue to nod in supposed acknowledgement, before then resuming his use of her extended, and pretentious full title.

"So what? You"ll shoot me?' Mike didn"t even flinch as he spat it in Stig"s face. "I won"t. But Sterodius will.' "You know what?' Mike sighed, looking to his friends for support, "I"m just sick of this place. Sick and tired of this damn mountain haunting me in my sleep. And you know what? I couldn"t give a rat"s ass if they nuked it!' "You think a nuke will solve your problems? You think spirits give a shit for radiation? The government couldn"t give a damn for the Wendigo until it"s on their front porch! Praetorius, he"s a different story; he"s done this shit before! But if you want to go and compromise him, I can assure you death will be around the next corner.' "So what? You"re kidnapping us?' "That"s a bit rich. Call it an alliance of convenience. You know it as well as I do that the big shots in charge couldn"t be trusted to know what to do with a bunch of albino freaks with big teeth!' "And how would you?' Asked Sam, "you"re no different. What the hell happens to us after we help you? You gonna to kill us?' "Honor"s debt will be paid,' Stig replied cryptically. "Once the curse is gone, it doesn"t matter if they know we"re here. Once it"s gone, you"ll be homeward bound.' "How do you expect us to trust you?' "Oh, Sammy, believe me. You will.' The rest of the trek was made in relative silence, save for the soft crunch of snow underfoot. No one spoke, understandably, as the slow realisation of reality began to take hold. The distance from the wall was too short to properly converse any attempt to withdraw, and the thought of those black uniformed sentries proved greater than the nerve to elude fate. Somehow, their capacity as marksmen never seemed a question in the minds of the returning company. Something in the mind had a tendency to inexplicably connect the ability of stealth with one"s capacity to put a lead projectile between another"s eyes. That said, no one was entirely pleased with the recent turn of events. Being informed of the necessity to remain on a cursed mountain for indefinite period of time with a band of foreign soldiers currently at war with one"s own country, on pain of death noless, rarely did much to improve one"s mood when they were already searching for a friend who, for all intents and purposes, could either rejoice at their arrival, or turn into the next Norman Bates before attempting to introduce them to the pointed end of a bloody knife. So perhaps it was a blessing that the next face they met was a friendly one. Or at least, it was one that did not greet them instinctively with a weapon in hand. "Venator!' the voice had shouted, as they entered the clearing beside which the cable car station was based, "welcome back to the blacksite.' "Novus Callus, it"s good to see you again, Hunter.' Sam"s eyes had snapped up almost immediately at the sound, half expecting a skeletal creature to come bearing down upon her face at any moment. Instead, she was greeted by another one of the dark clothed uniforms, descending down from the station"s steps, only this one seemed, friendlier. "Who"s this?' "Uh, let"s see; Mike, Jess, Sam, Chris, uh, Ash, and Matt,' he identified, picking out each face with an outstretched finger as he turned back to the six friends. "this is Novus Callus. Owner of the biggest foot and mouth in the entire Fifty Ninth Shadow Guard.' "He"s just a little bit bitter,' Callus replied easily, eying the newcomers. "It seems I"ve usurped his rightful place.' Callus was by no means ordinary. In fact, the easy tone seemed most peculiar when one considered the fact that he was an exact replica of the grim faced Sterodius they had all encountered earlier, and his voice was still filtered through the grim voice changer that the sentries had used earlier. That said, there were a few noticeable differences Sam could identify. Callus" suit of interlocked armored pieces seemed to be...cleaner than that of his brother in arms, and the fur lining had yet to be attached to the fatigues that ran exposed between each segmented plate. His cloak was still more or less intact, whilst the others had clearly seen better days, marked with rents and tears as they were, but aside from that, there was little she could have used to separate him from the impatient guards at the main gate; he stared back through the same maroon coloured eye slits, that concealed even his eyes from the assessment of sight. For all she knew, Callus could have been an old man, missing both his eyes and his hair, although his voice suggested otherwise. "So why exactly did Viriditus drag you lot up here? Sightseeing?' "They"re here to make sure we"re the hunters this time.' "Ah, so you"re the ones Praetorius wants to see,' he mused idly, "mind you, you might want to give that meeting a bit of time, if you know what"s good for you. He hasn"t been taking it so well since we-' "Nip it, Callus!' Despite towering over the man who had brought them back to the mountain, Callus promptly clamped up, appearing suitably chastised before his mouth evidently developed a mind of it"s own. "Well, there I went again. Never could shut up, could I?' "Not even if I buried you seven feet deep,' Stig replied in the same tone, before he let a wry grin pass across his face, "Watcher Two is manned?' "Yeah it"s manned. Mallus, Cornelius and Itrinus are holding the fort. Last radio check said they"re just putting down the motion spines.' "Callus?' "What? Oh, right. You lot didn"t hear any of that.' Sam, for the most part, was lost as to how she was supposed to respond. Somehow, Callus had managed to defy every expectation of someone who wore an insignia of a cracked skull on his chest. "You calling the carriage?' "Yeah, I signalled it when Sterodius spotted you on the outskirts. It should be here soon. You lads and lasses want to get out of the cold? Heard humans don"t take too well to subzero temperatures.' "Why exactly do you keep referring to us like that?' Jessica blurted out before she could stop herself, "aren"t you...you know? Human too?' Callus gave Stig a pained look. "Ah, Viriditus, what did you get yourself into?' "You have to understand,' Stig started, once he had gotten them each settled down in the relative shelter offered by an open cable car station on the windswept mountain, "There are some things that you just don"t tell people when you first meet them-' "Can we just cut the bullshit, man?' Matt interjected, cutting him off, "what the hell are you people?' "Guardsman of the Fifty Ninth Guard, Shadow Regiment. Most of us are Korai, from Titan IV, though you do get the odd transfers in from around the Council.' "Titan?' Mike asked, "Ten bucks says that ain"t in Stockholm.' "Heima system. Two jumps out from the Arche sector, if you want to be exact.' "Wait, wait, wait.' Stig fell silent at Ashley"s rapid fire demands, awaiting the inevitable, though it took more than a moment for the thought to be translated into speech. "Are you really saying you"re...you"re-' "Alien?' Stig shrugged, as if it meant naught. "Matter of perspective. You all look a little bit odd yourselves, if you ask me.' Ashley"s jaw nearly hit the floor, and Chris inadvertently seized her by the shoulders, as if he were fearful she might suddenly lose all control of her legs. It was hardly an unfounded fear; after three months in lockup, it all seemed like a dream. Her friends inexplicably arriving upon her doorstep to break her out of hell on earth, before it slowly descended back into the nightmare; it was all too much, and she expected to awaken any second; back in a padded cell, where the only company would exist at the very heart of cold, distant memory. Others, though, were not so easily convinced. Matt looked unfazed, clearly perceiving it all to be some ill-thought joke, while Mike seemed to eye the strange man through a sidelong stare, uncertain if anything that left his mouth could be taken for fact. "Then why do you look like one of us?' Jessica asked half heartedly. She had tried to add a slightly impish element to the question, in an effort to defuse the situation, as well as convince herself of what she wanted to believe, but something about Stig"s savaged grin broke the effort halfway through her delivery, leaving the challenge as a simple question as she tailed off, entirely uncertain once again. "You saying that ain"t your body?' Chris asked, disbelief laden in his tone, "whaddya do? Body Snatching?' "Nothing quite so crude,' Stig replied. At least, they hoped it was Stig who said that, because mid-sentence, that free and uncaring tone had started to dissipate, crackling and distorting until it very much resembled the robotic monotones of his comrades in arms. In the same moment, he seemed to flicker, and shimmer, as if some invisible barrier that surrounded him had been hammered with an unseen force. To her astonishment, Sam watched the air that had previously surrounded him begin to shift as well, as the light began to bend unevenly, until it seemed like she was viewing him through a prism, where the lines and scars upon the cement at his back no longer aligned with one another. Then the light peeled away entirely, revealing the titan beneath. Ashley let out a short scream, though to her credit, she was able to suppress it quickly. Matt let out an exclamation of his shock, and he, alongside with Mike, who had proven to be positioned closest to their mysterious contact, leapt back with all haste, seeking to put as much distance between themselves and the cloaked monstrosity. Like the others, he easily towered over them. The air above him was removed to reveal a helmet like the others; grim and undecorated in it"s simple unpolished finish, like that of a fallen knight. His limbs were clothed in the steel plate they had witnessed before, and the black cloak worn by each of the shadows outside seemed to unravel from his back as the air continued to flicker out of existence, until the illusion had concluded its demise. "What the hell was that?' "Holographic mimic,' the figure replied, bereft of any humanity, "brainchild of a Nius Caius; Master of Shadows in the Twenty Third Legion.' "Well holy shit,' Chris muttered beneath his breath, quite unable to subdue his own amazement, before he realised the chances of his acquisition of the gadet were practically aligned with his chances of getting of the mountain alive. To his eternal surprise, Stig waved a small contraption before his eyes; it"s appearance made all but a blur with the briefness of which it was held within his sight. "It"s all yours,' Stig said. For a moment, no one moved. Then he spoilt the effect somewhat, and if he were still human, they all could have sworn he would have been that same wry smile, as it disappeared again behind his back. "If you"re still alive when when this is all over.' The silence was becoming unbearable, Sam decided. She, Mike and Ashley were all crammed into the small space available within the cable car, alongside their seven foot captor, as they were taken upwards, in defiance of the laws of gravity, toward the summit they had once strove to escape. The weight limit of the car had defied any effort to get them all up in a single journey, and so Stig had selected the three of them to accompany him on the first run, before he would double back to retrieve the last trio of the friends. It was likely due to the fact the car still had doors, though Sam was uncertain if she would have tempted fate so much as to take a plunge out the cable car"s doors, had Stig not been present to dissuade her from the beginning. Somehow, left with the choice between the options of collaboration, escape at a later date, or breaking one"s legs to await the wolves and other predatory denizens of Blackwood Mountain, the latter seemed the least preferable. But Stig must have either attempted such himself some time previously, or borne witness to a similar desperation in the past, for his eyes were not removed from any of them throughout the entire journey. Neither did Ashley remove her own eyes from the soldier, for her part. Shock had been replaced by intrigue, and, now convinced that death was not on the immediate agenda, she seemed unable to take her eyes away from the scarred suit of steel, her eyes noting each and every tear in the fabric; every rent in the alloy, trying to discern what course of events lay behind each injury visited upon the self professed Guardsman. There were more than a few to keep her occupied, though perhaps of particular interest, Sam noticed that on the occasions she allowed herself a direct view upon Stig"s eyes, they were either centered upon her own being, or Mike"s, who was being perhaps too obvious in his plotting to elude the self professed xeno. Never once did he meet Ashley"s eyes directly. Perhaps it was because he knew it would only terrify her all the more. Perhaps he had decided she had endured enough. Or maybe, the cynical but logical side of Sam"s mind suggested, he simply did not perceive her to be a threat. After all, she did not exactly have a gun on her. It had amounted to no short amount of amazement that Stig had insisted they keep their firearms before they had boarded the cable car, but elsewhere, his considerations were elaborate, if cruel. He had fiercely vetoed Jessica"s request to journey up the mountain with Mike, as well as Chris" insistence to accompany Ashley, and Sam was beginning to make sense of the cruel logic behind it. Although the thought of leaving any of their number behind on a mountain with cannibalistic creatures was already a strong enough argument to remain behind, Stig was clearly taking no chances. By separating up the closest of the band, he at least reduced the chances of their other half wandering off into the woods in his absence, if Callus didn"t stop them, or worse, Sterodius and Servus. But the journey was a long one, and the awkward silence was driving her mad. She was still trying to come to terms with the fact that they had, only a couple of hours ago, been on relatively friendly terms with an alien, and she tried to remind herself of that fact as she opened her mouth to speak. "Why exactly are you here?' "Well,' Stig replied, carefully considering his words, "we drove out here.' "Ha, ha. I meant the war. I thought you were being a little tight lipped on it earlier.' "Well congratulations, Sherlock. Well, if you must know, it"s quite a tale if you haven"t heard it yet, and I don"t want to be repeating it to those who ain"t present.' "Is there a short version?' She pressed, trying to salvage the conversation. "Can you summarize the meaning of life in a sentence?' "If you use a lot of commas.' "Nearly made me laugh,' Stig sighed, shifting his seating ever so slightly. "For now at least, I"ll say this: no need to worry about armageddon, or abductions or - what the hell did they call it? Probing? This ain"t a science mission, not that I"ve ever been involved in that shit. The Fifty Ninth is a strictly military regiment.' "What exactly do you look like?' Ashley suddenly piped up, "I mean, why do you wear that?' She made a vague gesture at the armored suit to indicate her point, and Stig"s eyes dropped, trying to discern what she was speaking of before he emitted a slight chuckle. That is, it begun as a chuckle, but through the vocal distortion unit, it seemed more akin to that of a horse"s snort. "I"m afraid I couldn"t take this off even if I wanted to, Ash.' "You don"t mean-' "No, I"m not sealed in it; that came out wrong. No, it"s one of moral obligation, let"s call it. Council Doctrine prohibits us from, you know, showing non-Council species the truth behind the helmet.' "Why?' "Psychological shit,' Stig tried, "there"s an element of mystery that the Guard prefer to maintain, if you understand. People see what"s underneath, you get all kinds of different nicknames you know? Squid face, pincers, crab, to name a few of the things I think you lot would come up with. You remove that, there"s...detachment from the mortal. People know you as the Black Cloaks, and that"s that. At least that way, they tend to run away a bit more; saves the trouble of killing a bunch of kids who joined up thinking they could kill something that looked more like a bug than a spectre, you understand?' Ashley nodded her understanding, though that did not mean she was satisfied, much to Sam"s relief. She had feared initially that the trauma would have simply shut her up in her head, and every foray she made back into the world of the living could only herald improvement. "I mean Stig, you couldn"t, make an exception, or something?' "In time,' Stig conceded gently, "when you"ve earned the right. And Ash, something you should all know, my name ain"t really Stig. It"s Viriditus. Natus Viriditus.' "Why the deception earlier?' "There aren"t many people on the American continent with names like Viriditus, don"t you think Ashley? Too suspicious.' "That"s a shame,' Mike sighed, evidently having come to the same conclusion Sam had arrived at nearly ten minutes ago, that had convinced her that jumping was an unhealthy proposal, "Stig was easier to pronounce.' "It"s just Viriditus.' "Viriditus,' Sam repeated, earning an encouraging glance from a nearly demonic figure. "See? Easy as that.' "Why just not Nat?' Mike proposed. Then, seeing the glare that was provided from the Black Cloak"s direction, he moved to defend the proposal. "I mean, it"s short for Natus, right?' Something in that unflinching stare should have told him he had failed to impress. "Viriditus is fine.' They docked in at the second station without incident, mainly due to the fact that the station"s door, which acted to prevent the uninvited from breaching the mountain should they have somehow acquired the keys to the cable car, but not the upper station, was no longer present. Stig, or Viriditus as they now knew him to be, did not seem fazed that the heavy set door was now lying on it"s side maybe six feet away from where it had once obstructed Sam and Chris on their ascent, nor by the jagged indentations torn into its flank. When Sam voiced her concerns, he simply shrugged. "That was us. Solveris was a little bit too eager to get out. Now let me just find Mallus, before he decides you"re up to no good.' They found him shortly. That is to say, Viriditus found him, nestled beneath his cloak, amidst a snowdrift that the three friends would have easily taken for a little area where it had snowed perhaps harder than the norm. But as soon as his eyes had fallen upon the little ridgeline in the snow, Viriditus had taken off upon a straight path for it, before unceremoniously rapping an armored gauntlet upon it"s length. To their eternal surprise, the snow drift did not explode, despite the fact that peculiar spot Viriditus had decided to hammer proved to be the exact same location Mallus" head occupied. The snow had abated slightly, revealing a trace of black cloth, before a few words had been exchanged between the pair in the same foreign tongue, at a volume that left little to be ascertained at such a distance. "You fellas just flake out here,' their accomplice had instructed them when he returned, "I"m just going to get the rest of the gang and we"ll be off for the lodge.' "The lodge?' "I guess it beat hanging out in the cold; Praetorius seems to have set up the CP there, so that"ll be our waypoint. Until I get back, try not to do anything stupid?' With that, he was gone. "Well,' Mike started, as they made their way over to the snow encrusted bench that sat upon the station"s veranda, "this is not how I thought I"d be spending my weekend.' "I think we"re all in the same boat there, Mike,' said Sam, resting her back upon one of the wooden supports that upheld the extended roof, but as soon as she did, the building began to express it"s age with a soft creak, and she promptly leapt away, before she brought the structure down, "Jez, I did not think we"d see this place again.' "Why are we even here?' Ashley"s voice seemed hollow and frail; distant once again, "I mean, what are the chances he"s still alive?' Someone should have berated her, but neither did. Sam would not threaten her with confrontation, and Mike was unusually reserved on the matter, as he watched the shadows close in around them, clearly unnerved by the entire night. He had watched Hannah, or what had once been Hannah, drag Josh away. Screaming and clawing at her skeletal remains through the mud and mire, and he had done nothing. There had been no impulse to dive out and retrieve him from the monster"s claws. By the time he had finished tearing across the Sanitorium and plunging into the bowels of the earth, Michael Munroe had simply snapped. It had been so easy to write him off as "dead", considering how the stranger, that had saved their lives that evening, had informed them all of the Wendigo"s feeding habits. Mike was no hero, and he would be the first to admit it. It was a cruel game of survival upon the mountain top; it was what had driven him, in a bout of survivalism intermixed by paranoia and fear, to come so close to taking Emily"s life.

"But it is," Falitna argued. "I DON"T need to hear this." I left them. I thought Falitna and I would become friends after the mission, but I was wrong. Why did she help on saving me then? I went back inside to get another drink even though I already felt really drunk. "Well, well." A woman approached me. I ignored her as I started to pour myself a drink. "You think you will be the one to marry him?" She asked in a sour tone. I still ignored her. She isn"t worth my time, well none of them are. She didn"t leave she just stood there. "Don"t ignore me!" She yelled. I felt anger in my veins. I felt hot and I wanted to hit her. Without saying anything, I threw my glass of sake at her. She gasped and she went to slap me. I grabbed her wrist and punched her in the face with my free hand. She fell backwards on the sake table, making the table break in half. There were broken sake bottles everywhere. The noise made everyone stopped their conversations and they all stared at us. I can"t believe what I did. I started to shake. I can"t believe I punched a girl! Why did I do that? Everyone crowded around the girl and I. The girl was still on the ground. "ANYA!" Goemon pushed through the crowd. Jun and the others were behind him. They were just as shocked as I was. "I..." I couldn"t find the right words. "I"m so sorry." Without looking at anyone I ran upstairs and locked myself in the bathhouse. *~*~*~*~Temptation*~*~*~*~* "Anya?" I heard Goemon"s voice from the outside of the door. I was in the hot bath; I was trying to get sober... I started to sob as he kept pounding on the door. I just wanted to be left alone. It was bad enough what I did to that poor woman. I heard a clicking noise and Goemon came in the bathhouse. He shut the door and relocked it. "Hey..." He looked at me with disappointed eyes. "I can"t believe I did that..." I couldn"t stop sobbing. "Why did you? You know you have nothing to worry about." He came close to the bath. "I know, I just..." "Just what?" "I just worry that you"ll find someone better than me." I slurred. "No one is better than you," Goemon said gently. "There"s a lot of women better than me." "You"re wrong." I was silent. I just wanted to be left alone. It was embarrassing to cry in front of him. "Do you want me to join you?" He asked softly. "No." "Why not?" "I just want to be alone." Goemon ignored me as he started to undress. Is he going to use me like Falitna said? Does he always say that he"s going to marry a woman then doesn"t? I started to sob harder. "Sh. It"s okay." He got in the water and grabbed me so I was sitting on his lap. I was facing him, but I tried to avoid his gaze. "You are just using me. Falitna told me you told EVERY woman that you would marry them, but then you don"t." I managed to say even though I was drunk and I felt like I couldn"t talk. "I never told any woman I would marry them. I used to be afraid of the word "marriage," I swear on my life that I never told a woman but you that I would marry them." He whipped away my tears. "Really?" I felt more tears forming. "Really." He kept rubbing my tears away. "What I did back there... Was not me," I whispered. "I know." Goemon kissed my forehead. "We all do crazy stuff when we love someone. I would"ve done the same thing if Jun or some man talked to you." "Goemon..." "I promise you that you don"t have to worry about any woman." "Okay." Was all I can say, I started to feel sleepy. I rested my head on his neck. "Do you want to sleep?" He asked. "No, I want to make love to you." I yawned. "Let"s just go to sleep. You are pretty tired." "But you wanted to-" "It"s fine. We can do it when you come back from visiting your home." He interrupted. I didn"t want to sleep, though. I want to be one with him tonight. Without saying anything, I licked his neck up and down. "Anya, that tickles." He softly laughed. I didn"t stop, though, I kept licking his neck then I started to suck it. "You know if you do crazy things like that, you won"t get any sleep tonight." He warned. "I"m okay with that," I said as I kept sucking. I wanted to leave marks on him so everyone knows he"s mine. He ALWAYS leaves marks on me, so why can"t I do the same? I heard him moan quietly as I kept tempting to leave marks on him with my lips. After I was done I pressed my lips firmly on his. Without hesitation, we both played with each other"s tongues. We didn"t come for air; we wanted each other so much. He finally broke the kiss and started to suck on my neck now. I started to moan loudly than I planned. I don"t know if it was because I was still drunk, or because it just felt that good. My neck is a weakness that he knows... He knows ALL my weaknesses on my body. He kept sucking then he started to trail kisses to my collarbone to my breasts. He took his time with each breast as he licked and sucked each nipple. As he kept sucking each nipple, his hand trailed down there. He lightly played with my clit. I started to moan even louder. "You sure you want people to hear you?" He asked teasingly. I put my hands over my mouth as he kept teasing me with his fingers, but he pushed my hands away from my mouth with his free hand. "I want to hear you, though," he said devilishly. I could feel myself getting lightheaded from his touch. He"s not even inside me, and I feel like I"m in heaven. He always made me feel this way. I don"t care if I get any sleep tonight. I just want to be with him. He then stopped touching me and he slowly slid himself inside me. I was still on his lap facing him. We both started to move our hips in unison. It felt incredible as usual! I started to moan, but then he stopped! "Why did you stop?!" I asked in shock. "Who were you looking for when we went downstairs?" "Huh?" He"s bringing that up again? He probably knows I was looking to see if there were beautiful women around, why would he make me say it?! "Answer me, or I won"t please you." He was teasing me! "Goemon, why do you want to know?" I started to rock my hips back and forth since he was still inside me, but he grabbed my waist with both hands; making me stop, moving. "Tell me," he whispered. "I can"t believe this." I moaned in frustration. Why is he being mean? "I guess you want us to stop then," he sighed. "I was looking to see if there were beautiful women at the party." I blurted out. "Why?" His eyes widened. "You know why!" I snapped. He looked at me in confusion. "No..." "It"s because I was worried if a girl would take you from me," I admitted. "I told you a million times not to worry..." Goemon shook his head in frustration. "I only want you... No one else." "Goemon..." "Stop worrying about problems when there isn"t any." He lectured. "Kay, but why did you ask me that? Wasn"t it obvious?" "No, I thought you were looking for Jun..." He blushed. "WHAT?!" Goemon was worried about Jun? Goemon finally started to rock his hips back and forth. I did the same, following his pace. "Stop worrying about problems when there isn"t any," I said mockingly. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered as he kept moving his hips. We stared into each other"s eyes with passion as we kept moving he then stopped and turned me around so I was facing away from him. He started to pound harder and harder into me. I moaned without meaning too. I felt my breasts moving up and down every time he moved faster and faster. He had his hands on each side of my waist. He was gripping hard, but I liked it. "You like that, don"t you?" He whispered in my ear. "Mhm." "Ha, you were wrong. You are always all over me when you are drunk. Told you." His sweet voice was ringing in my ear. He kept going harder and faster. I think I am going to cum soon! He then stopped. "Get out." He ordered. "Why?" I asked. "Just do it." I did as he says and got out of the tub. He did the same. Without hesitation, he turned me over, forcing me to bend down. I grabbed the tub as he pushed himself back inside me. I felt waves of pleasure going through me as he kept pounding inside me. "Goemon... I"m going to cum." I whimpered. "Me too," he said as he kept pounding. We both reached our climax and our bodies sunk to the floor. We sat there, naked and I rested my head on his shoulders. "Ready to go again?" "I"m tired." I breathed. "You started this Anya, you know the consequences." He smirked. "Do we have too?" I whined. "Yes, get dress and let"s head to the bedroom." He forced me off the ground. This was going to be a long, long night... Chapter 5 Home "Not So Sweet" Home I opened my eyes and Goemon"s arms were wrapped around me tight like he was afraid I would leave. I"m surprised that I woke up first because he always wakes up before me. I had the worst hangover, and I didn"t want to leave this room since I caused a scene last night. I wonder what Naomi and Jun will say to me on our way to Sachiko Village... They will probably state how I made an ass out of myself and how everyone was talking about me. The only good news is I"ll be away from this village for a couple of days, so I"ll be able to avoid everyone. I tried my best to forget about last night as I watched Goemon sleep peacefully. We were still naked, and my whole body was really sore. I was somewhat tired because we stayed up all night having sex... "Mhmm." I heard Goemon let out a small moan. "Goemon?" I whispered. "I"m up..." He yawned. He still had his arms tightly around me. I don"t think we slept in. Jun and the others would"ve gotten us up if we did otherwise. "Anya? How are you feeling?" Goemon stared at me. "My head hurts a little bit, but I"m not looking forward to seeing everyone this morning..." "Don"t worry about it." Goemon slowly let go of me. "I don"t want to go on this mission without you." "I don"t want to go to my home village without you." I was upset that I wouldn"t be seeing Goemon for a couple of days. I can"t even handle it when he trains without me for a couple of hours. "At least we had enough sex that could keep us satisfied for a little while." Goemon laughed. I felt a knot in my stomach. "Wait, so you had sex with me so you wouldn"t have urges to sleep with other women?" "What? No!" Goemon said annoyingly. "I meant for each other. I told you I don"t even look at other women." "Oh." I need to stop being so paranoid... Goemon keeps getting annoyed with me. "I swear I have to tell you at least ten times a day." Goemon pulled me into his embrace once again. "What do I have to do to make you realize you are my one and only?" "Nothing. I have to just learn to trust you myself..." I whispered. "I promise I won"t hurt you. I love you too much to do so." "Goemon." I kissed him softly on the lips. "I wish I could stay in bed with you all day. We never get to do that," he said. "I know. It would be nice." "But, we should head in town. It"s early, but I bet everyone will be waiting for us." He yawned. "I guess." I"m REALLY going to miss Goemon. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. We both got up and changed. I grabbed my bow and arrows; Goemon also gave me a lot of kunai knives and shurikens just in case Shinobu samurais and Chiyoko ninjas attack the others and I. I prayed in my head that my father would be decent towards me when I get there. It has been forever since I last saw my family, and I am really looking forward to seeing Sora; I bet she hasn"t even changed one bit! "Ready?" Goemon asked. "Yeah." *~*~*~*~*Temptation~*~*~*~* Goemon and I went outside and no villagers were around since it was very early out. We saw Sakura, Goro, Jun, Yamato, and Naomi waiting for us. They all watched us as Goemon and I approached them. "Morning," Sakura said. "Hi." I was so embarrassed to see everyone because of all what happened last night. "Did you sleep well, drunken girl?" Jun smiled wickedly. "Don"t tease her! The poor girl has been through enough." Sakura stuck up for me. "Let"s just get going." I rather leave now than rehash last night. "I"ll see you soon," Goemon whispered as he kissed me. "See you soon." I kissed him back. "Don"t worry. I"ll make sure he stays out of trouble since you are so worried about other women all over him." Sakura snorted. "Who"s teasing now?" Jun mumbled. "I"m the only one allowed to tease her!" Sakura stuck out her tongue at Jun. "Actually I"m the ONLY one who should tease her," Goemon said casually. "Whatever." Sakura rolled her eyes. "Let"s go now." Yamato finally spoke up. He was growing impatient with us. "Alright. We are going! Be careful everyone!" Sakura waved bye at us. "Love you," Goemon said to me as him and Sakura started to sprint into the woods. "So you said we are going to ride horses, right?" Naomi asked Yamato. "Yes. It will be easier than walking. Let us get them in the stable," Yamato answered. *~*~*~*~*Temptation~*~*~*~* "Anya, you want to share a horse?" Naomi asked. "Sure." All five of us were in the stable trying to pick horses to ride. I"m not really good at riding horses, so sharing with Naomi will be perfect since she is a pro at riding them. Everyone else got they"re own, of course. After we all picked out our horses we set off into the woods. We all brought our weapons just in case we have to deal with the Shinobu. I am hoping we don"t have any encounter with them. I don"t need any more stress because dealing with my father was stressful enough. *~*~*~*~*Temptation~*~*~*~* Yamato was leading us, Naomi and I rode in the middle of everyone; Jun was behind me while Goro was behind him. I found out from Yamato that Chiyoko spies have been slain around Takara Village. They were all looking for Jun because his father was trying to find out where Jun was located. Yamato and the others think no one from the Shinobu knows about Jun joining us, but Yamato thinks they"ll find out soon. Jun said he wouldn"t be worried about the Shinobu and he had thought it through before asking Goemon and Falitna about joining us. He says he rather sacrifice his life than being on his father"s side. "Be prepared for any Chiyoko ninjas and Shinobu samurais!" Yamato warned. "Right," the rest of us said in unison. I wonder if Goemon"s and Sakura"s mission will run smoothly? I sure hope so, I miss him already and I"ve only been apart from him for a little while... Yamato said if we keep riding without stopping to take a rest, then we will be in Sachiko Village before sunrise. Yamato knows a quick shortcut, so that will help us too. As we were riding in silence, kunai knives came flying towards us! "GET DOWN!" Jun yelled as he jumped on the back of Naomi"s, and I"s horse! He grabbed both of us as he jumped off the horse, still holding us. "Ah!" Naomi and I both shouted out. The kunai knives missed us, thanks to Jun. Chiyoko ninjas jumped out of the trees to reveal themselves. There was about twenty of them that surrounded us. "Anya, Naomi, stay back." Jun let go of Naomi and I as he drew his sword. Goro and Yamato got off their horses and started to charge at the ninjas. Goro slashed at the ninjas with his sword, while Yamato attacked them with his hand claws. The ninjas tried to strike them, but they all missed because Goro and Yamato were too fast for them. As Goro and Yamato kept slashing and attacking some of the ninjas, Jun started to attack the rest of the ninjas with his samurai sword. After a short period of time, Jun and the others killed all the ninjas and their bodies lied motionless around us. "I can"t fucking stand ninjas," Jun muttered as he put his sword back in his scabbard. "Yet, you joined them," I smirked. "Shut up." He rolled his eyes. "Let us keep going. Thank God they didn"t harm any of the horses." Yamato sighed. I"m pretty shocked they didn"t run away from fear, but I"m happy they stuck around! We really need them if we want to get this visit done and over with! We all got back on our horses and continued our travels. *~*~*~*~*Temptation~*~*~*~* Yamato was right; we got to Sachiko Village just when the sun was going to set. We were also lucky we didn"t run into anymore Chiyoko ninjas, and there was no sign of any Shinobu samurais either... We immediately went to the town"s stable to put our horses in there. As we were making sure our horses were safe and secure, Sora came running towards us. "YAMATO, ANYA!" Sora screamed in excitement. I gave her a big hug. "I"ve missed you! How are you?" I haven"t seen my sister since she got saved from the Shinobu thanks to Jun and Goemon. "I"m okay! Oh and Jun and Naomi is here too!" She beamed. "Hi." Jun greeted her with a warm smile. "It"s been awhile!" Naomi clapped her hands together. "Who are you?" Sora stared at Goro. "Goro Hideo." He introduced himself. "I am Jun"s vessel." "Fancy," Sora answered. "I want to see Grandmother. I"m not quite ready to see father yet..." We finally made it here and my stomach started to feel light. I"m really not looking forward to seeing him. I know he"s going to talk down on Goemon, and I just thought about this, but what is father going to say when I bring Jun home?! He"s going to FREAK! I bet even if I told him that Jun joined Takara, my father will still disapprove me being friends with him! "Grandma is sleeping. She and I did yard work all day, so she"s exhausted." Sora frowned. "Just ignore father..." "Easy said than done..." I mumbled. "We are all here for you, Anya," Naomi said. "Thanks, guys..." I should face him now or I"ll never be able to. "Let"s go then..." *~*~*~*~*Temptation~*~*~*~* "Father, Anya"s here!" Sora yelled as soon as we all step foot in the house. We all sat around the dining room table as we waited for my father and mother to come in the room. I felt my heart skipping a couple beats, but Jun patted my shoulder to calm my nerves. I am just happy everyone is here to support me. "Wow, full house." Father came into the room and examined each and every one of us, but he gasped when he saw Jun. "Jun joined the Takara. He"s not an enemy anymore." I hurried and defended him. "Ah, you saved my youngest daughter. I thank you." My father bowed?! "It was nothing, sir," Jun answered casually. Sora did tell me that she told our father that Jun AND Goemon saved her, but why isn"t Goemon welcomed here? Father should be thanking Goemon too! "You should thank Goemon too," I whispered loud enough for my father to hear me. "That man is no good." Father"s tone was harsh. "He"s perfect!" I shouted back. "HE ruined your life!" He punched the wall with his fists. "I DON"T NEED THIS!" I got up from my chair and ran out of the house. I was NOT ready to face my father. I should"ve trusted my gut to begin with! I should"ve gone with Goemon and Sakura on their mission, but no I had to come here and deal with him. "ANYA!" Jun called after me. "Jun?" I turned around to face him. "Let"s get a couple drinks or something. You need to relax for a little bit." He gently smiled. "Drink with just us two?" I don"t think that"s such a good idea... "I won"t try anything. I don"t want your little boyfriend to get mad." He snorted. "I don"t know." "I mean if you want to go back in there to face your father, that"s cool too," Jun said as he smiled at me wickedly. "No, no let"s go." I shook my head violently; being in that house was the last place I would want to be. *~*~*~*~*Temptation~*~*~*~* "ANOTHER ONE PLEASE!" I yelled at the bartender as I slammed my empty glass down. I agreed with Jun to go to the local bar in the village. "Geez that"s your third one and we haven"t been in here that long." Jun laughed in amusement. "I need it!" I hiccupped. I felt my head getting lightheaded... I was defiantly feeling it. "It"s crazy..." "What is?" Jun took a sip of his sake. "That we both hate our fathers!" I laughed out loud, A little too loud because everyone in the bar stopped they"re conversation to give me a dirty look. "Ma"am, I think you had enough," the bartender said in a rude tone. I can tell she was getting annoyed... Everyone here was not too happy to begin with because I brought Jun in here. They wouldn"t stop staring at him. I wish they wouldn"t make it obvious, but Jun doesn"t seem to mind. "I"ll tell you when I had enough!" I slurred. "Anya. Just shut up." Jun rubbed my back. "But I want another drink!" I whined. "Shhh." He soothed me. "Fine." I gave up. I already felt pretty drunk, but I wanted more. My father pissed me off as usual. What was I thinking on coming here for? This was a terrible idea... "Don"t pout. It doesn"t suit you," Jun said softly. "I can"t help it. I"m so miserable here." "We"ll both make the best of it." "Thanks, Jun." I felt a sharp pain inside my head. Maybe it was a good idea that I didn"t get another drink after all... "You okay?" "Yeah." I started to rub my temples. "At least you aren"t attacking a girl," Jun smirked. "Ugh, please don"t bring up about last night!" I forgot ALL about it until he mentioned it! "You know that isn"t healthy acting like that." Jun"s voice was serious. "You should be in that part of the relationship where you trust each other." "I do, I just get scared that I will lose him to someone better than me," I confessed. "I never met anyone more perfect than you," Jun said as his face started to get rosy. "Don"t ever think that anyone is better than you." I couldn"t believe my ears; did he really just say that? "Thanks, Jun." Was all I can say to him; did he really mean that, or did he just say that to make me feel better?

"Pretty much, yeah," he answered with a grin. I studied his red eye... "What does it say now?" "That you"re into me or maybe it"s saying I"m into you... Not sure." He chuckled. We both laughed together and enjoyed the rest of the party outside on the balcony... *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* I sighed to myself once I went to my bed to go to sleep. I"m finally alone in this comfy bed and it didn"t take me long to fall asleep... I"m sitting under the large tree with pretty white flowers on the branches. I do miss seeing the apples, though. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath but I felt something brushing against my cheek. I opened my eyes to see a small little flower on my lap. I examined it carefully and gently smiled at it... "Beautiful," I commented in awe. Chapter 7 Ruki I woke up to Yuma and Kou arguing in my room. What are they doing here?! What time is it? "You can"t have her all to yourself plus Neko-chan likes me better!" Kou smirked. Yuma snorted. "She wants nothing to do with you!" "Um, guys?" I called out to them in a sheepish voice. They both ignored me and kept arguing about me. I never had guys fight over me before but I knew they are only arguing because of my role as "Eve". I still don"t understand what is going on... Before I knew it, Ruki appeared out of nowhere with a stern look on his face. "Today Eve will be with me," Ruki stated bluntly. "But, that"s not fair!" Kou whined. "I let you have her yesterday. It"s my turn. Eve, come," Ruki ordered. "Can I get dressed first?" I"m still in my nightgown. Ruki sighed deeply at my little question. "Hurry up and meet me in the library. As for the two of you, leave at once," he said to his two brothers. Yuma grunted before leaving while Kou pouted but he followed after Yuma... Wow, they always listen to Ruki, huh? I wanted to listen to Ruki too so I got out of my bed and threw on jean shorts with a light pink tank top. I then combed my brown hair, tied a pink ribbon around my hair to have a ponytail and put on a little bit of make-up. I then went to the library to see Ruki already reading... "Hello, livestock," he greeted in a low voice. "Hello," I whispered. I sat next to him at a table as he continued to read his book. I don"t know what he wants me to do. Should I go to one of the bookshelves and pick out a book or wait for him to give me a book? I"m so confused and nervous. I don"t understand. "What"s the matter?" He asked, not taking his eyes off of the book. "Nothing..." Ruki didn"t bother to interact with me anymore and I just sat there like an idiot... I then tried to think about what to talk about. "Oh! Hey, Ruki?" "Hm?" "We should form a book club!" I suggested with a huge grin on my face. "None of my brothers would join. They aren"t too fond of books," he sighed. "Well, it can just be us two. We can pick a story every week and by the end of each week, we have to discuss it and pick a new story to read," I explained. Ruki thought about it for a second and a small smile crept on his face. "That"s not a bad idea but I have to pick all of the stories." But we are supposed to pick them together... "Um, okay," I whispered. Ruki continued to read while I scanned the room. I wonder what Ruki wanted me here for? After a little while, he finally closed the book and focused all of his attention on me... "I suppose I shall tell you about my childhood since all of my brother"s have told you theirs," he muttered. "Ruki..." "Do not interrupt me when I am speaking, alright?" He smirked before clearing his throat. "When I was much younger, I was born into a rich family. I was very spoiled since I was a member of the aristocracy. I would order the servants and maids around and treated them poorly, but karma bit me in the ass when my father who was managing a business became bankrupt. I knew nothing about this until I was woken up to all of the servants and maids stealing valuables in the house. I went to stop them, but they all banded together and beat me up." He paused and I felt my heart pounding violently. I felt sad for Ruki... He says that karma has gotten him back but no one deserves that even if he wasn"t a very friendly person... "Anyways, the servants and maids mocked me how my own mother left me and my father for a secret lover and when I went to the garden to confront my father, I saw him, hanging there... After that, I stayed at our abandon home until I was found and kicked out. I wandered the street and all of the aristocrat families made fun of me and would beat me until I was taken into the orphanage. I was treated no differently because of my ignorance when I was a rich little boy." I tried to process all of this but I couldn"t. His own father took his life while his mother left Ruki for a secret lover... Poor Ruki."I did not tell you this story so you would pity me, Eve," he said bluntly. "I don"t pity you, I feel horrible..." "That"s pitying, livestock," he corrected. I couldn"t stop pitying him even if I wanted to. His story is so sad... I think in my opinion it"s the worst one! All of the brothers have been through a lot... I couldn"t imagine being in their shoes... "So, about this book club... What were you thinking we should read?" He changed the subject. "I thought you are going to pick all of the stories." "I have read all of the stories and I want something different, so pick," he commanded. "Okay..." My voice trailed. Ruki and I stood up and looked through the bookshelves and I caught him smiling a couple of times, which made my heart flutter. I guess he uses books and different stories to escape his past. I want to help him escape his past too! AUTHOR NOTES: Okay, I want to make some things clear. This chapter is talking about how they all became vampires. The NEXT chapter will start to get interesting again with lemons and stuff. Skylar will have sex with a different vampire in the next chapter and I want to warn you that she will be engaged in threesomes in the near future. I"m not turning her into an easy girl but you know how vampires force themselves on mortals ;) I hope you enjoy this chapter but again, it will get more interesting after this, I promise! Chapter 8 Them Against The World A couple of days have past and nothing new has been going on in the Mukami household. I go to school, read a lot with Ruki, talk to Azusa in his room for hours, go shopping with Kou, and help Yuma in his garden. I still haven"t found out who or how they turned into vampires. I wish they would tell me. I really want to know more about them. It"s strange how I was frightened of them but after getting to know them each and every day, I feel sorry for them. They had a rough past but I hope their future is bright. I am walking down the hall but something caught my eye in Azusa"s room. I immediately frowned when I saw Azusa putting a knife up to his wrist. He still has been cutting himself. Nothing I do or say will get him to stop yet I still try to help him. I won"t give up on him. Azusa looked up and hid the knife behind his back while I slowly entered his room. I sat on the foot of the bed and our eyes are locked with one another. "You...Give...Me...Hope... Just like Yuma," he muttered. "What do you mean?" I asked softly. "When I first arrived at the orphanage, the children there kicked and abused me until I met Yuma. He was the first person to treat me kindly... He even gave me food. When he first gave me a loaf a bread, I saw hope..." Azusa explained. I felt my heart fluttering. Even after Azusa was sent to the orphanage, he was still treated poorly until Yuma came along. All of the brothers are so close with one another... *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* After I talked to Azusa for a little while, I rushed to see Kou since he kept texting me to meet him in the dining room to eat lunch with him. He added to not keep him waiting. I wonder what he wants to talk about? "Ah, there you are, kitten!" Kou grinned. I sat across from him and watched him as he is stuffing his face with Vongole Bianco, which is white pasta and clams mixed together. How can he be so skinny but eat that much pasta?"Um, did you need me for something?" I finally asked. "Nah, I just wanted to hang out. Where were you? Don"t tell me you were hanging with Yuma?!" He snapped. Kou"s jealous of Yuma? "Um, no. I was with Azusa," I answered. "I see..." He said with his mouthful of food. I want to ask him about how he and his brothers turned into vampires but I can"t find the right words... "Skylar!" Yuma called out from the entrance. I turned around in my seat while Kou gave his brother a dirty look. "Hello, Yuma," I greeted. "Help me in the garden," Yuma ordered. "No, she"s hanging with me!" Kou whined. "Don"t you have to work soon? Come, Skylar." Yuma grunted before turning his back on us. "Oh! You have to work?" I asked Kou. "Yeah," Kou frowned. "Well, I can"t let you be late. I"ll hang with you later, okay?" I gently smiled at him before I got out of my seat to help Yuma... Maybe Yuma can tell me how they turned into vampires... *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* Yuma and I are picking cherry tomatoes off the bushes. He isn"t really talking and he"s acting REALLY distant... I wonder why? '"So, are you and Kou a thing?" Yuma finally asked. I felt my cheeks burning. "No! Of course not!" Yuma snorted. I guess Yuma is jealous of Kou... "Hey, Yuma?" "What, Skylar?" "Can you please tell me how you and your brothers turned into vampires?" I asked. Silence surrounded us and I mentally slapped myself. I guess I shouldn"t have asked. It must be too personal. "Well, when we all met each other in the orphanage, we decided to escape because we felt like we were in hell there. When we did try to escape, though, we all got shot from the policemen," Yuma explained coldly. "Then what happened?" My voice shook. "Then we all were forced to go back to the orphanage, but we immediately met a man named Karlheinz and he made a deal with us. He promised all four of us a second chance of life but as vampires. We agreed and he adopted us and brought us to this mansion. That"s when we found out the Adam and Eve plan he wanted us to be apart of. He gave us a lot of rules but I respect the man; he even gave me the name "Yuma"." "So, that"s how you got your name..." My voice trailed. "Yeah, no more, Bear," he smirked. I wanted to ask him about the Adam and Eve plan but I decided not to. He told me too much already. The four brothers wanted to start a new life... I wonder if their lives are better now? "Is there something wrong?" Yuma asked a little bit too harshly. "Not at all. Thank you for telling me, Yuma," I whispered. His cheeks turned rosy and I couldn"t help but giggle softly. He"s cute when he blushes. "Do not mock me." He clenched his teeth. "Sorry!" We both continued to pick cherry tomatoes and occasionally, he would put one up to my lips to eat it. I gladly accepted it but grew self-conscious every time he watched me chew. *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* I am changing into my pajamas to retire but I gasped out loud when I realized that Ruki is quietly sitting on the foot of my bed, reading. "Ruki?!" I raised my voice. "I didn"t watch you. There"s nothing to see anyways," he said casually. I slowly sat next to him and he closed his book while taking a deep breath. "So, Yuma told you how we became vampires, no?" He asked. "Yes." I slowly nodded. "I owe Karlheinz my life. He is giving us a chance to become stronger and to seek revenge on this world. Those people put us through hell," Ruki muttered. "I thought you guys turned into vampires to start a new life?" Ruki chuckled. "Naïve girl, but no. Karlheinz promised all of us that we will become stronger once the plan of Adam and Eve take effect." Before I could ask any more questions, Ruki slowly stood up and walked out of the room. What does he mean once the plan of Adam and Eve take effect? I have a bad feeling about this. Chapter 9 Another Sakamaki Brother... I am sitting on the hallway floor since the school"s library is packed and I needed peace and quiet. It"s actually nice being in the hallways when no one is around... "Why are you sitting on the floor?" Ruki appeared before me. "The library is packed and I wanted to be somewhere quiet..." I answered. Ruki sat next to me and our shoulders are touching. He then took out his book and began to read. This week we are reading Hamlet and of course, Ruki picked out this story but it isn"t bad! I really like it so far... I went to take my book out as well until... "Hey, Ruki... Who"s the girl?" A young man with spiky red hair and glowing green eyes came up to us with a huge grin on his face... Wait, he has fangs! Is he a vampire too? "Leave us be," Ruki said without looking up from his book. "Not until you give her to yours truly!" The young man went to grab me but in a blink of an eye Ruki tackled the man and pinned him against one of the lockers. How did Ruki get up so fast?! "What gives?!" The young man grunted as he tried to get out of Ruki"s grip. "Leave us alone, Ayato. I have no time for your foolish games," Ruki warned. So, the young man is named Ayato... Ayato grunted as Ruki finally lets go of him and Ayato immediately left us alone. "Can"t get any peace around here," Ruki muttered while he sat back down next to me. "He"s a vampire?" I asked curiously. "Yeah, he"s a Sakamaki vampire. Stay away from him," Ruki sighed. I watched Ruki as he is reading Hamlet. The Mukami brothers warned me about the Sakamaki brothers before... They must be bad news if Mukami brothers told me to stay away from them... *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* It"s after school and the Mukami brothers and I are sitting around the dining room table, waiting for our dinner. I feel awkward around them for some reason. They are being extra quiet today. "Why did you hang out with Ruki all day?" Yuma asked me harshly. I honestly don"t know... Ruki came up to me and we ended up hanging out the whole day. We even finished Hamlet together and talked about it. We then started to discuss on what we should read next since we finished Hamlet so early... Is this why everyone is quiet? "We were reading together, that"s all," I finally answered. "Tsk!" Yuma snorted. "At least she wasn"t with Subaru," Kou sighed. I would still see Subaru here and there and he would keep staring at me but he never talks to me, which is good! I don"t want to talk to any of the Sakamaki brothers because I don"t want the Mukami brothers mad at me or think I would betray them... Our dinner has arrived and Kou began to eat like a pig while Azusa took his time with his dinner. I felt my body tensing up as Yuma kept giving me dirty looks but I tried to focus my attention on Ruki who is lost in thought... I guess I"ll just stare down at my plate and not look at anyone. It might be less awkward... *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* After dinner, I went to go to my room but Ruki ordered me to meet him in his room instead. I took a deep breath before following him to his bedroom. I wonder what he wants? He shut the door behind me and I went to ask him what he needed but before I could even open my mouth, he leaned in and bit my neck harshly. "GAH! RUKI!" I cried out. My blood is boiling and my knees are giving out... Ruki sucked a lot of blood before he finally freed me. It"s like I"m a fly and he"s a spider... He has me trapped in his web and I am helpless... My knees gave out and I fell on the ground. Ruki went on top of me and I began to struggle. Don"t tell me he wants more of my blood? "I"m disappointed that I wasn"t your first time, but I"ll make you feel really good," Ruki whispered as he began to take my clothes off... "No! What are you doing?!" I screeched. No matter how much I struggle, Ruki"s body weight is on me and I can"t get out of his grasp! He effortlessly took off my black school uniform! I"m only left in my black knee high socks! Ruki went in between my legs as I"m still lying on the floor and began to rub up and down on my clit. I squirmed and moaned out. I could feel myself getting wet... "For a girl who keeps protesting you sure want this as much as I do," Ruki smirked. "Ruki, please, don"t..." I panted. Ruki leaned in and licked up my sex roughly. "Ugh, it"s sour! You need to shower!" I blushed at his comment and went to sit up but he stopped me by grabbing my thighs tightly. I groaned in response as he started to lick me up and down. I can hear him devouring my sex and I mentally kicked myself because my hips are moving up and down. Why does this feel so good? I shouldn"t want this! I had sex with Yuma and now I"m having sex with Ruki? I then felt pressure going inside me... What is that? I gazed down to see that he is pumping one finger in and out of me as his tongue is circling my clit... Ugh, this is too much... My mind is going blank! "Say my name," Ruki commanded. "I can"t," I whispered. Ruki pumped his finger in harder and he"s licking me roughly until I moaned out. "RUKI! RUKI!" I cried out. Ruki kept going a fast pace until my hips thrust up and I felt myself releasing. Ruki licked every last drop before standing up. He then picked me up effortlessly and laid me down on his bed. Ruki hurried and got undressed while I just lied there like an idiot... I eyed his length and it is sticking out! I can"t believe I"m going to have sex with another brother! This is awful! Ruki went on his bed and ordered me to lick his penis while he is kneeling down in front of me. I did as he wanted and licked up and down his shaft while I"m lying there. I went to keep licking his penis but he forced it in my mouth and I immediately choked. "Take it!" He gritted his teeth. I let him slam his length in and out of my mouth even though I could not breath and I kept choking... It"s very long and it"s hitting my uvula... "Massage my balls," Ruki muttered. COUGH! COUGH! COUGH! I can"t stop coughing! "MASSAGE THEM!" He raised his voice. While Ruki kept thrusting his length inside my mouth, I reached out and played with his balls. I heard him grunt and moan in a low voice. I kept massaging them until something shot out of his length... "Drink it," he whispered. I drank his cum until there"s nothing left. It tasted rather salty... He pulled his penis out of my mouth and I went to sit up but Ruki forced me to stay lying down. He then crawled in between my legs while we locked eyes. "I"ll make you feel really good. I"ll do it better than Yuma," he smirked before circling his penis around my entrance. He then slammed into me while I arched my back. I cried out as he kept going and he leaned in to kiss my lips hungrily. His tongue is wet and it"s exploring my mouth. I almost gagged but I managed to play with his tongue too. He kept slamming in and out of me, causing the bed to rock back and forth. "Am I better?" Ruki asked. "What?!" I questioned breathlessly as I felt him thrusting deeper and deeper. "Am I better than Yuma?" I gulped. "I don"t know..." Ruki grunted as he got out of me and forced me to turn around and to go on my knees. He then ordered me to sink my body lower until his penis is back inside me. Ruki grabbed me from behind and he is on his knees too. "Go up and down," he ordered. I did as he commanded and slowly went up and down on his length while he tried to meet with my every thrust. This is embarrassing... He can see my butt, well, I don"t understand why that"s bothering me since he can already see everything but still... "OUCH!" I cried out as Ruki sunk his fangs from behind. He"s biting my neck again... I can hear Ruki sucking as he thrust into me harder and harder. My knees are giving out so I"m sinking lower but it"s causing him to do deeper and deeper inside me... After Ruki lets go of me, I collapsed on the bed... "We are not done yet, Eve," he muttered before forcing my body to sit on his lap. I am not facing him but I can feel him putting his penis back inside me. I gasped out loud as I felt him hitting my womb... "RUKI!" Ruki licked up and down my neck so my blood will stop dripping as he kept pounding in and out of me. My blood and body are hot... I can"t control myself anymore... Ruki pulled my arms back and I arched my back while he continued to have his way with me. I then felt myself reaching my limit... "RUKI!" "EVE!" We both came together and Ruki and I collapsed backwards... I couldn"t stop panting and my body is numb... Why did I let Ruki do this to me?! *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* Ruki offered me to stay in his room to nap but I decided to get dressed and go back to my room. I feel disgusted with myself. I"m officially a whore... I never thought I would let myself become one but here I am. I hooked up with TWO brothers in this household and I feel gross. I took a deep breath once I entered my room and I avoided eye contact with my mirror. I can"t even look at myself anymore. Before I could change, Yuma appeared before me with a frown on his face. "Yuma?" I called his name. He leaned in to smell me... "I can smell Ruki"s scent off your body." I gazed at the ground and I felt the tension between us. I feel like I cheated on Yuma and we aren"t even dating. "Did you sleep with him?" He asked harshly. I began to sob out and Yuma punched the wall before leaving me alone with my guilt.

I went to the library to clear my mind about those four young men that I have seen. I wish my brother and I have the same classes together. He is the only friend I have in this school plus I want to tell him what is going on... I deeply sighed as my eyes scanned the books on the dusty bookshelf. No students are around because no one really likes the library, which I don"t know why... It"s so peaceful here. "Eve." I froze in place when I heard that name. I then slowly turned around to see the first man I saw earlier with the dark blue hair. "Who are you?" I asked in a whisper. "Come with us," he commanded. "No, I can"t..." I went to run away but I felt someone wrapping their strong arms around my waist from behind. I gasped out loud and turned my head to see the man with brown hair grinning at me. "Don"t deny us, Eve," the brown-haired man chuckled. "Does...She...Like...Pain?" The young man with bandages all over asked as he appeared out of nowhere. "You can"t ask her that! You hardly know her... Ask for her name, first!" The blonde haired man purred as he appeared next to the green haired man. "Who are you people?!" I freaked. I tried to struggle out of the brown-haired man"s grasp but it"s no use. He"s way too strong. Eve... Eve! The voice in my head screamed out. My head is starting to hurt. "Oh, the poor masochistic kitten! I think she"s going to faint!" The blonde shouted in amusement. My vision began to grow blurry as the voice in my head kept calling me "Eve". The last people I saw were the four young men surrounding me before I blacked out. *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* "Ugh..." I woke up and immediately sat up from a bed that I"m laying on. Where am I? This isn"t my room or the school! I looked around my surroundings. I am lying on a queen size bed that has a pink comforter and purple canopy drapes hanging above the bed. The walls were golden and there"s only a small window next to my bed that is surrounded by purple curtains. There are also purple velvet rugs on the dark wooden floor. I have never been here before... "You"re up, livestock." The guy with the blue hair appeared sitting at the foot of the bed. "Livestock?" I asked confusingly. "She"s been sleeping for three hours now... Time to play!" The blonde haired man slam opened the bedroom door and grinned. "Where am I? Why did you kidnap me?! I want to go home! I want to see my family!" I screamed out. "Silence!" The brown haired man slammed his fist on the bedroom wall. "We don"t tolerate noise! I hate loud people." How are they appearing before me out of nowhere? Are they ghosts? "Lay...With...Me..." The green haired man ordered as he is lying on the other side of the bed. "Who are you people?!" "We are the Mukami brothers and you are very valuable to us, Eve. I am Ruki, the eldest brother of our home," The blue haired man explained. "Yuma," the man who has punched the hole in the wall greeted. "...Azusa." The young man lying down on my bed stated. "And I am Kou," the last brother with the blonde hair said. "I don"t understand. Why do you guys keep calling me "Eve"? My name is Skylar," I whispered as I hug my knees to my chest. Ruki slowly crawled up to me on the bed and grabbed my face violently with his right hand. Our eyes locked and I felt my face growing red. "She is indeed Eve. She will soon pick her Adam," Ruki mumbled. "Adam?" I questioned. "It will all make sense when the time has come," Ruki sighed and stood up from the bed. "Come now, brothers. Let us leave this girl rest," he ordered. The other brothers all looked at me with cold glares before leaving me alone in this room. How am I supposed to relax when I just got kidnapped? I need to see my brother! *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* I tried to think of a plan to get out of this home. I looked out the window and realized that I"m a couple of floors up from the ground. This must be a mansion... I couldn"t leave this room because I know one of those men will appear before me out of nowhere. I need to climb down and get out of here. I decided to tie the comforter and the sheets on the bed together like a rope to climb down from the window. It didn"t take me long to tie them all together and I immediately opened the window and threw my homemade rope down. My rope isn"t long enough but I think I can easily jump down once I reach the end of the rope. I tied the end to the windowsill and began to climb down. I am only halfway down but I cried out when it untied from the windowsill! I"m falling and in a blink of an eye, someone caught me in their strong arms. I opened my eyes to see Yuma staring down at me. "Trying to escape, sow?" He asked in a husky voice. "No," I stuttered. Yuma sighed and slowly set me down. "Let"s go back inside," he ordered. I went to protest until Ruki came up to us with a blank expression on his face. "You can try to escape all you want, but your punishment will be unforgettable every time," Ruki warned. I gulped at his threat and slowly walked behind Yuma. I don"t understand why I"m trying to get protection from Yuma because he is just as bad as his brother... Ruki grabbed my wrist violently and I cried out in pain. "You are staying in my room for tonight," Ruki commanded. "I don"t want to!" I raised my voice. "Hey, I"m the one who caught her, I should drink her blood first!" Yuma snapped. Did he just say, "Drink her blood" I don"t understand... "Wh-what?" I choked out. Yuma flashed me his white fangs causing me to scream. They are vampires?! I never thought vampires were real! "Yes, my brothers and I are vampires and you will give us all that you have to offer, Eve," Ruki stated. My body trembled and my eyes felt like they were going to fall out of my eye sockets for widening them so much! Ruki still had a tight grip on my wrist and he dragged me away from Yuma. I looked back at him and he just stared at me, showing no emotion whatsoever... *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* Ruki escorted me all the way to his room. I couldn"t help but admire it, to be honest. He has colorful art paintings on the white walls. And He has a small, single bed with white sheets and a black comforter. He also has a huge brown bookcase with varieties of different books behind the glass doors, a brown couch, and a brown coffee table. The last thing he has in his room, are two large windows that are side by side with black curtains. "Please, don"t," I whispered as I"m backing away from Ruki. Ruki walked towards me until my back is against the white wall. We locked eyes and I felt my lips trembling with fear. Is he going to suck my blood, torture me, or kill me on the spot? "Eve," he whispered before leaning in to bite my neck. I gasped out loud as I felt a sharp pain inside me. I felt hot and light... I can hear him sucking my blood and his eyes are closed... I wanted to push him away but I"m afraid it will hurt more if I struggle. "Your blood is indeed Eve"s. It tastes rather good," Ruki praised in a low voice. He went to bite my neck in the same place but I used this opportunity to push him away. I went to run out of his room but Ruki slammed my back against the door and grunted. "Do not disobey me, livestock!" He snapped violently and sunk his fangs into my neck... "No! Stop!" I cried out... I struggled to get away from him but he"s using his body weight to stop me from moving and his fangs are really deep inside my neck... I then felt my vision growing blurry and the last thing I saw were Ruki"s bluish - gray orbs. Who am I? Am I truly Eve? But my name is... Skylar. Chapter 10 A Kitten named Skylar I haven"t talked to Yuma all day. I think he has been avoiding me yet who could blame him? I can"t look at myself the same anymore and I can"t face any of the Mukami brothers either. What I have done was wrong... I shouldn"t have had sex with Ruki. It was bad enough I gave up myself to Yuma but for some odd reason, I didn"t regret sleeping with Yuma... I decided to walk around outside but of course I wasn"t going to Yuma"s garden. I think it is best that we do not talk for a very long time. I don"t think I can face him or his brother anymore but how is that going to be possible when I live with them? "Huh?" I gasped when I saw Kou crouching down by the side of the house. He looks like he is hiding something. I went to walk past him but he cleared his throat. "Hello, masochistic kitten! Come back here would you!?" He grinned. I went up to him and grew shocked when I saw a little white kitten with him. "Whose kitten is that?" I asked curiously. "Sh! We don"t want Ruki to hear! He wouldn"t allow this kitten to be around this house... He hates animals," Kou frowned. I stared at the little kitten... It has beautiful blue eyes and its fur looks so soft... "It"s a girl and I named her Skylar!" Kou announced. I blushed at his comment. He named that cat after me? I don"t know whether to feel freaked out or flattered... "Um, where did you find her?" I questioned. "In the garden. Yuma went to kill it with a shovel but I saved her life... I then lied to Yuma and told him that I would get rid of her," Kou smirked. I went down on my knees to pet the pretty kitty. She sure is friendly... She keeps rubbing her head against my knee and she"s purring! "We have to keep it a secret. We don"t want Ruki and the others to find out," Kou whispered. I slowly nodded as I paid attention to the kitten. What are we going to do when it starts to get cold out? Well, Kou and I should worry about her one-day at a time. Ruki isn"t stupid so I know he might figure us out... *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* Kou and I have been playing with Skylar for a while now and Kou immediately hid the tiny kitten inside his shirt when he sensed Ruki coming this way! "You two have been outside for a while now." Ruki narrowed his eyes at us. "Um, yeah... It"s a perfect day to relax outside." Kou flashed him a grin. "Why are you standing by the side of the house?" Ruki asked in suspicion. "Well, we can"t relax by the garden since Yuma doesn"t like Skylar anymore..." Kou answered. I felt my heart sinking. Great, Yuma must"ve told his brothers that he hates me. I feel guilty because I don"t blame him. I hate myself too... Ruki snorted. "What is under your shirt?" "Nothing!" Kou raised his voice but the kitten started to move around while Kou tried to hold her in place yet she managed to get out from under his shirt. The kitten then landed on the ground on all four legs. "You have five minutes to get rid of it and if you don"t, I will kill it!" Ruki threatened as he turned his back on us. Kou and I frowned as we stared down at the kitten. I guess we have to take her to the woods. "You want to come with me to take her into the woods?" He asked in a low voice. I slowly nodded and Kou picked up the kitten. We then both walked side by side to free the beautiful kitten named Skylar. *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* It"s dinnertime and no one is talking. I actually dreaded dinner because I knew it would be awkward between the brothers and I. As usual, Kou is stuffing his face while Azusa just sat there. Ruki didn"t pay attention to the tension between all of us and Yuma is glaring at me. "Which vampire are you going to sleep with tonight?" Yuma snapped at me. I gulped while Ruki glared at him. "This is not appropriate at the dinner table and you know her role here, Yuma. She has to get to know all of us before she picks her Adam," Ruki explained coldly. They are only sleeping and hanging out with me because of my role. They don"t even like me... "Excuse me," I muttered as I stood up from my seat. I then left the dining room to go in my room to be alone. I need to have it in my head that they are not treating me like a normal, teenage girl but they are treating me as an object because of their Adam and Eve plan. Why do I still have no clue about this plan?! *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* I kept tossing and turning in my bed. I couldn"t sleep and I"m wide-awake... "Huh?!" I gasped when Kou appeared on my bed. He"s straddling me! "Hey, there, Neko-chan," he muttered before sucking on my neck. "STOP!" I ordered. Kou"s expression went from playful to scary real quick! "You"ll let Yuma and Ruki fuck you but not me?!" Kou grunted before tearing my nightgown to shreds! I tried to struggle but of course, Kou is much stronger. My cream nightgown is all torn up and my eyes widened... I"m exposed in just my underwear! "I want her too..." Azusa"s voice trailed as he came out of nowhere. He isn"t on the bed but he"s hovering over us. "Get out of the room, please!" I screamed. Kou forced my body to sit up while he went behind me. He has a tight grip on both of my forearms... "Do whatever you want with her, Azusa. If Ruki and Yuma could sleep with her then so could we!" Kou chuckled causing my body to shiver in fear. Kou pulled my arms back more so I"m arching my back and Azusa sat in front of me. He then stared at my breasts before sucking on my right nipple! I cursed myself for moaning out! He"s circling his tongue roughly but he"s going really slowly. "Such a slutty girl," Kou purred in my ear before harshly biting my neck. I cried out in pain as Kou is drinking my blood and Azusa is sucking my nipple. Azusa looked up at me while he kept sucking and we locked eyes. I hate this! Why are they doing this to me!? Is this the Adam and Eve plan? Am I just a big whore to them?! I can feel Kou smirking against my skin while Azusa paid attention to my other nipple. My body is losing control already... Kou finally lets go of my arms, but from the loss of some blood, I became weak and leaned on Kou"s chest while Azusa kept devouring my left nipple. I then felt Kou"s hands traveling down my underwear and he pushed it to the side so my sex is visible. He then put two fingers inside me as I"m crying out. "Damn, our slutty kitten is wet already, huh, Azusa?" Kou laughed out loud as he continued to pump his two fingers in and out of me. Azusa stopped sucking my nipple and lied down in front of my sex. I felt my cheeks flustering as Azusa started to lick my clit while Kou kept fingering me. "Take her underwear off. It"s in the way," Kou commanded Azusa. Azusa stopped licking and roughly took them off. Why am I not protesting? Am I that weak or do I want this too? I"m completely naked in front of them while they are both still fully clothed... This is embarrassing! Azusa began to lick my clit again as Kou is fingering me. I started to move my hips back and forth while they are having their way with me. Kou then took his fingers out of me and licked them clean. Azusa, on the other hand, started to pump his tongue in and out of my sex. "Gah! No!" I cried. "You keep yelling around yet you aren"t protesting. Just admit you want this from us!" Kou snorted. Kou grabbed my legs from behind and spread them more for Azusa to continue to eat me out. I can feel his tongue going deeper and deeper. "She"s really wet," Azusa commented as he licked up and down on my folds now! I moaned out and Kou silenced me by kissing my lips hungrily. My hips kept moving in sync with Azusa"s tongue. Kou and I battled for dominance but of course, Kou won... My mind and body feel so numb... "AH!" I cried in Kou"s mouth as I released. Azusa licked me clean before sitting up on the bed. "Time to fuck her!" Kou cheered. "No, please, no," I whispered. Kou forced my body to go on all fours like a dog. Azusa got in front of me while Kou is still behind me. I heard Kou unzipping his pants and I felt him rubbing his penis around my entrance. Azusa unzipped his pants too and forced his penis inside my mouth. I immediately choked because he is pumping his penis too fast in my mouth. Kou didn"t hesitate to slam into me and Kou tried his best to be in sync with Azusa"s thrusts. I kept gagging as they both are claiming me. I didn"t understand my body. It feels light and full of pleasure... I didn"t think people did this. Yes, some girls in my old high school did threesomes but I never thought it would be like this. Well, I never thought I would even be doing this! "Damn, she keeps choking... She"s too innocent," Kou said mockingly as he thrust faster. I can feel him hitting my womb while Azusa kept hitting the back of my throat. I then felt something warm going down my throat. My eyes widened when Azusa finally took his penis out of my mouth... He"s done, right? He came so he has to be done! "You came already?" Kou sighed. He then got out of me and forced me to lie down on my back. Kou then went in between my legs and slammed back inside me while Azusa leaned in and licked my right nipple. "Stop, no more!" I pleaded. I don"t think my body can take any more pleasure plus I am already ashamed on how good my body feels. Azusa kept licking my nipples as Kou violently went in and out of me. "Oh, kitten... Stop lying to yourself. You love us!" Kou purred as he pulled out of me. Kou made me sit on his lap and I am facing Azusa as I felt Kou putting his penis back inside. Kou then guided my body to go up and down on his length while Azusa kneeled in front of me to play with my breasts with both of his hands. Azusa then leaned in and claimed my lips as Kou kept guiding me by gripping at my hips. I moaned into Azusa"s mouth until Kou and I both reached out limits... I collapsed on the bed while Kou and Azusa vanished into thin air. I began to sob out because I don"t know myself anymore... I am nothing but their whore. Chapter 11 He Made Me Feel Better About Myself I didn"t get much sleep last night and I was in the bathroom all day washing my body off. No matter how much I scrubbed or washed, I"m still dirty... I went to go get ready for school until I heard whispers from downstairs. I crept down the stairs to listen to the four brothers talking below... "Yuma, she"s everyone"s property, you cannot claim her yourself unless she has chosen you," Ruki lectured. "Psh, she would pick me in a heartbeat, she kept moaning my name last night," Kou said teasingly. "She didn"t moan your name..." Azusa argued in a low voice. "This is bullshit," Yuma muttered before walking up the steps... I went to turn my back but I"m too late. Yuma and I locked eyes yet he kept walking up the stairs and not saying a word to me. How can he even look at me for what I have been doing? "Eve, get ready for school and do not eavesdrop on our conversations anymore," Ruki ordered me... I gulped and ran up the stairs to get ready... How am I going to face my peers after what I did last night?! *~*~*~*~Adam & Eve~*~*~*~* We are all in school and Kou wanted me to follow him down the hall but Yuma stopped me... "You"re staying with me all day, Eve," Yuma grunted. "I can"t skip my classes..." My voice trailed. "I don"t care. Come on..." He gripped my wrist tightly and escorted me up the stairs until a young man with blonde hair is sleeping on one of the steps? He is blocking our path... Such a strange place to take a nap... "Move, Neet!" Yuma shouted at the young man. The blonde man opened his eyes. I gasped how beautiful they are. They are really blue! "You can step over me..." The young man yawned. Yuma hesitated but he stepped over him and I did the same. We then both left the man as he is going back to his nap... "Who is that guy and why is he sleeping? Shouldn"t he be in class?" I asked Yuma curiously. "That"s the eldest Sakamaki son," Yuma muttered. "What? Really?! Is he the Heir then? He seems... Lazy!" I gasped. "Don"t know; don"t care..." He sighed. I followed Yuma to the... Library? Why are we here? I have never seen Yuma in the library before. We walked in together but Yuma looks lost for some reason... "Um, why are we here?" I questioned. "Don"t you like being in here?" Yuma"s voice rose. I slowly nodded. "Yes, but did you need to rent a book or something? I have never seen you in here before." Yuma"s cheeks began to grow rosy and something hit me... Did he take me in here because he knows I like it here? That"s really sweet of him... "Yuma? Did you take me in here because you know I like it?" "Just shut up and read a book or whatever." Yuma rubbed the back of his head. I began to giggle at his shyness. Yuma is a very strong man so it"s funny to see him when he"s embarrassed. "Stop laughing and read!" Yuma clenched his teeth. I went to one of the bookshelves to look for a book while Yuma is following me. I couldn"t stop thinking about Yuma taking me here. It"s so sweet of him... I thought I wouldn"t be happy after what has been happening to me but Yuma proved me wrong today... For a vampire, he sure is adorable! Chapter 12 Sugar High I smiled to myself before slowly approaching Yuma as he is checking all of his flowers and plants in his garden. "Hello, Yuma," I greeted. He turned around and gave me a small smile. "What"s up?" "Nothing... I wanted to see what you were doing," I answered. It"s strange how just from hanging out with him yesterday made me so happy. Does he truly care about my feelings or does he just want to be Adam? "What"s wrong?" He questioned in a husky tone. I stopped thinking about the Adam and Eve plan right away. I don"t want to be sad anymore. "Nothing! Um, do you need help?" I offered. "Actually I do need help with something..." "What"s that?" "I need to take a bath and you"ll be joining me," he smirked.

*~*~*~*~*Mend My Broken Heart~*~*~*~* I opened my eyes from the sunlight and I was still on Jun"s lap. He was wide-awake and I can tell something was on his mind. I wanted to ask him what was wrong, but then I realized it was about that dream I had last night. I felt my stomach growing light because I felt bad for worrying him. "We"re leaving soon. Sakura said she had some business to take care of. Whatever that means..." Goro said out of nowhere to the two of us. "She better hurry up. I want to get this done and over with." Jun huffed. I slowly got off of Jun"s lap and he immediately stood up and stretched. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a huge hug. "Anya?" He shockingly said my name. "Hm?" I looked up at him and his eyes were widened. "Why are you hugging me?" He asked bluntly. "I just wanted to. Sorry," I whispered and let go of him, but he pulled my body into him for another hug. "Jun?" "I want to hold you for a little longer," he ordered softly. I nuzzled into his chest until I heard Sakura clear her throat. I gasped as soon as I laid eyes on her. She had black hair and blue eyes! She totally looks like a different person! "Sakura?" I questioned in confusion. "You like my new look?" She grinned. "Why would you do this before this mission?" Jun sounded annoyed. "Um. I don"t know, but don"t say my name when we get there. Okay?" She blushed. "Why not?" Goro asked. "Just don"t do it!" She snapped. "Sakura, what is going on?" She sure was acting strange, and it was really bothering me! "Nothing. We should head there now." Goro, Jun, and I didn"t question anymore about Sakura"s behavior, instead, we all walked in silence on our way to Natsuko Village. I constantly kept thinking about yesterday when Jun hinted that Sakura might be a traitor. I"m starting to have my doubts on her, but I still want to trust her... *~*~*~*~*Mend My Broken Heart~*~*~*~* Before I knew it, we have arrived at Natsuko Village. As soon as we stepped foot into the entrance, a bunch of samurais urged us to follow them into the town"s mansion. I held Jun"s hand because I was kind of scared. I feel like something bad was going to happen. "HELLO, KING JUN!" The headman greeted him at the entrance of the mansion. "Hello," Jun greeted back bluntly. "Come in, come in!" Wow, the headman sure is pushy! "What is the rush?" I heard Goro muttered from behind him. "Beats me," Sakura whispered to him. "Oh, and someone else from Takara is here waiting for you as well," the headman commented. Someone from Takara is here?! I wonder who it might be?! It can"t be a high-ranking ninja, right? As soon as we entered the dining hall, the whole party gasped when we saw Falitna sitting casually at the big table. She wore a huge smirk on her face when she saw our surprising reactions. "I told you to watch over the village!" Sakura glared at her. "Kenichi has it all taking care of, chill," Falitna said calmly. "Ugh, is it so hard to follow one simple direction!?" Sakura groaned and threw her hands in the air. "No, but I didn"t feel like following it." Falitna shrugged. Before Sakura could argue with Falitna anymore, the headman ordered us to take our seats around the table. Sakura sat next to Falitna and I sat on the other side of Sakura. Jun sat next to me while Goro sat next to him. The headman was on the other side of the table so he was facing all of us. "I"m so happy to have you here, king Jun." The headman smiled at him. "Save it. What do you want from me?" Jun went straight to the point! "Wow, someone is in a rush," the headman said sarcastically. "Well, I see you are a busy man, so I"ll tell you what I want you to do for me." He paused and studied Jun. "I want you to marry my daughter, and we will aid you in this war." My heart dropped after hearing the headman"s request. The room grew silent until Jun snorted. "No," Jun simply answered. "You know I can also get some samurais from the Shinobu Village too." The headman added. "I"m already planning on marrying someone else." Jun touched my thigh, causing me to turn my head to look at him. "Is it the commoner sitting next to you?" The headman mocked. "Hey! I"m the only one who can call her that!" Falitna chimed in. The headman ignored her as he still had his focus on Jun. "Why don"t you meet her before you come up with your decision?" "I told you. I am already planning on marrying someone else. I don"t desire to be with anyone else." Jun spat. The headman rolled his eyes and screamed for his daughter. "TOMIKO, COME HERE!" We all waited for his daughter to come in the room, and as soon as she entered, all our jaw"s dropped because she looked A LOT like SAKURA?! Tomiko had long pink hair and light green eyes just like Sakura. The only difference is Sakura had her hair shorter than her. Goro, Falitna, Jun, and I all eyed Sakura as she sat there, trying to avoid our gazes. Something is up! "Hello, father. Is this the man you wanted me to marry?" Tomiko eyed Jun causing my skin to crawl. "Yes, this is King Jun. Jun, this is my daughter, Tomiko." The headman introduced them. Jun rolled his eyes. "I am not marrying her." "What if I give you all my men, some Shinobu samurais, and most of the Chiyoko ninjas," the headman suggested. "YOU CAN GET SOME CHIYOKO NINJAS?!" Sakura asked shockingly. "MOST of them, yes." The headman smiled. "Jun, you should think about it." Falitna shrugged. I glared at her, but she is surprisingly right. If we had most of the Chiyoko ninjas then we would defiantly win the whole war! I don"t want Jun to marry this girl, though... "Anya, what do you think I should do?" Jun asked me out of nowhere?! Why would he ask me that?! I thought about it for a moment. I wanted to say no, but if I did that, would I be in the same situation like I was with Goemon and Oriku? I mean I fought Goemon over and over about him almost sleeping with her for his mission, and look where it got me! Goemon left me because of it and I ended up alone. Would the same exact thing happen again?! "Whatever you want to do, Jun," I whispered. "What?" Jun"s eyes widened. "You wouldn"t care if I married her?" I looked at him dead in the eyes. "If you think it is best for the war, then go for it." Jun studied me then frowned. "Then I guess I"ll marry her." I forced myself not to break down and cry, but it"s for the best, right? I need to stop being so selfish and start worrying about what is happening around us. We"ll win this war with more people on our side and everyone will finally live in peace... "I"M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!" Tomiko jumped on Jun and wrapped her arms around his neck. I felt my heart sinking and sinking... It has to be done, though. It"s for the best. *~*~*~*~*Mend My Broken Heart~*~*~*~* After Jun"s decision was made, we all went into different guest rooms. I couldn"t stop thinking about Jun spending the night with Tomiko, but she"s his fiancée now, so it"s only natural. I kept violently wiping my tears as they kept rolling down my cheeks. How am I going to survive tonight? "Anya?" I heard Sakura"s voice from outside the door. "Come in." I rubbed my eyes to force myself to stop crying... "I need to tell you something," Sakura said as she opened the door. "About?" "Follow me." I stood up from the bed and followed her outside. Falitna was waiting for us by the woods. I wonder if Sakura is finally going to tell us why she has been acting so strange lately. "So?" I really wanted to know what"s going on. "This is my hometown," Sakura mumbled. "WHAT?!" Falitna and I shouted in unison. "And the best part is, my father is the headman and Tomiko is my sister," Sakura explained. "So, that"s why you guys look so much alike!" I gasped. That"s why Sakura changed her hair and eye color, plus she didn"t want us to say her name! It all makes sense now... "No one knows I used to be on the Shinobu"s side, so please don"t tell anyone!" Sakura begged. "Seriously no one knew?" Falitna raised a brow. "Well, besides Goemon. When I came out of nowhere to beg to join Takara, Goemon thought I was a spy, so one night, he tried to kill me and I came clean. He then swore to me that he would never tell..." Sakura sighed. "Our leader doesn"t even know..." "What made you want to join Takara?" I asked. "Because just like you, Anya. I refused my fate. My father wanted to ship me off with a prince and to get married, but I wanted to be a part of the war. The only thing was, I didn"t believe in how the Shinobu treated the others, so I decided to leave this place and join Takara to fight for my rights," Sakura said sternly. "It"s really not a big deal, Sakura, I"m sure everyone would understand." Falitna snorted. "I don"t want Mamoru Masaru to know I was born to be a part of the Shinobu." Sakura frowned. "Sakura, I bet Mamoru would be really happy that you changed your fate. It was very brave of you to do what you did. I respect you for fighting for your rights." I soothed. Sakura stood there silently then smiled. "Thanks, Anya, but for now, please don"t tell anyone. Okay, Falitna?" She glared at her. "I"m not going to say anything!" Falitna rolled her eyes. "Good." Sakura then looked at me. "So, why did you tell Jun it was okay to marry my sister?" "Because I didn"t want to be in the same boat like I was when Goemon was ordered to bed Oriku," I answered. "Yeah, but Jun asked you to see if you would care if he married her." Falitna shook her head. "What?" I tilted my head to the side. "It"s obvious, Anya. Jun wanted to see if you were worried, but apparently you weren"t if you told him to go marry her," Sakura sighed. "I just thought it was best for the war!" What have I done?! "Not really. We can handle the Shinobu without those stupid Chiyoko ninjas..." Falitna laughed. "I messed up," I muttered. "I wouldn"t worry about it. All that"s going to happen is Jun getting married and you"ll be alone for the rest of your life." Falitna hummed. "Falitna!" Sakura snapped. "I"m sure everything will be fine, Anya. Don"t put too much thought into it." "Yeah, I"m going to retire." I felt my tears forming in my eyes... "It"s not even early evening," Falitna said. "I"m just not feeling too well." I turned my back on them and headed back into the mansion. How come every decision I make is always wrong?! *~*~*~*~*Mend My Broken Heart~*~*~*~* I skipped dinner tonight. I couldn"t face anyone because I couldn"t stop crying even if I tried. I didn"t want to see the headman"s daughter being held by Jun. It would make me lose my mind... My butt was hurting from sitting in the same spot for hours. I haven"t moved from this bed, and I don"t plan to move until we leave this village. I bet Jun is going to stay with her. I heard the door open and I immediately tried to rub my eyes, but the tears kept coming! Shoot. I wonder who that could be? "Anya?" My eyes widened when I saw Jun standing there before me. Why does it have to be him to see me like this? "You skipped dinner. Are you alright?" He walked up to the bed. "Yeah, I"m just not feeling too good, that"s all." I choked. "Oh." "Um, shouldn"t you be with your fiancée?" "I guess," he muttered. Owe, my chest hurts! I wish this pain would go away! Without thinking, I began to sob. Jun sat on the bed and pulled me on his lap. "I"m fine. Please leave me alone." I secretly didn"t want him to leave me, so I nuzzled into his chest. "What is wrong? Isn"t this what you wanted?" He asked as he played with my hair. "Why would I want this?!" I freaked. "You said it was okay for me to marry her." I didn"t know what to say to that. He is right. I"m not mad at him at all. I"m just upset, you know? "I thought you didn"t care," he said softly. "I do care, Jun, why wouldn"t I?!" "Well, you didn"t yell at me or tried to talk me out of it. You just let it happen," he explained. "I didn"t want the same thing to happen like it did with Goemon and Oriku," I whispered in his chest. "What?" "If I argued with you then there would have been problems. You would leave me like Goemon did." "Why would I leave you for caring about me?" He forced my chin to look up at him. "I don"t know. I just didn"t want to cause you trouble. Plus I thought it was best for the war. I didn"t want to be selfish, but then Falitna and Sakura said I messed up and I think they"re right... I"m such a fool." "I"m the fool, Anya, I tested you to see if you cared or not. What was I thinking?" he sighed. "Why would you test me!?" I whined. "I wanted to see if you would react the same like you did for Goemon," Jun confessed. I felt my eyes widening. "Does this have anything to do with that dream I had last night?" Jun was hesitant before he answered me. "Maybe." "Jun, you have nothing to worry about, I swear. I love you so much! These nightmares will pass, but even if they don"t, it doesn"t mean I will stop loving you. I never think about him after we became closer." "Anya..." Jun leaned and kissed my lips. I kissed him back with full force and our tongues fought for dominance. Jun pulled away from my lips and smiled wickedly. "I"m not marrying her by the way. I already told the headman and his annoying daughter." "I kind of figured since I found out you were testing me. Sorry, I failed, but I still love you." I blushed. "I love you too, Anya. I feel foolish for doubting your feelings for me," he said as he kissed me and I felt my body melt in pure happiness. Jun was worried about Goemon... I"ll prove Jun that I"m over him... I only want Jun and only him. Chapter 7 I"m All He Has Left We all returned to Madoka Village! I was so happy to be back because it was awkward waking up in the morning and the first thing I encountered was dirty looks from the headman and his spoiled daughter. Jun told me countless of times to ignore them, but it was really hard; if looks could kill, I would be dead right now... Anyways, we all made it back in one piece with no problems. Sakura had to go back to Takara Village to make sure Kenichi didn"t screw anything up. I wouldn"t be surprised if the village is burned to the ground. "I missed your room!" I shouted out as I collapsed on Jun"s bed. "You act like we have been gone for awhile." He snorted. "It sure felt like it," I said as I looked up at the ceiling. Jun lied next to me and pulled me into his embrace. "I have a question to ask you." "Uh-oh." "It"s not bad. Although I think you already know where this is going." He forced my chin to look up and we locked eyes. I thought for a moment but I had no idea what he wanted to ask me. "Nope." "Well, would you consider being my bride?" He studied me as I processed his question. He"s right. I should"ve known where this was going. I mean I"m happy since he"s considering only being with me, but am I ready? Goemon and I immediately planned on marrying each other, and that blew up in my face... "You don"t want to marry me," he muttered as he let go of my chin and lied on his back. "No! I do!" I blurted out. "It"s just... Goemon and I said we were going to get married, but in a blink of an eye, he vanished. Will you do the same if I said yes?" Jun inhaled then exhaled sharply. "Quit comparing our relationship to your old one. I"m nothing like that arrogant player." "Jun..." "He might not know what he wants, but I do. I want you all to myself. I want to have kids with you, sleep with you every chance I get, protect you, and grow old with you," he whispered. I slowly rolled on top of him and pressed my forehead against his. "Yes." "Huh?" Jun"s eyes widened. "Yes, I"ll marry you." I kissed him softly on his lips. I can feel him smirking in between our kiss. "I can finally give you the ring." "You have the ring already?" I gasped. "Yeah, I had it." "Since when?!" I can"t believe he has the ring! I really want to see it! I hope it fits... "Since the first day you moved to Asami Island," he answered simply. Now that I think about it, he did tell that old man from his home village, Isamu that he was planning on marrying me even though I was with Goemon at the time... Wow, time sure has changed. That was ages ago! "I love you." I kissed him again and again. "Can I properly propose to you?" He smirked. "What do you mean?" "Stand up," he ordered softly. "But, I"m comfortable lying on top of you," I whined. "Anya..." "Alright." I rolled my eyes and lazily got out of his bed. Jun stood up too and immediately went down on one knee. I felt all types of emotion as he fished out the ring inside his kimono. "Anya Yukari, will you make me the happiest man in the world by becoming my wife?" He held the ring out to me. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks; words can"t describe how happy I am. "Yes!" I held my hand out so that Jun can slide the ring on my finger. I wouldn"t have cared if the diamond were big or small because all that mattered was that Jun just asked me to marry him! The diamond was huge, though. I never saw a ring with a big stone before... "I love you." He slowly rose up from his knee. I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck as he held me. "I love you too, Jun. I"m so happy." I couldn"t stop crying even if I wanted to. We kissed each other passionately until there was a light knock at the door. We ignored it, but the person kept knocking! "Jun." It was Alvah. "I"m in a middle of something," Jun said annoyingly. "It"s important." Alvah sounded hurt? Oh, no. I hope nothing bad happened! Jun sighed and let go of me. He then opened the door and Alvah stood there with sorrow in his eyes. He looked like he was about to cry. "What"s wrong?" Jun asked in concern. "We should talk privately." Alvah"s voice cracked. "Um, alright." Jun then turned his attention to me. "I"ll be right back, Anya." I only could nod as Jun followed his brother. I started to worry about him. Something is going on, and I feel like it"s going to hurt Jun... *~*~*~*~*Mend My Broken Heart~*~*~*~* It felt like hours have gone passed, and Jun never returned to his room. Should I check up on him or stay here? I didn"t want to be nosey, but I wanted to make sure he was okay. I decided to leave his room to go find him. My throat was drying up as I checked the dining room, the main dojo, and pretty much all the rooms in the mansion. I then went to Naomi"s room to see if she knew what is going on between Alvah and Jun. I took a deep breath before I knocked on her door. "Naomi? Are you in there?" There was silence, but then I heard a click from her door nob. "Hey, Anya, what"s up?" "Um, have you seen Alvah or Jun?" I asked. "Well, I haven"t seen Alvah in awhile. He did tell me he had to tell Jun something, but he looked really sad. He wouldn"t tell me anything!" I felt my heart drop. "Where would they have gone?" "I have been looking out my window to see if I spotted Alvah, but no luck. Have you checked throughout the mansion?" Naomi questioned. "Yeah, no luck," I answered. "Maybe we should window watch for a little while. There"s no way I missed them leaving the mansion!" I nodded and Naomi let me in her room. We then sat next to her window and looked carefully at our surrounds! She"s right, there"s no way she would"ve missed them walking out of the mansion, she has a perfect view of the whole village. We both didn"t say anything to each other as we kept our attention outside, but I guess, Naomi noticed my engagement ring and tried to ask me questions. I told her I would talk about it later; now, is not the time, something is seriously wrong between the two of them. Finally, we saw both Jun and Alvah. "THERE THEY ARE!" We both shouted in unison. I studied Jun, but I couldn"t tell if he was upset or anything. It"s like he"s hiding his feelings... "Should we follow them?" Naomi asked. "Yeah, something is going on," I whispered. "We have to be secretive, though. Whatever is going on, they want no one to know!" Naomi stated. "Agreed." *~*~*~*~*Mend My Broken Heart~*~*~*~* Naomi and I followed behind Jun and Alvah. I"m surprised we didn"t get caught yet, but maybe it"s because a lot was going through both of their heads. Jun and Alvah both got horses out of a stable and began to ride away at a fast pace. Naomi and I waited, but then hurried to get a horse, so we weren"t far behind. I rode behind Naomi as she controlled the horse"s reigns. "This is strange," she muttered as we spotted them right away, but we still distanced ourselves from them so they didn"t spot us. We kept following them until we reached Isamu Village. I wonder why Jun and Alvah went to their old childhood village? We entered the village and immediately gasped! It"s... destroyed. Naomi tied up the horse to a tree trunk as I stood there and examined the burning buildings and dead bodies throughout this poor village. "Alvah told me about this village. Do you think their father had something to do with it?" Naomi asked softly. "Yeah, Makoto knew how much this village meant to Jun and Alvah." I felt my whole body trembling... Maybe, we should get out of here. Jun probably wants to be alone. I went to say something to Naomi, but then we heard a loud cry. It sounds like... Jun... "Anya," Naomi whispered. "We have to see them," I whispered back. Naomi and I both followed the loud cries until we both froze in place when we spotted them. Alvah stood there as Jun was on his hands and knees, sobbing.

Ayato lifted his head up looking confused. "Girlfriend?" he asked. The girl rolled her eyes pouting. "You know that little blonde thing," she said in disgust, "that follows you and your brothers." Ayato"s eyes widened with realization. "Chichinashi?" he laughed, "no way in hell. She"s just my food, that"s all. Besides," at this point he squeezed one of her breasts making her moan, "I prefer women that are fuller." This made the girl giggle and pull Ayato"s lips down to meet hers. The two made out for a while before Ayato removed his arm from her waist to pull the girl inside the classroom. There was a giggle before the sound of a door closing blocked out any other sounds. Yui felt tears stream down her face as one of her hand covered her mouth to prevent any sounds from escaping. She ran to the library, putting as much distance between her and that classroom as possible, blinded by tears. "It doesn"t matter, it doesn"t matter, it doesn"t matter!' she shouted in her head. "I knew there was no chance of it happening. So why...why does my heart hurt so much?' Later that day after school Ayato brought the girl home and introduced her as Kimiko Shiryuu, his girlfriend. Reiji seemed pleased by this, which Yui noticed. "You seem happy about Ayato-kun and Shiryuu-san dating," she said to him after he had finished feeding from her. Reiji, who was in a good mood, nodded. "Your still new to being a vampire but in our world there are different levels of class. The highest being the royal family, the second highest being members of the royal court which are known as nobles, the third being common vampires, and the fourth being former humans turned vampires. Shiryuu-san"s family is very high up in the royal court. I was afraid Ayato would marry someone of low class. That means I only have to worry about the other three and myself." This made Yui curious. "I wasn"t aware that some of the others were dating," she said. Reiji shook his head a frown appearing on his face. "Their not. Shu though is engaged to marry a girl from one of the noble families," he said with disgust, unaware of how his words further broke Yui"s heart. She nodded and excused herself to finish her homework; though Reiji was unaware it was already done. That night Yui cried herself to sleep. End Flashback "It"s been three weeks since then, I should be over them. So why,' she thought clutching her heart, "why does it still hurt?' Yui shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts and glanced over at the clock. "I should probably take those now,' she thought. Putting her brush down she opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of iron supplements. She"d gotten it when she was human to help her anemia though she needed it now for another reason. "I"m probably the only vampire there is that can"t stomach blood,' she thought as she popped two pills into her mouth, washing them down with some water from the glass she"d taken to keeping on her vanity for this purpose. Unknown to the brothers, but Yui"s body rejected the blood she drank. The moment the disgusting liquid would enter her mouth her stomach would begin to feel queasy. Fifteen minutes later she"d be bent over a toilet, retching it up. Yui had wondered why this happened. It could be because she had Cordelia"s heart but Cordelia had been a vampire so that did not make sense. It could be because Yui was a former human but from what she read from the books in the Sakamaki library this wasn"t the case. Maybe it was because Yui only drank donated blood that was in a glass and not from one of the brothers. They had never offered and Yui did not want to ask. She may be a vampire but having been on the opposite end of the vampire feeding spectrum she felt repulsed at the idea of doing to same to someone else. "I refuse to become like them,' she thought disgustedly. Putting the pills away she grabbed her book bag and hurried downstairs for breakfeast. When she entered the dining room she noticed everyone but Ayato was there. She sat down at her spot and grabbed the glass of blood placed there. Repressing a grimace she quickly downed the glass before setting back on the table. Laito eyed the glass with disgust. "You know bitch-chan it would taste a lot better if you drank straight from the source. I"d be happy to show you how pleasurable it can be," he purred leaning towards her as Yui tried to repress a shiver. She opened her mouth to respond but Reiji cut her off. "Enough Laito. We should be going now," he said in his usual authoritative voice. Laito sighed in disappointment before winking at Yui. "Another time I guess bitch-chan," he said cheerfully before standing up to follow the others. They piled into the limo and since Yui was the last to get in she was forced to take the only available spot; which happened to be right next to Shu. Great. Kanato looked around. "Where"s Ayato?" he asked curiously hugging his teddy bear close to him. Reiji spoke without looking up from the book he was reading. "Ayato went ahead to school already with Shiryuu-san. She picked him up earlier," he said making Yui relieved. She did not like being in the same room as Kimiko or Kimi as she insisted everyone but Yui call her. Yui shivered remembering their first encounter. Flashback Yui was sitting in the Sakamaki library looking for a book to help her with her blood dilemma when she felt an unfamiliar presence behind her. She turned to find Kimi leaning against the door, glaring at her. "May I help you Kimi-san?" she asked politely. The girl sneered at her. "It"s Shiryuu-san to you," she snapped before her lips turned into malevolent grin. Before Yui could blink she found herself slammed against the shelves, Kimi"s hand wrapped tightly around her neck. "Now listen here you little blood whore," she hissed at Yui as the girl struggled for air, " you stay away from Ayato, he"s mine. I will not let some former human get in my way. If it weren"t for the fact he needs your blood I would have killed you already. But mark my words. If you so much as touch him, look at him, or talk to him, I will make your life a living hell. Got it?" Yui nodded and Kimi sneered. Letting her go, she watched as Yui struggled to regain her breath. Hearing someone call for her, Kimi instantly perked up. "Coming Ayato-kun!" she yelled cheerfully before waltzing out of the room leaving Yui alone. End Flashback Ever since then Yui did her best to avoid the other girl. Luckily none of the others seemed to notice. Then again they didn"t notice a lot of things. Suddenly Yui felt the familiar queasy sensation in her stomach. Gritting her teeth she did her best to hide what she was feeling. A few minutes later they arrived at school. Yui quickly got out and moved as quickly as possible without looking to suspicious. Ducking into the nearest bathroom she quickly went into one of the stalls and locked it before spilling her breakfeast into the toilet. She emerged shakily a minute later. Going to the sink she pulled out the toothbrush and toothpaste she took to carrying with her now a days and brushed her teeth. When she was satisfied that her mouth was puke free she put her stuff away, washed her hands, and then hurried to class. She made it to her seat just as the bell rang. The teacher arrived a few minutes later. "Good evening class. I am pleased to announce that we will have two new students joining our class today so lets be sure to welcome them. You may come in now gentlemen," he said. The door opened and two boys walked in. The first one was tall brown hair that was tied back in a messy bun, with some strands hanging down to his neck and was parted to the right so that his bangs fell slightly over his right eye. His ears were pierced and his brown eyes held a look of irritation, which matched his frown. His arms were crossed. The other was shorter with chin length black hair that was grey at the tips framing his pale face while his neck length hair in the back was pin straight with a red beret on top. Some of his bangs fell slightly past his bored grey eyes. There was a scar across the bridge of his nose and one on his lower left cheek. "Class I"d like to introduce to Mukami Yuma and Mukami Azusa. Lets be sure to make them feel welcome," the teacher said. Yui felt an odd sensation. As if she had met these two before. They seemed so familiar. "You two can sit by Komori-san. She can show you two around school. Komori-san would you please raise your hand?" Yui did as the teacher asked and raised her hand. The two boys glanced over at her. For a moment Yui thought she saw some peculiar emotion flicker in their eyes before being replaced with their previous expression. The two sat down; Azusa to her right and Yuma right behind her. Azusa turned to her and gave her a shy smile. "Please take care of us Komori-san." Yui gave him a smile. "I will do my best Mukami-san." Yuma spoke up from behind them, "It gets confusing if you call us both Mukami-san. Plus we have two brothers I"m sure you"ll meet so feel free to just call us by our names," he said in a lazy tone. Yui turned around to him looking sheepish. "Ah your right Yuma-san, that would get confusing. In that case feel free to call me by name as well seeing as we"re seating partners," she said giving the intimidating boy a shy smile. Again Yui saw a flicker of emotion pass through his eyes before he once again looked disinterested. At that moment the teacher began class. As Yui sat there listening and taking notes she didn"t notice that Azusa sneaking peaks at her while Yuma stared at the back of her head both thinking the same thing. "It"s definitely her.' AN: Finally I"m done with it! For all you Ruki and Kou fans, they"re coming up in the next chapter. There is also a link on my profile for my Polyvore account with has picture"s of the OC"s and future things that will appear. Please be sure to review, I love hearing back from you. AN: Hey guys I"m back! Once again I want to thank you for all the reviews you guys are great. Special shout out to my awesome reviewers animejuliet, AnimeMango, MikaraRinna, Amazon Huntress, Alice, Famous0618, and my awesome beta! animejuliet: Thanks doll, love you to roomie :) AnimeMango: Aw you"re welcome! I had to make both brothers taken for a reason which will come up in the next couple of chapters. The heartbreak hasn"t even begun yet. MikaraRinna: I"m glad you like my story so far! Yeah Ayato is being a little bit bitchy and its going to get worse in the next chapter. Amazon Huntress: I hate when people are bullied to, I used to be. But yes Kimi is a f**kin bitch.I didn"t mind the cursing. Alice: Trust me even I want to beat the two of them up but we must be patient he"ll get better later. The reason nobody stood up for her is because they didn"t know what happened between Kimi and Yui. Even Ayato didn"t know Famous0618: I"m glad you like it so far! Chapter Three The Mukami brothers "And down this way is library," said Yui as she pointed to a set of double doors. It was her free period and she was currently showing Azusa and Yuma around who surprisingly had the same schedule as her. Noticing the disinterested look on both of her companion"s faces she was about to show them where the gym was when the sound of pounding footsteps reached her ears. Yui saw a blonde blur heading towards them. "Quick in here!" someone said hurriedly. Before she could blink someone had grabbed her arm and pulled her into the library. When she came to her senses she found herself hiding behind a shelf with an annoyed Yuma while Azusa looked amused. The person holding her was a boy with curly blonde hair that fell over his right eye, which Yui noticed, was a different color than his left eye. His right was red while his left was blue which were looking around cautiously. Both of his ears were pierced and his mouth was set into a frown. "Oi Kou," said Yuma annoyed his left eye twitching slightly. "What the hell was that?" Kou gave Yuma a serious look. "Fan girls," he said shivering, "crazy, crazy fan girls." Azusa gave the boy a bored look. "Ne Kou I know we"re used to your stupidity by now but you should probably let go of Yui-san before she freaks out," he said making Kou blink and notice Yui for the first time. Again she saw a flash of something in his eyes before he smiled. "Oh sorry," he laughed lightly letting her go. "I"m Mukami Kou, Azusa"s and Yuma-baka"s handsome older brother. Pleased to meet you...?" "Oh um Komori Yui pleased to meet you," she said giving a little bow. Kou looked at her for a second before pulling her into a hug. "Yui-chan is so kawaii!" he said cheerfully as Yui blushed. "How were brothers able to to befriend such a cute girl so quickly!" A vein throbbed on Yuma"s forehead. "She"s showing us around idiot," he said angrily. Kou pouted. "Lucky! You guys got a cute girl as guide, Ruki and I had boring guy guiding us," he complained. Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind them. "So this is where you ran off to Kou," said a calm voice. The group turned to face the person who had spoken to them. Before them stood a boy with wavy black hair that was white at the tips. His ears were pierced and he stood a little shorter than Yuma. Silvery blue eyes gazed at the group before falling on Yui who was still locked in Kou"s hug. He raised an eyebrow. "And who might this be?" he asked, his eyes not leaving Yui. She managed she wriggle out of Kou"s grasp. "Komori Yui, I"ve been showing around Azusa-san and Yuma-san," she said giving a little bow feeling a sense of déjà vu. Ruki stared at her. "I see. I apologize if my brothers have given you any trouble. I am their elder brother Mukami Ruki," he said politely. Kou huffed crossing his arms. "Its not my fault fan girls are crazy! Its tough being an idol," he whined making Yui blink. "Kou-san you"re an idol?" she asked curiously. He looked at her shocked. "Do you not keep up with the media Yui-chan?" he asked flabbergasted. She shook her head. "I had a very sheltered childhood and I"ve never really kept up with the media," she explained as Kou nodded. "That explains it," he said and now it was Yui"s turn to look at him curiously. Ruki noticing her expression explained. "Kou is one of the most popular idols at the moment," he explained and Yui looked impressed. "Really? That"s really impressive!" she said making Kou laugh. At that moment the bell rang. "Ah we"d better get to class! It was nice to meet you Kou-san, Ruki-san," she said as she followed Yuma and Azusa to the door. Kou smiled brightly at her and waved goodbye. "You to Yui-chan! I hope we meet again!" he sang as the group exited the library. The moment they were out of sight the smile dropped from his face. "Its definitely her," Ruki said crossing his arms as Kou nodded frowning. "Did you notice?" he asked casually and Ruki glanced at him. "Her smell? Yeah I did," he said as Kou ran a hand through his hair. "This is going to be tougher than I thought," he sighed then noticed a familiar look on his brothers face. "I take it you have a plan?" Ruki gave him a smirk. "Tell the others to go straight home after school. I have an idea." It had been a week since the Mukami brothers entered school and Yui found herself spending most of her time with them. Usually because Kou would barge into their classroom for lunch and drag her with his brothers trailing behind him. Much to the dismay of the Sakami brothers. Whenever one of them came upon Yui by herself with one of the Mukami brothers would conveniently come along and pull her away. "Odd, its like they know whenever I"m in trouble,' she thought. Not that she minded. Yui had been feeling weaker as the days passed. Her chest pains increased and she was barely keeping anything down. So far none of the brothers had noticed. Not paying attention to where she was going she didn"t notice where she was going and bumped into someone. "Oh I"m sorry I wasn"t-" she said quickly looking up but trailed off when she saw who it was. Green eyes stared maliciously down at her making her blood run cold. "Ayato" she thought fearfully. He smirked at her before grabbing her by the arm. There was the sound of a door being open before Yui felt her body being slammed against a wall making her see stars. When she came to her senses Ayato had loosened her collar and without warning he bit her. She winced as the familiar painful feeling of having her life drained ran through her body. Ayato held her painfully close and Yui was sure she"d have bruises later. He continued to suck her blood before pulling away and Yui felt like she would collapse any minutes. "Heh your lucky I went easy on you today," he said and frowned when he noticed she was not looking at him. His hand shot out and he held her chin so that she was forced to look at him. "I don"t like others touching what"s mine," he growled making Yui shiver, " stay away from those Mukami guys." Ayato let go of her chin and Yui collapsed. He sneered down at her before exiting the room. After a few minutes Yui shakily got to her feet and made her way slowly back into the hallway. "I feel so tired,' she thought swaying slightly as she moved down the hallway. Her head ached and she felt faint. "Just a little more,' she thought seeing her classroom ahead. Suddenly she was falling forward as everything slowly became darker. Before she blacked out she felt a pair of arms catch her. When she came to she realized she was lying on something soft. Yui opened her eyes slowly, wincing at the bright light. She blinked and as her eyes adjusted she realized she was in an unfamiliar room making her sit up quickly. This only succeeded in making her dizzy. "Take it easy Yui-san," said a familiar calm voice a pair of hands gently pushed her back down. Yui put a hand to her head. "Where am I?" she asked hoarsely turning to face the voice. Ruki looked at her calmly. "Your in the nurses office. You fainted earlier in the hallway. Luckily the blonde Sakami brother caught you and brought you here," he stated and Yui for the first time noticed a familiar sweater covering her. "Shu,' she thought warmly holding it close to her. She sat up slower this time and noticed that the nurse was absent. "Where"s the nurse?" she asked softly wincing at how hoarse her voice sounded. As if reading her mind Ruki handed her a glass of water. She took it and gave him a grateful smile. "She had to step out for a bit. Luckily I had to drop something off and she allowed me to stay with since I told her I knew you. She left this for you," he said handing a small plastic bottle. Yui took it and could tell by the weight it was full of some liquid. "She said to drink it right when you get home. Apparently you blood count is low and it should help with the anemia since you have a history with it," he said as Yui nodded. "How long was I out?" she asked and Ruki glanced at the clock. "An hour I"d say? There"s only about thirty minutes left but you have permission to go home early. My brothers brought your stuff here. Do you need a ride home? We all have free period right now so it wouldn"t be a problem," he offered and Yui nodded. "That would be great thanks," she said smiling. "I can avoid any questions that way,' she thought. She stood up slowly and grabbed her things when the door suddenly opened. "What the hell are you doing?! You shouldn"t be up walking just yet," said Yuma looking irritated. Yui opened her mouth to respond when Yuma strode over to her. Yui suddenly found her being carried princess style by Yuma making her blush. "Yu-Yuma-san put me down!" she stuttered feeling embarrassed as they walked down the hallway but he ignored her. "This is so embarrassing,' she thought burying her head in Yuma"s chest to hide her blush. Had she been looking she would of seen a small red tint on Yuma"s cheeks while Ruki was smirking. The minute she sat down in the car she found herself in one of Kou"s hugs. "Yui-chan we heard you fainted! Are you alright?" he asked frantically as Yuma rolled his eyes. "I"m fine Kou-san, its just my anemia," she said reassuringly though this seemed to make the others frown but they dropped it. The rest of the ride home was quiet and soon they were in front of the Sakami mansion. Yui thanked them for the ride and went inside but not before Ruki reminded her to take her medicine. When she got to her room she quickly changed into her nightgown feeling very tired. She pulled the bottle out of her bag and opened it. The medicine smelled odd making Yui wrinkle her nose. Taking a deep breath she downed the small bottle quickly grimacing after she finished. Immediately Yui began to feel drowsy and stumbled toward her bed. She shakily got under the covers as her head began to ache. However it hurt a thousand times worse then any time before. She closed her eyes and before she knew it, she was out like a light. AN:I know its short but trust me the next chapter is going to be longer. I might have to split it into two parts. So much is going to happen so be prepared. Also please be sure to review! I love hearing back from you guys and will answer any questions you ask to the best of my ability.

"You know that little blonde thing," she said in disgust, "that follows you and your brothers." Ayato"s eyes widened with realization. "Chichinashi?" he laughed, "no way in hell. She"s just my food, that"s all. Besides," at this point he squeezed one of her breasts making her moan, "I prefer women that are fuller." This made the girl giggle and pull Ayato"s lips down to meet hers. The two made out for a while before Ayato removed his arm from her waist to pull the girl inside the classroom. There was a giggle before the sound of a door closing blocked out any other sounds. Yui felt tears stream down her face as one of her hand covered her mouth to prevent any sounds from escaping. She ran to the library, putting as much distance between her and that classroom as possible, blinded by tears. "It doesn"t matter, it doesn"t matter, it doesn"t matter!' she shouted in her head. "I knew there was no chance of it happening. So why...why does my heart hurt so much?' Later that day after school Ayato brought the girl home and introduced her as Kimiko Shiryuu, his girlfriend. Reiji seemed pleased by this, which Yui noticed. "You seem happy about Ayato-kun and Shiryuu-san dating," she said to him after he had finished feeding from her. Reiji, who was in a good mood, nodded. "Your still new to being a vampire but in our world there are different levels of class. The highest being the royal family, the second highest being members of the royal court which are known as nobles, the third being common vampires, and the fourth being former humans turned vampires. Shiryuu-san"s family is very high up in the royal court. I was afraid Ayato would marry someone of low class. That means I only have to worry about the other three and myself." This made Yui curious. "I wasn"t aware that some of the others were dating," she said. Reiji shook his head a frown appearing on his face. "Their not. Shu though is engaged to marry a girl from one of the noble families," he said with disgust, unaware of how his words further broke Yui"s heart. She nodded and excused herself to finish her homework; though Reiji was unaware it was already done. That night Yui cried herself to sleep. End Flashback "It"s been three weeks since then, I should be over them. So why,' she thought clutching her heart, "why does it still hurt?' Yui shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts and glanced over at the clock. "I should probably take those now,' she thought. Putting her brush down she opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle of iron supplements. She"d gotten it when she was human to help her anemia though she needed it now for another reason. "I"m probably the only vampire there is that can"t stomach blood,' she thought as she popped two pills into her mouth, washing them down with some water from the glass she"d taken to keeping on her vanity for this purpose. Unknown to the brothers, but Yui"s body rejected the blood she drank. The moment the disgusting liquid would enter her mouth her stomach would begin to feel queasy. Fifteen minutes later she"d be bent over a toilet, retching it up. Yui had wondered why this happened. It could be because she had Cordelia"s heart but Cordelia had been a vampire so that did not make sense. It could be because Yui was a former human but from what she read from the books in the Sakamaki library this wasn"t the case. Maybe it was because Yui only drank donated blood that was in a glass and not from one of the brothers. They had never offered and Yui did not want to ask. She may be a vampire but having been on the opposite end of the vampire feeding spectrum she felt repulsed at the idea of doing to same to someone else. "I refuse to become like them,' she thought disgustedly. Putting the pills away she grabbed her book bag and hurried downstairs for breakfeast. When she entered the dining room she noticed everyone but Ayato was there. She sat down at her spot and grabbed the glass of blood placed there. Repressing a grimace she quickly downed the glass before setting back on the table. Laito eyed the glass with disgust. "You know bitch-chan it would taste a lot better if you drank straight from the source. I"d be happy to show you how pleasurable it can be," he purred leaning towards her as Yui tried to repress a shiver. She opened her mouth to respond but Reiji cut her off. "Enough Laito. We should be going now," he said in his usual authoritative voice. Laito sighed in disappointment before winking at Yui. "Another time I guess bitch-chan," he said cheerfully before standing up to follow the others. They piled into the limo and since Yui was the last to get in she was forced to take the only available spot; which happened to be right next to Shu. Great. Kanato looked around. "Where"s Ayato?" he asked curiously hugging his teddy bear close to him. Reiji spoke without looking up from the book he was reading. "Ayato went ahead to school already with Shiryuu-san. She picked him up earlier," he said making Yui relieved. She did not like being in the same room as Kimiko or Kimi as she insisted everyone but Yui call her. Yui shivered remembering their first encounter. Flashback Yui was sitting in the Sakamaki library looking for a book to help her with her blood dilemma when she felt an unfamiliar presence behind her. She turned to find Kimi leaning against the door, glaring at her. "May I help you Kimi-san?" she asked politely. The girl sneered at her. "It"s Shiryuu-san to you," she snapped before her lips turned into malevolent grin. Before Yui could blink she found herself slammed against the shelves, Kimi"s hand wrapped tightly around her neck. "Now listen here you little blood whore," she hissed at Yui as the girl struggled for air, " you stay away from Ayato, he"s mine. I will not let some former human get in my way. If it weren"t for the fact he needs your blood I would have killed you already. But mark my words. If you so much as touch him, look at him, or talk to him, I will make your life a living hell. Got it?" Yui nodded and Kimi sneered. Letting her go, she watched as Yui struggled to regain her breath. Hearing someone call for her, Kimi instantly perked up. "Coming Ayato-kun!" she yelled cheerfully before waltzing out of the room leaving Yui alone. End Flashback Ever since then Yui did her best to avoid the other girl. Luckily none of the others seemed to notice. Then again they didn"t notice a lot of things. Suddenly Yui felt the familiar queasy sensation in her stomach. Gritting her teeth she did her best to hide what she was feeling. A few minutes later they arrived at school. Yui quickly got out and moved as quickly as possible without looking to suspicious. Ducking into the nearest bathroom she quickly went into one of the stalls and locked it before spilling her breakfeast into the toilet. She emerged shakily a minute later. Going to the sink she pulled out the toothbrush and toothpaste she took to carrying with her now a days and brushed her teeth. When she was satisfied that her mouth was puke free she put her stuff away, washed her hands, and then hurried to class. She made it to her seat just as the bell rang. The teacher arrived a few minutes later. "Good evening class. I am pleased to announce that we will have two new students joining our class today so lets be sure to welcome them. You may come in now gentlemen," he said. The door opened and two boys walked in. The first one was tall brown hair that was tied back in a messy bun, with some strands hanging down to his neck and was parted to the right so that his bangs fell slightly over his right eye. His ears were pierced and his brown eyes held a look of irritation, which matched his frown. His arms were crossed. The other was shorter with chin length black hair that was grey at the tips framing his pale face while his neck length hair in the back was pin straight with a red beret on top. Some of his bangs fell slightly past his bored grey eyes. There was a scar across the bridge of his nose and one on his lower left cheek. "Class I"d like to introduce to Mukami Yuma and Mukami Azusa. Lets be sure to make them feel welcome," the teacher said. Yui felt an odd sensation. As if she had met these two before. They seemed so familiar. "You two can sit by Komori-san. She can show you two around school. Komori-san would you please raise your hand?" Yui did as the teacher asked and raised her hand. The two boys glanced over at her. For a moment Yui thought she saw some peculiar emotion flicker in their eyes before being replaced with their previous expression. The two sat down; Azusa to her right and Yuma right behind her. Azusa turned to her and gave her a shy smile. "Please take care of us Komori-san." Yui gave him a smile. "I will do my best Mukami-san." Yuma spoke up from behind them, "It gets confusing if you call us both Mukami-san. Plus we have two brothers I"m sure you"ll meet so feel free to just call us by our names," he said in a lazy tone. Yui turned around to him looking sheepish. "Ah your right Yuma-san, that would get confusing. In that case feel free to call me by name as well seeing as we"re seating partners," she said giving the intimidating boy a shy smile. Again Yui saw a flicker of emotion pass through his eyes before he once again looked disinterested. At that moment the teacher began class. As Yui sat there listening and taking notes she didn"t notice that Azusa sneaking peaks at her while Yuma stared at the back of her head both thinking the same thing. "It"s definitely her.' AN: Finally I"m done with it! For all you Ruki and Kou fans, they"re coming up in the next chapter. There is also a link on my profile for my Polyvore account with has picture"s of the OC"s and future things that will appear. Please be sure to review, I love hearing back from you. AN: Hey guys I"m back! Once again I want to thank you for all the reviews you guys are great. Special shout out to my awesome reviewers animejuliet, AnimeMango, MikaraRinna, Amazon Huntress, Alice, Famous0618, and my awesome beta! animejuliet: Thanks doll, love you to roomie :) AnimeMango: Aw you"re welcome! I had to make both brothers taken for a reason which will come up in the next couple of chapters. The heartbreak hasn"t even begun yet. MikaraRinna: I"m glad you like my story so far! Yeah Ayato is being a little bit bitchy and its going to get worse in the next chapter. Amazon Huntress: I hate when people are bullied to, I used to be. But yes Kimi is a f**kin bitch.I didn"t mind the cursing. Alice: Trust me even I want to beat the two of them up but we must be patient he"ll get better later. The reason nobody stood up for her is because they didn"t know what happened between Kimi and Yui. Even Ayato didn"t know Famous0618: I"m glad you like it so far! Chapter Three The Mukami brothers "And down this way is library," said Yui as she pointed to a set of double doors. It was her free period and she was currently showing Azusa and Yuma around, both who surprisingly had the same schedule as her. Noticing the disinterested look on both of her companion"s faces she was about to show them where the gym was when the sound of pounding footsteps reached her ears. Yui saw a blonde blur heading towards them. "Quick in here!" someone said hurriedly. Before she could blink someone had grabbed her arm and pulled her into the library. When she came to her senses she found herself hiding behind a shelf with an annoyed Yuma while Azusa looked amused. The person holding her was a boy with curly blonde hair that fell over his right eye, which Yui noticed, was a different color than his left eye. His right was red while his left was blue which were looking around cautiously. Both of his ears were pierced and his mouth was set into a frown. "Oi Kou," said Yuma annoyed his left eye twitching slightly. "What the hell was that?" Kou gave Yuma a serious look. "Fan girls," he said shivering, "crazy, crazy fan girls." Azusa gave the boy a bored look. "Ne Kou I know we"re used to your stupidity by now but you should probably let go of Yui-san before she freaks out," he said making Kou blink and notice Yui for the first time. Again she saw a flash of something in his eyes before he smiled. "Oh sorry," he laughed lightly letting her go. "I"m Mukami Kou, Azusa"s and Yuma-baka"s handsome older brother. Pleased to meet you...?" "Oh um Komori Yui pleased to meet you," she said giving a little bow. Kou looked at her for a second before pulling her into a hug. "Yui-chan is so kawaii!" he said cheerfully as Yui blushed. "How were brothers able to to befriend such a cute girl so quickly!" A vein throbbed on Yuma"s forehead. "She"s showing us around idiot," he said angrily. Kou pouted. "Lucky! You guys got a cute girl as guide, Ruki and I had boring guy guiding us," he complained. Suddenly a voice spoke up from behind them. "So this is where you ran off to Kou," said a calm voice. The group turned to face the person who had spoken to them. Before them stood a boy with wavy black hair that was white at the tips. His ears were pierced and he stood a little shorter than Yuma. Silvery blue eyes gazed at the group before falling on Yui who was still locked in Kou"s hug. He raised an eyebrow. "And who might this be?" he asked, his eyes not leaving Yui. She managed she wriggle out of Kou"s grasp. "Komori Yui, I"ve been showing around Azusa-san and Yuma-san," she said giving a little bow feeling a sense of déjà vu. Ruki stared at her. "I see. I apologize if my brothers have given you any trouble. I am their elder brother Mukami Ruki," he said politely. Kou huffed crossing his arms. "Its not my fault fan girls are crazy! Its tough being an idol," he whined making Yui blink. "Kou-san you"re an idol?" she asked curiously. He looked at her shocked. "Do you not keep up with the media Yui-chan?" he asked flabbergasted. She shook her head. "I had a very sheltered childhood and I"ve never really kept up with the media," she explained as Kou nodded. "That explains it," he said and now it was Yui"s turn to look at him curiously. Ruki noticing her expression explained. "Kou is one of the most popular idols at the moment," he explained and Yui looked impressed. "Really? That"s really impressive!" she said making Kou laugh. At that moment the bell rang. "Ah we"d better get to class! It was nice to meet you Kou-san, Ruki-san," she said as she followed Yuma and Azusa to the door. Kou smiled brightly at her and waved goodbye. "You to Yui-chan! I hope we meet again!" he sang as the group exited the library. The moment they were out of sight the smile dropped from his face. "Its definitely her," Ruki said crossing his arms as Kou nodded frowning. "Did you notice?" he asked casually and Ruki glanced at him. "Her smell? Yeah I did," he said as Kou ran a hand through his hair. "This is going to be tougher than I thought," he sighed then noticed a familiar look on his brothers face. "I take it you have a plan?" Ruki gave him a smirk. "Tell the others to go straight home after school. I have an idea." It had been a week since the Mukami brothers entered school and Yui found herself spending most of her time with them. Usually because Kou would barge into their classroom for lunch and drag her away with his brothers trailing behind him. Much to the dismay of the Sakami brothers. Whenever one of them came upon Yui by herself one of the Mukami brothers would oh so conveniently come along and pull her away. "Odd, its like they know whenever I"m in trouble,' she thought. Not that she minded. Yui had been feeling weaker as the days passed as her chest pains increased and was barely keeping anything down. So far none of the brothers had noticed. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn"t notice where she was going and bumped into someone. "Oh I"m sorry I wasn"t-" she said quickly looking up but trailed off just as quickly when she saw who it was. Green eyes stared maliciously down at her making her blood run cold. "Ayato" she thought fearfully. He smirked at her before grabbing her by the arm. There was the sound of a door being open before Yui felt her body being slammed against a wall making her see stars. When she came to her senses Ayato had loosened her collar and without warning he bit her. She winced as the familiar painful feeling of having her life drained ran through her body. Ayato held her painfully close and Yui was sure she"d have bruises later. He continued to suck her blood before pulling away and Yui felt like she would collapse any minutes. "Heh your lucky I went easy on you today," he said and frowned when he noticed she was not looking at him. His hand shot out and he held her chin so that she was forced to look at him. "I don"t like others touching what"s mine," he growled making Yui shiver, " stay away from those Mukami guys." Ayato let go of her chin and Yui collapsed. He sneered down at her before exiting the room. After a few minutes Yui shakily got to her feet and made her way slowly back into the hallway. "I feel so tired,' she thought swaying slightly as she moved down the hallway. Her head ached and she felt faint. "Just a little more,' she thought seeing her classroom ahead. Suddenly she was falling forward as everything slowly became darker. Before she blacked out she felt a pair of arms catch her. When she came to she realized she was lying on something soft. Yui opened her eyes slowly, wincing at the bright light. She blinked and as her eyes adjusted she realized she was in an unfamiliar room making her sit up quickly. This only succeeded in making her dizzy. "Take it easy Yui-san," said a familiar calm voice a pair of hands gently pushed her back down. Yui put a hand to her head. "Where am I?" she asked hoarsely turning to face the voice. Ruki looked at her calmly. "Your in the nurses office. You fainted earlier in the hallway. Luckily the blonde Sakami brother caught you and brought you here," he stated and Yui for the first time noticed a familiar sweater covering her. "Shu,' she thought warmly holding it close to her. She sat up slower this time and noticed that the nurse was absent. "Where"s the nurse?" she asked softly wincing at how hoarse her voice sounded. As if reading her mind Ruki handed her a glass of water. She took it and gave him a grateful smile. "She had to step out for a bit. Luckily I had to drop something off and she allowed me to stay with since I told her I knew you. She left this for you," he said handing a small plastic bottle. Yui took it and could tell by the weight it was full of some liquid. "She said to drink it right when you get home. Apparently you blood count is low and it should help with the anemia since you have a history with it," he said as Yui nodded. "How long was I out?" she asked and Ruki glanced at the clock. "An hour I"d say? There"s only about thirty minutes left but you have permission to go home early. My brothers brought your stuff here. Do you need a ride home? We all have free period right now so it wouldn"t be a problem," he offered and Yui nodded. "That would be great thanks," she said smiling. "I can avoid any questions that way,' she thought. She stood up slowly and grabbed her things when the door suddenly opened. "What the hell are you doing?! You shouldn"t be up walking just yet," said Yuma looking irritated. Yui opened her mouth to respond when Yuma strode over to her and before she could blink, Yui suddenly found her being carried princess style by Yuma making her blush. "Yu-Yuma-san put me down!" she stuttered feeling embarrassed as they walked down the hallway but unsurprisingly he ignored her. "This is so embarrassing,' she thought burying her head in Yuma"s chest to hide her blush. Had she been looking she would of seen a small red tint on Yuma"s cheeks while Ruki was smirking. The minute she sat down in the car she found herself in one of Kou"s hugs. "Yui-chan we heard you fainted! Are you alright?" he asked frantically as Yuma rolled his eyes. "I"m fine Kou-san, its just my anemia," she said reassuringly though this seemed to make the others frown but they dropped it. The rest of the ride home was quiet and soon they were in front of the Sakami mansion. Yui thanked them for the ride and went inside but not before Ruki reminded her to take her medicine. When she got to her room she quickly changed into her nightgown feeling very tired. She pulled the bottle out of her bag and opened it. The medicine smelled odd making Yui wrinkle her nose. Taking a deep breath she downed the small bottle quickly grimacing after she finished. Immediately Yui began to feel drowsy and stumbled toward her bed. She shakily got under the covers as her head began to ache. However it hurt a thousand times worse then any time before. She closed her eyes and before she knew it, she was out like a light. AN:I know its short but trust me the next chapter is going to be longer. I might have to split it into two parts. So much is going to happen so be prepared. Also please be sure to review! I love hearing back from you guys and will answer any questions you ask to the best of my ability.

carolers.' Alex sent River a quizzical look before shouting back. "Just some carolers!" she yelled and she heard them laugh. "Tell them to go away!" Ray yelled and Alex shrugged. "No, I think I"ll take a listen!" she yelled and River pressed play on the CD player when a bunch of Christmas carols could be heard. "I know you"re wondering why I am here,' The next card read her mind and she nodded. "But I couldn"t leave before letting you know,' Her heart sped up. What was he getting at? "That no matter how far, or how different we seem, or who comes in between us,' She wrapped her arms around her as she waited for what the next card read. "I will always and most certainly be in love with you.' Alex froze as this card came up, but she couldn"t help grinning happily. She was trying so hard not to cry at the moment, and she knew if she were asked to speak, her voice wouldn"t come. "I know you might not feel the same way about me,' She waited for the other card, her breath held. "But just because someone feels a certain way about you, doesn"t change the way you feel about them, right?' She had to laugh as she nodded, knowing how true that statement was. "So, now before I go, I just wanted you to know, that I will always love you, no matter what. And,' She almost let her emotions slip. No one had ever told her that they would love her forever. "That I wish you would have a Happy Christmas this year.' He smiled lovingly at her before flipping the card over. "I will be thinking about you.' "River," She whispered her eyes full of tears. She was in awe. The person she had least expected to do something that meant so much to her, had been the one to do it. Never judge a book by its cover. Her mother"s words came flooding back to her head as she studied the grinning River Pierce. He was awfully handsome, and this had showed a completely different side to him. He had wanted that date, because he was head over heels for her. And now that she thought about it, she maybe, just maybe had some feelings for him. "Look up.' She looked at him, her face etched with puzzlement, before she did. "Do you accept?' Mistletoe. He was asking one thing before he left. So, opening her arms, she mouthed the word to him. "Yes." He put down the cards and walked up to her, engulfing her in a close hug. "I really do." River said, his voice quiet. "I think.I think I might too." Her voice was small, and she felt herself leaning in. Robbie laughed at Ray, who was making fun of a crying Lily. Stella"s father had just died, and Lily was tearing up. Ray, the jokester of the group had of course snatched the moment and began to mimic her. "I hate that evil man!" he cried, his voice in an unnaturally high pitch. Lily reached forward quickly and punched him, making him crumple in pain. "Oww!" "Alex must"ve really liked those carolers," Travis commented quietly to Robbie. "She"s been out there for a while." Robbie nodded, leaning backward and gently pushing back the curtain from the window. He searched for Alex and found her silhouetted on the steps.tight in an embrace with someone. His grip on the curtain grew tighter and his jealousy level grew increasingly when the person moved a bit and he saw who was in the embrace with her. "River." Robbie growled in a low breath so as Travis wouldn"t hear. The last thing he needed was her cousin pestering her about this. What happened next though shocked him as it would shock anyone. They kissed. It wasn"t a quick meaningless kiss as well, but a nice, passionate one that didn"t look right stuck on them. Or at least, it didn"t to him. When they broke apart, Robbie let the curtain drop. This wasn"t happening.it couldn"t be happening. Alex and River? That was just as good a match as he and Lily. "Robbie, you okay?" "I"ll see you when you get back alright? And we"ll talk then." Alex said, smiling. She was still in awe, and River looked happier than she"d ever seen him. "Okay." He kissed her quickly, smiling. "Have a good holiday.and good luck with the tourney tomorrow." "Thanks." She said, smiling at him. "I better go before they get suspicious." "Yeah." They parted and he collected his things before starting to walk to his car. "River?" she called and he turned around. She smiled and blew him a kiss. "Happy Holidays." A/N: Thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story! I want to send out a major thanks to that drama queen however, for believing in me and my writing in this story! You rock! Alex watched as River pulled off the curb and waved at her. She smiled and waved back, watching the car ride off into the night. "I"m not going to ask." Alex nearly jumped out of her socked feet as Parker emerged from behind the shrub in the neighbor"s yard. "Parker! You scared the heck out of me!" She hissed and Parker giggled before running up and poking her gently. Alex shivered from the cold and narrowed her eyes at Parker. She was grinning hugely and her brown eyes were dancing. "I never figured you"d fall for River, A." Parker teased and Alex grabbed her by the shoulders. "You can"t tell anyone." She pleaded and Parker rolled her eyes. "Hello? It"s me, Parker." Alex nodded, rubbing her arms. It was really cold out. "I won"t tell a soul." Parker smiled biting her lip. "Besides, you two are kind of cute together." Alex gasped in embarrassment before pushing Parker playfully. She just giggled, making her way past Alex and opening the door. "How much of the movie have I missed?" she asked as they walked into the Strong"s spacious front hallway. "Not much." Alex peaked into the living room and discovered they were half an hour in. "Per say half an hour." Parker nodded before waltzing into the TV room. "Ray, you better not have eaten all the pizza." "Travis!" Travis closed his eyes slowly as Alex blew up in his face. He"d just told her the unthinkable thing to say to Alex on the morning of a tennis tournament. "You can"t do this to me." "Alex, you"re not well enough to go to the tournament!" He said firmly and she slammed her hand down on her bed. She was sitting up in bed, glaring at him with a passion. "You went to bed last night at 8:30. You"ve never done that, not even on the night of a tourney." She scrunched up her face in hurt, anger, and disappointment. A mixture of all. "Especially on a pizza and a movie night." "I was tired!" Alex fought back, furrowing her brow. Travis crossed his arms, showing superiority to her maturity. "You were flushed and Ray had to help you up the stairs because you kept on stalling at the bottom." He reminded her and she fell back onto her pillows angrily. "Travis," She pleaded and he bit his tongue. She was trying to slip under his guard, something he could not let happen...again. "Please. This is my tournament. With River gone we"ve lost one of our key players-" "Alex, I"m not listening anymore." Travis settled, standing up. "You"re not going to school and you"re not going to that tournament." Alex almost screamed as Travis walked stiffly out of her room. So she woke up with a bit of a high temperature...went to bed early...and needed Ray to help her up the stairs and into her bed because she could hardly stand up on her own. What"s the problem with that? "There is no way he is making me stay away from that tournament." She spat coldly, looking at her phone. Who could she call? She could call Parker...but she didn"t have a car, which is what she needed to get to the center without showing up at school. Lily didn"t have a car either, and Robbie didn"t, but he"d talk her out of going any ways...who else was there? Ray. She almost hit herself in the head for forgetting about him. How could she be so stupid? Tim drove Ray to school on cold mornings like this...and she knew it was cold out. The dynamic duo would be back in action. Alex silently prayed that Ray would still be in his room. She reached over and grabbed her cell phone, just in case Travis picked up the phone and listened in on her conversation. Hopping out of bed while she dialed Ray"s cell phone number, she had to grab the bed to steady herself. So she was dizzy? She"d take a few aspirins and she"d be perfectly fine. "It"s go time." Ray"s usual greeting made her smile. "Hey Ray." "Alex, hey. How ya feeling?" Alex pulled out her Roscoe Cougar Tennis Team hoodie and smiled, pulling it on over her head. "Better." She lied, turning around and looking for her track pants. Her tennis gear was waiting to go in her duffel bag. "Listen, I need a favor." "Sorry." Travis apologized for about the tenth time and Alex felt kind of bad for lying to him and sneaking out. But she needed to be at that tourney. "It"s okay." Alex mumbled from under the covers. She had them pulled up to her chin so he couldn"t see what she had on. "Do you want me to phone Stam? Or Nick? Tell them you can"t make it?" He asked. She quickly shook her head. "No. I"ll...I"ll phone them later, okay?" Alex said, sending a glance towards her clock. "You better be getting out of here, Trav. You"ll be late." Travis looked at the clock and jumped out of the chair he"d pulled over to her side. "You"re right." He ruffled her hair and she smiled, wiggling further beneath the covers. "See you later A." "Bye..." She smiled. "Mr. T." He narrowed his eyes before walking out the door. The second he had, Alex jumped out from beneath the covers and ran to the top of the stairs. She waited for him to walk out the door, heard the lock click, and ran to the window. Once he was down the street and out of view, she ran back to her room and pulled on her socks and tennis shoes. "Sorry Travis." She muttered while pulling her thin jacket over her hoodie. She grabbed her bag and ran down the stairs, stopping at the kitchen to grab 4 aspirins. 2 for before she went on and 2 for after she got off. "Thanks Tim." She said after she"d reached the Brennan"s driveway. "No problem Alex." Tim said, climbing into the driver"s seat. Ray met Alex on the side of the car. "Since Waller"s letting most of the school go to the Tennis Meet, I"m coming with you." Ray said, taking her duffel bag and lifting it into the back seat. "Okay." Alex said, not really paying attention. She hugged Ray after this. "Thanks for doing this Stan-Man. I really appreciate it." Ray hugged her back before tickling her. "No problem, Strong-Girl." She giggled and they both reached for the passenger seat door. "Hey!" Alex crinkled her nose at him. "Ladies first." A/N: I would like to dedicate this chapter to that drama queen! Happy birthday! Ray sent an unsure glance towards a rather pale and flushed looking Alex, who smiled at him as they both got out of the car. "See you Tim. Thanks for the ride!" Alex said gratefully, leaning in through the open car window and kissing his brother on the cheek. Tim smiled and made way to pull out of the Roscoe Sports Complex parking lot. "See ya big bro!" Ray called after the speeding vehicle, putting his arm gently around Alex when they both turned to the large building. She looked a bit unsteady. "You okay, A?" Alex smiled wearily, taking in a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah, I"m great. Just a bit nervous that"s all." "Alrighty then." Ray said, frowning at her. But his composure was almost gained back as quickly as it had left as he whooped in excitement. "Let"s go kick some Surrey Eagles" butt!" .... Kim slipped her headphones on as the plane took off. She hated the squirmy feeling she got in her stomach when she flew, and sitting beside River was no comfort to the squirms. "Kim?" River tugged on her headphone cord, making her ears ring. She rolled her eyes before tugging one side of the headphone off. "Kim?" "What is it River?" she asked impatiently, letting out a sigh of relief when the airplane had inclined back to its horizontal state. River frowned at her before answering, wringing his hands nervously. "I miss her already, and we"ve barely left Roscoe." He muttered and she smirked, patting his arm reassuringly. "What? I do." "Don"t worry. You"ll get over it." She said with a tinge of a sneer in her voice. Kim would never be able to tell him that she thought the fact he would actually miss Alex on the cruise was cute. "Oh, thanks." He muttered, picking up his set of headphones and pressing play on the Discman in his lap. "Now, I"m going to ignore you for the five hours we"ll be on this plane." "Good plan." She agreed picking up her magazine and flipping to the first page that wasn"t full of advertisements. This would be a long flight. ..... "Do you think they"ll have swimming pools on the cruise?" Kim rolled her eyes again, frowning at the sound of River"s teasing voice. It hadn"t even been two hours and he was already bothering her. She pulled off her headphones and glared at him. "I suppose so." She said stiffly, realizing the joke behind this. Well, it was only a joke to him. To her, it was her worst fear. "Do you still remember that day, Kimmy?" River asked, his voice sugar coated and dripping with annoyance. She nodded, trying to concentrate on reading the article she had out in front of her; How to Get the Perfect Curls in 10 Steps. She fingered her long hair, which she"d straightened for the trip. It would get blonder that way. "Of course I remember that day. It was the day my fear of drowning started." Kim mumbled venomously, hating the way his face lit up. She remembered clearly, like it had happened yesterday... "River! Stop trying to run ahead of me!" Kim yelled, cringing slightly at the intense smell of chlorine. Her best friend, River Pierce, ran idly ahead of her, jumping into the indoor pool at her grandmother"s ranch. Both the Pierces and the Carliles had been invited there for Easter dinner, and River and Kim had decided to go swimming. "Did you think I was going to let you have the first dive?" River teased from the water. Kim gulped, peering over the edge. River had dove into the deeper end of the pool, something that she couldn"t do without her floaters on. "Come on, Kimmy, dive in!" She stared cautiously at his head, bobbing up and down in the water. "I don"t know. It"s the first time I"ve swam without my floaters on." Kim said, thoroughly embarrassed at telling him. "You swim with floaters?" His tiny pitched voice jeered and she frowned. "Yes. I just haven"t learned how to swim yet." She sniffled, crossing her arms. River pulled himself out of the water and stood next to her, grinning menacingly. "I can teach you." He offered, smiling at her. She shook her head violently, crossing her arms tighter. "No." "Why not?" River asked, trying his best to sound innocent. But Kim wouldn"t listen to him. "Because...you"re a boy and I don"t want you to teach me." She said shortly. River raised his eyebrows, puffing out his chest and setting his bawled fists on his hips. "But Kimmy. I"m in level eight in swimming lessons. I know what I"m doing." He insisted, rushing behind her and setting his hands on her shoulders. "On the count of three. One...two...three!" River plunged her into the deep water, and Kim struggled to stay up. "Ri-River!" She gasped, flailing her arms around and trying to stay above the water. "H-help me!" Her arms got too tired and she went back down, crying. She was going to drown. "Kim!" Her father"s strong voice rang out in the room and Kim fought to stay up in the water. "Da-Daddy!" She called and suddenly he was in the water beside her, holding her up. "It"s all his fault," She was crying, clinging to her father. "River pushed me in." "I didn"t mean to! I was just trying to teach her to swim!" "Ha ha, I will never forget your face!" River laughed and Kim moved her foot quickly to his shin, digging the pointed tip of her heels into his leg. "Ow!" "If you hadn"t been so persistent..." She hissed, crossing her arms and looking out the window. A silence broke out and River spent it cradling his sore shin. It annoyed Kim, so once again she turned to face to him. "Look, this trip isn"t going to work if we can"t agree to stay friends and not bite each other"s heads off with..." She paused, narrowing her eyes at him. "Painful memories." "Fine." River said through clenched teeth, rubbing the spot on his leg where she"d kicked him. "Fine." She agreed, turning back to her magazine. Another silence past and River tried to contently watch the movie over head (The Forgotten) but couldn"t find peace at it. "But for the record, Kim, I am sorry that I almost drowned you." He said, turning to her. She just smiled blandly, continuing to read. "And if I recall, I spent the next two days saying sorry for it." "I know," She smiled, flipping the page. "I just wanted to hear you say it again." ...... "Two aspirins? Alex, are you sure you"re allowed to be taking those?" Alex rolled her eyes and swallowed the two pills with the water, watching Ray scold her as she did. If she didn"t take them, the headache and dizziness wouldn"t go away. She wouldn"t last two minutes in this tourney if she didn"t...and she owed it to her team to be there. "I"m allowed to Ray. It"s not like I"m snorting cocaine or something." She said, twisting the lid back onto her water bottle. "Stam? Have you seen where I put my animal crackers?" Her friend"s raven black head poked up, looking around the room. "I think you put them behind your bag, Alex." She offered and Alex nodded, setting out to walk, then pausing as a wave of dizziness came over her. Ray raised his eyebrows at her and quickly went to look for them. "I found them!" He called and Alex made her way to a bench. The dizziness and the headaches were killer and she hoped desperately that the aspirins would kick in before she went on. "The crackers will help the queasiness." Stam whispered gently and Alex tried to smile at her. She could barely open her eyes without feeling the soreness of the bright lights. "Here they are." Ray said, handing her the bag of animal crackers she"d packed herself. She gratefully took them and popped a lion into her mouth. "If you don"t mind me asking, why did you bring animal crackers?" Stam gasped at him and Alex smiled shortly. "You don"t know the story behind the animal crackers?" Sophie, who had been standing near them, asked, hand on her hip. Ray shook his head, looking around at the team members. "Ever since I started playing tennis with my friend from London, Andy, he"d always give me animal crackers before we went for a tourney with our team. Whenever he did, we"d win. And well, whenever he didn"t, we"d always end up loosing." Alex said, blinking back the tears that came with mentioning Andy"s name. "So I always do now." "Oh..." Ray nodded, sitting down beside Alex on the bench, his concentration etched face pulled on. "So, who"s this Andy guy, and how come I never heard of him?" Stam and Sophie turned away quickly, both knowing Alex needed some time with Ray. "Andy Star was my best friend when I was younger and lived in London." Alex said with a bit of difficulty. She"d never bothered to tell anyone about her best friend in London, or her life back in London for that matter. The only person that knew about Andy was Travis, and he"d promised to keep it a secret. "We played tennis together, and when he moved away to California, well, that"s when I went to the prep school and..." She trailed off, already knowing she was giving off too much information. "Oh." Ray said, shuffling uncomfortably. "I"m sorry. It"s just, well, you"ve never bothered to talk about it..." Alex cut him off before he went on and on, making her even more miserable. "It"s okay Ray. How were you supposed to know? I"ve never told anyone before." She sighed, finally feeling the aspirin kick in. Alex accepted the courage and strength to stand up and she used it, hoisting herself off the bench and swatting Ray away when he tried to help. "Any ways, I think that I should be going..." "Alex!" Nick"s loud voice rang through the locker room. "Time to go!" "Coming!" She yelled, relieved she had an excuse to leave. Ray got up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, spinning her around. "Alex, I don"t like you running away when we try to actually have a serious conversation." He confessed, staring at her with serious eyes. "I want you to know you can talk to me." Alex smiled, liking the fact he was being so honest with her. "I know Stan-Man. But I really have to go now." She said, reaching forward and hugging him, partially leaning on him from the headache"s sting. "We"ll talk later, okay? Just be there for me now, cheering in the stands." He hugged her back tightly, nodding. "Alright." They both leaned back at the same moment, smiling. "Now, let"s go kick some Eagle butt!" ...... "I still can"t believe Waller is actually letting us out of school to watch the tennis game!" Parker exclaimed excitedly, sliding into the seat beside Travis while Megan followed her. Travis nodded, frowning at the cheerleaders who were performing the Roscoe High Song while dancing. "Yeah. Alex will be sorry that she missed it." He said quietly and Parker looked at him intently. "I still feel really bad about making her stay home." "Don"t feel bad." Parker reassured him, elbowing his arm. He smiled halfheartedly at her. "Alex will understand that you"re just looking for what"s best for her." Robbie laughed from beside Travis and Travis frowned again. "Yeah, but the problem with Alex is that she thinks because I"m younger than her by like 6 months that she still has power over choices." Parker nodded at Travis, studying his worried face. If she knew Alex, she knew she would be

moment was her reassuring voice. "Jay and I were just talking in private for a moment." "Oh," He nodded, his blue eyes flickering to Jay. Of all places he"d had to drag her off to, the back of the pizzeria had had to be it. Way to go Jay. Way to go. "Is everything alright?" "Yeah," Carmen smiled, coming up and wrapping an arm around his waist. He felt the familiar sensation fly up in his cheeks. Everything will be fine, Stacy. "Everything is fine." ...... Quietly, Carmen shut her window closed gently, trying her hardest to not make a sound. It was almost two a.m. and she"d been out late with the boys at a Zephyr Shop party until Stacy had finally persuaded her to come on a drive with him. After Sid had promised to make it home safely, she"d obliged, staying out with the blonde for nearly an hour before she"d asked him to drive her home after checking the time. She smelt like the salty ocean air with a mix of smoke, her rose perfume from earlier that day barely recognizable. Carmen wanted nothing more than to go have a shower, but she knew that if she started the shower this late, her mother would more than likely catch her. Pooka"s tiny head peaked up from the end of her bed before setting back down again. At least someone had been waiting for her. The clash of clay wheels against the heavy floorboards made her jump, and she gasped as she clutched at her chest. Her room was dimly lit, so she could only see the outline of her mother after her slender feet that were bathing in the pale moonlight. Her legs were crossed, as usual, and she was dangling her foot up and down. "Mom," Carmen gasped, her voice uncontrollably shaky. "You scared the hell out of me." A light giggle came from her mother as she brought something up to her lips and in the dark shadows, Carmen could see the glint of a wine bottle in her hand. Oh...no... "Oh Carmenn," The slur in her voice extended the end, driving it into Carmen"s brain and driving chills up her spine. "You think tha" youu were sscared? How do you theenk I felt when I walked inn here a" onne in the morning to find my daughter gonne?" And instead of hearing the clink of glass against a surface like she"d been hoping for, she heard the sickening grunt of her mother as she staggered to her feet. Taking a step back, Carmen"s hand grazed the wall behind her. "Where"s Ron?" She asked, her voice quiet and scared. Her mother only got like this when she was really upset. Something must have happened... "Ronn? He"ss onn a bussinesss trip...yep...one hugee business trip," Sonya laughed, bringing the bottle to her lips as she stumbled forward into the light. "And you...where you"ve beenn all night is one hell of a mystery to me." She was up against the wall now as her mother took stumbling steps towards her, the almost empty wine bottle in her hand swaying dangerously. "Please, mama," Carmen pleaded, biting her lip. Maybe her lie would work one more time? "I was at Sid"s hou-" "Don"t lie to me you little bitch!" The scream came as a shock to Carmen and she felt tears sting her eyes as she pressed herself against the wall harder, wishing it to go further. "I wennt over to their house and they said that youu and Sid were probablly at a party ," And all the lies, all the excuses that had been covering her up until that minute came crashing down on top of her head as she stared at the drunken woman in front of her. "Now...why would Kim Colombino tell me tha" if you were upstairss the whole time?" "She wouldn"t," Carmen said, feeling like a little girl again. Only this time, Jamie wasn"t at her side, clutching onto her hand for dear life as they both faced their screaming mother. She remembered the nights when they"d both huddled under a blanket in the middle of their room, a flashlight lighting the space for them as they tried to not listen to their parents fight and argue downstairs. "But mom, I-" Slap! The cold hand left a searing pain right across her cheek, a red mark remaining there as a scar. The last bottle of tears uncorked and spilled over as Carmen brought her hands to the side of her face, biting her lip as she tried not to cry out. "I"m sick of your liess, Carmenn. I am sick of your lies," Her mother hissed, draining the last of her wine. In all her disgust, Carmen could almost feel the thick, silky beverage sliding out of the bottle and through her mother"s mouth. Now she had a weapon...and Carmen...Carmen had Pooka. The small mutt had begun barking as soon as her mother had slapped her, and the drunken woman turned to the dog. A twang of worry fell through her body and she heard herself whimper a plea. "And I am sick of thiss mutt!" Sonya took a drunken swing at the dog, which jumped quickly out of harm"s way before the bottle could come an inch away from him. "Leave him alone!" Slap. She took another hit for her dog. But now Carmen was more angry than scared...how could she do this to her own daughter? "St-stop it." "What the hell did you just say to mee?" Her mother"s slur caused fear to jump around in her whole body, but instead of cowering, Carmen straightened up and glared at the woman. She had no right to be talking down to her...especially when she was family. "I told you to stop...it..." She stuttered, and that was when the wine bottle came crashing down on the wall beside her. ...... Sid tapped softly on the window of Carmen"s bedroom. He knew the way to get up the drainpipe and through the window without breaking any of the delicate flowerpots like he had the first time. Luckily, Anita had been the maid that day, so she"d covered up for him with the excuse that a bird had hit the window and knocked it over. "Carmen?" He said softly when no one answered. Nimbly setting his fingers below the bottom of the window, he opened it with ease. That was odd...Carmen almost never slept with her window unlocked. Crouching low to climb in, Sid pulled off an odd aerial somersault, landing in a pile on her floor. Letting out a loud grunt, Sid hurriedly sat up to assure her he was okay. "Tada!" His grin was large and his back was hurting from the stunt he"d just pulled off, and he eagerly looked around for her smiling face. She was probably still waking up, grinning lazily at him before flopping back down on her bed and making some crack at his expense. But as his eyes traveled to her made bed, he felt his stomach falter. "Carmen?" Sid repeated again, this time in a whisper. Hopefully, her mom was working or downstairs...or else he would find himself in a lot of trouble soon. "Carmabelle? Where are you?" Grabbing onto the side of her dresser to help him get up, Sid heaved himself off the floor and dusted himself off as he looked around her room. "Carmen?" He didn"t get her voice in response, but Pooka did run over to greet him. Sid"s smile widened at the dog and he immediately bent down to pick him up. Pooka was as cheerful and yippy as Carmen was on good days and a relief when you needed love. "Hey Pooka," Sid grinned, barely getting a feel of the dog"s fur before he barked and trotted off to the side of Carmen"s bed, frequently glancing behind him. What are you trying to tell me? Frowning as he followed the dog, Sid froze when he saw two bare feet limply lying beside the bed. His throat became dry and he tried to convince himself that she"d rolled off the bed and hadn"t woken up. His eyes drifted to her lilac sheets, the welt growing in his throat as he noted the smooth sheets. And then...blood. His feet jumped to the other side of the bed before he even had time to think. She lay there, her brown hair thrown above her head, her pretty face bruised and blue, a small treacle of blood staining from several wounds in her body. Sid"s stomach revolted for a moment and he felt the sting of oncoming tears. "Oh...oh shit..." ...... "Stacy!" He had just finished saying hello when someone shouted at him from the other end of the line. After a long day at work, he had just come home to change before heading out to skate with the boys. "Stacy, it"s Sid." "Oh...hey man," Stacy said awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to the boy over the phone. This was the first and probably the last time he would speak with Sid over the phone. But the rushed urgency in his greeting comment suddenly dawned on Stacy. Was something wrong? "What"s up?" "It"s Carmen." ...... He couldn"t breathe...it had taken him a few moments to actually touch her to make sure she was still warm. She was cold, but still warm enough. And her pulse...he had no idea where to check for that. Sid had kneeled on the ground and moved her head to his lap, gently stroking it as he grabbed the phone on her desk and quickly dialed the numbers he"d somehow memorized. "What about Carmen?" Stacy"s reply was quick, and Sid felt his throat dry up as he tried gently slapping her face again. It didn"t work and she continued to lie there in his lap, her blank sleeping face staring up at him through closed eyes. "Sid." "Oh, right," He stuttered, shifting his weight. Still, nothing. "She"s hurt...I don"t know what happened...but, Stacy, she"s not waking up and she"s barely breathing and she"s really cold an-" "Wait, slow down!" The yell coming from the receiver made him squint, but he didn"t move the phone from his bad ear. His good hand was currently stroking Carmen"s head. "How did she get hurt? Sid, is she bleeding?" "Yeah, dude, she was...it"s like, everywhere...on the floor..." "And she"s unconscious?" "Yeah...well, she"s still breathing, bu-" "Sid!" The bark made him flinch again. "Have you phoned an ambulance? Or called for help? Or anything?" Sid let out a shaky sigh, frowning as Pooka let out a low moan. He wasn"t the only one trying to wake her up. "No...I...dude, I panicked, and I phoned you," He let out a low laugh, his palm against her cold face. "You"re always the sensible one out of us stoners..." "Sid, you need to call for help...hang up and call 9-1-1," Stacy said, the urgency in his voice shaking the boy slightly. "I"ll meet you at the hospital..." "Okay...okay..." Sid barely had time to reply before the click of Stacy hanging up reached his ears. Without bothering to put the phone back on properly, Sid gently placed Carmen"s head down on the floor, giving her one last glance before screaming. "Help!" (a/n: So you can all kill me later if you think I"ve made you wait far too long for the update of this story, more or less any of my stories. But don"t blame me! Blame my teachers who love to torture me with oodles and oodles of homework and culminating activities. It"s all their fault anyway...you know the drill. Read it and review!) Chapter Nine: Can"t Stand the Wait "Help!" The clock seemed to be moving even slower than it ever did. Sid bounced his knees in his seat, his eyes scanning the room wildly. How long had he been waiting now? Half an hour? One hour? Stacy hadn"t even shown up yet, and the doctor"s weren"t telling him anything. He knew very well how useless hospitals could be...especially when the news was bad and friends were waiting in the waiting room. His brown eyes flashed towards the counter again where the lady dressed in a white nurse"s uniform was talking on a phone. Anxiously, Sid stood up from his uncomfortable chair and stumbled over to the counter. He couldn"t wait any longer. "Excuse me?" He said, his voice wavering as he stuttered. The woman looked up from the phone and nodded, holding up one finger to signify she"d be with him in one moment. Sid nodded, tucking his hair behind his ears as he waited. His hands were still shaking, and he felt as if someone was holding him down by his chest. Carmen had been so bruised, so bloodied up...he still couldn"t shake that horrible feeling out of his system that he had been too late. "Can I help you young man?" The nurse asked. She"d set down the phone, and Sid wondered if she"d done it voluntarily or because she knew she had to. "Um, I was just wondering about my friend? Carmen?" He took a deep breath as she glanced over to the computer flashing green words across the screen. "C-Clark. Carmen Clark?" The keyboard clicking under the nurse"s fingers was making him twitch, and he let out a shaking sigh. "She uh...she came in here a while ago. Emergency-" "The doctors are still working on her, sir," She said calmly, clicking the mouse. The screen went back to the green lettering that read "welcome" on the screen. Vaguely, Sid chuckled in his mind. Why would they have welcome in a hospital? It was a prison within itself...anyone who thought anything less had something wrong with them. "I"m sure someone will let you know as soon as they can what"s wrong with her." "She was beat up bad, that"s what"s wrong with her," Sid snapped, his eyes turning down in a plea. "Isn"t there anything you could tell me? I mean, is she stabl-" "Sid!" Stacy"s voice rang across the room and Sid spun around quickly, sighing in relief when he saw the blond boy walking across the room. "Where"s Carmen? Have they told you anything yet?" Sid began wringing his hands as Stacy stopped short in front of him, the nurse behind the counter smiling kindly at him. "Hi." "We are trying to get as much information on Miss Clark out as possible, sir," She repeated. "Could you please take a seat? Doctor Sherara should be out in a few moments." "Thank you," The calmness in Stacy"s voice shocked Sid into an expression of confusion, and the blond nudged him over to the seat. "What...have you ever heard of manners before Sid?" "Hey, I know how to be polite," He said in defense, plopping back down into his seat. Stacy sat down in the seat beside him, and for the tenth time in that small period of waiting, Sid winced at the uncomfortable feeling of the chairs. "Dude...I so need a joint right now." "Carmen"s in the hospital and all you care about is weed?" Sid had been expecting that biting remark and only gave him a lopsided grin before turning his attention back to the wall in front of him. He"d started to bounce his knees again. The bright lights weren"t helping the nervousness he was feeling. "How did she get hurt?" "I told you Stacy, I don"t know," Sid mumbled, snapping his head to look at him. He began to speak before stopping again. He did have a clue as to who it was that had hurt Carmen, but he didn"t know how stupid it would sound. Especially to Stacy, who always managed to have common sense in tow. "I do have an idea though..." "Well, let"s hear it," A nurse passed by them with a patient in a wheelchair. He looked like he was barely alive, with bruises on his face and scars running up and down his shaved head. "Sid." "Oh, right," He snapped back to reality as the patient was wheeled behind a door. That could be him in a few months. "I think her mom might have been drunk last night when Carmen got home." "You think her mom was the one who did that to her?" Stacy whispered, and Sid just nodded in reply. He could tell that by the look on Stacy"s face he was trying to process what that meant. "Her mom? Not her step dad..." "No, her mom, Stacy," Sid repeated. "Look, a while back, I was staying the night at Carmen"s house and I noticed she had a huge bruise on her stomach. I"ve noticed a few scars in places too." "You think her mom beats her?" The questions were getting on Sid"s nerves, and he straightened up in his chair, his face scrunched up in annoyance. "I know her mom beats her, she told me that she does," Stacy"s blue eyes had settled into shocked a while earlier, but they suddenly closed in remorse at these words. "She gets drunk...and angry that Carmen"s still around." "But why didn"t you t-" "Excuse me, Mr. Colombino?" Sid"s eyes darted from staring in concentration at Stacy to glancing hopefully at the same doctor he"d seen bring Carmen in. "Yes sir?" He stuttered, his voice cracking. He was nervous for her and what she could be facing...what she would remember...how she would feel...all the questions he knew would probably come from this. "Miss Clark was missing a great deal of blood, but we managed to fix that up, along with the numerous gashes she has," The Doctor said, as though his voice was an auto machine. He"d heard that tone too many times not to realize that she wouldn"t be leaving here without some form of consequence. "However, she will need to be on several medications for some weeks, speak to the police about a report, and perhaps stay in the hospital over night. Tomorrow, however, she has permission to go back home." "Thank you very much sir," Sid nodded, standing up quickly. "Could we see her?" The Doctor"s eyes flashed down to Stacy"s long blond hair, sun burnt face, and weather worn clothes, the usual flicker of distaste following in his eyes. That had happened when he"d seen Sid...but after hearing his last name, things had changed. "Of course," He said stiffly before turning away from them, making his way over to the desk Sid had been standing at only moments before. Stacy had stood up beside him, wringing his hands as he nervously glanced around the waiting room. "So? Should we go?" ...... "I look like a train wreck. Don"t you dare come in," Carmen"s stubborn request from her bed was ignored as Stacy and Sid quietly entered her room. They"d found the room with the help of a caring nurse after the doctor had mysteriously disappeared, and for everyone"s sake had taken a small breath before they"d come in. Carmen, however, had seen them from her bedside already. She was smiling tearfully at them, her split lip causing her eyes to cringe every time she tried to smile. Her hair was falling around her face in chestnut locks, and her face was slightly swollen, the blackening bruises on her face making her look rough. Her arms were limply sitting at her side as she sat up with the help of several pillows and the angled hospital bed, large bandages covering three places on her arms. "You don"t look too bad," Sid said cautiously before speed walking towards her. Stacy, however, stayed rooted to the ground. It had been his fault that she had been out late...that she"d had to sneak in through her window. It was his fault that she"d gotten a beating from her mother. He"d promised Sid that he wouldn"t say a thing to her about her mom unless she told him. It would be better that way. "Right Stacy?" Sid was hugging her gently and it looked as if she was trying not to cry. She was stubborn that way...and he loved that about her. "Right," He echoed slowly, his eyes falling down to the ground as he stared at his hands. "Carmen, I"m so sorry." "It isn"t your fault Stacy," She said quietly. The softness of her voice was unusual to him...it sounded so full of pain. "You had nothing to do with it." "I kept you out the extra hour," Stacy gasped, taking a step towards the bed, his face softening as he looked at hers. "I made you sneak back in. It"s just all my fault, and I"m so sorry." "Stacy," Her range had changed to firm and she patted the side of the bed that Sid wasn"t sitting on. "Come here." Hesitantly, he walked towards her. He loved her for all it mattered, and the fact that she"d been hurt made him furious. With himself, and her bitch of a mother. "My mom was drunk. You wouldn"t have been able to control that. I wasn"t expecting her to be waiting in my room, and if I was, I wouldn"t" have gone home." Stacy sat down gently beside her. The light from the open window was highlighting where she"d been hit the hardest on her face. Carmen smiled wearily at him and Sid held her hand on the other side. "Promise me you won"t stay upset over this okay?" He nodded his head at her words, and he felt her brush his hand with hers. "Promise?" "I promise Carmen," Stacy whipsered, and she smiled again. "But you can"t go home, I"m not letting you. And you can"t stay at Sid"s cause your mom will look there first. And Tony and Jay"s houses just aren"t acceptable." "So I guess that leaves your house then dude," Sid mumbled from the other side of the bed. Stacy made to agree, but the sight in front of him made him stop. Sid"s head was resting on Carmen"s shoulder, and her head was resting slightly on his as she stared at his own face. "Although we could always hide you in the basement Carma...I think my mom would snitch though." "She can stay at my house," Stacy said quickly, and Sid"s eyes flickered to him. He wanted Carmen more than anything did...and if that meant keeping her at his house instead of Sid"s, or Jay"s, or Tony"s, then he would do it. "My parent"s won"t mind." "Okay," Carmen nodded, letting out a sigh. "But how are we going to get my stuff? And Pooka?" "I don"t know," Sid said as he looked back to the wall. "But me and Stace will come up with something for you Carmen. For now, though, you need to rest." "That"s what everyone"s been telling me lately," Carmen huffed, and Stacy watched her eyelids closing. "But I just don"t feel..." "I think she"s asleep," He commented several seconds later. Even under the bruises, he could see her face at peace and her breathing steady to a slow, warm pace. "Should we go?" "No, stay," Carmen mumbled, her eyes still closed. A smile spread over Stacy"s face...so she"d been waiting to hear what they"d say? "Please...I don"t feel like being here by myself anymore." "Of course we won"t leave you. Never ever again."

grabbing her hand. "No, no you haven"t Alex." He said. She looked away from his gaze and continued up the stairs. She knew that he didn"t mean to make her uncomfortable, but she just was. River had been acting completely different from his usual self, the whole time. "Come on. There"s a great view from the top." She said after not hearing his footsteps follow her. As they continued to climb to the top, River sighed. "I"ve never been here before." He said and Alex pulled on a determined face. "Really? It"s one of my favorite places in all of Roscoe." She smiled as she felt her emotions relaxing when she reached the top step. If she could choose one place in the world that was her sanctuary, the Roscoe Observation Deck would be her choice. "Cool." River said smoothly, following her to her favorite spot. The place beside the telescope. "Wow, this is a great view." From this spot, you could see all of downtown Roscoe and the forests beyond it. "Tell me about it." Alex sighed, crossing her arms and leaning them onto the ledge in front of her. He did the same, sighing deeply and looking side ways at Alex. She shifted uncomfortably. She knew that he was going to say something, seeing as he kept on starting, then stopping. "Alex?" he found the easiest word to say and she continued to stare out at the town instead of looking towards him. "Yes River." She stated more than asked. A part of her knew what was coming. But the part that actually counted to her was still in the fog. "Um..." He looked at her desperately. "Can you please just..." She turned her head to him and stared at him impatiently. "Sure." He paused, not knowing how to begin. "I don"t know if you know, but there is a reason I chose the ransom to be a date." River said, his hand slowly inching towards hers. She took a slight warning to this, but not wanting to be abrupt by moving her hand away. So she kept it wear it was. "Really?" She had tried to stop it from coming out of her mouth, but it she hadn"t managed to. "Yeah." His hand had reached hers, and he grabbed it tenderly. "Alex, I think I..." Alex took in a loud, shuddering breath, making him stop. She realized what she had done and added a fake shiver to it. "Sorry," she said. "I was just really cold." She waited a beat before speaking again. "Go on." "Okay. Well, I think I...I think I really..." He paused, squeezing her hand a bit. "I think I"ve really fallen hard for you." Alex stared at him blankly and he tried to smile. The silence grew longer with every second and he finally spoke. "Alex?" "Are you sure?" she said suddenly and he looked at her confused. "Excuse me..." "Are you sure that you really like me?" she repeated, clarifying the question. He scoffed out a laugh. "What do you mean, am I sure that I really like you? Of course! Why do you think I would tell you that if I didn"t?" Alex stared at him, with a hard expression dripped on her face. "I"ve been fooled before." Alex said coldly and he stopped smiling. "You"re different River. If you hadn"t noticed it." River straightened up, attempting to smile again. "I always have to put a mask on at school." He said, inching closer to her. A slight alarm went off in her head, but she shook it off. "What you"re seeing...that"s the real me, Alex. It"s the real me." "How do I know that?" she asked and he leaned closer to her. A tad bit louder, but not loud enough. "Would I lie to you...." he was cut off by his lips meeting hers. The alarm was blaring now and she could no longer ignore it, especially now. After about 15 seconds, Alex pulled away, horrified. If he couldn"t read her expression she knew she had, he would be an idiot. "I can"t do this..." she said, turning slowly and beginning to run. River chased after her a few steps, but then stopped. She was already down the first two steps. "Alex!" "Alex!" Bang, bang, bang. "Alex!" I waited till I saw the sun, I don"t know why I didn"t come, I left you by the house of fun, I don"t know why I didn"t come, I don"t know why I didn"t come, When I saw the break of day, I wished that I could fly away, Instead of kneeling in the sand, Catching tear drops in my hands, "Alex, please open the door!" Alex could hear Travis perfectly well. She"d come home to find him getting out the ingredients for Chinese food and had attempted to sneak upstairs unnoticed, but it unfortunately didn"t work. He"d asked her what was wrong and she"d ran upstairs, grabbed her robe and pajamas and ran into the bathroom. She need a deep bubble bath. My heart is drenched in wine, You"ll be on my mind forever, Alex sighed, just sinking deeper into the bath as she listened to the smooth tunes of Norah Jones"s old, but wonderful CD, Come Away With Me. She plopped it in the CD player, before she got into the large vintage bath, filled with luxurious vanilla bubble bath. "Alex!" There was a silence and she opened her eyes. Was he finally giving up? "Do you want dinner now?" She sunk further in the bath. "No." she said quietly and she heard him sigh. "Okay. Well, I was just going to tell you I"m not going to make it right now. There"s a Gandhi special on TV so I"ll watch that and make it at seven. Okay?" Travis"s voice came through the door and rang in her ears. His mom and dad...her aunt and uncle...were away in London. She loved them, but they were hardly ever home and it was usually just her and Travis at the Strong residence. Not that she minded. Out across the endless sea, I would die in ecstasy, But I"ll be a bag of bones, Driving down the road alone, "Okay." She answered and she knew what was coming next. "Are you okay?" he asked and she closed her eyes. "I"m fine." "Are you sure..." "Trav, I"ll tell you later okay? Right now, I just need to think." She said almost impatiently. He was always so secretive, but he never would dream of interrupting ones thinking. Which in this case, was a great thing. "Okay. I"ll just be downstairs is you need me." He said quietly and she nodded, forgetting he couldn"t see her. The warm water was calming her down...slowly but surely. My heart is drenched in wine, You be on my mind forever, River had kissed her. River Pierce...the most wanted guy in probably all of Roscoe had kissed her...said he had feelings for her. This was just all too weird. She stretched, getting rid of the kinks in her back and her neck. She sighed, sinking back into the bubbles and the water. "How can I deal with this?" she asked herself, breathing in the scent of vanilla. Something has to make you run, I don"t know why I didn"t come, I feel as empty as a drum, I don"t know why I didn"t come, I don"t know why I didn"t come, I don"t know why I didn"t come... "Travis might know." She reassured herself. "He always has some good advice. But then Lily and Parker might as well..." Travis set out two place mats on the small, black coffee table from China. He"d decorated it with Chinese themed cutlery and napkins, something to make Alex a bit happier than she"d sounded. Something had happened, and he thought it had to do with the date with River. His fists clenched at this. If he"d done something to hurt her... "Travis!" Alex"s soft voice cooed from the living room doorway. "You shouldn"t have." "Anything to make you smile." He said and she smiled meekly. "Unfortunately, it wasn"t enough. What"s wrong?" She fumbled with the cuff of her long silk robe she had on over her pajamas. She turned around and started walking towards the kitchen. "It smells really good Trav. I"ll put it out." Alex said and he chased after her. She was carefully dancing around the subject, but he knew he could chase her to breaking point. "Alex, don"t dodge the subject." He said as he reached the kitchen. She was ladling the steaming sweet and sour sauce out onto the chicken rolls he"d made. She"d gotten most of the stuff out onto the plates he"d set out and she paused, holding the ladle over the pot so the sauce wouldn"t drip onto the stove. "I"ll tell you later Travis." She said quietly, looking up at him and looking back down. He went to protest but she stopped him again. "While we"re eating." Travis helped her bring the meals into the living room. When they got there, he turned on the stereo and pressed the play button. The smooth sound of Kelly Clarkson"s song Low came on and Travis smiled. Alex"s Favorites Mix she"d spent all summer making. "So, what"s wrong?" "This is Lily." Lily answered her cell phone. "Oh hey Travis." "Lily, I really need to talk to you." Travis said. Lily sighed. "Sure. I"m just on my way to Parker"s house. We"re planning on going Secret Santa shopping." Lily said. She heard Travis sigh and she wondered what was so important. "So what"s up?" "She wanted to talk to you herself, but she was so pale. So I made her lie down and watch a movie." Travis said and Lily"s breath quickened. "Alex? Are you talking about Alex?" she asked and Travis scoffed under his breath. "Of course I"m talking about Alex." He said and Lily moaned apologetically. "Sorry." She said and he sighed again. "It"s okay. But it"s about her date..." "He what!" Parker exclaimed as she almost dropped a Zen candle she"d been holding in her hand. "I know! He kissed her!" Lily said, picking up a coffee mug, then putting it down. They"d been shopping for about 10 minutes when Lily had brought up what Travis had told her. "That"s insane!" Parker said, putting the Zen candle down. She was concerned about Alex now. She"d been a wreck when she"d seen her before her tennis practice. "Ooo, that"s cute." Lily said, picking something up before shaking her head and putting it back down. "Never mind." Parker laughed, then returned to all seriousness. "Well, I"ll talk to her tomorrow. She what she feels." Parker said, looking up at Lily, who merely nodded and continued looking. "Travis sounded really worried. He"s such a good cousin." Lily said, smiling. "They"ve got such a strong bond." "Yeah." Parker said, blushing a bit. She would tell Lily how she felt about Travis. She would. "Lil?" "Yes?" Lily asked, looking up at her. Parker blushed even more. "I need to tell you something." Ray accepted the hard slug he received in the arm. He deserved it...but it wasn"t entirely his fault. "Ouch! Okay, Alex, I"m sorry I did that! I didn"t know!" Ray yelled as he coward in front of another clenched fist. She paused, stopping and falling back onto the couch. The soft sounds of the romance scene in the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers played softly in the back round and Alex watched that for a minute. Her green eyes weren"t glaring at him for once and she sighed, looking at the screen. Ray sat down beside her, watching the movie as well. "Ray..." "So he kissed you?" he asked her. She"d left his name hanging and she knew that she"d just gotten lost in thought. "Yeah." She glanced at him. "I don"t want to talk about it now though." She was beginning to sound sleepy. He looked at her and noticed her cheeks were flushed. "Alex, are you feeling okay? You look kind of...flushed." Ray said, putting a hand to her head. "Alex, you"re burning up!" She couldn"t be her normal temperature. She was getting a fever. "I"m fine Ray...honestly, trust me on this. I should know." "You"re not going to school." Alex glared hard at Travis. She was standing in the middle of the kitchen, arms crossed and a calm, but hard look on her face. Her head was spinning, and she was getting hot then suddenly cold, but she would not let him win. She felt fine. "Travis..." she started, her voice ten times quieter than usual. "I"m fine." "Sure you are Alex. And I"m king of the world." He said sarcastically and she narrowed her eyes at him, making the burning sensation that had inhabited them sting harder. "Well, you"re sure acting like it." she snapped at him and he sighed, looking down. "You"re not feeling fine. Ray said that you were burning up last night, and you"re as pale as a ghost." Travis said, looking back up and reaching to touch her forehead. Alex swatted his hand away angrily and tried her best to glare at him, but her head began spinning. "I"m fine!" she said, taking in a sharp breath. The dizziness simmered down a bit, but she could still feel it spinning in her head. Travis looked at her pleadingly. "Just let me take your temperature and then we can decide..." he started but she stamped her foot on the ground and gasped in a lash of anger. "Travis! You don"t control me! You can"t make me not go to school!" Alex yelled (though it was hard because her voice had been put on a quiet tone) and Travis leaned back in astonishment. She wasn"t usually like this, and she knew it, but he couldn"t stop her from going to school. "And I"m older than you too!" She stormed out of the room, running upstairs and slamming her bedroom door. "Alex!" She ignored the call from him and moved to her desk at her window. As she began to slowly gather up her things, something outside caught her eye. "Ray?" she asked herself as she stared out the window. Ray was standing at his window, staring back at her, making notions with his hands. She squinted to see what he was mouthing. "Do-you-want-to-walk-to-school-with-me?" She read it clearly a couple times and gave him thumbs up before grabbing the rest of her books and shoving them in her bag. After she"d pulled on her jacket and her scarf and mitts, Alex checked her reflection in the mirror before turning and walking out of the room. ............................................................................................................ Slam! Ray jumped as the door to the Strong"s house opened and slammed shut, letting a very distant looking Alex out of it. "Hey." She said quietly when she reached him and he studied her face. It had lost most of its color over night. "Hello." He said, stretching the word out as they began to walk down the pathway. She seemed to be lost in thought as they reached the sidewalk, so Ray decided to start the conversation, a task he"d seemed to grow on since his days on RFR. "Why so glum chum?" "Travis." She mumbled and he sighed. Troubles with the Strong cousins...something that happened very rarely. Alex looked up at him, and Ray sent her a sympathetic glance. Partially because of Travis...and partially because her face matched the color of the snow on the ground. "Oh." He waited a few beats until saying his next question. "You feeling okay? You look a bit...under the weather." He looked around him, regretting his choice of words. The weather today was terrible. "I feel a bit flushed, but I"m fine, I promise. I"m just..." She paused, looking for the right word. "Tired." Ray nodded, but he didn"t agree with her. She"d felt like a furnace last night and she had fallen asleep on his lap...something the regular Alex would never have done. "Oh, okay." He said, not wanting to further her bad mood. "So, how are you going to avoid River...and Robbie today?" Alex sighed and Ray noticed her eyes gloss over. "I don"t know. But you have to promise to help me Ray. From both of them, okay?" She was pleading with him. Ray put a reassuring arm around Alex"s shoulder. "Don"t worry A. I will." He assured her and she smiled, letting her head rest on the top of his shoulder. Ray looked down at her and winced. She looked tired and pale...but still very pretty, something it would take the worst of situations to make happen. ............................................................................................................ Parker yawned, covering her mouth and lazily putting it back on her desk. History, to her, was the most boring subject on the face of the earth. Not that she didn"t respect history, for she did, but when it was just about how Roscoe had become, the interest level slipped past the bottom level and out of her mind"s grasp. Beside her sat Travis, whose straight posture and attentiveness made Parker envy his attention skills. Parker found herself glance over at him now and then and smile, thinking of the wonderful gift she"d bought him the night previously. "Class dismissed." Mr. Polchazack"s voice rang around the quiet room and it was suddenly filled with noise as the bell rang seconds later. "Hey Parker." Parker faltered in picking up her books. She turned her head to see Travis standing beside her, a nervous and worried look on his face. She recognized this immediately and swirled around to face him. "Hey. What"s up?" she asked and he sighed, rubbing his head. "It"s Alex." He said. Parker raised her eyebrows and collected her books in her arms. "What about Alex?" she asked, her voice dripped with worry. She"d been so quiet this morning when they"d had breakfast together in the cafeteria and she was as white as a ghost. Plus, she"d pushed away a home baked cinnamon roll with extra icing, her favorite thing to eat for breakfast, which was extremely rare. Parker had guessed something was up. "She blew up at me this morning when I suggested she didn"t go to school." Travis said, nodding his head towards the door. Parker began to walk towards it, but kept her focus on the matter in front of her. "Because she"s sick?" Parker asked, turning her head quickly back to him. "Yes. And the only one that doesn"t seem to know is herself." Travis said, a tone of frustration deep in his voice. Parker sighed, staring hard at the ground as they walked out of the classroom and into the busy hall of students. "Alex has always been like that. Reluctant to anything that held her back." Parker said sadly and Travis nodded. "And that whole thing with River and Robbie hasn"t been helping either." "Exactly. I wish that they would both just lay off." Travis mumbled and Parker suppressed a laugh. "That"s your protective side talking...which is exactly why Ray and Lily didn"t want you knowing about the dare." Travis looked up at her and she shrugged. "Just saying the truth Travis." There was silence as they made their way to the cafeteria. It was lunchtime. "Am I too protective?" Travis questioned as they entered the cafeteria. Parker looked at him. "I personally think it"s sweet." She said, trying to be helpful, but he just looked down. "Alex is lucky to have a cousin like you." "I guess." Parker sent him a sympathetic glance before looking around. "Speaking of Alex...where is she?" ............................................................................................................ Alex put her head against the cool wall and sighed in relief. It calmed down the spinning and the roaring of her headache...not that she wanted anyone to know that she was feeling ill. Travis had been right...she should"ve just stayed home. "Alex?" She straightened up. She couldn"t mistake that voice for anyone else other than the owner. Knowing this is why she didn"t answer. "Can we talk?" "Why, Robbie?" she asked, turning around to face him. When she did, she saw his head move back abruptly, as if she had surprised him. She knew the answer to that response...her face was extremely pale. "Are you feeling okay?" He ignored her question and asked her the question she had come to hate since she"d heard it every 5 minutes since this morning when she woke up. "Fine. Why?" she stated more than asked, as she made her way over to the staircase. But her head was spinning more sharply than it had been before and she stumbled over, almost falling completely. Robbie, thankfully, had been sensing this and ran up to steady her. "No, you"re not." He said sternly and she leaned her head back. He still had his arm around her waist and his other hand on her arm, which he could"ve removed. "Don"t turn into Travis." She muttered under her breath and he stopped walking. "Is that why he was so upset? Because you got into a fight with him?" Robbie asked and Alex leaned against him, not caring about what was going on between them anymore. She was too angry...too frustrated...to dizzy. "He wouldn"t let me go to school..." she fought back and he laughed a bit coldly. "And for good reason it seems Alex." Robbie"s voice had turned cold and convincing, but Alex wasn"t going to listen to him. She wouldn"t let anyone talk her out of missing practice today, especially only a few days away from the tennis tourney. "Just leave me alone Robbie." Alex said, her voice filled with frustration and Robbie sat her down on the stairs, turning her to face him. "No." Robbie said, staring at her with hard eyes. Her eyes burned even more than they had before as she bit back the tears. "Why not?" she asked in a whisper. He looked at her softly and he touched her cheek gently. She shivered at his touch, but moved away. If Ray was right... "Because you need someone to look after you Alex. You can"t be so independent all the time." Robbie said in a hushed voice and Alex felt his hands rest gently but securely on her shoulders. She looked up at him, knowing there were tears brimming in her stinging green eyes. She would"ve liked nothing more than to throw herself into his arms and start crying, to tell him everything...but she couldn"t. She knew he"d never honestly see past the "just friends" line with them. "Thanks Robbie." She said before getting up and walking past him. "But I don"t need it. It just wouldn"t work." Alex felt him grab her wrist, but she tore it out of his grasp, swaying to the side slightly. The world was spinning and she felt herself going vertigo. "Alex!" Robbie called, but the bell rang and she could hear the crowds coming out of the cafeteria. She was a fighter...and she would win the fight placed in front of her, no matter what.

statement and the two people who had been friends moments ago hung in a questionable state. "Was I moving too fast?" "Just a little." Pippa frowned, staring determinedly at the porch floor. She"d liked Wentz because he was sweet and treated her like one of the guys while respecting her female gender. And now...he"d tried to pull a Jay or a Tony, as most people from the Dogtown area would call it. "Shit," He cursed and a smile pursed her lips. "I need a joint." And with no other words, he disappeared back into the Alva residence, stepping into the life of the party. Pippa watched his retreating back with a frown on her face. Out of all things, she hadn"t wanted to hurt his feelings. And out of all things, that"s the one thing she"d managed to do. ...... Jay downed the rest of his drink, the chipped wood of the Alva"s front porch scratching against his bare back. It was too hot to not go shirtless, but that matter didn"t seem to appeal to as many people he thought it would. I need another beer...He thought as he watched several people mingle around Tony"s small front yard, giggling under the influence of alcohol and drugs while whispering sweet nothings into their partners ear. If he could change the way things were now, he would. Images of Pippa had been flashing in his mind all-day and leading towards the fact he"d ruined their friendship by letting that one moment happen. So much had happened in only a few hours...it felt like a lifetime for Jay. "So the porch...is that all?" Pippa"s voice crashed through his mind as he absentmindedly watched a couple laughing on the grass. His head turned and a flame burned deep inside of him as he saw her with Wentzel again...what would happen now? Tony"s house would go up in flames and she"d be the only one left in it? As Wentzel leaned into kiss her, Jay stood up from his position on the porch banister, crushing his plastic beer cup in his hand. If he could change the way things were now, he would. "What are you doing?" It was Pippa that leaned back, taking a few steps away from Wentzel and answering one of his rushed prayers. "I thought there"d been something going on between us." Even with the hurt and confusion in his friend"s voice, Jay couldn"t help but smile. You were wrong...she doesn"t love you...But Pippa"s silence stopped his thoughts. The effort she was making to not look him in the eye and the slight blush that painted her cheeks gleaming in the moonlight made him have second thoughts. "Was I moving too fast?" "Just a little." Her voice had a bit of ice in it and Jay"s grin got slightly smaller. What if she"d been thinking that when he kissed her? It had been out of the blue.... "Hey Jay." Kathy"s arms were slipping around his waist and his eyes turned to her as she slid in front of him. At first, Stacy and she had been going out for a bit...but before they"d started skating down Bicknell Hill, Jay had easily gotten that mess sorted out...but after he"d seen her with another boy at the more popular beach, their dating status had gone out the window. "Kathy." He nodded curtly, feeling in no mood to flirt with an ex. "Having fun?" "Could be having more." Tony"s sister grinned and slid her hand around his neck, pulling him towards her. Wentzel had disappeared as he got a quick glimpse of Pippa standing by herself and he pushed Kathy off of him, shaking his head. "Come on Jayboy. You know you want it." "Not anymore." He growled as he came up behind Pippa, grabbing both of her arms and starting to pull her towards the side of the house. "I need to talk to you." "Jay!" "Shouldn"t you be getting back to Mike?" Proud of his comeback, Jay turned to Pippa as he jumped over the side railing. "I got you." "You always do." She smiled as she hopped into his outstretched arms, her feet brushing against the ground before he let her down. Kathy was at the side now, glaring at the two of them with an estranged passion. "I loved you Jay Adams!" She cried and he realized the drunkenness in her voice. Raising a hand to her, he threw a rather rude hand gesture at her before walking with Pippa down the small side alley. ...... "Okay. What"s up?" Pippa knew her voice was dripped in worry, but she didn"t care. Jay"s abrupt behavior and the direction he"d come in made her wonder if he"d seen her and Wentzel on the porch. I really hope you didn"t... "I saw you with Wentz back there." He was leaning against the other house"s side, the small crack only being somewhere near two meters apart. "Anything going on with you guys?" "No..." She said, turning her head away from his curious eyes. Jay had always been her first call...the first person she"d told everything to. Even she and her mother didn"t have the closeness she and Jay shared. "I dunno...why? Would it bother you?" "Damn it, Pippa." He said, his words almost coming in a laugh. "Of course it would." A moment of silence washed through them and they spent it staring at each other, as if they were trying to resolve everything by staring. "Don"t...just don"t..." He was having trouble speaking, something that rarely happened with Jay Adams. He walked forward, taking both of her hands in his. "Jay...what?" Pippa said, though she already knew what was coming. "Jay?" a/n: Thank you to my good friend Ellen, who helped me write this chapter. Thanks a bunch Ellie! Warning, this chapter contains very sensitive topics. Read at own risk. "Jay...what?" Pippa said, though she already knew what was coming. "Jay?" His brown eyes were pouring into hers, sending deep shivers up and down her spine. If there was one thing Jay Adams was good at in life, it was convincing her to do things. And Pippa knew only too well what he was going to try and convince her to do next. "Don"t go after Wentz, Pip." She bit her lip as Jay"s voice drowned in pleading, his hands grasping hers tightly. "He"s not the right type of guy for you..." "How do you know what the right type of guy for me is, Jay?" Pippa sighed, raising her eyebrows as the slight remorse of letting herself say that hit her. Jay was her best friend, and if anyone knew who would be the type of person for her, it would be him...so why was she being so defensive? "I"m sorry Jay." Jay took in a sharp breath, as if he was going to say something else, but before he could, a large bang shook the wall she was leaning on, and directed their attention to the house. "Well, someone popped a speaker." She smiled, trying to lighten the mood. But Jay was soon staring at her again and she frowned, biting her lip. "You"re right...I don"t know what type of guys you go for." He said quietly. "I was just hoping that I did." Quickly, he leaned in and pecked her on the lips, pulling away just as fast and walking down the alley. As she watched his retreating back, Pippa cursed, kicking the wall behind her with her heel. She couldn"t handle the subject of guys and love triangles right now...one more thing, and she would end up drowning in a pool of her own confusion. ...... "Thanks for the ride Stace. I"ll see you Z-boys tomorrow." Climbing out of the front seat of Stacy"s car, Pippa turned back to wave to Stacy and Sid, who were both grinning at her from his old Ford. Sticking his head out of the back window, a very stoned Sid grinned at her. "Goodnight, beautiful!" He shouted as Stacy began to drive off, pulling onto the deserted street and disappearing in the dusk. Pippa watched them go as far as Zippo"s Gas Station before turning to the rickety stairs that led up to her apartment. Usually when she came home from Tony"s parties, Jay was with her when she got home...but tonight was different. When Stacy offered her the ride home, she hadn"t been able to find him anywhere she looked. "Now where did I put my keys?" She sighed as she reached the top level, hitting her arm on the rusted railing when she started to rummage through her purse. "Shit...that hurt." As she walked down the dark balcony, she paused at number 11, glancing at it with a slightly hurt expression. Where are you Jay? Finally feeling the cold metal of her apartment key, Pippa stopped short in front of number 12, staring at the window as she pulled out her key. The lights weren"t on, making the sheer curtains that covered the window glow with a certain dullness. Sliding the key into the lock, she quickly looked at her watch. 2:15 and her mom still wasn"t home? A wave of worry and dread washed over her as she turned the key, opening the door and pushing her way into her apartment. Silence met her when she closed the door, shoving her keys back into her purse after a few seconds, securing her notion about her mother. Where was she? There was hardly ever a car accident or fire in Santa Monica, at least around this area. But there was a lot of shootings... "Crap..." Pippa said, her voice shaking as she turned on the kitchen light. "Okay...calm down Pippa. You would"ve known by now if something happened...Philaine would"ve come to talk to you..." Her own words were calming her down, but she still needed the reassurance that everything was okay. And Jay was usually the one to do that for her. "Jay..." She sighed, throwing her purse on the counter. She couldn"t be feeling the way she was...especially about her best friend. They were exact opposites, as different as anyone could be, but as close as anyone could get. And yet, in her heart, Pippa knew she would probably have a better chance with Sid than she ever would with Jay. ...... As the boiling water holding the noodles hissed, she wiped off the tears running down her cheeks. Checking to make sure the sauce she was cooking wasn"t boiling over, she tried to ignore her growling stomach. The last meal she"d eaten was a plate of pancakes this morning seeing as the painkillers she"d taken had killed her appetite at the same time, so after going through many dishes, Pippa had decided to make spaghetti. "Mom loves spaghetti." She reminded herself as she checked the noodles. She was at breaking point. And after all these years, Jay"s conclusion was coming true...she was going crazy. Not that she couldn"t help it...life was too overwhelming sometimes. The steam hit her face and made it damp as she poured the noodle-filled water into the strainer in the sink. If I have enough left over, I"ll bring it over to Philaine and Donnie and Jay... "Hey sweetheart." Wiping another tear off her cheek quickly, Pippa turned around in excitement as her mother came walking into the apartment, shutting the door behind her and sighing deeply. "Sorry I"m home so late...I had work at the office, then Harley took me out." "Harley?" The name didn"t sound familiar at all and she caught the blush her mother smiled before she answered. "He"s a friend from work. We went out for a bit, that"s all." Amy smiled at her and Pippa tried smiling back as the scratches lining her back stung when she leaned against the fridge. "You"re making spaghetti?" "Yeah." Turning around and picking up the strainer, she emptied the noodles into the pot on the stove and turned the sauce"s element off. "I thought we could have dinner...you know, have a late night supper and talk. Like we used to." "Oh baby," Her mother sighed and came up to her, dropping her bag on one of the chairs. "I love you so much." Pippa grinned, turning back to the cupboard to get out plates. "I don"t know if we have any Parmesan cheese, but I can see if we do-" "Harley took me out on a date, Pip." The blonde"s hand tightened on the stove handle and she felt another tear slide down her cheek. She"d known, and she"d known she would be stupid to hope it wasn"t true. "For dinner...then back to his place...I"m assuming you don"t want to know the rest." "Good guess." Pippa sniffed and Amy"s hand fell on her shoulder. "I"m sorry hunny. I know I should"ve left a note or something...but it was really sudden and out of no where." "Okay." The spaghetti suddenly wasn"t very appealing and she decided to give all of it to Philaine, Donnie and Jay...she knew how very rarely their family got a meal that didn"t involve frozen fish sticks. Her mother"s arms fell around her shoulders and she winced when she hugged her tightly. "I think I"m going to go to bed now baby. I"ve got a rather early shift tomorrow...thank you for the thought though." Amy"s smile was tired as she kissed her daughter"s cheek, ruffling her hair as she did. "Goodnight sweetheart." Pippa watched her mother staggered off to her bedroom tiredly, trying to bite back tears of frustration as her scratches burned. ...... Knock, knock, knock. Loud raps interrupted Philaine"s sleep, and she moaned in response, covering her head with her pillow. For the first time in nights, she"d been able to fall asleep peacefully...and now an unwelcome guest was interrupting her sleep? Knock, knock, knock- "Okay! I"m coming!" She yelled and from beside her, Donnie groaned, grabbing her waist and trying to pull her back into bed. "Don"t go baby...just stay in bed. They"ll go away eventually." But as the third round of knocking sounded, Philaine had already pulled the covers off of her body. "Philly...come back..." She stumbled past Jay"s room and for a moment cringed at the powder blue walls that lined her house. They looked terrible in 3 a.m. light, and her groggy eyes made it no better for her to see them. Once I can afford paint... Her hand reached the doorknob and she twisted it, opening the door and coming face to face with Pippa. Smiling worriedly, the young blonde girl standing in front of her held out a dish. "Hi Philaine...I"m really sorry to be knocking on your door at this time of night, but-" "Oh no," Philaine sighed, waving her hand in the air tiredly. "I was up." "Oh...okay." In all the years she"d known the young girl, she"d come to realize that worrying her was the wrong thing to do in all situations. And even if her hair was ratty, the bags under her eyes were even more exaggerated, and she couldn"t see properly, she would pretend to have been up for hours just to give the girl some peace of mind. "I made you spaghetti." "Pippa! You didn"t have to...really." But none the less, the warm, clay dish was pushed into her hands. "Is this just because?" "Well...I hadn"t eaten yet so I made some dinner for me and mom..." Pippa trailed off and Philaine turned slightly, setting the dish on the counter. "Did you know about Harley?" "All about him." The glimmer of tears in her eyes couldn"t be missed and Philaine started to reach out to Pippa. But the girl shook her head, taking a step backward. "You know that you don"t have to be strong Pip." "I know." She smiled shakily, crossing her arms. "Is Jay home?" The faint slam of a door in the back round would mean nothing to anyone but her...Jay was home...and why was he sneaking in? "I didn"t hear him come in, sweetheart." Philaine sighed. "Do you want me to tell him to go over when he gets home?" "No. That"s alright." Pippa began to turn around, smiling at Philaine as she did. She loved the girl like the daughter she"d never had and knew that Amy"s behavior was killing Pippa"s thoughts and dreams. "I hope you enjoy the spaghetti." "We will. Thanks for bringing it over, Dolly." Her blonde hair bounced in the wind as she walked back to her apartment, Philaine watching her go with resentful eyes. ...... "Shit, mom. Next time you want to scare me to death, let me know, okay?" Jay glared at his mom as he nursed his stubbed toe, the result of her barging into his room. He had taken a different route home from Tony"s party, leaving slightly after Pippa had left with Sid and Stacy. "Sorry baby." Philaine sighed, tugging her silk robe around her more. "How was the party?" The party completed one of the most horrifying days of my life...what does it look like? "It was okay." Jay mumbled, stripping off his flannel shirt and wincing as it rubbed against his bleeding elbow. When Pippa had left, he"d been relieved she hadn"t seen him accidentally elbow Wentzel. Unfortunately, Wentzel"s hand that he"d been carrying his skateboard in had been what his elbow had hit. "Oh baby...what happened to your arm?" "Nothing." He growled and Philaine looked taken aback before nodding. "Sorry mom. I"m just...tired, that"s all. Had a rough day." She nodded, walking over and sitting on the bed beside him. "Pippa was just here...I was surprised you didn"t come home with her." Her name made his stomach flip and he raised his eyebrows, shrugging. "Something going on between you two?" "No." Jay answered just a bit too quickly, covering it up with a small grin. "She was tired...so she left earlier." "Right." Philaine set an arm around him and kissed his forehead, sighing as she did. "You might want to go over there...she seemed really upset." "Really?" His voice had an attachment of hope to it, but from the way his mom was frowning, Jay knew it wasn"t because of him. "I"ll head over there after I uh...get cleaned up." ...... She stumbled forward as she let out a sob, clutching onto the letters in her hands, feeling the paper crinkle beneath her touch. Jay, her best friend, hadn"t been home when she needed him the most, the letters from the school she went to every second day had started showing up again...and her mother had been lying to her. About Harley...about her work situation...about the rent...and about her father. Chris Vardon had left a young Pippa and her mother 14 years ago. According to her mother and Philaine, he had sent the previously signed divorce papers and custody papers, entitling her mother to complete custody over Pippa. But the letters she was clutching in her hands proved that wrong...and everything else wrong. According to all the handwritten letters that were strewn around her on the living room desk, her father had been battling to see Pippa...but her mother had been stubborn and not wanted him to have anything to do with his daughter. One of the most chilling sentences her mother had written was very shaky and the page was splattered with tears... How dare you even ask me for that after you left us! Do you understand that Chris? You left me and Pippa for a perfect life in paradise...Venice was never good enough for you...you left us behind in your old life...we were the ones that weren"t good enough for you. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, Pippa grimaced in pain as the sadness welled inside of her as she read the last of the chilling letter her father had sent only a few days earlier. You think you"re safe, don"t you Amy? I know all about you...where you work, what apartment you live in, the number...everything about you and Pippa. I even know what school she"s been going to...you"d better watch out...she could not come home from school one day...gone forever. I can"t believe you"re still living beside that good for nothing... She stopped reading when he"d began to curse Philaine...how could he be so cruel? Her mother had always told her about what a sweetheart Chris had been...staying with her when she"d gotten pregnant at 16 years old. When her parents had kicked her out...how he"d let her stay with him, how he"d made sure she got what she needed... And now, to Pippa...he was the cruelest person in the world. Goosebumps littered her arms and she cried even harder because of the t-shirt she was wearing. It did her no good to be sitting here...no good whatsoever. She might of just as well drowned today...and she would"ve...if it hadn"t been for him... Jay...her best friend. Causing her heart to break, even when he wanted to mend it. But he was just tearing it down the middle, apologizing every time he ripped just a little more. "Screw it." Pippa growled, gathering the letters and placing them in the neat pile they"d come in. She couldn"t let her mother know that she"d been reading them...not when she was so happy now. And Pippa was angry...so angry. But she couldn"t let her mother down by being the person her father was. "You can keep that secret mom...and that bit of my heart." Stumbling to the bathroom, Pippa ran a hand through her silky blonde hair, her eyes stinging from the tears that had momentarily stopped falling down her face. Turning the light on in the small, blue tiled bathroom, she grabbed and elastic and bunched her hair up to the top of her head, securing it in a messy excuse for a bun as she did. Staring at her reflection, she wiped her cheeks free of tears and straightened up, meeting her gray eyes. Her bloodshot gray eyes that reflected more of her than she knew... "I hate you." She whispered tearfully to her reflection. Noticing her arms, she held them up in front of her and turned them around. The back was a perfect layer of pale skin, her blonde arm hair making gold shots across it. The veins underneath her delicate skin shone blue and purple and she ran her finger down the middle of her arm. "I won"t be perfect any longer." Pippa breathed, turning towards the bathroom cabinet and shakily taking out the pair of hair trimmers her mother had. They were sharp enough... Poising the cold metal against the back of her skin, she pulled it into and across her wrist, wincing and crying out pain as it made a scar of blood. And even as the blood poured out of her slit, she felt...a rush. A pain that reflected her own pain...something that showed the world that she, Pippa Vardon, was not the perfect angel everyone thought her up to be. Which is why she made an identical mark underneath it. It was smaller, but with the pain they both conjured

"Open up, Harkness, we know you"re in there!" the voices shouted. "You"re under arrest!" Suddenly, I was jerked upright and I found myself facing Dr. Herbert West. As I stammered, he gave me a violent shake. "Harkness, snap out of it!" he said in a deadly whisper. I immediately recovered my wits, though I almost wished I hadn"t when I heard more of the mayhem outside my door. "What"s going on?" I quavered. "The police think you"re a body snatcher," Herbert returned. "You have to get out of here or they"ll arrest you! Come with me." I shakily consented to this last proposal and the two of us scaled the ivy-clad walls of the Miskatonic dormitories easily. The next thing I knew, I found myself driving in a car alongside Dr. Herbert West down a secluded highway. It took me a few minutes to wonder exactly what we were doing, but when I did wonder, I immediately spoke up: "Dr. West--" I began. "I shall explain it all to you right now," Herbert interrupted me. "You see, I put that corpse in your room." As I stared in confusion, he continued, "Dr. Balsac is a coward and unable to cope with the things we have been learning over the past year. I needed to get a new assistant and in you I found a perfect substitute. But I needed to secure your loyalty by forcing it on you as it were." I would have been indignant, but I didn"t really want to get sent to the police station. But inside, I was a perfect froth of anxiety. After all, these events merely confirmed the dread rumours that I had heard suggesting that Dr. West was involved in weird experiments. If his experiments weren"t slightly bizarre, after all, he wouldn"t have had to go about getting an assistant in such an illegal way. "Where are we going?" I asked. Dr. Herbert West looked at me with a dreadful smile. "We"re going to Bolton," he replied. "That"s where my laboratory is. It will also soon be your place of residence. After all, the Miskatonic University won"t want you back." I sighed resignedly. "I hope you aren"t taking this too hard, Harkness," Herbert West continued. "I am hoping that you are not quite so narrow-minded as Dr. Balsac was. Perhaps you too will see the purpose in what I am doing." "Just what are you doing?" I asked as Herbert slowed his car in front of a particularly dilapidated, abandoned section of the factory town of Bolton. The crumbling apartments soared decadently over us and I felt, if nothing else, a profoundly heightened sense of apprehension. In answer to my question, Dr. West merely took out some keys from his pocket and unlocked the door of the most forlorn of the apartments. We stepped inside the grim interior. The smell was overpoweringly horrible. "I keep my laboratory here," he explained as he led me deeper into the murky darkness, shutting the door behind us. "It is in the basement." "And you live here too?" I asked. "Sometimes," Herbert said cryptically. "Other times I just stay at the Miskatonic. You see, I have one laboratory here and another beneath the Miskatonic Unversity." As he spoke, the deranged scientist took from the unnameable depths of his coat pocket a key of enormous length and size which he fitted into a keyhole. A door opened inward to reveal a great laboratory. I would have been more eager to enter the room if it wasn"t for the fact that the abysmal smell that permeated the whole of the apartment, seemed to grow even more so that it was nearly stifling to me. Swooning in the doorway, I nearly fell but Dr. West impatiently threw a glass of water in my face which helped to revive my consciousness. Covering my face with a handkerchief, I followed my mentor inside the laboratory. The great iron door closed with a clash that reverberated throughout the dusty apartment. "I advise you to ready your nerves for a shock," Herbert West said in his usual exaggeratedly baroque manner of speech. "What is it we"re going to see?" I trembled. Dr. West advanced towards a sheeted figure on a table and, like a magician, immediately flicked the sheet off to reveal a corpse. I staggered backwards in horror. "You--murdered this man!" I gasped. "No," Herbert said impatiently. "I got him from the morgue." "But for what purpose?" I asked, as irritably as I dared. "Have you ever considered the possibility of...bringing someone who is dead to life by various scientific procedures?" Herbert asked. "Not really," I said. "But then," I added with a testy glance in Dr. West"s direction, "I haven"t been able to get a degree in anything yet." Herbert West said: "At this moment, you and I are outcasts of society. But when we reveal to the world what we have learned, they will beg for us to reveal our knowledge." "What"ll we do then?" I asked. Herbert shook his head. "We"ll worry about that when it happens," he said philosophically. "But the question is this: will you help me in my experiments?" "But what is it you"re trying to do?" I asked. "I am trying to reanimate corpses," Herbert West said simply. But those six words filled me with an unutterable dread. "Dr. West, are you mad?" I cried in horror. "Help you in your foul experiments? Never!" "People tend to underestimate me," Herbert West said ruefully. "You must remember that I did not plant that corpse in your room for a birthday surprise." I remembered that too, and I realized he had me trapped. "I guess I don"t have a choice," I said resignedly. "What are we to do first?" Herbert West smiled. "I already have a collection of bodies ready," he said. "All we need to do now is wait until dark." "Why?" I asked. "That"s just what I always do," Herbert said carelessly. "In the meantime, why don"t we take a walk?" Herbert and I had left the laboratory when we heard a knock on the door. "Who"s that?" I whispered. West motioned me to be silent and opened the door. I heard a pause and then:-- "Hello, Dr. Hill," Herbert said, as a tall, lean-faced man entered the house. I saw Herbert discreetly motion for me to stay in hiding behind the sofa and I did as he bade, wondering what this was all about. Dr. Hill glanced with some guarded hostility at West. "Have you seen that student Harkness?" Dr. Hill asked. "No--why?" Herbert said, a little nervously. "Oh, it"s just he was caught body snatching," Dr. Hill said sarcastically. "And he just happened to be your partner." "Well, I can assure you, I have no idea where he is," Herbert said easily. "Now, would you like to stay for tea?" Dr. Hill wrinkled his nose. "The smell in here is abominable!" he muttered. "Do you keep pets?" "Only one," West said with a malevolent sidelong glance in my direction. It was all I could do to keep from bounding out from behind the sofa and revealing his duplicity. But I knew that to incriminate him would be to incriminate myself, so I kept silent. Dr. Hill glanced at West"s face again and then turned to leave. West hastily closed the door behind him. I crawled from beneath the sofa, glaring at my mentor. "What was that all about?" I demanded. "I have no idea," Herbert West seemed as troubled as I. "How could Dr. Hill have known where I lived?" "And if we get caught, who knows what they"ll do to us," I said, adding my own fears. "In Arkham, they"ve got pretty stiff laws about body-snatching." "I know," Herbert said grimly. "They"re almost as bad as the speeding tickets. But we"ll find a way," he said, his eyes cold and bright behind his spectacles. "We must. Only then will we be able to discover the secrets of life itself. Come on," he continued, glancing outside. "It"s getting dark already. Let"s make a night of it!" For some reason, I felt as though I, too, were capturing some of his morbid enthusiasm, for the thought of escape and a way of proving my innocence never occurred to me. All I could think of was Herbert West and his queer studies and what I could do to help him reach his strange goal of...re-animating life! Ah, those words that before filled me with terror now seemed to make every nerve and atom of my being tingle with excitement! If West had turned to me and said that he had no use for me now as an assistant and that I could resume my monotonous life as a student at Miskatonic, I would have begged him to let me aid him in his strange discoveries anyhow. There seemed nothing else on earth but this laboratory, my mentor, the pale moon, the corpse, and the dark shadows that crept stealthily about us as we prepared the operating table for its strange and terrible use. The corpse was well preserved; Dr. West must have used some embalming solution, for it looked as though it had only died a second ago. The corpse did not fill me with fear however. Herbert West"s presence-his cool, calm attitude towards the whole situation-seemed to hypnotize my senses so that I merely followed his orders unquestioningly without even really thinking. In fact, I only remember vaguely that he injected the thing with some glowing, effervescent solution. I remember clearly what happened next. A horrible twitching came over the whole of the corpse and I drew backwards in terror. West also had grown pale, but he remained faithfully next to the corpse, watching it to see what it would do. Gradually, it rose, walked towards the laboratory door, and collapsed into a puddle of indescribable putrescence. Herbert looked disturbed but did not allow me the luxury of passing out on the floor. As he shook me to revive my consciousness, we both heard a sound that filled our hearts with terror: the sound of a knocking on our door. "Come with me," Herbert said, his face paling in the moonlight as we both rushed out of the laboratory and swiftly closed the steel door. Fortunately, the door closed over the portion of the floor that the corpse had dissolved over. The knocking continued, this time louder and more insistent. West pulled his revolver out ("Just in case," he explained dryly.) and opened the door. Dr. Hill stared at Herbert and he stared at me. "I knew you were in on something with him," Dr. Hill said, his flinty unblinking eyes fixed on Herbert. Herbert West"s face didn"t change, but I saw his eyes flicker slightly.Dr. Hill hadn"t noticed the gun. He was still cackling dryly at us. "He seems to be in a heightened state of emotion, possibly bordering on hysteria," West remarked uneasily to me. "You"ll never get away with this-this-" Dr. Hill never finished his sentence, for he suddenly and unexpectedly toppled forward. It was not Hill"s purpose to faint in the arms of Dr. Herbert West, but that was unfortunately what happened. Herbert was as surprised as I was at Dr. Hill"s sudden loss of consciousness, but we both managed to recover ourselves and drag the prostrate professor into the unhallowed interior of West"s house. West checked the older man"s pulse, and his face grew grave. "He"s dead," he frowned. "Must have had a heart attack. Maybe he was suffering from delirium and that"s why he came here in the dead of night like this." I shuddered. "I guess we should call the police," I said, reaching for the phone. Herbert stayed my hand, however, and when I glanced at him, I saw a strange sparkle in his eyes. "My biggest problem has always been fresh bodies," he said, his eyes gleaming unnaturally. "Well, this is as fresh a body as any! Harkness," he looked at me with a look that chilled my soul. "Let"s get to work!" I nodded quickly. "Very well," I said, hastening to open the laboratory door as West, despite his smallish frame, managed to lift Dr. Hill and carry him into the "operating room.' "Is the table ready?" West asked me. I glanced at it. "Pretty much," I said. "Except that it isn"t very clean after our last subject." Herbert West uneconomically dumped a whole pail of chlorine on the operating table. "That should do it," he announced. "Are you ready?" "Yes, Dr. West," I said uneasily. The rest of the procedure we conducted silently. Herbert turned a light on above the operating table and fitted some gloves on, indicating that I do the same. Then we both lifted Dr. Hill (rather awkwardly since neither of us were physically fit for such activities) and managed to haul him onto our experiment table. "Hand me that vial over there, Harkness," Herbert said, his eyes fixed intently on the corpse. I did as he bade, watching with some curiosity and hoping against hope that our experiment would not end in failure as the last one had. Herbert took a syringe and filled it to the top with the green glowing liquid. We both waited with baited breath as he measured the solution to exactly 16mm. We glanced at each other, and then- Dr. Hill suddenly and almost imperceptibly began breathing. I could tell he was still unconscious, but he was definitely alive. "You did it!" I cried. "He"s alive!" West looked at me with a look of profound and abject horror. "Harkness..." he said slowly, his voice almost a whisper. "I didn"t inject him yet." It took a moment for the full import of these words to dawn on me, but when they did I felt the same terror that seemed to grip my friend. "If he wakes up..." I said. Herbert West did not allow me to finish my sentence. "We have to get him out of here," he said. We seized the chlorine soaked professor and began with all our might to lift him and carry him out of the laboratory. He seemed to be regaining consciousness fast, and every sound he made filled us with mute fear. We hauled him out of the house and dumped him unceremoniously on the porch and then beat a hasty retreat back into the house. "Hopefully he"ll think he just hallucinated," West told me as we breathlessly watched Dr. Hill through the curtains of one of the windows. The doctor sat up in befuddlement as West, his hands shaking slightly, phoned the hospital in Arkham and explained what happened, carefully leaving out the details of our experimentation on Hill before he awoke. The Arkham people were fast. The ambulance arrived before Dr. Hill fully regained consciousness. In the meantime, Herbert and I were ministering to Hill, making certain that he didn"t have another heart attack before they came. I noticed that among the doctors who arrived was a fellow about my age who glanced at West with a look that I can only describe as one of trepidation. "Dan!" Herbert said in surprise when he saw the man. Dan looked as if he had been in the process of hiding behind one of the other doctors, and when he saw West, he fairly ran back into the ambulance before my friend could say any more. "Who is he?" I asked. "An idiot," West muttered. "A half-wit who could not understand the importance of my experiments. Such men make up our generation. It wasn"t always like that." "Oh, it wasn"t?" "No. Why, in the seventeenth century, they would have understood. In the eighteenth century they would have assisted. In the nineteenth century they would have written treatises on my work. But we are in the twentieth century-an era of hollow men." "I didn"t know you liked T.S. Eliot," I remarked. One of the doctors came up to us. "Looks like Dr. Hill will be fine," the doctor told us. "Lucky that he decided to have a heart attack outside your house," he added, glancing at West approvingly. West had garnered a reputation for being a great physician. He was the certainly the only doctor I liked. "Anyway," the doctor continued. "It might not hurt if you come with us to Arkham and stay overnight while we keep an eye on him." Herbert West agreed and he and I got in his car and drove with the ambulance to Arkham. Once we reached Arkham, we stopped at a hotel and West rented a room. "They shan"t need me, really," West explained to me as we inspected our hotel room. "The doctor told me that he only wants me in town just in case, but they have a whole team of scientists there to keep an eye on Hill. A pity. I should have liked to operate on him." "He certainly owes you his life," I told my mentor. "But, West, I need to talk to you about these experiments. They"re all very well and good, but now that I"m out of Bolton, I realize that I can"t spend my whole life doing re-animation experiments with you. I have my own life to live. I want to become a great scientist-" "And you will!" West returned with a sinister smile. "But not that kind of scientist," I protested. "Look, Herbert, I understand that you"re interested in re-animating dead people. That"s all right. I won"t tell the police about you as long as you just keep working on dead people. But why drag me into your experiments? What good am I to you? I"m not as experienced as you, not as devoted...what"s the point?" "The point is that I simply can"t do it alone," West interrupted. "I"m surprised at you, James. I should have thought that you would have at least a slight interest in the secrets of the universe. Now I find that you are just as shallow as the other college people. Very well, then. If you want to quit working with me, then I won"t stop you. You may get your degrees and your prestige, but I will continue to do what I believe and know to be right. Goodbye, James." That did it. Immediately, I felt an irrational shame at my reluctance and hesitated, tottering on the threshold of independence. I did not realize then-though I may have half-guessed-that West"s words had been cleverly calculated to provoke this response from me, but at that moment, I was too shamed and embarrassed to think this. "I"m sorry," I said quickly. "I"ll-I guess I"ll keep helping you." Herbert nodded. "I"m glad you changed your mind, James," he said. "For I may need you pretty soon." Life is strange, especially when lived in a place like Arkham near a person like Doctor Herbert West. Because of the nature of the story I am explaining, it may be necessary for me to explain what has happened in case the reader may-in the earnestness of trying to discern what might happen next-have forgotten. An overview of the events that have transpired so far are as follows: My name is James Harkness and I am a native of the Massachusetts town of Starkhampton. I came to Arkham, MA to get a degree in chemistry at the famed Miskatonic University. There, I met Dr. Herbert West-Re-Animator. I endow him with this title because Dr. West is to all intents and purposes "mad" and bent on discovering how to re-animate the dead. I became, unfortunately, his accomplice and assisted him in his nightly experiments. We met up with West"s nemesis, Dr. Hill, who had a heart attack that did not kill him but left him incapacitated. West and I were on the scene and therefore able to save our opponent from an unpleasant death, but the affair with Dr. Hill also brought us from Bolton to Arkham. It is in Arkham-in a dingy hotel near Meadow Hill-that the last episode ended and the present episode begins... I dreamt dreams strange and terrible-what West dreamt, only he and his Creator could know. I was unable to sleep properly and awoke in the small hours in a cold sweat. This is not really very surprising, as any person who had seen the things I had and had to do things I had had to do would most likely react in a similar fashion, but it was unpleasant all the same. I glanced at West and saw that he was sleeping the slumber of the innocent. I was just lying back on the bed to try to catch a few more hours of sleep when West suddenly sat bolt upright, causing me to jump nervously. "What is it?" I whispered. "We have to get to Boston as soon as possible," Herbert told me, getting out of bed. "Hold on just a moment." I watched mutely as he dialed a number on our hotel phone. "St. Mary"s Hospital?" he said calmly. "This is Dr. Herbert West. Tell me: am I needed any longer for Dr. Hill"s surgery? Oh, he"s recovered? Very well, thank you." He hung up. "Get dressed, James," Herbert told me. "We"re leaving for Boston now." "Boston?" I repeated as I awkwardly pulled my coat and shoes on. "But that"s a two hour drive! What"s the point?" "The point is that we need to go there," he said, obviously unwilling to divulge any more information. I had learned from experience that West usually knew what he was doing, so I kept silent and followed him out of the hotel to the car. We drove in silence, West obviously thinking about something, and I trying to catch up on my interrupted sleep. I had just fallen asleep when West said, "We"re in Boston!" I awoke and looked about. The city was grey and deserted as it was still extremely early in the day, but I could see the lovely colonial meeting house in the square with the ornate clock on the watchtower. I was just admiring the scenery when West abruptly turned down a road that contained residential houses. He stopped at a tall mansion that looked as if it dated at least to the Victorian or eighteenth century. "Is this your house?" I asked. West nodded. "I"m renting it," he muttered. "And my rent is overdue. I"m not rich, James." "Nice place, though," I said. "Let me guess: the basement has a laboratory." Herbert flashed me a smile. "Right," he said. "And we"re going to set up shop here, since Dr. Hill knows about my place in Bolton." "Sounds good," said I. "Of course, you never know. He might decide to come here in the middle of the night and have a heart attack again." "I doubt that," West said seriously. "He"s going to be in the hospital for at least several weeks. They won"t let him out for a while. We"re safe." "I hope you"re right," I said. I was still uneasy about West"s experiments, but I told myself that perhaps, like most young experimenters, he would tire of his morbid theories and give up his quest for re-animation. Or, maybe he wouldn"t. But I had gone too

The bolshy long drive from the airport to my Post Post-Corrective Advisor"s domy was more poogly than even I had thought possible, O my brothers. Firstly, I tried to turn on the radio that Mr. Deltoid had installed in his maschinya, hoping to get rid of the like oozhazny silence that had settled between us. There was some remix by that singer chelloveck Johnny Zhivago of that starry old warble "Tear You Apart." Well, Your Humble Narrator thought this warble rather horrorshow in its own malenky way, and so I began singing along, "I want to hold you close, plott pressed against me tight, lie still, close thy glazzies, my devotchka, so horrorshow it feels so right...I want to hold you close, soft groodies near me hard, as I whisper in your ooka, I want to tear you apart -" "What"s all this talk, my boy?" Mr. Deltoid govoreeted with a half-yawn, turning the radio off with a snap. "All this business of groodies and lying still? Not the sort of thing a young boy should fill his head with...yes." I viddied at that moment that we were passing out of the city down a country road, feeling not a little bezhoomny at my Post Post-Corrective Advisor. "Have we almost arrived at thy domy, sir?" I asked, the tone of my goloss a bit sarky. Mr. Deltoid smiled a bit toothily as he yeckated into a narrow, malenky driveway and parked in front of a rather bolshy sort of manse - the sort of thing the starry bourgeois in merry old London liked to boast of having. "This is my home, yes," he skazatted as we still remained seated in the maschinya. "Or at least, my home in Basin City. And what do you think of it, little Alex?" My messels had been elsewhere, and so I was a bit surprised when I viddied that Mr. Deltoid was still gazing at me and waiting for some sort of reply. "Erm...yes, it"s very nice, sir," I govoreeted skorrily. "Real horrorshow. I like it a lot, really I do, brother sir." I was feeling a bit nervous after viddying the rather gloopy look in my Post Post-Corrective Advisor"s glazzies, which I could not quite place. Since he made no move out of the maschinya, I decided to like take the initiative, so I ittied out in a malenky bit of a hurry. He followed my example, taking me by the rooker and all the while govoreeting as we goolied up the porch stairs towards the front door and entered into the spacious parlour cubie: "I shall get dinner for you immediately, my boy, as you must be famished. And then, perhaps, you"ll want to go to bed...yes?" He skazatted that last with a hiss that I didn"t like one malenky bit. But I viddied no reason why I should be poogly yet, so I smiled all sweetness and innocent light and govoreeted, "Why, of course, sir." As you can imagine, O my brothers, inside I was working out how I could gooly forth on my own and track down my treacherous ex-droogs Georgie and Co. With my Post Post-Corrective Advisor keeping such a close glazzie on me, it made the whole ghrazny affair even more difficult than I had fore-viddied. "You may go ahead and sit at the table, Alex," Mr. Deltoid told me, gesturing with his free rooker towards a long, polished wooden table. "I shall get something for you to eat." "Thank you, sir," I said in a soft, respectful goloss, still sorting out these new, unfamiliar surroundings. I sat as directed at the head of the table, drumming my own rookers a bit nervously on the polished top and wondering about my plan of action. Not many minootas later, Mr. Deltoid returned, placing a bolshy platter of buttered kartoffels, lomticks of toast, and runny eggiwegs in front of Your Humble Narrator. "Not much of a dinner, but the most I could scrounge up at short notice, yes," he said, sitting himself down in a chair beside me and beaming. "Is it all right?" "Mmmmmffl!" I govoreeted appreciatively between kartoffels, eggiwegs, and lomticks of toast. "Well, it is best if you eat well, you are still a growing young boy, yes," Mr. Deltoid nodded. "I suppose your parents didn"t feed you well. I would not be surprised, yes. I understand, you see, my boy, the feeding habits of the London lower-class, and believe me, it is not a pretty sight. Much malnutrition, you see...I do not blame you, of course, my boy. But I am glad that here with me, you have the chance to nourish yourself, eh?" "Right, sir," I govoreeted, scraping the last bit of eggiweg and running my yahzick over the spoon with a last contented slurp. "Finished?" he asked, a smile on his rot. "Yes, sir," I yawned. "And now bedways, righty-right?" "Of course, little Alex," Mr. Deltoid skazatted, all smirky. "Follow me and I shall show you your room...yes." Again, that hiss which made me feel so nervous and bolnoy. Still, I ittied up the staircase after him towards a bedroom full of plush velvet blankets, bed-curtain hangings, Victorian furniture - really, the heighth of bedroom fashion, O my brothers. "Lovely, eh?" Mr. Deltoid asked. "Yes..." I govoreeted, a bit bewildered. "This is a guest room of some sort, sir?" "Oh, no, this is your room, my boy!" Mr. Deltoid returned. I hadn"t quite ponied onto what Mr. Deltoid meant, but I shrugged and turned towards the wardrobe to hang my platties up that I had brought in my suitcase. But when I opened the wardrobe, O my brothers and friends, the first veschs I laid my glazzies on were an assortment of platties already neatly folded and hung and all the same size as Your Humble Narrator"s other old platties. "Ahem," I cleared my gorlo, now truly poogly by this time. "What is the meaning of this, brother sir?" Mr. Deltoid smiled, putting a rooker about my pletchoes again. "Now don"t be shy, my boy," he said. "I simply went ahead and bought you some new clothes, yes. After all, you will be staying with me for quite awhile, eh, little Alex?" I turned away, my messels now spinning in a confused way in my gulliver. "Well, I must get to bed now, sir," I skazatted skorrily. When my shooty Post Post-Corrective Advisor made no move to gooly out, I felt more disturbed than ever and jumped into bed fully plattied, undressing beneath the bedclothes, shoving my old platties on the floor and turning over on the velvety podooshkas, pretending to be wearied and half-asleep already. But Mr. Deltoid would not let Your Humble Narrator off so easily, my brothers. Sitting beside me on the edge of the bed, I heard him govoreet, "Now, my Alex, I have something rather important to discuss with you, yes." Unwillingly, I turned over and opened my sleepy glazzies up at his beaming litso. "What is it, sir?" I asked. "Well, I am indeed surprised that your parents and their roomer Joe did not go ahead and tell you this before...yes, I am rather surprised," Mr. Deltoid said as if he was thinking this messel through even as he was govoreeting to me. "What does that filthy bratchny Joe have to do with this?" I spat, all razdrez. "Joe and I, we had something a little talk, yes," Mr. Deltoid said, gazing down at me. "We both decided that it would be best if you ceased to remain with Mr. and Mrs. DeLarge, your parents, you see." "Well, where am I to go, then?" I demanded, bezhoomny. "If that cally Joe thinks he"s going to crast my room again-" "None of this violent talk, my boy," Mr. Deltoid shook his head, clucking his tongue. "Besides, it was, after all, my own idea that you be taken from your parents, yes." "Taken from them?" I repeated, a bolnoy feeling rising in my guttiwuts. "And where am I to stay now, then, brother sir?" Mr. Deltoid smiled and I viddied the answer then, O my brothers. "I have adopted you, little Alex...yes," he replied fondly, pausing to let this messel sink in. Then, as he lay next to me on the bed, still beaming, he continued, "Surely, my boy, you felt no love from your "Pee and Em" as you called them, eh? You don"t miss them, do you?" "Not particularly, sir," I govoreeted, edging a bit further away from him. "I must say, I am relieved to hear that, my boy," Mr. Deltoid said. "Since they certainly do not care for you as much as you deserve...yes." "Thank you for your concern sir, I appreciate it very much," I skazatted, giving a bolshy yawn in the hopes that he would think me a young malchik in need of a good night"s rest by this time. This yawn fell on deaf ookas however with respect to my shooty Post Post-Corrective Advisor. In fact, this seemed to encourage him to put his ghrazny rookers about Your Humble Narrator and pull me closer. "Now, very soon we"ll have you enrolled in a school here in Basin City, yes," he said. "And you"ll have a new and better life and have no chance of going back to your wicked ways, eh?" "I certainly hope not, sir - I mean, I certainly hope so," I corrected myself skorrily. "Ah, there"s a good boy!" he govoreeted fondly, caressing and ruffling my hair with a fond rooker. I yawned again, closed my glazzies, and made an unsuccessful attempt to turn over. "I am fagged, brother sir, and cannot skazatt with you any longer," I finally murmured in a blurred, sleepy goloss. "Perhaps we can continue this govoreet over breakfast, sir?" I heard him give a reluctant sigh and felt his cally rookers withdraw from their too-familiar hold on Your Humble Narrator, and I slooshied him leave my domy. Immediately, my glazzies popped open and I ittied out of bed, crossed the room, and skorrily drew the bolt on the door. Only then did I feel a malenky bit safe enough to return to bed and sleep. I believe that tears are in order now, my little brothers, at least for this malenky part of the narrative. For dawn did not find Your Humble Narrator fagged and fashed from an evening"s energy expenditure all curled up in bed sleeping the sleep of the like innocent. No, the sun had not even fully shone his ghrazny beaming litso yet when I found myself goolying towards the school bus stop waiting for the cally skolliwoll bus filled with cheerful, smecking malchickiwicks and devotchkas eager for a dobby day of schoolwork. The merzky slovos of Mr. Deltoid still rang in my ookas from the morning"s govoreet at the breakfast table: "If I hear, little Alex, that you"ve been up to your usual mischief and haven"t attended classes what"s more, I will take extreme measures, yes. A long talk we will have, and certain penalties will be instituted." I viddied that there was no use in arguing or coming up with malenky excuses with Mr. Deltoid, for unlike my Pee and Em who had hardly wasted a messel on the comings and goings of their like only son, Mr. Deltoid was keeping a sharp glazzie on every vesch Your Humble Narrator rabbited on. I did not platch or weep, though, my brothers, as I gazed off with still-sleepy glazzies at the like black spires and skyscrapers of the mesto they called "Sin City.' I merely wondered rather bezhoomnily whether I would ever lovet a chance to find my traitorous droogs and give them the like sladky revenge they so richly deserved at this rate. As I stood there with these black messels whirling fitfully in my gulliver, I slooshied the sounds of two millicents standing at the street corner a bit away from me, govoreeting gromkily. One of them was tall with a sneering grin on his litso and the other was short, stout, and bolshy with a like coarse, guffing kind of smeck. A choodessny, tingling feel went over my plot for I viddied in an instant that Fate had chosen to deal me a horrorshow turn, for here without a doubt were Dim and Georgie, my two so-called droogs that I had come here for, delivered by chance as it were into my very rookers. However, it would be best to remain careful and calm, lest the tables turn and I find myself instead back in their ghrazny, merciless rookers once again. The real shilarny, my brothers, was whether they recognised me as well. Keeping my litso and glazzies firmly facing off in the distance still and pretending not to viddy them, I tried to make out what they were govoreeting about with such shoom and animation. "And Senator Roark got another of those threatening letters from that bezhoomny Joker veck," Georgie was saying with a real bolshy grin. Dim guffed harder with his same gloopy leer. "I heard that too," he said. "I heard they let that copper Hartigan out of the Staja on parole so that he can help hunt this Joker down..." As he guffawed, he happened to glance in Your Humble Narrator"s direction. I held my breath, feeling all the while poogly and wondering whether I should itty out while there was still a malenky chance of escape. Dim squinted with his beady glazzballs at me and scratched his gulliver, his rot slightly open as if he"d just forgotten some vesch. Then he swung his shlaga over his shoulder, shrugging. I wondered if poor shooty old Dim had perhaps forgotten me and our days of fillying and breathed a skorry sigh of relief. Suddenly, I slooshied a sweet, soft goloss behind me say, "Excuse me, are you Alexander DeLarge?" I turned and viddied a like very young, innocent-looking devotchka standing before me, smiling. "Yes, and who are you?" I govoreeted, with a sladky smile. She blushed. "Well, you see, they - I mean, the teachers at the school - forgot to tell the school bus driver to pick you up here, so I was told to bring you since I live closest to here." "Well, that sounds real horrorshow, my little sister," I replied. As we started down the street, she giggled a malenky bit. "What is it?" I enquired, a bit bewildered. "Oh, I"m sorry," she said. "It"s just your accent and the way you talk...you"re speaking Nadsat, right?" "Righty-right," I returned. "Oh, I"ve heard of it!" she said. "All the teens in England are using it, aren"t they?" "Thou hast hit it, my sister," I replied. "And how is it that you know so much about malenky old England, anyhow?" She smiled shyly. "Oh, I don"t know," she murmured. "They talk about it in the news a lot - like the recent election of the new Minister of the Interior, you know." I nodded skorrily, a sudden thought coming to my rassoodock. "What"s all this talk about a veck called "The Joker"?" I asked. Her face went grave. "He"s a killer who"s been terrorizing this city for the past six months. The police haven"t been able to find him - they"ve even released -" "Hartigan?" I finished. She nodded slowly. "How did you know?" "Well, I heard that malenky bit of gossip from two millicents on the streetcorner as I was waiting for the bus," I replied. "What was this Hartigan veck in the Staja for, anyhow?" The girl"s face paled. She hesitated for a minoota as we walked on and then she skorrily said, "He was in jail for - for rescuing me from Senator Roark"s psychopathic son, that"s what!" I blinked, a bit bewildered by her trembly outburst. She looked a bit embarrassed and razdrez as well and quickly skazzated, "I"m sorry, I didn"t mean to say that. I shouldn"t be telling anyone really...but I"ve had to keep it a secret for so long, I guess I just had to finally tell someone." I was still rather bewildered by her slovos. "What was he doing in the Staja for helping you?" I asked. "Sounds like a bolshy load of chepooka to me..." "I"ll explain it all to you later," she said. "I don"t know whether I"m an idiot for trusting you, but I"ll do it anyway. There are a lot of things I have to get off my chest." "Well, I"ll do my best to help with that last vesch, my little sister," I said with a real horrorshow smile. She smiled with a sweet trusting look at me. Then I said: "It suddenly occurs to me that thou hast failed to tell thy malenky droog what thy eemya might be." "Eemya?" she repeated. "Name," I translated with a patient smile. "What is your name?" "Oh!" she laughed. "I"m sorry about that! My name is Nancy Callahan. And..." she glanced at me shyly. "I got your name right, didn"t I?" "Yes, of course," I replied. "Though I usually prefer to be called "Alex" rather than the full "Alexander.'" "Oh, all right," she smiled. "I like Alex more, too - it sounds sweeter somehow." "Really?" I said, a bit disturbed by these last slovos. "Yes," she said, shouldering her textbooks more securely under her arm. We had reached the school compound by this time - a grim, brick mesto with malchiks and devotchkas crowding inside, waiting for classes to begin. "So what subjects do you like in school the best, Alex?" "I shall have to think long and hard on that," I replied. "And you, I take it, are interessovatted in the sciences?" She smiled. "That"s right! I take some extra-curricular classes in chemistry too." "You mean, after the regular day of skolliwoll is over and done with?" I asked, amazed. "That"s right," she replied. "But why would you want to do that?" I asked, bewildered once more. Nancy giggled, as if what I had govoreeted was the heighth of amusement, O my brothers. "Well, Alex, if you like a subject very much, you want to study it more." I could not viddy how this could be, but kept my messels to myself for the minoota, as the teacher was ushering us in for the first of the ghrazny classes. First we started with math class, which did not go so horrorshow. "Now, Alex, write the quadratic equation out for us, please!" the starry teacher veck said, peering at me with spectacled glazzies. "Er, what is that?" I asked. The teacher stared with bulging glazballs. "You don"t know the quadratic equation?" "No..." I skazatted nervously. "You don"t know it at all?" the teacher grated. "No..." That was how math classes went, my brothers and only friends. As for science classes, they did not go much more horrorshow. "Now, Alex, what do you know about cellular reproduction, eh?" our biology teacher, a rather attractive sharp with a real horrorshow pair of groodies and a nice litso asked. "Hmmm? What do you know of meiosis for example or any of the other aspects of cellular reproduction?" "I don"t know cellular reproduction all that horrorshow, missus," I admitted. "But...ask me any sort of vesch about extra-cellular and I"ll answer as best I can!" The rest of classes dragged on in this same ghrazny, humiliating way. Finally, at the end, we reached what they called "musical education.' The teacher, a grey-haired starry chelloveck named Dr. Himmel with a like German-accented goloss, started off by saying, "Now, now, now. Let us begin with a bit of music and see who amongst us can identify it, shall we?" He pressed a button on a certain electronic stereo and out of the bolshy speakers came the most zammechat of sounds, clear and gromky and sending my like very soul doubled up in agonies of ecstasy. Once it was over, he said, "Well, well. Anyone know what it is?" "The Ninth," I replied, my litso shining. "The glorious Ninth, by Ludwig Van. The second movement." He nodded with a pleased look. "Right, my boy, right! And can anyone tell me what key this symphony was composed in? Anyone?" "D-minor," I skazatted breathlessly. "Very, very good!" Dr. Himmel exclaimed. Nancy and the rest of the students were all staring with wide glazzies at me full of surprise, my brothers. But heedless was I to these attentions, for I still felt the Ninth coursing through my mozgh and sending a pleasurable shiver over my plott. "Well, well, since you"re doing such a good job, my boy, why don"t you identify this next piece," Dr. Himmel said. "It"s a bit more obscure." He pressed another button on the stereo and rather than the thunder drums and shiving violins of the Ninth"s second movement pouring forth from the speakers like tumbling race-horses, a sweeping song with flutes and violins snatching at the very air around us like a skorry, mocking lark, filling the classroom. It was the very warble that I had slooshied on the Marina Flatblock some years ago - the very song that had filled me with the like joy of ultra-violence before I had dealt my conspiring droogs the tolchoks that had sent them creeching for mercy. "The Thieving Magpie," I replied. "By Rossini?" "Exactly, exactly!" Dr. Himmel replied, pleased beyond measure. "Now why can"t the rest of you," he asked, turning to the rest of the malchiks. "Become as interested in the music of the classical period as your young schoolmate here?" There were chumbling murmurs at this. "Now, Alex," Dr. Himmel continued. "Since you"re so keen on music, have you ever tried your hand at composing a bit of it yourself?" "Well, not composing exactly, sir," I replied. "But I do have tunes in my head - one in particular, that"s a sort of variation on a Funeral March for Queen Mary by Henry Purcell." "I would be delighted to hear it, if you can pick out the tune for me here on this piano," Dr. Himmel said. And strange as it may seem, my brother, Your Humble Narrator found himself standing in front of the entire class, slowly and stumblingly picking out the notes for this malenky tune that he had come up with himself. Once I finished, Dr. Himmel clapped his hands with a beam. "Excellent, excellent!" he exclaimed. "Of course, it needs some polishing - a better base for the left hand and all that - but other than that, it shows remarkable promise!" "Thank you, sir!" I replied. As we left the classroom after music class finished, Nancy whispered with a sladky smile to me, "Well, Alex, there"s hope for you in school yet!" "So it would seem," I said, still bewildered by this zammechat turn of events. "And as for science and all that," she continued. "All the things you were confused about were all pretty basic. If you"d like, you can come over to my place and I can help you with them." She smiled with that same sweet, lovely look on her litso. "Of course!" I said with a smeck. "And after that perhaps, we can have dinner together somewhere?" she asked, with a shy smile. "A horrorshow idea, my little sister!" I replied as we left the school grounds and walked on together down the dark, merzky streets of the city.

"Appy polly oggies, I did not even think to ask, fair devotchkas," I govoreeted sleepily. "Please reveal them to your malenky droog, by all means." "Well, I"mMary Anne," the blonde devotchka said, batting her glazzies. "And I"m Josie," the brunette said, cuddling closer. I sighed. "This has all been real horrorshow, my dorogoy sisters," I admitted. "But I must get up soon and get myself packed and ready to leave dear old London." "What!" they both creeched at once, springing on me. "Oh, ow," I groaned, near suffocation. "Why are you leaving?" Josie demanded. "How can you, Alex?" Mary Anne govoreeted in a weepy goloss. "And where are you going, anyway?" Josie interrupted. "I have to itty over to Sin City," I explained in a careful, precise goloss, hoping not to alarm them again so that they would not give me anymore unnecessary tolchocks and injure me even more seriously. "But why?" they creeched. "Because my ghrazny false droogs Dim and Georgie are there and I cannot let the tolchoks they administered to me in the starry past go by unheeded, my little sisters," I replied. They both exchanged skorry, sly glances at each other. "Fine, then," they said. "And we"ll come with you!" Episode Six: The Malenky Details of Departure Well, my brothers, Your Humble Narrator finally managed to shoo off the pretty ptitsas so that he could get to the bolshy, serious work of packing for that vengeful trip of his to Sin City. They left, uttering more malenky little devotchka slovos about following me, but I felt that I was safe from them for the nonce. Only one light, malenky little suitcase did I have, hardly more than a ghrazny knapsack, but then again, Your Humble Narrator had few possessions to call his own-my real pride and zammechat joy being my Ludwig Van diskies, which took up most of the room in my baggy. As I zipped the vesch close, I slooshied the door to my cubie open and I viddied my Post Post-Corrective Advisor Mr. Deltoid. "Ready now, Alex-boy?" he asked, a smile on his rot. "Right, sir," I govoreeted. "Let me just get my toothbrush." "Very well," he said, still with that same gloopy indulgent smile covering his litso. I was hoping, O my brothers, that I could itty out the bathroom window, still wanting to be all on my oddy-knocky when I goolied to Sin City. But these messels perished skorrily when I viddied Mr. Deltoid following close behind, watching. With a malenky little sigh of momentary defeat, Your Humble Narrator skvatted the toothbrush and put it in his carman, donning a sladky, innocent smile as he did so. "Welly well, Mr. Deltoid," I skazatted. "Where to now, sir?" "We will go to Basin City now-or as you young nadsats call it-Sin City, yes," he smecked. "And then you are free to do all the searching-out of your little friends that you wish." "Where will we stay, sir?" I asked, a bit poogly since I hadn"t enough pretty polly in my carmen to stay at a hotel for an indefinite period of nochies. "Oh, I wouldn"t trouble my head about that if I were you, my boy," he had another smeck and put a fond rooker about my pletchoes. "As it happens, my boy, I have a little country home on the outskirts of Basin City, yes. What do you think of staying there, eh?" Well, my brothers, what Your Humble Narrator was thinking was a few buggatty messels that wouldn"t look all that horrorshow in print. But I govoreeted, trying to keep the disappointment from being slooshied from the tone of my goloss, "That sounds real horrorshow, sir." "I thought you would think so, yes," Mr. Deltoid said as we goolied out of my domy. "Oughtn"t I to tell my Pee and Em about my departure?" I asked, a bit bewildered at my gloopy Post Post-Corrective Advisor"s apparent unconcern. "We can call them once we"re there...yes," he said, as if his rassoodock was turning over other messels that minoota and had not quite slooshied what I"d just govoreeted. "Right, well..." I skazatted, a bit nervous. "I"d like to call on some of my droogs and tell them where I"m ittying off to, sir." "Oh, I don"t like that idea," he smecked as we got in his maschinya and started yeckating down the road. "But why not, sir?" I asked, growing more and more poogly by the minoota. He beamed at me and put a, like, cuddlesome rooker on Your Humble Narrator"s knee. "Well, little Alex"s friends didn"t do him so much good last time, did they?" he pointed out, a smile on his rot. I frowned and ittied a malenky bit farther back in my seat, attempting an unsuccessful retreat from his gloopy touch. "Look, sir," I said, once again attempting a sweet, innocent smile on my own litso. "I"ve gone straight now, I promise you. I"ve been horrorshow all this time out of the Staja. You can rely on me, sir, believe me. My droogs aren"t the ghrazny types I used to hang out with many a nochy." "That"s what little Alex says, but the last time you said I could rely on you, well..." Mr. Deltoid clucked his tongue and chuckled. "I"ll make my own mind up on you and your friends, yes." This govoreet, my brothers, was not going all that horrorshow at all and was making me a malenky bit bezhoomny, but I skazatted nothing. Mr. Deltoid beamed, interpreting my lack of slovos as some sort of merzky sign of submission, I suppose. "Don"t take it so hard, my boy," he said. "After all, at least for now you have me to help you, eh?" The bolshy long drive from the airport to my Post Post-Corrective Advisor"s domy was more poogly than even I had thought possible, O my brothers. Firstly, I tried to turn on the radio that Mr. Deltoid had installed in his maschinya, hoping to get rid of the like oozhazny silence that had settled between us. There was some remix by that singer chelloveck Johnny Zhivago of that starry old warble "Tear You Apart." Well, Your Humble Narrator thought this warble rather horrorshow in its own malenky way, and so I began singing along, "I want to hold you close, plott pressed against me tight, lie still, close thy glazzies, my devotchka, so horrorshow it feels so right...I want to hold you close, soft groodies near me hard, as I whisper in your ooka, I want to tear you apart -" "What"s all this talk, my boy?" Mr. Deltoid govoreeted with a half-yawn, turning the radio off with a snap. "All this business of groodies and lying still? Not the sort of thing a young boy should fill his head with...yes." I viddied at that moment that we were passing out of the city down a country road, feeling not a little bezhoomny at my Post Post-Corrective Advisor. "Have we almost arrived at thy domy, sir?" I asked, the tone of my goloss a bit sarky. Mr. Deltoid smiled a bit toothily as he yeckated into a narrow, malenky driveway and parked in front of a rather bolshy sort of manse - the sort of thing the starry bourgeois in merry old London liked to boast of having. "This is my home, yes," he skazatted as we still remained seated in the maschinya. "Or at least, my home in Basin City. And what do you think of it, little Alex?" My messels had been elsewhere, and so I was a bit surprised when I viddied that Mr. Deltoid was still gazing at me and waiting for some sort of reply. "Erm...yes, it"s very nice, sir," I govoreeted skorrily. "Real horrorshow. I like it a lot, really I do, brother sir." I was feeling a bit nervous after viddying the rather gloopy look in my Post Post-Corrective Advisor"s glazzies, which I could not quite place. Since he made no move out of the maschinya, I decided to like take the initiative, so I ittied out in a malenky bit of a hurry. He followed my example, taking me by the rooker and all the while govoreeting as we goolied up the porch stairs towards the front door and entered into the spacious parlour cubie: "I shall get dinner for you immediately, my boy, as you must be famished. And then, perhaps, you"ll want to go to bed...yes?" He skazatted that last with a hiss that I didn"t like one malenky bit. But I viddied no reason why I should be poogly yet, so I smiled all sweetness and innocent light and govoreeted, "Why, of course, sir." As you can imagine, O my brothers, inside I was working out how I could gooly forth on my own and track down my treacherous ex-droogs Georgie and Co. With my Post Post-Corrective Advisor keeping such a close glazzie on me, it made the whole ghrazny affair even more difficult than I had fore-viddied. "You may go ahead and sit at the table, Alex," Mr. Deltoid told me, gesturing with his free rooker towards a long, polished wooden table. "I shall get something for you to eat." "Thank you, sir," I said in a soft, respectful goloss, still sorting out these new, unfamiliar surroundings. I sat as directed at the head of the table, drumming my own rookers a bit nervously on the polished top and wondering about my plan of action. Not many minootas later, Mr. Deltoid returned, placing a bolshy platter of buttered kartoffels, lomticks of toast, and runny eggiwegs in front of Your Humble Narrator. "Not much of a dinner, but the most I could scrounge up at short notice, yes," he said, sitting himself down in a chair beside me and beaming. "Is it all right?" "Mmmmmffl!" I govoreeted appreciatively between kartoffels, eggiwegs, and lomticks of toast. "Well, it is best if you eat well, you are still a growing young boy, yes," Mr. Deltoid nodded. "I suppose your parents didn"t feed you well. I would not be surprised, yes. I understand, you see, my boy, the feeding habits of the London lower-class, and believe me, it is not a pretty sight. Much malnutrition, you see...I do not blame you, of course, my boy. But I am glad that here with me, you have the chance to nourish yourself, eh?" "Right, sir," I govoreeted, scraping the last bit of eggiweg and running my yahzick over the spoon with a last contented slurp. "Finished?" he asked, a smile on his rot. "Yes, sir," I yawned. "And now bedways, righty-right?" "Of course, little Alex," Mr. Deltoid skazatted, all smirky. "Follow me and I shall show you your room...yes." Again, that hiss which made me feel so nervous and bolnoy. Still, I ittied up the staircase after him towards a bedroom full of plush velvet blankets, bed-curtain hangings, Victorian furniture - really, the heighth of bedroom fashion, O my brothers. "Lovely, eh?" Mr. Deltoid asked. "Yes..." I govoreeted, a bit bewildered. "This is a guest room of some sort, sir?" "Oh, no, this is your room, my boy!" Mr. Deltoid returned. I hadn"t quite ponied onto what Mr. Deltoid meant, but I shrugged and turned towards the wardrobe to hang my platties up that I had brought in my suitcase. But when I opened the wardrobe, O my brothers and friends, the first veschs I laid my glazzies on were an assortment of platties already neatly folded and hung and all the same size as Your Humble Narrator"s other old platties. "Ahem," I cleared my gorlo, now truly poogly by this time. "What is the meaning of this, brother sir?" Mr. Deltoid smiled, putting a rooker about my pletchoes again. "Now don"t be shy, my boy," he said. "I simply went ahead and bought you some new clothes, yes. After all, you will be staying with me for quite awhile, eh, little Alex?" I turned away, my messels now spinning in a confused way in my gulliver. "Well, I must get to bed now, sir," I skazatted skorrily. When my shooty Post Post-Corrective Advisor made no move to gooly out, I felt more disturbed than ever and jumped into bed fully plattied, undressing beneath the bedclothes, shoving my old platties on the floor and turning over on the velvety podooshkas, pretending to be wearied and half-asleep already. But Mr. Deltoid would not let Your Humble Narrator off so easily, my brothers. Sitting beside me on the edge of the bed, I heard him govoreet, "Now, my Alex, I have something rather important to discuss with you, yes." Unwillingly, I turned over and opened my sleepy glazzies up at his beaming litso. "What is it, sir?" I asked. "Well, I am indeed surprised that your parents and their roomer Joe did not go ahead and tell you this before...yes, I am rather surprised," Mr. Deltoid said as if he was thinking this messel through even as he was govoreeting to me. "What does that filthy bratchny Joe have to do with this?" I spat, all razdrez. "Joe and I, we had something a little talk, yes," Mr. Deltoid said, gazing down at me. "We both decided that it would be best if you ceased to remain with Mr. and Mrs. DeLarge, your parents, you see." "Well, where am I to go, then?" I demanded, bezhoomny. "If that cally Joe thinks he"s going to crast my room again-" "None of this violent talk, my boy," Mr. Deltoid shook his head, clucking his tongue. "Besides, it was, after all, my own idea that you be taken from your parents, yes." "Taken from them?" I repeated, a bolnoy feeling rising in my guttiwuts. "And where am I to stay now, then, brother sir?" Mr. Deltoid smiled and I viddied the answer then, O my brothers. "I have adopted you, little Alex...yes," he replied fondly, pausing to let this messel sink in. Then, as he lay next to me on the bed, still beaming, he continued, "Surely, my boy, you felt no love from your "Pee and Em" as you called them, eh? You don"t miss them, do you?" "Not particularly, sir," I govoreeted, edging a bit further away from him. "I must say, I am relieved to hear that, my boy," Mr. Deltoid said. "Since they certainly do not care for you as much as you deserve...yes." "Thank you for your concern sir, I appreciate it very much," I skazatted, giving a bolshy yawn in the hopes that he would think me a young malchik in need of a good night"s rest by this time. This yawn fell on deaf ookas however with respect to my shooty Post Post-Corrective Advisor. In fact, this seemed to encourage him to put his ghrazny rookers about Your Humble Narrator and pull me closer. "Now, very soon we"ll have you enrolled in a school here in Basin City, yes," he said. "And you"ll have a new and better life and have no chance of going back to your wicked ways, eh?" "I certainly hope not, sir - I mean, I certainly hope so," I corrected myself skorrily. "Ah, there"s a good boy!" he govoreeted fondly, caressing and ruffling my hair with a fond rooker. I yawned again, closed my glazzies, and made an unsuccessful attempt to turn over. "I am fagged, brother sir, and cannot skazatt with you any longer," I finally murmured in a blurred, sleepy goloss. "Perhaps we can continue this govoreet over breakfast, sir?" I heard him give a reluctant sigh and felt his cally rookers withdraw from their too-familiar hold on Your Humble Narrator, and I slooshied him leave my domy. Immediately, my glazzies popped open and I ittied out of bed, crossed the room, and skorrily drew the bolt on the door. Only then did I feel a malenky bit safe enough to return to bed and sleep. I believe that tears are in order now, my little brothers, at least for this malenky part of the narrative. For dawn did not find Your Humble Narrator fagged and fashed from an evening"s energy expenditure all curled up in bed sleeping the sleep of the like innocent. No, the sun had not even fully shone his ghrazny beaming litso yet when I found myself goolying towards the school bus stop waiting for the cally skolliwoll bus filled with cheerful, smecking malchickiwicks and devotchkas eager for a dobby day of schoolwork. The merzky slovos of Mr. Deltoid still rang in my ookas from the morning"s govoreet at the breakfast table: "If I hear, little Alex, that you"ve been up to your usual mischief and haven"t attended classes what"s more, I will take extreme measures, yes. A long talk we will have, and certain penalties will be instituted." I viddied that there was no use in arguing or coming up with malenky excuses with Mr. Deltoid, for unlike my Pee and Em who had hardly wasted a messel on the comings and goings of their like only son, Mr. Deltoid was keeping a sharp glazzie on every vesch Your Humble Narrator rabbited on. I did not platch or weep, though, my brothers, as I gazed off with still-sleepy glazzies at the like black spires and skyscrapers of the mesto they called "Sin City.' I merely wondered rather bezhoomnily whether I would ever lovet a chance to find my traitorous droogs and give them the like sladky revenge they so richly deserved at this rate. As I stood there with these black messels whirling fitfully in my gulliver, I slooshied the sounds of two millicents standing at the street corner a bit away from me, govoreeting gromkily. One of them was tall with a sneering grin on his litso and the other was short, stout, and bolshy with a like coarse, guffing kind of smeck. A choodessny, tingling feel went over my plot for I viddied in an instant that Fate had chosen to deal me a horrorshow turn, for here without a doubt were Dim and Georgie, my two so-called droogs that I had come here for, delivered by chance as it were into my very rookers. However, it would be best to remain careful and calm, lest the tables turn and I find myself instead back in their ghrazny, merciless rookers once again. The real shilarny, my brothers, was whether they recognised me as well. Keeping my litso and glazzies firmly facing off in the distance still and pretending not to viddy them, I tried to make out what they were govoreeting about with such shoom and animation. "And Senator Roark got another of those threatening letters from that bezhoomny Joker veck," Georgie was saying with a real bolshy grin. Dim guffed harder with his same gloopy leer. "I heard that too," he said. "I heard they let that copper Hartigan out of the Staja on parole so that he can help hunt this Joker down..." As he guffawed, he happened to glance in Your Humble Narrator"s direction. I held my breath, feeling all the while poogly and wondering whether I should itty out while there was still a malenky chance of escape. Dim squinted with his beady glazzballs at me and scratched his gulliver, his rot slightly open as if he"d just forgotten some vesch. Then he swung his shlaga over his shoulder, shrugging. I wondered if poor shooty old Dim had perhaps forgotten me and our days of fillying and breathed a skorry sigh of relief. Suddenly, I slooshied a sweet, soft goloss behind me say, "Excuse me, are you Alexander DeLarge?" I turned and viddied a like very young, innocent-looking devotchka standing before me, smiling. "Yes, and who are you?" I govoreeted, with a sladky smile. She blushed. "Well, you see, they - I mean, the teachers at the school - forgot to tell the school bus driver to pick you up here, so I was told to bring you since I live closest to here." "Well, that sounds real horrorshow, my little sister," I replied. As we started down the street, she giggled a malenky bit. "What is it?" I enquired, a bit bewildered. "Oh, I"m sorry," she said. "It"s just your accent and the way you talk...you"re speaking Nadsat, right?" "Righty-right," I returned. "Oh, I"ve heard of it!" she said. "All the teens in England are using it, aren"t they?" "Thou hast hit it, my sister," I replied. "And how is it that you know so much about malenky old England, anyhow?" She smiled shyly. "Oh, I don"t know," she murmured. "They talk about it in the news a lot - like the recent election of the new Minister of the Interior, you know." I nodded skorrily, a sudden thought coming to my rassoodock. "What"s all this talk about a veck called "The Joker"?" I asked. Her face went grave. "He"s a killer who"s been terrorizing this city for the past six months. The police haven"t been able to find him - they"ve even released -" "Hartigan?" I finished. She nodded slowly. "How did you know?" "Well, I heard that malenky bit of gossip from two millicents on the streetcorner as I was waiting for the bus," I replied. "What was this Hartigan veck in the Staja for, anyhow?" The girl"s face paled. She hesitated for a minoota as we walked on and then she skorrily said, "He was in jail for - for rescuing me from Senator Roark"s psychopathic son, that"s what!" I blinked, a bit bewildered by her trembly outburst. She looked a bit embarrassed and razdrez as well and quickly skazzated, "I"m sorry, I didn"t mean to say that. I shouldn"t be telling anyone really...but I"ve had to keep it a secret for so long, I guess I just had to finally tell someone." I was still rather bewildered by her slovos. "What was he doing in the Staja for helping you?" I asked. "Sounds like a bolshy load of chepooka to me..." "I"ll explain it all to you later," she said. "I don"t know whether I"m an idiot for trusting you, but I"ll do it anyway. There are a lot of things I have to get off my chest." "Well, I"ll do my best to help with that last vesch, my little sister," I said with a real horrorshow smile. She smiled with a sweet trusting look at me. Then I said: "It suddenly occurs to me that thou hast failed to tell thy malenky droog what thy eemya might be." "Eemya?" she repeated. "Name," I translated with a patient smile. "What is your name?" "Oh!" she laughed. "I"m sorry about that! My name is Nancy Callahan. And..." she glanced at me shyly. "I got your name right, didn"t I?" "Yes, of course," I replied. "Though I usually prefer to be called "Alex" rather than the full "Alexander.'" "Oh, all right," she smiled. "I like Alex more, too - it sounds sweeter somehow."

little irritated, but decided-for the sake of our friendship-that I would keep silent. If by this time, dear reader, you are still wondering why I kept up my strange relationship with Dr. Herbert West, then you have not been paying attention very well. Though West was obnoxious and something of a know-it-all at times, there was also something inexplicably likeable about his maniacal intensity and not to mention, he was an interesting fellow to hang around with. However, on this evening as I prepared to retire for the night, I was beginning to feel a little edgy. After all, what was I going to do with myself? I could not live with Herbert West all my life-even though he obviously thought I could. Also, I got the impression that West was pretty sure that he was on the verge of perfecting his "re-agent", while I could not help but be skeptical about his optimism. What if it took years for us to get it to even a mildly workable state? What about my own future--what job would I have after skipping whole semesters at college? And what of my social life-what if I chose to marry or something (it was Miss Ward who had put that disturbing idea into my head)? These thoughts went through my mind, but West seemed to pay them no heed. He lay in bed staring at the ceiling dreamily as I brushed my teeth with an air of silent irritation. "You know, you seem a little anxious, James," Herbert said languidly from the bed. "What"s up?" I hesitated between vigorous strokes with the toothbrush and considered telling him my concerns. "I-it"s nothing, Herbert," I said, brushing my teeth more violently. "Oh." Herbert said. "Well, it"s just-look, I know you"ll get angry with me, but the truth is that I"m still a little worried about what job I"ll have when you-when we"re done experimenting." "Oh, is that all that"s worrying you?" West asked. "No, but that"s a lot of what"s worrying me," I said, carefully omitting my thoughts on Molly. "Well, if that"s your only problem, then I"ve already figured out how to solve it," West yawned languorously. "I"ve already signed us both up at the Miskatonic University. We"re to work as assistant chemists." "What!" I dropped my toothbrush and scrambled to pick it up. "What are you talking about? Assistant chemists? Why, I barely began my course on chemistry!" "Maybe you did, but I didn"t," Herbert returned. "And I can help you with the harder parts of the job. If you just stick with me we"ll be fine and you"ll learn more about chemistry from me than you would at any class." "Oh-all right." "So now are you happy?" "Yes, I suppose...I mean, not really..." "Well, what"s the problem now?" West said impatiently. "I"ll guess you"ll laugh at me, but I was wondering what I would do if I happened to fall in love or something and wanted to settle down," I finally said, rinsing my toothbrush off and placing it in its holder. "James. You can"t be serious. You would risk losing the key to the secret of life itself just for some girl?" "No, I didn"t say that," I said with dignity. "I just meant that I might want to marry someone, in which case I would need a job that provided a higher income." There was an unpleasant silence. "We"ll worry about that when it happens," West said ominously. "It may already have happened." There was another and longer silence. "West?" I said tentatively. "What?" was the unpleasant reply. "I still mean to help you." "How can you help me if you-marry?" West spat the word out as if it was an obscene blasphemy. "An endeavor like mine can only be accomplished if you devote your whole life, every bit of your energy and being into it! You must help me, James, and you can"t help me if you-do that!" "I"ll think about it," I said vaguely. After all, I wasn"t completely enamored with Molly yet, and it was possible that my feelings would wear off. "For now, let"s just pretend I never brought the subject up." Herbert West looked suspicious. "So you"re sticking with me?" "I"m sticking with you." Herbert glanced at me doubtfully, but said, "Goodnight, James." "Goodnight, Herbert." The morning came and I awoke at about eight in the morning. I felt in much better spirits than I had before, probably because for the first time in a while I had gotten a full night"s sleep. I headed out of my bedroom and down the hallway past the dining room. Herbert West"s room lay to my left and I cautiously opened the door to see whether he was awake, as I was feeling rather hungry and was in need of some breakfast. Herbert West was still in bed, though he was awake. "What time is it?" he demanded "About eight," I replied. "We"d better head to Arkham, then," West informed me. "Professor Halsey is probably already wondering where we are." "Halsey?" I repeated. "Isn"t he the dean of the Miskatonic Medical School?" "Yes, and he hates my guts," West said dryly. "That"s odd," I said automatically. "Well, he doesn"t really hate my guts," West said. "But he doesn"t really like me either. To tell you the truth, he"s kind of suspicious of me." "And he"s our supervisor?" I groaned as I followed him out of the room downstairs to the car. "Don"t worry about it," West said. "I cleared up your reputation with the heads of the Miskatonic. They won"t give you any more trouble about that body snatching business." "How did you do that?" I asked. "Why go into the details?" West returned. I followed him into the car. I half-suspected that he must have used some sinister method-such as blackmail-to get me back into the university, but I said nothing since I had no evidence of this. Once we reached the Miskatonic and met Dean Halsey, however, my suspicions were heightened. Halsey was a middle-aged man with white hair and a business suit, and he watched West and me-in particular, West-with evident distaste. "Your rooms in the dormitory are all in proper working order," Halsey informed us coldly. "After you have re-settled there, please clean the Miskatonic lab #1-thoroughly." "Very well, Professor Halsey," I said. Halsey left the room and left West and me to head to the dormitory and unpack. After we had finished doing this, I said, "I guess we should go to the laboratory." It would be no use in going into the details of what we did that day, for they were irrelevant. I shall merely move the reader forward to the evening of that same day, when I found myself trudging back to the dormitory where West was already lodged. I had been doing some extra studying at the Miskatonic University"s library-the Orne Library-and I was ready to go to sleep. The dormitory halls were silent and empty. I felt a wave of apprehension come over me, and for some reason, I felt in my pocket for my gun which I kept with me all the time, just in case. West"s room was only a few steps away, and I felt a sort of warning flash into my brain and the thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to check and make sure that he was all right. Suddenly, I felt fingers tighten around my throat, choking me, and I felt myself being dragged backwards down the hallway. I struggled, but it was no use. I was alarmed not only for my own safety, but for the safety of my friend, who I was convinced was in danger. I felt the horrible thing tighten its grip on me, and I heard a whispering voice rasp in my ear, "It"s too late for your friend. You"d better leave while you have a chance!" I managed to break free from the horror and turned around in time to see a grinning thing scuttle past me out of the dormitory. I ignored it though, racing back down the hallway towards my friend"s room. I pounded frantically on the locked door, calling my friend"s name over and over again until I ran out of breath. Finally, with a burst of energy, I managed to knock the door open. Sprawling on the floor, I looked up to see a sight that I had hoped only existed in nightmares. Two figures were outlined in the harsh moonlight that spilled into the room; one, the form of my unconscious friend and the other a thing much like the creature that had seized me earlier. The foul thing was gripping my friend in an agonizingly tight grip and I could see blood staining his shirt in crimson streaks. He was obviously severely wounded, and as I struggled dizzily upright to aim at the blasphemous eidolon, I could see it put its horrible mouth on my friend"s throat. I could barely keep my eyes open, my stomach turning in revulsion as I fired twice at the creature. It lifted its face, its lips smeared with fresh blood and I fired again and again and again. Under the impact of the bullets, the thing literally disintegrated, but not before its foul mouth twisted into a grin that shall linger and sneer in my nightmares long afterwards. West collapsed senselessly on the floor. I hurried towards him, slipping slightly on the blood which streaked the floor beneath me. How much of it was the zombie"s and how much of it was my friend"s, I feared to guess as well as the question of how long the thing had been feeding off his blood. His hair was stained and there were deep gashes all over him. As I moved closer, he half-rose abruptly coughing up blood. He gave a soft moan and I whispered, "West-how do you feel?" "Not too well," he said, with a weak smile as he stood up unsteadily. "Are you sure you feel well enough to get up?" I asked. "Don"t be an old woman. I"ll be all right," West said. "And I have a feeling we need to get out of here." "Why?" I asked. "And for heaven"s sake, where did that thing come from? There was another one downstairs!" "Another?" Herbert West said, gripping my sleeve, his eyes finally dimming with a look of terror. But he soon recovered his composure. "Never mind. I"ll figure something out. There are a lot of them out there probably, and they won"t be long in getting here." "You mean there are more of those things?" I whispered in horror. "But what are they?" Then the answer dawned on me. "West-how many of these things have you re-animated?" West looked at me uneasily. "A lot." "A lot!" Images of the two zombies I had just met up with were still fresh in my mind. "If they get here, we"re in trouble." "You have a gift for understatement," West said dryly. "I suggest that instead of pumping me for more information about my experiments, you leave Arkham right now. I"ll try to handle these things myself. It"s my fault they"re around in the first place." Before I could reply, a figure darkened the doorway leading into the hallway. I stood up instantly, my revolver ready, but as I pulled the trigger I realized with a sinking heart that I had used up the last of my cartridges on the previous zombie. I sprung with all my might at the thing in the doorway, at the same time shouting, "West, get out! I"ll hold them off! Take the re-agent and get out!" My fingers came in contact with the rotting, revolting flesh of my opponent, but I hung on as the creature, momentarily stunned by my attack, fell backwards on the smooth floor of the hallway. I clung tenaciously to the creature, trying to pin the dirty claws to the ground, but at the same time I saw a whole group of the Un-Dead grinning and running towards me. I stood up, trying to kick the zombie away from me, but my opponent seemed to suddenly recover his strength and seized my throat with both claws, his horrible rotting lips parting to reveal blood-stained, yellowed teeth. As I closed my eyes, blindly fighting to get free, I suddenly felt the death-hold on my throat loosen. My eyes flashed open in time to see the zombie fall forward, dead. I saw West in front of me holding two empty syringes. "An overdose of the re-agent kills them," he explained to me. "It"s the only way we can fight them without a gun. Quick, get in here." He pulled me in his room and shut the door just as the rest of the zombies reached us. We could hear them banging viciously from the outside. "It won"t hold much longer," I said ruefully. "If I could open it, they can open it." "But by the time they open it, we won"t be here," West grinned. "Come on, help me with this." I saw him struggling with bloodied fingers to get the window open. I rushed over to help him and with the aid of West"s medical bag, smashed the window open. Then, both of us squirmed our way out the window, landing in the shrubbery outside the Miskatonic dormitory. "We"ve got to call the police," I panted. "They"ll kill everyone in Arkham." "It probably won"t be the first time," West muttered. "But actually, you don"t need to worry about that. They"re not after anyone but me and the re-agent. We have to get to the Christchurch Cemetery before the rest of them wake up." "The rest?" I repeated. "Look," West said. "A year back I tried my re-agent out-not this one but an earlier version of it-on lots of the corpses in the cemetery here. Nothing happened so I just forgot about them. But it looks like-" "Now they"re waking up," I finished. West nodded. "And they"re screaming mad. I don"t know what they"re up to, but we"ve got to stop them." I helped West as we both went as speedily as we could to my car. We got in and I started the engine up and started driving towards Christchurch Cemetery. West looked frailer than he had before and I noticed that the crimson stains on his white shirt seemed to be bleeding through to the car seat. "My God, West, you"re still bleeding," I said. "I"m turning around and heading to a hospital. You"ve already lost a lot of blood already." West leaned his head back and laughed in a way that convinced me that the man was completely mad. "You"re crazy!" I muttered. "I"m turning around." "Don"t," he said, a little more seriously. "We"ve got to stop them before they do get all over the town. And the police won"t be any help." He snickered again. "Guns can"t really kill these things. You were just lucky back there because the one that had me was already in bad shape. But most of them will consider a revolver as no more than just a B-B gun." "If you say so," I said, though West was already refilling his two syringes with the glowing green serum. His face was now fixed with a cold intensity of purpose, and I glanced up at the stars grimly wondering why it had had to be my fate to get mixed up with a mad genius like Herbert West. Truth is always more fearful than fiction, and this case was no different. We reached the cemetery unmolested. The moon shone down on us as we trudged between the dismal abodes of the dead. West was obviously searching for something that he expected to see. When he saw one of the crypts ahead of us and its broken door, he turned to me. "That"s where they probably are," he said grimly. "Right you are, Mr. West," a voice behind us caused us both to start and turn. We found ourselves facing Dr. Hill. He was pointing a gun directly at West. "What do you want?" Herbert asked, looking at Dr. Hill with distaste. Dr. Hill was staring covetously at the glowing syringes West was holding. Immediately it flashed into both our minds what Hill was up to. Herbert started away from Dr. Hill, but the older man seized him in a powerful grip. However, my friend managed to drop the syringes and kicked them towards me. "Take them, Harkness!" he gasped, struggling against his rival. "Take them--leave--and get help!" Dr. Hill struck West to insensibility with his revolver and turned to me, pointing the muzzle of the gun at my head. "Give me the serum," he intoned. I looked at West and said, "Dr. Hill, what"s going on is much more important and dangerous than you think. In that crypt--" "I know what"s in that crypt, you fool!" Hill spat at me. "Now give me the serum." I remained silent. "Give me the serum, or I"ll shoot him," he gestured towards West who he was still holding. "Don"t give it to him, Harkness," West said softly. "He"ll just create more of them." "Oh, I will, will I?" Dr. Hill mimicked as I threw the syringes down, kicking them away from him. "And what do you think you"ve done? Now all of Arkham will be destroyed-and all because of you.""Shut up," I burst out. "And let him go or I"ll destroy the rest of the re-agent that I have hidden." Dr. Hill"s face froze and for a moment I thought he was going to shoot me. But he just threw West to the ground and turned to me, gripping my throat with one hand and holding the revolver to my head with the other. "Now," he hissed. "Where is the rest of the serum?" As I gasped for breath, West came up behind Dr. Hill. "You may as well let him go, Hill," he said, his voice crisp and cold. Hill released me and turned to face him. West"s eyes were burning with a mad light and his lips held the faint traces of a sardonic smile. "What did you do to the serum?" Dr. Hill hissed, seizing him by the coat. "It"s somewhere where you can"t get it," West returned. Dr. Hill and West looked at each other and the searing enmity that seemed to radiate from each of them was uncomfortable to watch. The pure hatred that covered Hill"s face and the cold, ironic smile on the young experimenter"s lips chilled me. Finally, Hill said: "So you"ve hidden it? Well, I can fix that." He seized West by the throat and jerked the young man towards him. "I"ll torture you until you tell me where you hid it." He pulled from his pocket a long, thin knife and held it lingeringly over West. Slowly, it began to descend... And then the horrors from the crypt emerged suddenly, howling like the damned. I don"t think Hill expected it to happen-I don"t know what he expected-he was totally mad. But West expected it. I saw the mad smile on his face as Hill released him, dropping the knife and aiming the gun at the dead creatures that were springing and hopping madly among the headstones. West seized my arm and pulled me towards the gate of the cemetery, hissing in my ear, "The watering system. Turn it on!" "You mean the sprinklers for the plants?" I asked. West nodded. I shrugged and took hold of the handle for the sprinklers near the cemetery wall and yanked it down. Immediately the sprinklers came on. As the water hit the mad zombies, they howled with pain and anguish, disintegrating before my eyes. "I injected the re-agent in the water system while Hill was talking to you," West told me. Hill had stumbled out of the cemetery, unharmed but totally mad. We watched as the dead creatures died and fell into the muddy earth. There was one, though, that managed to stumble towards us, its talons slashing the air. West"s eyes flickered as he shrank away, saying, "Don"t let it get to you-they try to suck your life out-" His voice died away as the thing seized him, sinking its grimy teeth into his throat as West struggled, gasping for breath. I looked around frantically for something to fight the thing. The thing had almost brought its foul, decaying lips close to my friend"s pale face when I seized a hose and turned its spray of greenish water full on the creature. It immediately disintegrated into a revolting, nauseous bubbling mass, just as the creature West and I first re-animated had looked back in Bolton. West collapsed to the ground, and to my astonishment I saw a girl with beautiful golden hair run out and catch him in her arms. She was shaking with fright and whispered to me, "Is he alive?" I nodded, too stunned to speak. "Molly?" I managed to whisper. "You"re James, aren"t you?" her sweet smile turned on me. West lay still unconscious in her arms. She ran her fingers through his dark, blood-stained hair and kissed his pale face. I glanced up at the steeple of Christchurch towering over us and breathed a silent prayer of gratitude that the night was finally over. Two months later, I was invited to a Christmas celebration at the Miskatonic University, by none other than Dean Halsey. As I drove up, his daughter Meg, a rather attractive young woman with short, straight blonde hair and the most bewitching blue eyes, greeted me. "The party"s upstairs," she said. "Thanks," I said, following her up the staircase. "Good evening, Mr. Harkness," a deep, droning voice behind me caused me to turn and face none other than Dr. Hill. He had been in a sanitarium for a month after the-dreadful events I have been relating to you in the last twenty pages. "I"m glad you"re feeling better, doctor," I said cautiously, still a little suspicious. I still suspected that his hatred for West had not abated, and that once he got the chance he would take his revenge on the young scientist. As we reached the room where the party was, I heard a not-so-very-good male singer finish singing some tired old carol. I saw West immediately as I entered and he smiled at me, though I couldn"t help but see a trace of something sinister behind his smile. He was sitting near the piano, a little apart from the rest of the people at the party, and Meg quickly went up to the piano and began playing the opening to a song. She turned to Herbert. "Why don"t you sing now? You"re the only one who hasn"t." West smiled, and I actually detected a hint of shyness. "No, really, I don"t want to-" "Oh, come on," Meg said, and began playing. And to my amazement, my friend actually began singing along, though all the while I could see the glances that he and Dr. Hill exchanged-and they were far from pleasant. Everyone clapped and cheered wildly when he finished, but I could not join in. For I also knew-somehow in the hidden regions of my subconscious-that my troubles-and the troubles of Arkham-were far from over.

"Thank you, master Maleficent" said Drain "Now go use your powers to freeze all the new rooms," said Maleficent "At once" Said Drain rushing off toward the tower Maleficent disappeared into a near by building. Jess snuck away from her hiding spot trying to find a way out of the dome. She ran along the boarder form one side to the other, but the dome was perfect not even a crack existed. She sat down to rest after hours of searching. "What are you doing here?" said a rough voice from somewhere behind her. She turned around and was staring right in the face of one of the worker robots; she spun around to run only to see another robot coming at her. "We must turn you in," Said the other robot getting closer to her, their movement was wobbly, like they were missing some parts. She looked around franticly trying to find a way out, there wasn"t one. She was about to give up hope when her shadow slowly peeled its self off the ground and began to take shape, before her stood a boy about 16, he had short blond hair and blue eyes. "Who are you?" she said wondering why he was in her shadow "Not now" He said " first we need to take care of these two" The boy raised his hands palms up to his side, both of the robots were lifted into the air several feet, he then closed both his hands, the two robots got crushed in mid air both heaps fell to the ground. "Now it is time for you to wake up," he said pulling out the black fob from his pocket "Wait" Jess said, "who are you and where are we?" "My name is Darin" he said " as for were we are at, somewhere in the desert" with that he pressed the button. Jess woke up in her bed, back at the orphanage, she looked around and everyone else was still asleep, including Amanda, she was probably in one of the parks, wondering where Jess was. She was just about to fall asleep when she heard voices down stairs; she slid out of her bed careful not to wake anyone else up, and creped out of her room to the stairs. When she looked down the stairs she saw a social service worker, Mrs. Nash, and a girl she had never seen before. The girl had long red hair and green eyes, she looked about 16. The social service worker left. Mrs. Nash looked up the stairs and saw Jess standing there. She signaled for Jess to come down the stairs, Jess thought she was in trouble since she didn"t know what time it was. She walked down the stairs. "I guess you are the first one awake this morning," said Mrs. Nash a little to happily "this is Randi, I want you to show her around" "Ok" said Jess taking Randi upstairs "this is going to be a long day" she said to herself. Yeah done with the first chapter Pleas R&R Randi turned out to be very polite during the tour. There wasn"t much to see. Jess mostly just showed her the kitchen, the bedrooms, and the bathroom. "I am going to get used to my new room now" Randi said in a small, quiet voice. Jess walled back to her room to find that Amanda was still asleep. What are they doing? Jess thought to herself. She found it weird that they were still in the park. Jess pulled out her diary from under her pillow and was flipping through it, trying to find a blank page. She came across something she hadn"t drawn in there. It was a picture of the tower inside the dome from that night. Something wasn"t right about the picture. The moon was inside the dome, and there were shooting stars to go along with it. Below it was one line it said "Beware the rules have changed, watch your back". Amanda started to stir. Jess quickly closed it and hid it inside her pillowcase. She hoped off her bed and walked over to Amanda"s. "Where were you?" Amanda asked her rubbing her eyes "the weirdest thing happened" "Yeah same here" said Jess "We need to find the others I have something to tell all of you" "You will have to wait till after school" said Amanda getting dressed "it is Friday after all" Later at school, Amanda met up with Finn near his locker. "What was that about last night?" Finn rhetorically asked her "I mean first we can"t find Jess, then the fob goes missing, and then some weirdo tells us that we are in danger" "I am still trying to figure out how he got in the park in the first place" Said Amanda as they walked to class "He just came out of nowhere" "We have to be carful," said Finn as they entered the class "he might be an overtaker or at least working for them" After school they were walking to a new park that had just been built to meet the others. Suddenly Amanda stopped. "We are being followed," She whispered to him, pretending to tie her shoe Finn glanced behind him to see a dark haired boy who looked to be about sixteen. The boy was pretending to look at the trees. Finn could tell one of his eyes was trained on them. "Two weirdoes in the same day" Finn muttered "that has got to be a new record" "Come on we need to get moving" said Amanda standing up "maybe we can loose him in the crowd" They took off running. They weaved through the crowd trying to shake him off. They ran for several minutes until they had to stop to rest. "I think we lost him in the crowd" said Finn trying to catch his breath. "We need to meet up with the others," said Amanda as they mad their way to the meeting point. They all met up in a near by park, that no one went to anymore. The place was falling apart. The swings were literally hanging by a thread. An old slide sat in one corner cover in wear and rust. What was once a jungle gym was now a pile of broken metal and plastic. Not even animals came here any more. It made the perfect place for them to talk without being heard. "So we have all talked to the same guy," said Finn after everyone had shown up. "We know nothing about this Darin, but he seams to know about us" "I say he is an overtaker," said Maybeck "the next time he shows up we should question him" "But he saved me back in the dome" Jess piped in. "It could have been a trick to gain your trust," said Maybeck who obviously didn"t like him. Jess was about to say something back, when out of nowhere two robots jumped out. Everyone jumped back in surprise. "These look like the ones from last night" said Jess "These things are still falling apart" The robot stepped forward. They were holding clubs that were made of scrap metal. They advanced forward swing their clubs. Jess" shadow jumped to life. It took on the familiar form of Darin. He was wielding two long swords. "Don"t you guys ever quit?" he asked rhetorically. He blocked their swings with little effort. He quickly impaled both of them, leaving them on the ground lifeless. "What are those things?" asked Jess "Rejects," said Darin putting away his swords "these are all the robot that didn"t make the cut" "Why are you in my shadow?" she asked him "I am your shadow" he said back "I am always watching out for you, both of you" "Who are you really?" Maybeck asked skeptically cutting off jess" next question. "I am me," he said without even looking at him "one of you knew me before this, even if you don"t know you did" Darin lifted his hands up and the two robots rose into the air and were ripped apart. They slowly drifted down amongst the piles of scrap metal. He melted back into the ground leaving everyone confused as to what just happened. This one took longer than I thought. Pleas R&R Jess was standing the hallway, waiting for Randi to come out of her room. Something was up with that girl and Jess was determined to find out what it was. She was always off by herself. She never talked to anyone. It looked more like she was watching people than anything. What was really strange was that she is the only one that has her own room, which for some reason was always locked. Randi slowly walked out of her room. She locked the door behind her and pocketed the key. Jess followed her as she walked down the hall to the bathroom where she turned around and looked at Jess. "good morning" she said a little too happily "Morning" Jess said back trying not to look suspicious "how are you?" she said looking in the mirror "I"m good I guess." Jess said trying to sound as normal as possible, the girls here weren"t this talkative, especially in the morning. "you guess?" she looked at Jess in the mirror. "yeah, I mean I never really think about it, not a lot of people ask." Jess said still trying to be nice. "oh, ok I guess, if thats the case" she paused. "tonight, since I"m new, can I hang out with you?" she asked cautiously. "I heard you were going somewhere" "OH, um I"ll get back to you on that one, I need to ask my sister, is that ok?" "I guess." she said shrugging. Jess went to leave, feeling bad but it was true, her and her "sister" ask each if things were ok with the other one before doing it. She went to Amanda"s room and explained the situation to her sister including that she found the other girl odd. "What"s her name again?" Amanda asked. "Her name is Randi." Jess said. "Well, how you explain her, she sounds odd." she paused. " I want to know whats in her room, I"m going to break in to her room, but anyway, I don"t care if she goes with us." Jess went to find Randi. She found her in the living room reading. " Hey, Randi." Jess said coming into the room. Randi looked up from her book. "oh, hey, didn"t hear you come down the stairs." she commented. Jess ignored that comment and got right down to what she wanted to say, hoping her sister would hurry up and get down here from her "exploring" as she called it. They had decided that Amanda would just simply come down stairs as the sign that she was done. Jess just had to keep Randi busy till then, which looked like that might be kind of hard. " my sister said you can hang out with us." Jess said putting her best fake smile on. "oh,really, thats great, I was afraid that I was going to have to spend the night alone." she said looking like she was about to die laughing." Jess not knowing what the inside joke that Randi was having with herself, just asked "where did you come from?" "well" Randi said as she went into the longest story ever. Amanda came down the stairs just before Jess was about to fall asleep out of boredom. "I have to talk to my sister for a little while, but i will talk to you later" said Jess as she ran over to Amanda. "What did you find out?" "Nothing" said Amanda defeated "I couldn"t get it open, I even tried to blow the door down" "So, it is stuck then?" "no, I felt the taint of dark magic on it" said Amanda a little scared "it was sealed shut" "so we have two dark magic users to worry about now" said Jess "Her and Drain" "you didn"t tell me much about him" "there isn"t much to tell" said Jess walking up the stairs "he is evil, thats all we need to know" A few hours later, all three of them were walking down the street. They were out cloths shopping. It went well, except that Randi kept picking out the weirdest clothes. Jess and Amanda got so frustrated with her that they picked her clothes out for her. They walked down the street looking for new shops to check out. They decided to stop at a jewelry store. "We can"t afford anything here" said Amanda protesting "It will be fun to look around" said Jess, she turned to Randi "What do you think" "It might be fun" said Randi They walked into the store looking around at all the super expensive things. Jess and Amanda had made their way to the back of the store and Randi was at the front. Jess was looking around the back, until she got board. She decided to go find Randi. She walked to the front of the store and saw Randi buying a very expensive gold necklace that had a ruby set in the middle. What seamed weird was that she pulled out a large stack of bills from her purse, and payed the whole thing off. Randi stuffed the necklace into her purse. Jess ran off to the back of the store where Amanda was at. "I just saw the weirdest thing" Jess said said to Amanda "what would that be?" said Randi who had just walked up "Oh nothing really" said Jess, thinking about the rotten timing "Well lets head back" said Amanda as they walked out of the store. They walked in silence for a little while until Randi grabbed ahold of Jess and Amanda and ran for it, dragging them behind her. "We are being followed" Randi said before they had a chance to ask. Jess looked back to see more of those annoying robots following them. They ran for awhile until they were cut off by more robots. Jess and Amanda dove to the side and ran a little, until they realized Randi wasn"t with them. They looked back to see the robots closing in on her. Just as they were about to grab her, she put her hand to the ground and a ring of light appeared around her. Everything within the ring started to dissolve, the plants, the ground, the robots, everything. When the light disappeared nothing was left except Randi standing in a black circle. She ran off before either of them could stop her. Please R&R It had been a week since the incident with Randi. She had returned to the house but denied the whole thing, especially the part about all the money. Every night Jess kept getting sent back to the tower, and every night she saw Maleficent, Drain, and the worker bots building that monstrosity. Darin has not show up again after the last rescue, not that he was needed at the moment. Jess, Finn, and Amanda were walking around town trying to find something to do, since things had gone so quiet lately. They heard about a new store and decided to check it out. Apparently the place had everything you could imagine at it. They heard about the place from some people on the street. From what they heard it is a traveling store that doesn"t stay in one place for long. "A store that has everything, that doesn"t stick around" said Jess as they walked down the road "how nice" "If it is real then it raises the question as to why they would keep moving around and not just open more stores." said Finn still trying to figure out how they got him to go. "Maybe they use that fact to get more customers" said Amanda The store was located on what used to be an empty lot. It was a massive wooden building with a sign on it that said "The moving store." They walked in and were Instantly surrounded by things of all shapes and sizes. There was everything from food to electronics. The store seamed like it stretched on forever. They walked around checking out he many different things. As they were walking Jess suddenly stopped in front of a door, for reasons unknown she tried to open it but it wouldn"t budge. "Can I help you?" said a voice beside her. she turned to look at who it was and gasped. There standing next to her wearing one of the employes uniforms was Drain. "Just looking for the bathroom" she said trying to hide her face. "To the front of the store and to the right" He said walking away "Have a nice day" "Who was that?" asked Amanda,her and Finn had turned around when they realized Jess wasn"t with them. "That was Drain" she said "You mean the guy who is working with Maleficent?" said Finn shocked "Yeah, lucky for me that he has never seen my face before" said Jess "I have an idea thought" Jess led Finn and Amanda around the store for several minutes until she found the service desk. She walked up and talked to the lady running it. "Starting tomorrow we work here" she said walking back "What?" Amanda and Finn said in unison. "I figured it was the best way to keep an eye on him" said Jess with a shrug. The next few weeks were crazy for the three of them. They were trying to balance school, work, and their keeper duties. All the while keeping an eye on Drain. The biggest shock was when they found out that Drain owned the store. That wasn"t the end of it either, one day when Jess was following him he pulled out a gold chained ruby necklace. The same one that Randi had bought last time they were out. When she asked him about it, he just waved it off and ignored the question. Jess was confused about all of this. Drain seamed like a nice person from what she saw over the weeks she worked there. She kept wondering why a guy like him would work for Maleficent. She pondered this while putting stuffed dogs on a shelf, Finn and Amanda were doing the same near her. She caught something out of the corner of her and went to check it out. "Not you guys again" she said when she came face to face with a group of the worker bots from the tower. She did the only thing she could, she ran. The robots followed her down the aisle where the other two where at. The robot started flings parts of themselves at her. The chunks of metal wised past her head and hit Finn knocking him out. Amanda ran over and tried to use her powers to knock the robots over but ended up knocking thing off the shelf and on top of herself. Jess tried to help her up only to be knocked into a shelf by one of the robots, she knew no more. Jess woke up in an unfamiliar room. There was weird machinery and equipment scattered around the room. She saw Finn and Amanda laying across the room. "Don"t get up to fast" came a voice from the other side of the room. Jess looked up and saw Drain. "I got rid of the robots for you" "Uh, thanks" she said unsure of how to feel. "I told her to keep them away from my store" he muttered to the side. "I forgot to ask earlier but what is your name?" Jess said lying back down "Drain" came the reply "No" said Jess shaking her head "Your real name" "It"s Gemini" He said "What a weird name" "There is a reason that it is my name, but it is better that you don"t know yet" "Where am I" Said Finn who had just woke up "I see you are awake" said Gemini "Better wake up the other one" Gemini gathered everyone around him. "Now you are probably wonder where I have brought you. you are still inside the store, we use this room for training" "What kind of training?" asked Amanda skeptical about him "Combat mostly, but sometimes for mental training" he said pointing out the machinery "From what I have seen the mechaloids won"t leave you alone, so I have decided to train you to fight them" "Why would you help us?" said Finn ready to run for it "A favor to an old friend" said Gemini slightly looking away "We will do it" Said Jess before anyone could say anything "Good, we start now" said Gemini ushering them into another room. Please R&R Also their training goes like this Amanda: better control over wind and healing, Finn: Ghost drive, and Jess: minor time manipulation. It had been four months since there training started. It was a bit brutal but they pulled through. Feeling confident, they were practicing their new abilities on each other. Jess was just going through her daily list in her head. Every day she would think of what each of the three new comers were up to. Drain, or should she say Gemini, had been training them by day and working for Maleficent by night. She found all this weird but didn"t think much of it. Randi had still been keeping to herself, but seamed to be watching them a lot. Darin had shown up here and there but ultimately was unneeded so he hadn"t been doing much lately, she saw him at a few stores but that was about it. She knew there was a connection between the three, especially Randi and Gemini, but couldn"t find out what it was. She focused more on what she was doing. It was a sunday, which meant no work or school, so they were siting around practicing. She was freezing time around some falling leaves making them stop in midair. Then made them flow in reverse, they attached themselves back to the tree they had fallen from. She liked her new powers, but also wondered how Gemini knew so much about them and how there powers worked in the first place. She kept thinking on this on her way home, she didn"t talk much normally so it didn"t bother the other two. They kept walking a little ways when she saw something gleam behind her. Spinning around she saw more of the robots, or mechaloids as Gemini called them. "Guys, we are being followed" she said to Finn and Amanda who stopped suddenly "No" said Finn "we are surrounded" Sure enough more robots came to join the others, forming a circle around them. "I guess this is as good a time as any to test our new powers" said Amanda charging in. She swiped her arms out in front of her and a thin layer of air shot out and sliced some of the robots in half. Finn just stood there one of the robots thrust his word through his stomach. The sword passed through him. The robot got its head smashed in when Finn landed on him. The Finn that was on the ground slowly dissolved. This is ghost drive. Jess looked like a blur as she used her time manipulation to speed herself up while slowing them down. They all made quick work of the mechaloids before leaving with no so much as a scratch. "You have trained them well" said Darin who was sitting in a nearby tree watching them leave. "Make sure Randi keeps a close eye on them" he melted into the tree disappearing Drain dropped down from the tree. His from melting away into that of Randi. "I will not fail you brother" she said touching her chest "soon we will be free" She ran off taking a shortcut to the orphanage. She went in and unsealed her room. The room was filled with various computers and surveillance equipment. She had cameras watching the whole house.

"I saw some weirdo in a mask walk into the nursery where his majesties kids are staying," said one of the palace maids to the other. She hurried off when she heard this."He better of not hurt my babies,' she thought. As she arrived at the nursery, she saw an entirely different seen. The twins where siting in front of him, Anna had climbed into his lap and Filli had jumped on his shoulder and was rubbing against his neck. She got right up to the door frame and sat down out of sight so she could hear what he was saying. "Hey there Filli, I must still smell like her, otherwise you wouldn"t be this friendly." Sever said. Filli made a chattering noise in response while jumping up and down. "Good point," he said as they both burst out laughing. "What did he say?" asked 2 year old Anna, the only one of the three who could actually form complete sentences . "Oh, you guys wouldn"t get it," he said stroking Filli under his chin. Jasmine was shocked to see them talking to someone they didn"t know "they never talk to anyone but me, Lief, and each other" she thought "he does have a nice voice though.' "I have to go," said Sever. "Don"t go mister," said Anna grabbing on to his neck. "Not to worry you will see me again," he said as he pulled her off his neck and walked out the door. Jasmine took off down the hall at a run then wiped around in time to see him coming out of the nursery. She walked up to him, "Sever I have been looking for you, we have come to a decision please follow me to the throne room." "As you wish," he said reverting back to his emotionless voice. I wonder if some one can figure out who he is just from the information in the first two chapters, I am curious to see if anyone can get it right. Anyway the next few chapters will have some action in them P.S. I finally got flash animation, I am so happy! =^.^= Sever had just got out of the meeting room where the "discussion" was going on about who would go, the team was Sever, Lief, Jasmine (Sever protest against the last two) and a few guards who"s names He really didn"t care to remember. They wanted to take Barda with them, but he was away on another assignment. "Do you really think it is a good idea to bring the king and queen along?" Sever asked one of the guards. "His majesty wished it," Said the guard bluntly "Right I forgot you guys follow them blindly," Said Sever under his breathe, as he walked away. On his way back to his room he ran into Jasmine who was carrying Kree on her shoulder. Kree jumped off of her shoulder and landed on sever"s head, squawking happily. "He says that he recognizes your scent," she said eying him "Who are you exactly?" "No one important," Sever said stroking Kree"s feathers " I probably just caught some one else"s scent form the palace" Jasmine was about to say something when a guard came up to them "We are ready to depart," he said standing perfectly still "Come on Kree" She said, He fluttered back over to her, as she headed toward the front with Sever right behind her. "This isn"t over, I will find out who you are" she thought to herself looking behind her. Sever brushed passed her, taking no notice. "Looks like everyone is here" Lief said, eyeing everyone in turn. "Lets get going" They headed out in silence, mostly because they were waiting for Sever to slip up. They through the front gate, they went through the busy streets of Dell passing by the clothes stores, the pottery stores, and all the food stalls. "So where do we go from here?" Lief-asked Sever when they made it outside the city. "We should take a short cut through the forests of silence" Sever said, his voice showing no hint of emotion. "Lead the way" Said Lief Sever walked ahead of everyone aware of the fact that they didn"t trust him. "I am sorry I have to deceive you" he thought to himself "but there is something bigger going on here" He clutched the opal around his neck "much bigger" So there was one hint in this chapter. The next ones will have action in them I promise They all followed Sever down a familiar path. They all moved in silence each person with something different on their mind. One was regretting his choice, one was worried, one was plagued by curiosity, one was thinking nothing, and one was worried. "Where are you taking us?" Lief ask Sever after he took another side path "Through the forests of silence" Sever said in the same emotionless voice he always used. "I knew it you are trying to kill us," Lief screamed "If you would pay attention for a minute you would know that we are being followed" Sever said without looking back "The forests will provide us some cover" "I thought I herd something" Said Jasmine looking behind her "who is it?" "Not who, but what" said Sever "It"s a large animal, other than that I don"t know" They made it to the edge of the forest when Jasmine said "split up we will have better chances that way, I will use Kree to signal everyone when it is safe" They ran off into three directions Lief and Jasmine went one way, the two guards went another, and Sever ran off on his own. The guards got the worst of luck the "animal" came right at them. They flipped around swords drawn to drive it away; they came face to face with a big green-scaled monster with long teeth and claws. "Vraal!" one of the guards shouted charging after it sword at the ready he took a swing at, his sword being deflected by one set of claws as the other plunged into his stomach. He fell to the ground lifeless. The other guard tried to attack it from behind only to have its tail plunge through his head. The Vraal ran off to find more prey. Lief and Jasmine were in a tree when the Vraal came for them. It sniffed around a lit before looking up at them. "As long as we are in this tree it can"t get us," Lief said The Vraal walled away, then came running back ramming its head into the tree. The tree shook violently, Jasmine was able to hang on to it, but Lief slipped off plummeting to the ground. Luckily the Vraal didn"t notice that he had fallen from the tree. The Vraal kept ramming the tree shaking it with each hit. Then it stopped and looked behind it, Jasmine looked up to see Sever walking up to it, she scrambled higher into the tree. The Vraal ran at Sever only to be knocked lazily away. The Vraal tried again but this time on its way toward Sever, he started to change his right arm turned red and spikes grew out of it, a spike grew out of his mask ripping a hole in it reveling his eye and some red skin underneath. Sever grabbed the Vraal by its neck ripping its head off. Sevrence turned back to normal and Jasmine got a glimpse of his face, she gave a gasp not believing what she saw. He walked away not noticing her. Jasmine and Lief met up with Sever where Kree was circling in the sky. "Where are the guards?" Lief asked "Dead, the Vraal got to them" Sever said, who now had a new mask, "we should move on" "Agreed," said Lief They all walked heading deeper into the forest. Jasmine was eyeing Sever with only one thing running through her head, "he looks like me" Duh duh dun. I don"t think anyone is going to figure out who he is. And no his not an Ol. Please read and review It will not say who he is in this chapter just someone finds out Sever, Lief, and Jasmine had finally made it out of the forest and headed down the road in silence. Lief was still a little dizzy from the fall he took, he was the only one of the three who didn"t know how the Vraal died. Kree flew ahead of looking out for danger. "I don"t trust him," Said Lief quietly to Jasmine so Sever wouldn"t hear him "I have an idea to see if he is telling the truth" "How" asked Jasmine with her eyes fixed on Sever, she stroked Filli"s fur "We will take him to the dreaming spring, at least then we will know if his intentions are good or bad" Lief said before quickening his pace. "Sever" "What" said Sever without looking back. "I know a safer way into the shadowlands" Said Lief "It is a bit of a walk, but it is safer" There was a long pause before Sever stopped and said, "Lead the way" "so they are taking me to the dreaming spring" thought Sever as he followed Lief They traveled on for days stopping at some of the scattered villages and towns that had emerged over the past few years. They met all kinds of people and stayed at many places to rest, and then they came across the ruins of Rithmere, the once crowded place now decimated by greed. "This place is a dump" said Sever "This is the effect of greed" said Jasmine "when the games were cancelled everyone went crazy trying to get their hands on the money that was stored for it, in the end they destroyed each other" "Its getting dark, we should stop here to rest" Said Lief " we can probably find a building that isn"t falling apart" They searched for several minutes before finding a suitable place, it was an old hotel. They decided to camp out in the lobby so they could make a quick escape if need be. Sever took one side of the room and Lief and Jasmine took the other. They fell asleep fast, except for Jasmine who stayed awake. When she was sure that they were asleep, she got up and went to where Severs pack lay at. She rummaged through trying to find anything of interest, the contents included: a katana, some food, some fire beads, a pure black dagger that a had hilt that looked like a birds wing, a canteen, 3 masks, a extra cloak, and a old book that she couldn"t get open. She looked the contents over before closing his bag, she walked over to him and tried to pry his mask off, only to find out it was stuck on. She moved closer to him trying to find out why it wouldn"t come off, her had brushed up against something, and that"s when he head was filled with images, she saw two armies facing each other and on a nearby hill she saw Lief and Sever, without his mask and cloak, making battle plans. She pulled her had away to find out that it had been resting on an opal that he had around a chain. Realizing what it was she tried to move it but like his mask it wouldn"t budge, defeated she went back and curled up beside Lief to sleep. The next they all packed to leave Jasmine had double-checked that all the gems were still on the belt, they were, and this seriously confused her, until she put it all together and realized who he was, Kree flew on ahead as usual, then it was Lief, then Jasmine, and Sever and Filli brought up the rear. They kept going for several days, often having to sleep on the ground since there were no towns near the Sifting sands. They finally arrived at their destination "A lake" Said Lief trying to act like he didn"t know about the dreaming spring "we should probably stop to rest here" They all headed to the lake that was surrounded by the trees with pale leaves, they all drank from, Sever barley lifted his mask enough to do so. Lief and Jasmine watched him to see if the water would turn him into a tree, they watched for an hour while he leaned against one of the trees until they were satisfied enough to go to sleep. "I thought that he would change into a tree," said Lief in disbelief as he fell asleep Jasmine tried to fall asleep but could so she finally just stood up to see if anyone else was awake, Lief was sleeping soundly next to her and Sever was lying under a tree, she was about to look away until she realized that something was wrong, she moved closer to where he was to find out that all that was their was his mask and cloak. "Cant sleep" She heard him say from somewhere above her. She looked up to see the same face she saw in the forest, the one that like hers, She tried her best to look surprised. "Save it," he said, "I know you know who I am" "How does he know that" she thought to herself "I can read your mind," he said answering her thought, jumping out of the tree. He noticed she was staring at his dagger. "You want to know about this," he said holding it up " The blade is made out of obsidian very rare element, and the blade itself secrets a deadly poison it can kill within minutes, from even the tiniest of scratches" "Where did you get it?" "From my mother" he said putting it away "How did you transform in the forest?" She asked him "The same way I got that mask to stay on, magic" he said "partial transformations are easy, full body ones take a lot of energy and I cant hold a form for very long" "Can you teach me how to do that?" "Not in a night we would need several weeks, and not every one can learn magic you have to at least have the spark in you" he said "walking closer to the tree "The good part is you do, and there is one thing I can teach you in a night, and I can teach you many other things if we have the time" "Then teach me," she said "Alright, follow me" He said heading to the open field Now can anyone find out who he is? So Jasmine is now going to learn magic, this is going to be interesting. Please R&R Lief, Jasmine, and Sever woke up at the dreaming spring. They packed up their things and filled their canteens at the spring. "We are close to the border now, we can just head straight to get there" said Sever "Wont we be attacked" said Lief "No, the shadow lord was driven out years ago, remember" Said Sever abandoning his no emotion voice and using his real one "And all the animals that lived their spread out, that"s why that Vraal was in the forests of silence" "Your voice sounds kind of familiar," said Lief "We need to get moving" Jasmine cut in "Yeah, the faster the better" Said Sever They followed Sever as he led them through a forest they walked on seeing no sign of life at all, finally Lief got impatient "How long till we reach the shadowlands" Said Lief "We are already there," said Sever "WHAT!" said Lief and Jasmine at the same time "You didn"t notice" Said Sever "this forest was what was once the shadowlands, when the shadow lord was defeated it was finally able to heal" "I didn"t think it would heal this fast" said Jasmine "So this cure you were talking about, is a plant that only grows here," said Lief "Right" Said Sever "So where is it?" said Lief "This way" Sever said "Yes that tells me a lot" Said Lief They kept walking, Jasmine kept seeing movement, but every time she looked nothing was there. She thought she was just paranoid "The trees are silent," she said "That"s because they are not real trees" Said Sever "they are made with magic, in fact this whole place is protected by magic" "Who put it up" said Jasmine "The locals" said Sever "You said that the place was deserted," said Lief "No I said that the old inhabitants had left" Said Sever "Are they friendly" Said Jasmine "Yes very, just don"t make them mad" Said Sever "Why" asked Jasmine "They are great fighters," said Sever "They where all living on the edge of the shadowlands, before the shadow lord was defeated" "And they are following us, right" Said Jasmine "Yes they are" Said Sever "but only because we are so close to their village" "So we can stop there," asked Jasmine "No, we can not," said Sever "we don"t have time to stop" "Why not" "Because the moon fruit is only going to be ripe till sunset" "Wait, the moon fruit?" asked Lief "It is part of the cure," said Sever "we are here" They had come upon a rock structure that looked very old "The moon fruit is inside," said Sever drawing his katana "Be prepared to fight" Jasmine and Lief drew their weapons and followed Sever into the structure "This pace is called the Vestige" Said Sever "the moon fruit only grow her because no light can get through the walls" "Is that it?" asked Lief pointing at a tree full of round fruit "Yes, but be carful this place is guarded by ols" They walked slowly towards the tree, some of the fruit rolled off and melted, then reformed into people. "They all look like Dain," said Jasmine shocked "We need to take them out," said Sever charging at one plunging his blade into the heart of one of them. Lief and Jasmine joined in and soon the floor was covered in ooze they kept fighting until their feet his something hard and they realized they had been cornered. "There are to many of them," Said Lief Sever dropped his katana to the floor and pulled out his dagger "Fly black bird" He said throwing it at the ols, the dagger glowed black and the shape of a bird appeared around it. It sliced the ols into pieces making several trips before returning to sever back to normal. "What was that about" asked Jasmine "It has a mind of its own," said Sever turning to them Lief was wide eyed "what" "Ol!" he screamed turning his sword on Sever, that is when Sever relizeed that he lost his mask during the fight. Lief swung at him, only for Jasmine to block his blade with her dagger. "What are you doing?" He roared "He"s not an OL," She said "Then what is he?" asked Lief in disbelief "He is our son, Endon," She said "You believe that" he said, "Do you have proof?" "Yes I do," said Sever tossing his cloak aside and tearing the opal from around his neck "I believe you have one just like it" Lief took the opal and compared it to the one on the belt, he handed it back "How did you get in this time then?" "I will explain that as I make the cure," Sever said as he took various things out of his bag "mom get me a moon fruit" Jasmine ran over to the tree and picked one of the fruits, she hurried back over to Sever who put it with the other things he got out "Now how did you get here?" She asked "Before I tell you that I have to tell you another storey," he said as he started to mix the ingredients "It will all begin in a year, for me it began 15 years ago, anyway, about a year from now a great evil know as the crawler will rise up, no one knows where it came from, but in 5 short years it seized power, we ran for it trying to keep the royal family safe, but little did we know that the crawler had poisoned some of us, we lost Jarred and Anna, and mom went shortly after" "So that"s why you wanted to make the cure" Said Jasmine "Yeah, their will be enough here to help all of us" He said "After you died, dad went crazy with grief and went after the crawler himself, we never saw him again. Kree became my guardian, but he then to died, so I bounded his soul to my dagger" He pulled out the black dagger and handed it to Jasmine " the way I see it this belongs to you, after that I studied, and went more in depth then I ever have in magic, until I figured out how to travel through time, and after that I ended up here" "So all we have to do is take out this Crawler thing before it rises" said Lief "I already told you no knows where it came from," Sever said handing the bowl to Lief "It Is done, both of you take a drink" They both drank some of it "This tastes awful" Said Jasmine "It will keep you alive" Said Sever "now you two need to return to the castle, grab me and the rest of the family, and a few other you trust, wait till the night comes and slip away" "What about you?" asked Jasmine "Don"t worry I will be here setting up" He said "there is a secret passage behind that wall that leads to an underground are, the spell I taught you will open it" "So we will meet you back here then," said Lief "I hope you have a safe journey and..." said Sever being cut off by a sharp pain in his chest he looked down to see a sword coming out of his chest, he flipped around and stabbed the OL in through the heart "their was one more" He fell to the ground "Endon!" Jasmine cried running up to him "Looks like my time is up" He said "Listen closely, when you get everyone here you need to hide out in the base, stay her for 11 years, then seek out mage, shadow, knight, nekro, zombie, and fear, seek them out one at a time, and never have one of them with you when you are looking for another, only after you get all of them gathered and raise an army, can you hope to defeat the crawler" he went lifeless Jasmine burst out in tears "We should do what he says, he has proven that he is telling the truth" Said Lief picking up Sever lifeless body "lets put him in the base for now" Jasmine nodded and walked to the wall, and put up her hand, the bricks on the wall moved around to reveal a stairway. They walked down the stairs to an open area with couched and chairs scattered around, there was a tunnel leading to other rooms. Lief set him down on one of the couches. "Lets go, and put his plan into action" Said Lief Jasmine nodded and they disappeared into the night. A year later the crawler had risen and seized power, Lief, Jasmine, their kids, Sharn, and Barda had all escaped to the fire planes, as it was now called after the crawler set fire to it, they had recruited the locals to their cause, the start of their great army, they had Sever entombed in one of the rooms. Jasmine was going through his stuff when she found a bulge in his bag she took out black bird and cut a hole in his bag, inside was a page that said to: mom from: Sever. She tore it open and inside was two books, one titled "Magic: a guide to using it" and the other was titled "Necromancy: a guide to raising the dead" in the book she found a letter explaining all of the people and how they will help in the fight. "You planed everything" she said out loud "Down to the letter" Well that"s it for this storey but keep an eye out for NeoDeltora, the story that continues after this one Please R&R

Your mum took us to Disneyland Paris for the second time the summer before Year Nine. We stayed at one of the resorts, and met two guys our age at the game room. Well, Danny was your age and Tom was sixteen. I was thirteen. Other people wouldn"t have been able to work perfectly with the age differences, but we did. I was never the fourth wheel when we went through Disneyland together, and if you were talking to a chick and you could see that I was getting a bit bored, you would give a quick good-bye and drag me off to a roller coaster. It was completely awesome, and after the week, when it was time t go, we exchanged numbers with Tom and Danny with promises to keep in touch. On the trip back to London, you feel asleep next to me, and your head fell from my shoulder to my chest. I choked back a giggle and silently took a picture of you with my cellphone so I could embarrass you with it later. Sometime on the trip from Paris to London, I fell asleep, too. You"re pretty cool, though, so I doubt you were bothered when you woke up against me with my arm draped over your shoulders and my fingers tangled in your hair. You graduated from high school two years ahead of me. It was nearly impossible for us to drift too far apart until then because we lived close together, called each other all the time, and went to the same school. We had other friends, too, of course so we weren"t as tight as we were when we were little. But you were heading off to university (in America, no less) after the summer, and let"s face it; between your (dying) relationship with your girlfriend, preparing to move, and your summer job teaching private lessons for aspiring young drummers, our days together were numbered. I kind of hoped that you would magically decide that Berkeley wasn"t the place for you but that obviously didn"t happen. You had to head off two weeks before the summer ended, and your parents threw you a good-bye party. I came, and hated it. I hated seeing you so pumped to leave. I wanted to leave early, to escape the tears of your relatives and other friends and go somewhere to be pathetic and miserable by myself. Of course, Fate would never have that, so you asked me to stay afterwards and help you with a last minute packing. I shrugged. There wasn"t really anyone else to ask, really. You broke up with your girlfriend the week before, and no way would you ask your parents for help. Your father is terrible at clothes, and although we both love your mum to death, I know that if you mum tried to help you pack, she"d drive you mad. We folded clothes silently. You already had your possessions and books ready to go, so you only needed help putting away the clothes you had just finished washing. I already missed you. I missed us. I missed going to the cinema with you when our girlfriends bailed because they didn"t want to see a horror film; I missed sitting with you at my house on the weekends, watching the telly; I missed calling you at two o"clock in the morning to ask about a homework assignment I didn"t do yet. You were leaving your drum kit behind, and I missed watching you play them, missed the focused look as your pounded away to your own rhythm. "Are you angry with me?" you asked suddenly. "Yes." I replied shortly. "Because I"m going to the United States?" "Yes." "We"ll still keep in touch." You told me, "I"ll text you or call you... we can email." I shrugged. "Okay." "Dougie!" you said. There was something oddly desperate in your tone. You sounded stressed out. "Don"t be upset, please. I don"t want to leave knowing we haven"t made up." I folded on of your t-shirts and placed it on the top of your suitcase. It was the stupid tee I gave you as a joke for Christmas two years ago. It was pink, and said PRINCESS on it in white letters. "We"ll keep in touch." I said. "You can visit, if you have time. During summer vacation maybe." "I"ll miss you." You said softly. I let out some sort of snort/hysterical laugh, and the next thing I knew, you were hugging me. You smell like your favorite brand of cologne plus peppermint, which is the permanent scent in your car. You like to hug people, but this one was different. It was a good-by hug; an I"m-not-going-to-see-you-for-a-while hug. We both realized that, and as much as I didn"t want to, I started to sniffle. "Will you miss me?" You asked in a whisper. You were crying as well. The last time you cried was when you were thirteen and you broke your arm. "Yeah, mate. Of course I will." I croaked. You stepped back and grinned, blinking the tears out of your eyes. "We"re good?" I hung my head, feeling miserable. "Yeah," I sniffed. "Sorry... for being a moron, I suppose." You shrug and we flop back on your bed together. "What d"you reckon America will be like? Like what you see on the telly?" I asked you. "Normal, I think. Like here, except with American accents and... I dunno, different interests? It isn"t like the people there are alien, Dougie." "It"s far away." I mumbled, "An entire ocean. Millions and bajillions of miles." You laughed. I turned my head to look at you and wondered if any of your girlfriends ever told you that your eyes twinkle when you smile. "Promise me something, Haz?" You raised your eyebrow. "Alright," "Don"t go to Disney World without me." I grinned. You laughed again, "Disney World?" you repeated, "Not Las Vegas or anything?" "Disney World." I confirmed. "It"s supposed to be the most magical place on earth." "It"s the happiest place on earth." You corrected. "No, Danny said that Tom says that"s Disneyland." I replied, staring up at the ceiling. "Who?" "Danny and Tom? Remember? We met them in Paris... three years ago. You didn"t keep in touch?" You didn"t really, but you did remember them. "How are they?" "Danny"s going to go to the same college as Tom. It"s only forty-five minutes away." "You could visit." You said. "I plan on it." "So you promise?" "Disney World? Yeah. Sure. Promise." We lay on the bed for a little while more. I fidgeted for that while before you asked, "Want to watch a movie?" I slept over unintentionally that night, and it was not like what it sounds like. We ended up falling asleep halfway through the second film we watched. I woke up the next morning curled up next to you. Someone had turned off the lights and the television while we slept -mostly likely your mum. I wondered if we had been wrapped around each other when she came in. I hoped not, and was glad you weren"t awake yet, because otherwise, you would have woken up to feel my boner against your leg. After untangling myself as quickly and carefully as possible, I raced into your bathroom to deal with it. Then I fell to my knees as leaned over the toilet. "Oh my fuck." I moaned aloud. How was it possible? Thirteen years of knowing you, and one morning I just woke up and decided I was attracted to you. Or at least my cock did. "Shit shitty shit shit." You were leaving in the afternoon. Your flight was at four o"clock. How could you leave me? My breath began to come up short; I started hyperventilating. "Dougie?" You called from your room. When did you wake up? Five seconds ago? Where you planning what you were going to wear? Did you already have something planned? Comfortable jeans and a t-shirt for the flight across the Atlantic? "Harry!" I whimpered -and shit, it was a whimper, "Don"t leave me, Harry, I"ll die if you leave me..." You opened the bathroom door. "Please don"t leave me," "You"ll be alright." You said, squatting down next to me. I shivered, "No, you don"t get it, Harry, I"ll die! There"s going to be some sort of accident and you won"t be there, so I"ll die or..." "Dougie." You said firmly, "Look at me, Dougie." I looked up from the toilet bowl and turned reluctantly to face you. You put your hands on my shoulders. "You will not die." You said, absolutely serious. Your eyes bore into mine. "Listen, Dougs. I"m not going to be gone for good, okay? I"ll visit every break I can afford to leave on. It"s going to be fine. You"ll be at school -you"ll barely realize I"m not there." I sniffed. "I"m being so stupid." "You"ve got dependency issues, yeah," You chuckled softly. "Christ, I cry so much." I mumbled, wiping the moisture off my cheeks. I looked up again and ran my eyes over your face. What would you say if you knew that I suddenly felt like kissing the breath out of you? Your hands slipped away from my shoulders and you took hold of my wrists, hauling me up to my feet. "Come on. Let"s get dressed. I think my mum washed your clothes from the last time you stayed over." I ate breakfast at your house and stayed until lunch. We spent most of the day cleaning the house, actually. You were leaving at one-thirty in order to make it to the airport, check-in and get through security in time for your flight. I said my last good-bye on your driveway. It was rather unceremonious. I sort of just said a "see you later, mate", and while your parents and you were busy getting your bags into the car, I walked off to catch a bus home. TBC... A/N: Note the POV change. Also, I"m thinking there will probably be one more chapter after this and then the fic will be done. I mean, we"ve got a potential long fic here, but I"ve got to write so much angst for my X-Men fics, I"d just like to make this a bit fluffy. Please review, and enjoy! :) I went home over the Christmas holidays. It was awkward, to tell the truth. We acted like strangers. Things had changed. I made jokes that you hardly understood because they were jokes I"d learned in the States. The entire time we were together -two days out of the six I was staying for -you looked at me like I was a total alien. And there was a strange look in your eye. Sometimes while I"m sitting in my dorm room, at my laptop and thinking about what to email you about, I can"t help but think that something between us is gone. We used to be family; now it"s more like we"re really good friends. I don"t want to be really good friends. I want to be family. When summer came, I didn"t make it back to England until early-July. There was a lot I had to tie up at Berkeley before I left it for a month. You were going on vacation with your family for two weeks. You came back, and we agreed to meet at a café we both liked. Is it possible to change so much over a few months? You did. You were seventeen, a bit taller, and the boyish look on your face had vanished -to be replaced with a maturity I wasn"t used to seeing. Dougie Poynter grew up while I was away. You didn"t need me anymore. I couldn"t get a flight over the holidays the next year. I had waited too late, and everything was booked. It was alright, I told my parents, I had a lot of work to do. I could visit over spring break. I got a Skype so I could talk to everyone while I was in California. I got a Skype so I could talk to you and see your face as I did so. There wasn"t a lot to say. You seemed distracted the entire time. You kept glancing to something off screen and fidgeting nervously. "Dougie," I finally said, "Are you alright?" "What?" You looked up with surprise, as if you hadn"t noticed anything wrong. "Yeah, yeah, I"m fine. Why? What"s up?" "Nothing, you were just... being restless over there." You laugh, "Sorry, just a bit preoccupied." "Yeah?" "Been thinking about college. Stuff like that." "Have you already started sending out applications?" "Yeah." "What"s caught your eye?" You shrugged. "So," You said, changing the subject, "Guess what," "What?" "You know your friend, Giovanni? She"s dating Tom." "What?" "No way," I exclaimed. I had recently gotten back in touch with Tom and Danny (at your insistence), and Gio was a good friend since the sixth grade. "No one told me!" "It"s a new thing. I"m not really supposed to know, I think," you crack a grin "But I think they"re pretty serious." "Wow. That"s cool. Good for them." "What about you? Picking up any hot American chicks?" "Nah. Got to concentrate on my studies." "You"re kidding -Harry Judd, no time for girls? You"re going to lose your reputation as a stud." You laugh. It hadn"t ever occurred to me that I was missing out on much when I stopped dating. To be honest, it was always a hassle in the first place; birthdays had to be remembered, restaurants had to be booked, and gifts had to be bought. I shrugged, "Maybe you can take it. I heard from mymumthat you"ve got a new girl. That"s the second in three months. Dougie, why did I hear it from my mum and not you?" You snicker. "I can imagine that conversation, Harry. Harold, why don"t you have a girlfriend? Ellie says Dougie"s got a new girlfriend; why don"t you have a new girlfriend?" You mimicked. You"ve always made funny impressions of people. "Hey, my mum does not sound like that." I said. You grinned. "Yeah, I know." Spring break was a no go. I had an enormous project that I need to work on. Your face fell when I told you. "Oh." You said, and then shrugged. "Well, that"s okay, I suppose. It"s important, yeah?" But I wanted to make it up to you. So I found out from your mum exactly what day your graduation ceremony was on, and I flew across the Atlantic just to be there. You know what? It was worth it. The look on your face when you walked across the stage for your diploma and saw me standing with your parents, cheering, was fantastic. "Harry!" you exclaimed later, when the ceremony was over. "What are you doing here, mate?" "What d"you think? I wanted to see you graduate," I replied, pulling you into a hug. "I don"t know what to say," You said happily. "What about school, though?" "I can catch up," I shrugged. "I"m here for two more days." "You shouldn"t have!" You exclaimed. It was cool to see you so excited just to see me. I liked it; it made me feel all warm and smiley. We went out to a club the next day. We weren"t legal drinking age yet, so we stuck to a place that didn"t ask for . I looked old enough, and you looked just old enough, so no further questions were asked. You like clubs; they make you unbelievably hyper. It must be all that energy pumping like a heartbeat around us. I"m not a huge fan, but I"m not a hater, either. You spent most of the evening on the floor, flirting up a storm and by the end of the first hour, half of the room knew your name and you had half of the women"s numbers. It just made me wonder how you could change from being so shy after only a year. When I was in England over the summer, you were still uncomfortable with strangers. You could also drink a lot. A surprising amount, actually. "Dance with me, Harry Judd!" You laughed, slightly tipsy, sometime just past midnight. You took both of my hands and led me over to the floor, where sweaty bodies were pressed together as everyone swayed to the music. It"s not like I was completely sober, so I wasn"t so opposed to dancing. We both found it highly amusing when you began to grind against me. You stopped as the song began to end and put a hand on my shoulder to steady yourself, looking extremely unfocused and dizzy. We caught each other"s eyes and grinned. You said something to me, but I didn"t quite catch it as the next song started up loudly. "What?" I yelled. You tried to tell me again, but I just shook my head. You shrugged and leaned in and got yelled in my ear, "I LIKE YOU!" I laughed, "I like you, too, Dougie!" And then you kissed me. Why did you have to kiss me, Dougie? When your lips touched mine, my thoughts exploded all over the place. Wow, this is unexpected... might as well just go with it... Hm, this is nice-Oh Christ, what the hell? Why am I kissing Dougie? Why is he kissing me? Why are our lips touching? Well, obviously he leaned in and ... I wonder where the word "kiss" comes from... You broke it off and leaned back, eyes wide. We stared at each other and then you laughed nervously, mouthing "whoops". I blinked. You blinked and looked down. The crowd around us seemed to fade into the background, as well as the music. "Dougie..." I said. My voice was lost to you. I brought my hand to your face and lifted your chin instead. There was a sad, sad look in your eyes and I hated to see it there. I smiled a little. "It"s O.K." I mouthed to you, and leaned over to press my lips against your once more. TBC... A/N: I have a dragon named Pudd. Also, note POV change (To 3rd person) and thanks a ton for reading this fic! After that night there came a string of "firsts". There was there first actual date, on a warm July night, about a week after Harry returned to England for the summer. There was the first time they had sex, which was in August, after their seventh official date. And then, of course, there was the first time they told somebody about their relationship. Dougie went to school in England, but they Skyped a lot. The first time Dougie went to Disneyland in California, was the summer following his first year of college. They weren"t that hungry, so Harry bought them one ice cream cone to share. They were almost down to the cone when Dougie suddenly kissed Harry. He raised his eyebrows and Dougie grinned. "You had a bit of ice cream right there." He explained, pointing to the corner of his mouth. He leaned over and kissed his boyfriend a second time. This time, it lasted much longer. The first time Dougie went to Walt Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida, he was twenty-six years old, and Harry was twenty-eight. It was a few months past their eighth anniversary. Dougie was almost skipping as he, Harry, Danny, Tom and his fiancé Giovanni approached the bag check. Well, Tom was almost skipping, too. This had been a highly anticipated trip, and although Gio had already been to Disneyworld, no one else had. Once past the ticket check, Tom whipped out his camera and being taking a million shots of the small garden in front of the entrance, where the flowers were clumped into a formation that read DISNEYWORLD. Dougie took Harry"s hand as they walked into the Magic Kingdom. It wasn"t until the evening that they encountered any problems. Magic Kingdom had its usual scheduled fire display at ten o"clock. The Kingdom was absolutely packed, and finding a proper place to view show wasn"t easy. Scratch that. Finding a good place to view it wasn"t easy; you could see the fireworks from anyone in the one mile radius. Harry followed Dougie as the younger man skipped happily on the dark path. They were making their way back to Main Street, where the group planned on standing in front of one of the shops to see the castle and the fireworks. It started just as they located a good spot. Giovanni smiled happily (a little exhausted) as they watched, and rested her head on Tom"s shoulder. There was a sudden commotion behind them, but they did not pay attention to it. Harry suddenly turned around, dropping his arm from where he had had it around Dougie"s waist. His blue eyes were icy as he stared at a middle-aged man passing by and caught his eyes. The man shot him a dark look and a sneer and kept walking, pulling a woman and a young boy with him. Dougie frowned slightly as Harry turned back to watch the fireworks. Harry simply shrugged and didn"t say anything. In truth, the American man had said something extremely rude about them as he passed by. Harry was used to the occasional rude jibe here and there -he and Dougie had been together for nearly eight years, after all -but that didn"t mean he was going to tolerate them. "Hey, Harry," Dougie whispered later, when they were sitting in a ferry on their way back to their resort. "What"s wrong?" "Huh?" He shook his head, "Oh, nothing..." Dougie didn" look convinced, but he didn"t say anything more. It was late and everyone was exhausted. DOUGIE: You are twenty-six years old when you go to Disney World for the first time. You are there for seven days. Tom, Gio, and Danny head back to England on the fourth day. You and Harry go to the Magic Kingdom again and spend most of the day there. Harry"s been looking a bit jumpy since this morning, and you aren"t quite sure if it"s in a good way or a bad way. Your name is Dougie Lee Poynter, ad you are a twenty-six year old man with a citizenship in both Britain and the United States. You are sitting on the balcony of a fancy restaurant (that you kinda forgot the name of) and your boyfriend -who also happens to be your best mate -is kneeling down in front of you with a silver ring. You"ve lost your voice and you can"t seem to find it anywhere. Harry"s beginning to look just a little concerned. "Dougie...?" SPEAK. "Hell yeah, mate!" You manage to croak. A grin spreads across his features and then you"re both giggling excitedly and smiling and kissing -whoops. Good thing you"re outside. You must remain PG; you are in public after all. Harry slides the ring onto your finger and rests his forehead against yours. His blue eyes twinkle happily in the dark and he whispers, "I love you," and you say it back. And Harry Judd is nothing if not precise in his planning because just then the fireworks starts in the Magic Kingdom, and you and your fiancée have got a perfect view of it. "Cause I still believe in Destiny, That you and I were meant to be I still wish on the stars as they fall from above Cause I still believe, believe in love..." -I Still Believe, by Hayden Panettiere

... SOMEWHERE ELSE: "What"s "Operation Riverwood"?" "It"s on the black box that Michael and Birkhoff stole." Percy replied, spitting out the two words with anger. Amanda raised an eyebrow, "I figured." She said. "It"s an older operation." Percy explained, "Much like Operation Northwood. There were a few malfunctions and the CIA was almost caught, so Oversight brought us in to take care of things." She crossed her arms, "And what did we do?" Percy raised his shoulders and put his hands out in a What could we do sort of way. "We took care of things." He stood up and said, "The point is Amanda, that Operation Riverwood has important intel on some of the greatest conspiracy theories in America, and it cannot be uncovered." "Do you really think Michael and Birkhoff know what they"re doing?" Amanda asked, "We both know that Nikita was the one who knew the most about the black boxes. And knowing her, we know that she probably kept a few secrets from Michael." "Do you think they know what they"re doing?" Percy replied with a question of his own. "Birkhoff isn"t as incapable as people think him to be, and Michael we know is quite capable of working on his own." She reasoned. "Exactly." Percy said, walking with her out of the office, "So tell Alex to begin checking up on Operation Riverwood. I want that operation to have no traces at all." A/N: I"m lame. This is so short. Sorry. Please review? A/N: Ugh! I"m starting this SO late. Such a procrastinator. Hate me. In your review. : ) Also, I just watched Nikita episode 2, and when Birkhoff went, "I know you won"t hurt me," to Michael, I went "SQUEEEE!'. Then Owen came, and that was fun, too. : ) Okay, and then in episode 5, Birkhoff was like, "I"ll go check cerebro," AHEM AHEM. Birkhoff = Aaron Stanford = Pyro = CEREBRO. Smiley face. "We can start in Lansing." Michael suggested, "It"s part of Ingham, and it"s the capital." Birkhoff considered it, "What about Okemos? It"s a small place. A Guardian might pick there it live. Hell, it"s not even a town. Apparently it"s a "township" or a -a meridian-township." Both Michael and Birkhoff looked up from the laptops they had acquired and were using. It was Day Three of their "freedom" and they were currently located in a small motel room on the outskirts of New York City. "A meridian-township?" Michael repeated. "Yeah." "Okay," Michael shrugged, leaning back in his chair, "We"ll go there, look around, and then move on to Lansing." "It"s going to be a few hours drive." Birkhoff warned. That didn"t seem to bother Michael. "We can leave in a few hours, when it"s night." He said. The ex-Division agent then stood up, and walked to the other side of the room where he sat down on one of the two beds, took out his wallet and began flipping obsessively through the photos inside it. Birkhoff noted that this was the third time in the last five hours Michal had done so. It was a bit worrisome, but if that was the craziest Michael"s grief was going to get, Birkhoff wasn"t going to say anything. In Division, death among agents was so frequent, no one ever got too friendly with each other. It was usually only the rookies who had attachment issues, anyway. But everyone toughened up eventually, and for Birkhoff, that time had been a long time ago. "Want me to take the wheel?" Birkhoff asked. They had been on the road for six hours, it was dark, and they hadn"t stopped once. The blank look in Michael"s eye was beginning to worry Birkhoff. "You can get some sleep." Michael pulled off the highway at the next exit and stopped the car in the first available parking lot. He got out silently and he and Birkhoff traded spots. "Michael?" Birkhoff said as he turned back onto the highway, "It"s okay to be, uh, human, you know that, right?" He leaned back against the window, "What"s that supposed to mean?" "I miss Nikki, too. It"s okay to let that show." Michael didn"t answer and turned away to face the window. He didn"t move for a while, and Birkhoff figured that he had fallen asleep. One moment Michael was falling asleep to the purr of the car"s engine, and the next, someone was shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked around blearily. Birkhoff grinned and held up a steaming cup of coffee, "Morning, sunshine." He said. "We"re in Okemos." Michael groaned and sat up, undoing his seatbelt. He took the offered cup and stepped out of the car. They were parked at a Dunkin" Donuts right next to the highway. The sun was just rising. "What time is it?" He questioned. "Well, Michael, you"re welcome. I just drove for eight hours without stopping once, and I haven"t been asleep for almost twenty-four hours, but I"m fine, thank you." Birkhoff replied. When Michael just stared at him expectantly he sighed, checked his watch and said, "It"s seven AM, man." "Where are we starting the search?" "For the Guardian? Yeah. I checked in on the local banks while you were zonked out. Clues are pointing to the MSU Federal Bank. I have its location. We can go there." He said, taking a sip of his own coffee. "For the past four years, one person has been visiting an account twice a month. I know that doesn"t sound odd, but it"s all we got, and if this person is a Guardian, then her police record would make a lot more sense." "Police record?" Michael asked, "I thought Guardians weren"t supposed to have any record." "Yeah. This is a record from before Division. I erased it, but I remember this chick. She was hilarious. Her name is Arianya Wu. No middle name. She"s Chinese." Birkhoff smirked for a moment. Then continued: "I thought she was KIA." "Arianya? I don"t remember any recruit named-" Michael started with a frown. "She wasn"t in Division for a long time. Six months. And you were on a mission." The hacker explained. "She was supposedly killed on her first mission, even though it went successfully. I guess Percy saw potential in her to be a Guardian." He took another sip of his drink and looked out into space thoughtfully. "So we"ll check the bank?" Michael said. "No. The last time she was there was two months ago. She"s already taken the black box out. We have to go directly to her house." "And I trust you know where that is?" "I have the address. It"s less the ten minutes away." Birkhoff confirmed. "I figured you"d want to be awake before the action began, though." SOMEWHERE ELSE: "What"s Operation Riverwood?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "She lives in Michigan." "Yeah. I figured." She replied, looking around the airplane. She turned her attention back to the screen where Amanda was watching her. "What"s the point? Cancel her?" "Basically. Oh, and she has a black box, so get that, too. Percy wants it back." Amanda added offhandedly. Her left eye twitched showing her annoyance with all of Percy"s complicated plans. Alex looked over to another screen where information on the target was being downloaded. "This... Arianya Wu. Who is she?" "She"s knows almost everything Percy knows." Amanda growled, seemingly even more annoyed at this bit, "She was one of the best, which is why Percy made her one of his Guardians for his little black boxes. Go in, get the box, and take out Arianya. A Cleaner will be sent in twelve hours. That"s more than enough time." A/N: Sorry this is so short. Really. More will come, though. I don"t know when, though, because I"m up to my eyes in homework. A/N: Apologies for the late updates. Like I mentioned, I could probably write a lot more per chapter, but it would take too long. I think maybe when I finish this fic, I"ll meld some chapters together so there will be LESS chapters, but more stuff in each one. Also, I"ve had to do a lot of research for the locations of Operation Riverwood, even though I live there. Um, also, if you -for some strange reason -happen to live in the house mentioned... uh, that"s not your house. It just sounds like it. *Cough* The name of the neighborhood Arianya Wu lived in was Riverwood. There were two entrances. One sign said "Riverwood" and the other said "Riverwood Park". It was an average-looking neighborhood. The houses were of an older design -1990s and 80s, actually -and they weren"t too big or too small. They area wasn"t that large, either. Soon, Birkhoff was parking on the side of a street. Michael tucked his gun into his waistband as they got out of the car and Birkhoff grumbled something about being too obvious and "the neighbors can see you". Arianya"s address led to the steps of a blue house -the only one in the neighborhood. There was absolutely no garden, whatsoever, except for a dead rosebush next to the steps of the porch. Birkhoff went right up to the door and pressed on the doorbell. It stuck, so he jabbed at it again. Michael shifted restlessly behind him. A long time passed and then the door opened. "Hi," A woman behind the screen door grinned, "Are you with the painters?" she asked. She wore a t-shirt and jeans and her black hair was pulled back in a sloppy bun. She didn"t look Chinese. Michael frowned and glanced at Birkhoff. "Arianya." Birkhoff said bluntly, "We"re here for the black box." The woman raised an eyebrow and her smile fell like a dead fly. She opened the screen door, "Come in." She invited. "Don"t worry, my gun is upstairs. I can"t shoot you or anything." She said as they followed her into the house. The front hall opened up into a kitchen and eating area. "Want something to eat?" She asked. "No. Black box, Anya." Birkhoff said. She sighed and opened a cupboard, pulling out a mug. "You don"t want it." She told them. "No one should want it..." "Percy wants it back." The Asian looked up at this. She looked tired. "Fine," she told him, "Take it. Destroy it. Destroy all of them!" She reached down under the counter and opened a panel on the bottom of it. She pressed a button and another panel -this one on the wall -opened to reveal the black box. Birkhoff went over and took it out. "Why is this so easy?" Michael questioned, suspicion in his voice, posture, and expression. "Not everything has to be a fight. Besides, you"d probably beat me. I"m not on the Regiment." Arianya replied with a shrug. "What kind of Guardian are you?" "Uh, technically, I"m not a Guardian. I"m just ..." she gave a very Percy-like shrug, "Here," She said, pointing down. "Wow, this conversation has been really enlightening," Birkhoff said loudly, clapping his hands together, "But I think it"s time to go." He looked at Michael. "That would be a good idea." Arianya agreed, "Considering Division"s already sent someone to kill me and get the black box." She crossed her arms and looked at Michael. "You really need to loosen up a little. I mean dude, don"t take life so seriously. No one gets out alive." She made a face. Something suddenly occurred to Michael, "Are you drunk?" She nodded slowly, looking thoughtful, "I may be on something, yes. But you should really follow your boyfriend. Division will kill you." She gestured "shoo". "Birkhoff"s not..." Michael trailed off when he noticed Arianya was no longer listening. She was busy sifting through the pantry. A moment later, she took out a cookie jar, opened and looked inside, muttering under her breath. She shook her head and then reached for a multi-flavored can of popcorn. She threw the lid to the side and then began tossing dried up, yellow sponge-looking things out from inside, before she took a small machine gun out. "There we go." She said with satisfaction as she climbed to her feet. She aimed towards the living room and fired a few rounds. A glass cabinet shattered, "Still works." She nodded, mostly to herself. "Michael," Birkhoff called from the front hall, "Let"s go." He opened his mouth to say something to Arianya, and then closed it, shaking his head. He turned and went to join Birkhoff in the car. "That was just... bizarre." He told the hacker as he reached for his seat belt. "Yeah, well," Birkhoff started the car, "At least we got the black box." Suddenly the house blew up. "Holy-" he started to yell. Arianya suddenly came into view, a bag slung over her shoulder and weapon in hand. She opened the back door of the car and slid in, "Whatever you"re doing -I"m in." Michael and Birkhoff looked at her and then at each other. "Well, drive!" She ordered. People in the surround area were starting to come out of their houses to see what was going on. Birkhoff stepped on the gas pedal and drove away. They were just exiting the neighborhood when a sleek, black sedan turned in. Michael got a moment"s glimpse of the driver. "Division." He hissed. "What?" "Alex -she just turned into the -she"s turning around." Birkhoff stepped harder on the pedal and weaved quickly through traffic to lose their tail. "Shit," he muttered under his breath. "Who"s that?" Arianya wondered, peering out the back window. "Alexandra Udinov," Michael explained, "She works for Division." He left off that she had also killed Nikita. He doubted Arianya would know what that meant. "Udinov?" she repeated, "Like-?" "Yeah." He replied grimly. Arianya let out a low whistle, "But Division killed the Udinovs. Why"s she working for them?" No one answered. After a moment she said, "I think she"s pulling back." "Doesn"t matter." Michael said. "Keep driving." "Wasn"t gonna stop." Birkhoff assured him. They were well into Ohio when Arianya suddenly demanded that they go to a rest stop. "I need to go." She complained when Birkhoff looked at her incredulously through the rearview mirror. "Come on, I"m not a machine!" Upon her insistence, they stopped a few hours later to spend the night at a motel as well. Michael was convinced that if not for her, they would have made it back to New York already. He let Birkhoff know exactly what he thought (through a few choice words) of their new companion as he paced the motel room they were sharing. Arianya had insisted on her own room. Birkhoff listened with a bored expression and his head resting in his palm. His eyes followed Michael as the man paced up and down the room. It was nice to see him being all active again, but did it really have to be so he could rant about the disadvantages of bringing Arianya along with them? "She"s a black box herself." Birkhoff reminded. "We need her if we"re going to do this." "Do what?" Michael dropped down on the bed. He seemed to have adapted a pessimistic attitude toward things. Well, that wasn"t quite right. He had never been optimistic in the first place. Birkhoff supposed one might say that Michael had adapted... his attitude toward the mission, and he had sort of adapted Michael"s attitude. Interesting, he thought to himself. A mere yards away, Arianya Wu stood in her own motel room. Instead of going straight to sleep like she had declared she was going to do, she sat at the edge of her bed, dialing a number on her cellphone. Her machine gun lied a few feet away. Bringing the cell up to her ear, the young woman waited for the other side to pick up. She tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. "Yes?" "It"s me. I"ve got them and the black box. We"re at a motel. I"ll send you coordinates." A/N: Dun dun dun. People are going to get shot, I tell you. SHOT. A/N: We be gettin" a little impatient for the romance to start, huh? Soon, my readers... soon... MEANWHILE, someone"s getting shot, as promised. There was a tie between who people wanted to see in pain, so I, inevitably, decided who our victim would be. NOW LET US PROCEED WITH THE STORY. "I"m hungry." Birkhoff decided. It was past midnight, but hell, it"s not like he or Michael were in the habit of sleeping during such early hours anyway, so they were both awake. Michael looked up from where he sat by his lonesome in a dark corner of the room. He gave Birkhoff a disapproving look, but the hacker shrugged it off and stood up, putting on his coat. "I"ll be back in ten," he said, opening the door. Upon hearing the lock click, a certain amount of tension was released from Michael"s body. Why he had been trying to keep it in, who knew? Maybe he wasn"t used to people seeing him weak. He was supposed to be the strong, stoic one, wasn"t he? Wasn"t he? Michael scrubbed and hand over his face and stood up, taking two steps toward his bed before flopping down on it with a sigh. Minutes passed. He listened the sound of the air conditioner breaking down. "Self-pity isn"t going to get you anywhere." He didn"t even look up. "What if I don"t want to go anywhere?" he asked. Since he was lying face down, all that came out was a series of muffled moans. "Michael, now is not the time to lose focus." Nikita snapped. He looked sideways to where she stood, arms crossed over her stomach. She looked appalled by his state. "Alright? Tomorrow you have to get up and drive back to New York. You and Birkhoff are supposed to finish this. We were supposed to bring Division down. Now where"s the black box?" Michael got up and went over to Birkhoff"s bag, which was lying on the ground. He opened it up and sifted through the contents. "Here." He said. "The fake box and..." He frowned, trailing off. "Michael," Nikita said, "Where"s Arianya"s black box? Where"s Percy"s?" "I..." He opened the bag wider and pawed through it. Birkhoff"s tablet, a shotgun, ammo, scraps of paper, fake , laptop... The black boxes were nowhere to be found. Maybe Birkhoff took them? Why didn"t he take his other things, then? Michael thought back and groaned. Birkhoff had thrown his bag behind his seat when they went into the car. Arianya had been sitting in the backseat. When they stopped at the rest stop, she had probably taken the time to take the black boxes and hiding them on her person. Shit. Shit shit shit shitshitshitshitshit. Michael turned the bag upside down, shaking everything out of the pockets and onto Birkhoff"s bed. No black box, but something else did tumble out of a side pocket. A metal box, but it was locked. Probably one of Birkhoff"s things. SHIT. There was a knock on the door and Michael grabbed his gun off the television stand and loaded the cartridge with a new case. "Careful," Nikita said softly. "I know." He muttered, grabbing hold of the doorknob. He swung it open only to find Birkhoff standing there. Behind him, Nikita vanished. "Hey, I got some..." Birkhoff looked up to see Michael"s face and trailed off. "Uh, something wrong?" "Get in." Michael said, pulling him into the room while checking the area outside their room. The parking lot was clear. He went next door and kicked the door in. Arianya was gone. Swearing rapidly, Michael returned to the room he and Birkhoff had rented out. "Okay, what"s... hey, why"s my stuff everywhere?" Birkhoff demanded when he saw the room. "You have the black boxes?" "No, but" "Well Arianya"s gone and she took the boxes." "Oh that sneaky little..." Birkhoff surveyed the room before stuffing everything back in his bag. He turned on his tablet and tapped it with his stylus a couple of times. "And she killed my tracker." He muttered unhappily. "We have to go." "No shit, genius," Birkhoff said. "Here." He grabbed Michael"s jacket off the ground threw it over to him. No sooner had they gotten into the car to start driving again, then they were suddenly being pursued by a squad of black SUVs. Michael swerved violently through the little bit of late night traffic, teeth clenched together while Birkhoff swore loudly in the seat next to him. "Check for trackers." Michael spat out. "Already on it, Mikey." Birkhoff replied, working fiercely on his tablet. Meanwhile, Michael had turned off the highway. He sped through the darkened streets of a small, unnamed town, turning off the street and entering the docks. "We can get out here and lose them around the containers" "-By doing what? Climbing inside?" Birkhoff muttered. "-and ambush them." Michael finished loudly. "What choice do we have?" He swerved through the maze of containers before stopping the car. He and Birkhoff dived out and raced for cover, successfully beginning to climb up a stack of them as they heard their followers screech to a stop below in their own vehicles. Michael and Birkhoff opened fire on the enemy, strategically taking out a couple of their pursuers before they were spotted and were shot at in return. "Great plan, genius!" Birkhoff shouted over the gunfire. "Shut up!" Michael yelled, shooting back down at their opponents. "They"re retreating..." "What-?" Michael squinted to see what was going on below. His eyes widened as he realized what they were pulling out of the back of one of the SUVs. He grabbed Birkhoff and pulled him along the container to the other end. There was a container about six feet below them, nearly seven feet away. Michael and Birkhoff exchanged looks before Michael retreated a distance. He took a running head start and leaped off the edge. He rolled into his landing and scrambled to his feet. He turned to see Birkhoff jump off the container, just as it exploded in a fiery blaze behind him. The force of the explosion sent him flying further than his own body would"ve taken him, and he ended up crashing into Michael. The two of them went tumbling down. Perhaps it was his habit as a leader, but as debris and shrapnel from the explosion shot outward, Michael threw himself over the nearest person to protect them from harm.

The girl laughed. "I"m so glad you asked! My name is Lessar. You"re Kamijou Touma, aren"t you? I"ve heard so much about you from the others." "Yeah, that"s me. Is there anything?" To Misaka"s utter amazement, the girl called Lessar deftly strode forward and planted a kiss on Touma"s mouth. On instinct, Touma tried moving away, but she kept him still with an iron grip. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it frustrated Misaka to no end. When they finally parted, Lessar pointed at Misaka and asked, "Who is this girl, Touma?" "You ask yourself that question! You appear out of nowhere, k-k-kissing him, and now you"re asking me who I am?" Misaka protested furiously, too embarrassed to even pronounce the "k" word properly. "Well, my name is Misaka Mikoto. Touma and I were supposed to be going home, in case you had no idea." Touma, meanwhile, had backed away with widened eyes - too stunned to even comprehend what had just happened. Lessar gave Misaka a cool look. "Oh, so you"re that Level Five they were talking about. Like I said, my name is Lessar. I"m from an organization called New Light. You probably haven"t heard about it yet, though. Anyway," she continued, turning to purr seductively at Touma, "he is a vital key for our success. And he is incidentally quite an interesting person that I would love to have." So it was Magician business, eh? Misaka scowled, not understanding but feeling irritated all the same. "Interesting? He"s a total goofy idiot!" "Ah," Lessar said, wagging a finger, "so you won"t mind if I snatch him away, would you?" Wait - what? No way. No way in hell. "You can"t," Misaka said stonily. Lessar pouted. "But why not? I"ve been observing you two the whole day, you know. You two don"t get along too well. You insult him all the time. I was even there in the haunted mansion, observing." Touma finally came back to his senses. "You were there?" "That magician you all had to defeat was one of my lackeys," she replied nonchalantly. Misaka glared. "That magician wanted to kill Touma, for your information." "I only lied to him just so he would give it everything he got, and I knew that there was no way you two would lose," Lessar said calmly. "Now, Misaka Mikoto, answer my question! You know that what I say is true. Give me your reasons why you think that Kamijou Touma should belong to someone like you instead of me." Misaka had to admit that Lessar was right. She had been doing nothing much but to insult Touma the whole day. She had troubled him by forcing him around, and he had to endure her mercurial changes of mood. They definitely didn"t seem like a romantic couple in love, but... ...but this didn"t mean that she wanted him to be taken away by some prepubescent girl either! Misaka wouldn"t like it at all if Touma were to be owned by someone else. Oh, scratch that, she would hate it. What did that mean, though? No, no. Misaka couldn"t lie to herself anymore. For a long time, she had known. Ever since he had touched her heart with his kindness and bravery, she had known... ...That she was in love with him. Misaka knew that she merely never wanted to admit it to herself. But for now, she had to continue lying just for a little while longer. She seized herself up and said, "I don"t need a reason. You just can"t. And I would never allow him to be taken by the likes of you." Lessar shook her head. "How disappointing. I see. In that case, I have no choice." Touma watched with bewilderment. "Oi, you two!" The two girls were acting as if he didn"t exist. "Are you all fighting here? No, stop it!" They ignored him. "I hate people like you, Misaka Mikoto, who think they"re so great," Lessar said with feigned sweetness. "Prepare yourself. Dromi!" With that, a long wire shot out - extending and curling with flexibility, reaching towards Misaka. Misaka evaded and yelled, "And I hate girls like you who act like brats!" So this Lessar girl wanted to take things seriously, eh? That was no problem at all. A good match sounded fun anyway - not to mention that this girl was a Magician who could probably kick up quite a challenge. In that case, she herself could not lose. Blue electricity crackled and flared, shooting out in all directions. The fight carried on for a few more seconds - Lessar casting elemental spells, Misaka letting off jolts of electricity that were beyond a thousand volts. "What"s wrong?" Lessar taunted, evading all of Misaka"s electricity attacks. "Is this all you have?" Misaka gritted her teeth, fishing out a coin. "In that case, I"ll have you see - what power truly is!" Touma, realizing what was about to happen, bolted between the two of them. "NO! STOP!" Lessar leapt back, but Misaka had already fired. "Are you alright? Oi!" Misaka grabbed Touma"s shoulders and shook, calling out repeatedly. What had she done? In her haste for victory, she had used her deadliest technique - only to have Touma caught in the crossfire. "Touma! Wake up!" Touma coughed, and Misaka peered at him critically, prodding his arms and feet cautiously to check for broken bones. Lessar shrugged. Unlike Misaka, she seemed totally unconcerned about Touma"s wellbeing. "He"ll be alright. I saw him use his right hand to negate the effects of our powers. The force must have knocked him backwards." With that, she glanced at Misaka. "Man, that was a boring match. It ended a little too early, don"t you think?" "What?" Misaka growled. "Touma"s injured, and that"s all you have to say? That it was a boring match? Would you have preferred if my rail gun actually landed a direct hit on you?" "I would have been able to stop your rail-gun even if he couldn"t," Lessar said flippantly, standing up and brushing dirt off her skirt. "Like I said, Touma"s fine. We should fight again some other time at another place where he won"t be able to interrupt. It really cuts the mood, you know? To have a match interrupted like that. I"ll just leave and come back some other time." "Wait! You"re not thinking about really leaving now, are you?" "Of course I am. The match was interrupted after all. But take note, I will come back. And the next time I do," a cunning grin crept onto Lessar"s face as she spoke, "I will claim Touma as my own." And with just that simple declaration, Lessar was gone. Misaka sighed, wondering what all that was about before turning her attention back to Touma. "That was irresponsible of her...hey, how are you feeling?" "I"m fine - OUCH!" Misaka had punched him. Hard. Touma fell back, and was now clutching his face. "What was that for?" "You - big - blundering - moronic - idiot!" She yelled. There was no doubt about it. Misaka was angry, and Touma was about to face the storm. He didn"t know whether to stay put or not - this girl was about as dangerous as the other Magicians that he had ever faced. But then again, a part of him distinctively knew what she was trying to say. And, true to his word, Touma saw something other than anger in those hazel eyes. Those eyes were filled with anger and exasperation, true - but Touma saw worry and fear in them as well. She was worried for him, wasn"t she? Touma smiled faintly to himself. He knew she was just never open in expressing herself. "I"m sorry, Misaka." He was expecting her to blush and continue on with some torturous physical hits, but she didn"t. Misaka sat in front of him with a sigh, caressing his face. "That will bruise." "You did that to me," he stated bluntly. She flinched and gave him a half-hearted glare. "Like I said, you were being an idiot. Who on earth would jump right in the middle of a heated battle? You know, without your Imagine Breaker, you would have died many times - not only by my hand, but others as well." Without really thinking, she grabbed his right palm and inspected it. It looked unblemished, unscratched - good as new. "Amazing...after all these times, it still doesn"t look affected." Touma allowed her to do the inspecting, enjoying the feeling of his palm in hers. When he had intervened in Misaka and Lessar"s battle earlier on, he had stretched out his right palm into the crossfire, which negated the powers of both Esper and Magician - which allowed him to escape, unharmed. "...why?" Her whisper was so soft that Touma wondered whether that question was directed at him or not. "Why, Touma? You could have been killed," she said, even louder this time. Touma grinned. "It was a reflex action." Her eyebrow twitched. "You could have died." "I didn"t. Right hand here, see?" "That is so not the point, moron." "Then what is?" "Like I said, you could have died!" "And the thing is," Touma said calmly, "I didn"t." Misaka slapped a palm to her face in frustration. "And like I said, that"s not the point!" Touma raised an eyebrow. "And like I asked, what is?" "Honestly, I never knew you could be that dense," Misaka said with a sigh. "Have you ever considered what could have happened if it hadn"t been your right hand that entered the fray first? Our powers were raging, you know. Have you ever thought what would have happened if you really died? How do you think I"d be able to face your friends? When you die, you just...die. You don"t come back. How would I be able to live with it?" "Ah," Touma said, nodding understandingly. "So you really were worried." Misaka wanted to scream at him and say that she wasn"t, but that would be an obvious lie. Instead, she tried asking again. "Why did you do something so reckless?" He looked at her. Seeing that she was serious, Touma decided to answer seriously as well. "If you two continued, one of you would have been hurt. I just didn"t want anyone to suffer from injuries. And, besides," his expression shifted to an easy-going grin, "someone had to protect you. That girl was prepared to take your rail-gun full on. She probably had some hidden powers waiting to spring." "I don"t need to be babied," Misaka said darkly. "I can take care of myself perfectly fine without anyone"s help." "You"re welcome," Touma replied, smiling. He was used to her independent streak already. "But as I recall, someone here was a little scared of heights, wasn"t it?" Misaka froze, recalling their uneventful bungee jumping event earlier on. "And," he continued, "I did help you win a plush toy. It was your favourite Gekota too. No Esper powers were allowed then, remember?" Misaka hung her head. "And, during the three-legged race," he began, only to have Misaka clap a hand over his mouth with a growl. "Alright, alright! I get it! You were a great help today, so - thanks a lot, okay? Geez - mph!" While flailing her arms in an exaggerated way, Misaka, who had been kneeling, was now face-flat on the ground. "Kuroko"s going to kill me," she mumbled, looking at her uniform. Not only was it drenched in the rain, but dirt had stained it too. Touma looked down. His clothes were wet, and there were rips all over it. He had to get new ones soon. In short, the both of them looked like hell. "Are we going to sit here in the rain all night or something?" he asked, watching as the rain continued to fall from the sky steadily. She yawned. "Well, let"s stay here a little longer. It"s not like I can go back to my dorms without being massacred by my dorm teachers - not while looking like this, anyway." "We"ll catch a cold, you know," he admonished. "Then let it happen," she replied lazily. "Why are you being the one so uptight now?" "Just don"t want to be the one chased around town by a certain Level Five." "Like I"d even have the energy to do that tomorrow." Touma watched in curiosity as she stretched while lying on the cold, wet pavement. Her brown hair fanned out, unruly and tangled. This was the first time he was seeing Misaka Mikoto in such a state - even when she was wet and covered with dirt, Touma still found her looking strangely adorable. Misaka promptly rubbed her face, attempting to wash away any dirt that was there with the rainwater. Without warning, Misaka grabbed his arm and pulled him down onto the wet ground next to her. Touma recognized the invitation and made himself comfortable, ignoring the cold wetness that was seeping into his back. "Hey," she called out, "Did you like it?" "Like what?" he responded wearily, wondering what was this about now. "The kiss that she gave you." He rolled his eyes. "And you are asking this because?" "Just because." "That reason worked when we were kids, Biri-biri." "Just answer me," she said exasperatedly. "Did you like it?" Touma blinked, choosing his words carefully. "It was unexpected. I didn"t even know who she was, so - no, I didn"t. She wasn"t shy about it at all, and I had no idea what to do. How do I put it - it was like being caught in the headlights. Yeah, something like that." Misaka nodded, already expecting that from him. "But you didn"t answer my question. Did you like it?" "Damn it. That"s cheating, Biri-biri." "So," she said with a huff, "You liked it." Touma turned to face her. "I didn"t say that either. Are you going to interrogate me about my kissing preferences all night?" "Was just being curious," she said testily. "Now, close your eyes." He raised an eyebrow. "What?" "Close your eyes!" "No way," he protested. "You"re planning on doing something to me, aren"t you? Like, say - draw a mustache on my face with this marker you have in a pocket, or charcoal my hair into frizzy crisps..." Misaka groaned. This was really going to be difficult. "I promise that I won"t give you a mustache, and I promise not to give you a makeover with my electricity. Now, would you just close your eyes? Please?" Touma closed his eyes, but only because she had said "please". Now he fidgeted anxiously, wondering what was it she was about to do that had made her so polite all of a sudden. Misaka, meanwhile, was about to try out something new. She glared at the face in front of her, clenching her fists until she was certain that there would be marks left behind. She couldn"t believe this idea had even crossed her mind. Yes, Misaka was certain she had lost her sanity. She leaned forward, closing in the distance between the both of them. Only, a little, more. Misaka wanted to drop in a hole. Just a few more inches! A few more... Misaka wanted to drop in a hole and stay there forever. It was all going well until Misaka Mikoto miscalculated her descent. She ended up kissing Touma"s upper lip, with her bottom lip caught in Touma"s mouth. Touma, surprised, snapped his eyes open to see a furiously-blushing Misaka attempting to wrench away from him - only to have her pause in surprise when he wrapped his arms around her. "You could have just asked," he murmured against her lips, watching in amusement as she gave a surprised squeak before closing her own eyes. The kisses were feathery-light, innocent, and chaste. Both of them were hesitant in the beginning, both new to the experience and sensation. Misaka found out that it did feel pretty nice - Touma"s mouth was warm, and so far she didn"t feel like throwing up yet. In fact, she was quite enjoying the sensation - until he ran a tongue over the sensitive skin, and she gave a gasp. And from that point onwards it was all about instinct - warm lips, kisses, tongues here and there, nibbling - everything was too much, and Misaka didn"t think she even knew what she was doing any longer. She realized she no longer had any control over her emotions, or her actions. For years she had fought against her opponents, and for years she was in control. No matter what the problem was, she could shoot out the power that she had to stop it. But this time, she was no longer the one in control. This time, she was clueless on what to do. The kiss ended when they needed air. They just looked at each other, panting, unsure of what to do next. "Well," he said casually. "Did you," she gasped, "like that?" Touma quirked an eyebrow, watching in amusement as she blushed. "You were really nervous about this, weren"t you? I"m glad you trusted me enough to initiate that," he said, grinning. Misaka groaned. He knew. He knew that she was always worried about it when things weren"t under her control. "I wouldn"t trust you that much if I didn"t...if I didn"t..." Touma waited, somehow knowing what she was about to say. "If I didn"t...urgh! Never mind," she said, turning away. "Forget it." He smiled gently. "I love you too, Misaka." "That"s grea - wait, what? How did you know I was about to say that?" Misaka growled. That kind, understanding expression on Touma"s face made her want to beat him to a pulp, no matter how much her heart said otherwise. It irritated her that Touma always could see through her tough façade, even at this point. As if reading her mind, Touma looked up wistfully. "You always pretended, Misaka. Like nothing was wrong. Like you could handle anything, even if it were to crush you." He smirked, continuing, "And yes, you were strong. You were stronger than anyone else I knew, even if it was Accelerator. But I knew that deep inside, you had a heart that would shatter if anyone were to hurt, or betray you. You"re strong, but not cruel. You"re proud, but not condescending." To say that Misaka was shocked would be an understatement. She was stunned. "I never realized what my feelings were towards you," he confessed. "All these while, we were all too busy trying to stay alive. The Magicians were always on my prowl, Index was frightened, and too many people were hurt. There was no time, and in some ways I refused to believe it - until today happened." Today. "The blind date?" she asked, whispering softly. "After today, I realized how important you were to me all along," Touma murmured. "I realized that you never failed to interest me - you were always special. Your heart," he said, pointing at her, "is special." Misaka placed a palm over her chest, feeling the bittersweet ache that seemed to spread. "My...heart?" "It is that heart of yours that I would love," Touma said, looking at her steadily, "and protect. Let me do it, Misaka." Misaka gaped. It was a confession from him. But first... "Ouch!" Touma protested. "You punched me again!" "You idiot," she muttered, then decided to let it all out with a whoosh, "it was I who fell in love with you in the first place! No one else ever cared so deeply for me, alright? No one was ever willing to help so much! You were the first to attempt to chase the thugs who were bothering me, and you were the one who helped me out with my Sister issues, and...and you were willing to risk your life for me!" She glared at him fiercely. "I could never understand you. You were so brave, so selfless. You took such stupid risks, and you were a huge moron. To top it off, you saved the world countless of times, no matter what the cost was. I...I...I..." He grinned, understanding that those words took a lot of courage. "Really? Why didn"t you say so then?" "Like I could ever say something as embarrassing as that!" Shaking her fists furiously, Misaka knocked his head again, growling when he did nothing but laugh. And laugh he did until he shook uncontrollably. He ruffled her hair, watching in amusement as blue sparks flew. "I don"t see what"s so embarrassing about that. Love is something pure, you understand? Why hide it when you could show it?" Funnily enough, Misaka understood what he meant. She knew it wasn"t that she hid it, it was that she always denied it earlier on - stamped her feelings out, keeping the weakness away. But now that she could no longer deny her feelings for him, there was only something she could say. "I love you, Touma," Misaka whispered. He merely smiled softly and said, "I know." "So...I guess that concludes our blind date." Touma stood up. "It does. That was a crazy date, you know. I don"t think I"ve ever suffered that much." "Well, thank you for saying that I made it so torturous for you," she retorted. "You know I didn"t mean it that way." The two continued walking on, ignoring the fact that people were staring at their disheveled appearances. Let them think whatever they wanted, Misaka thought. She no longer had the strength to care. "And oh, Biri-biri," Touma said, taking her hand casually, smiling when she tightened her grip around his. "What?" He took a deep breath and asked, "Would you like to go for another date next week?" Misaka grinned. "Only if you remember to bring your wallet this time. I don"t like being kept hungry for so long, ya" know?" Okaaaay. Firstly, let"s clarify some stuff up. 1) Lessar is NOT an original character. If you"ve read the novels, yes, she exists, she is a member of New Light. I haven"t read the novels, I merely sought her out through Wiki, and found that her characterizations suited the purpose of her place here. So, if she"s slightly OOC, sorry about that. 2) I didn"t want to focus too much on the fight, what happened after the fight was more important - but perhaps, this could mean the beginning of a part two? Well, who knows. I haven"t decided whether to do a continuation of this or not. 3) Thank you so much for everyone"s support up till now. Love you all. Please, read and review. This was the first kissing scene I ever wrote. Didn"t know whether to make it more graphic or wut. D: And the romance makes Misaka and Touma slightly OOC. - Anne

Where had they come from? And as soon as the land of colours came, it disappeared and I was yet again alone in a dark, desolate world. The previous warmth was gone, and was replaced with cold misery. Please let me wake up, I thought. I had to wake up. I had to. Gradually, I was aware of the murmur of voices around me. "...still wonder how did she manage to get into the ship undetected..." "...teleportation...?" "I don"t think so. Teleportation isn"t technically something anyone can do, even for super-soldiers like Allelujah and I." "Not possible, not possible!" "Shh, Haro, you"ll wake her up." I snapped my eyes open and winced as the bright light hit. Groaning, I squinted and sat up. The bed I was on was soft and comfortable, and, after several moments of surveying, I had no doubt that I was in a girl"s room. So it would seem that I was back in reality. Why on earth was I dreaming about mobile suits? It appeared that I had been thinking too much about the Gundam suits and possibly, their pilots, especially a certain purple-haired one that was as annoying as he was obnoxious. Ah, it certainly didn"t do any good at all. The whole dream had been over in such an abrupt manner, and it probably didn"t mean much. "Ah...you"re awake!" I looked toward the source of the voices and found them. A girl with bubblegum pink hair was seated on a chair, her hands folded demurely on her lap. Next to her was a young girl, her silver hair cascading behind her back like a waterfall. Veda probably had shown me visions of them earlier on, but other than those visions I was not sure who they were. They both smiled kindly at me, and I, unused to this friendly treatment especially after Tieria"s previous argument with me, simply had no idea what to say. "Who are you? What happened?" I asked, deciding to stick to the facts before jumping to another sort of conversation. "My name is Feldt Grace, and this is Marie Parfacy. You passed out. We brought you to Dr. Moreno, worried that there might be an underlying danger, but he reassured us that you were simply suffering from fatigue. This is my room," the girl with pink hair said graciously. "We"ll have a room prepared for you in time, but for now, you can stay here with me. This is Haro, by the way," she continued, gesturing at a solid ball of pink that flapped around with its metallic ears. I nodded and repeated the names in my mind, making sure that I memorized them. Then I remembered her last sentence and said, in a slightly shaky voice, "Wait...I"ll be staying on this ship?" The girl with silver hair, Marie, spoke up in a worried tone. "Is there any problem with that? We understand that there are some things you might be uncomfortable with, being in a new environment and all. Feldt and I will try our best to familiarize you with our surroundings." I shook my head, suddenly feeling a small twinge of guilt for making them worry over me. "No, it"s all right. I"m just wondering...did...did the others say anything?" Feldt frowned slightly, and shook her head. "There wasn"t much time to discuss...at least, not yet. All we managed to confirm from Sumeragi was that you were to be staying here for a while. After we placed you here to rest, we had an upcoming attack from the A-Laws. The Meisters went out to sortie and the rest of us had to get to our battle stations." "A-Laws..." I murmured. Somehow, I knew they were tied in relation with the Innovators. I stared stonily ahead, deciding that I would ask the Meisters later. She mistook my stony stare and quickly said, "Don"t worry. It"s over - for now. We managed to defeat all the mobile suits they sent out, the newest models from them too. In fact, the Meisters have been back for over an hour already. Would you want to talk to them?" I stood up quickly and said that, yes, I wanted to. "Hold on." Feldt said. "Here. Put these on." The clothes she handed to me weren"t the uniforms that she or Tieria wore, but they were casuals - a simple pair of jeans and a tee. "They"re mine. Don"t worry. I"ll bring you shopping at the next time we land on Earth. What"s your name by the way?" "I don"t know. I don"t remember, but I guess there"ll be plenty of time to think up of a good one." I said, taking in their shocked expressions with calm. Surprisingly, Feldt Grace"s casuals fit me well. I expected the clothes to be a size or two too big for me - seeing as she was taller. I slipped on the last item - the tee - on me, and for the first time of all, managed to get a good look of my face in the mirror. Verdant hair that resembled rolling meadows, fuchsia eyes that stared forlornly out of my pale face. No, I certainly did not look good. The whole combination looked oddly mismatched, but I had no time to be worried over things like that. I had to talk to the Meisters, that was all I knew. The odd dream resurfaced into my mind again, but I could only shake my head in frustration. Allelujah Haptism sighed. He knew that Marie was definitely talking to that new girl on board that ship now. He had heard the whole explanation from Tieria - and found the whole situation to be unsettling. There were just too many questionable things, things that currently could not be explained. "Maybe they should just choke an answer out of her,' Hallelujah grumbled. Allelujah sighed. His dark twin had helped a lot in the recent battle, and while Allelujah had learnt to cooperate with Hallelujah, the irrationality that radiated from him was just too much to bear at times. "We haven"t even met her yet,' Allelujah stated. "Yeah, yeah. Just move your ass. We need to get some food. Piloting that damn hunk of metal eats up all the energy, ya" know?' As Allelujah floated along the corridor, he didn"t even notice the girl that went past him. Not until she called out. "Allelujah Haptism?" she said tentatively. He spun around, startled. His immediate thought was that she was someone he didn"t know, but then he remembered about the new girl, and he lit up. "Ah, hello! You are..." "Yes, the new girl," she replied, giving a small smile. "I heard that there was an attack from the A-Laws today." She knows about the A-Laws? Allelujah wondered. But then again, she knew who he was too. He suppose that Marie could have told her an amount of things. "Yeah. It was a tough fight, but all of us managed to pull through in the end. We damaged our suits, but repairing shouldn"t take too long." The girl fidgeted at the mention of a fight, but she didn"t push it further. Using this opportunity to change the subject, Allelujah quickly asked, "Have you met Marie yet?" "Marie? Oh, yes, I have. She has been very kind." "She probably hasn"t met Soma yet,' Hallelujah cackled. Allelujah ignored him and instead, smiled at the girl"s words. Before he could say anything, however, a voice interrupted. "And there"s something else I"d like to discuss. Allelujah Haptism, the Celestial Being crew has been gathered together for a discussion. Something has to be done about this girl, who I still insist poses a threat to us." Tieria Erde was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, clad in a purple pilot suit that matched his hair. Allelujah wondered how Tieria did it - fighting for long amounts of time, and yet emerging from the cockpit without a hair ruffled, without breaking a sweat. It probably had something to do with him being an Innovade. His garnet eyes were fixed on the girl, and she was looking right back, though what exactly were they thinking, Allelujah could not tell. The discussion with the crew that was about to follow would be long, that was all he knew. "Are you sure that was the best decision, Ribbons?" A voice asked, slightly scornful. Regene Regetta made himself comfortable on one of the plush couches, waiting for a response. "Yeah, Ribbons. You could have altered the plan a little bit. This plan takes too long. It"s not fun. Where"s the basis for it, anyway?" Hilling Care whined. He heard their questions, listened to the complaints. He sat there, looking calm, cunning and deceptive as usual. Although there were a few unforeseen circumstances, he knew that Celestial Being was doomed to fall in the end. After all, there was no one more worthy to lead mankind none other than him, Ribbons Almark. The Celestial Being crew were only human, and even that Innovade, Tieria Erde, had grown so fondly attached to them. It was pathetic, to say the least. Humanity was its own trap. It was a trap that only lead to damnation, an everlasting cycle of pain and suffering. "Of course it is the best decision," his voice was smooth and silky, and he smirked when the look on Hilling"s face softened. "All will happen in due time, remember that." The worst darkness, after all, was the darkness that stemmed from one"s heart. And Ribbons Almark planned to make the entire crew of Celestial Being plunge into that pit. Despair would come, and then the hatred would begin. He chuckled, marvelling at how all this was meant to be. All righty. Not much Tieria here, I know. Wanted to make some space for the other characters. I have to give her a name at the next chapter though, it has been a bit frustrating typing "the girl" when a name should be there instead! Ah, well. "All will happen in due time", Ribbons said. Some explanation to be done at the next chapter! Please read and review! Here comes a chapter! Oh, the holidays. How I love them, even though it"s only for a week. No cliffies yet. :( Sadly, I do not own Gundam 00. "I"m not claiming divinity. I"ve never claimed purity of soul. I"ve never claimed to have the answers to life. I only put out songs and answer questions as honestly as I can... But I still believe in peace, love and understanding."-John Lennon Claims Almost everybody was present. Other than the few who were manoeuvring the ship or keeping a lookout for enemies at their control stations, the rest of the Celestial Being crew were gathered, silent and rather solemn. I knew that this was the time where they would decide what to do with me, whether to let me stay on board the Ptolemaios or to... The forecaster was the first one to interrupt my train of thoughts. "All right, then. Who are you?" Feldt, her pink ponytail bobbing around due to the lack of gravity, was the one who answered before I could. "Uhm...Sumeragi! Her memories are missing..." Lockon lazed by with a casual expression on his face, looking not in the least bit troubled. I could tell that this man wasn"t very much bothered with my presence, and that was comforting. "So that"s what she"s been telling you, eh? Tieria"s going to be in a fit soon, with a situation that even he can"t comprehend." "I am not going to be "in a fit", and there"s nothing hard to comprehend about this situation! Sumeragi Li Noriega, this girl is..." " - dangerous? A threat? I know, Tieria. But what if this isn"t what she chose for herself?" Everyone shifted their attention to me, waiting. All right, this was it. Now or never. "I didn"t choose this." They were silent, urging me to continue. Confusion was already beginning to spread on the once-defiant expressions. That was a good sign. "You all made it sound as if I knew things. It"s true, I do, but only because Veda told me. Or I accessed Veda, whichever way you would want to put it. I woke up inside the terminal. I didn"t hack in on purpose, and mean no harm. If I were some - some Innovator thing, I would have infiltrated Celestial Being in a smarter way, wouldn"t I, like what was once cleverly done by Anew Returner?" There were flinches, murmurs. "I know that the way I appeared here in such an abrupt manner is disconcerting. You all are wary, and...I don"t blame you," I remembered all the visions that I saw inside Veda"s terminal, all the pain that they had gone through. "In fact, it"s only normal protocol for you all not to simply trust strangers, no? But whoever these Innovators are, I haven"t met them. If I did in the past, then I don"t remember." Something must have struck Tieria, because all of a sudden he looked less wary. Now, his garnet eyes had widened, as if he had a sudden realization. The change must have been obvious, because Allelujah said, "Tieria, are you all right?" "Yes. You," -he gestured at me -"The key words are that you don"t remember, and that this wasn"t your choice. What if this was decided by someone else?" The whisperings had increased in volume, and I tried my best to ignore it. "What do you mean?" "He means that there"s a third party involved," Allelujah said kindly. "If we were to look at this from another angle..." Tieria was muttering to himself, and I could sense his brain spinning as he considered the situation. "Yes, that might possibly be it..." I tapped my foot, impatient. "Yes, Tieria?" "It means that your memory might have been tampered with." "A third party?" The unease on everybody"s face was apparent, and he pushed on. "The infamous third party, yes. My primary suspect would be the Innovators. As you managed to access Veda, I"m certain that they"re related to you in some way. However, something they did to you must have damaged your memory. Your quantum brainwaves that enabled contact with them must have been destroyed in the process as well, because I don"t sense any of it in you at all." "I"m not an Innovator if that"s what you"re implying," I snapped, feeling the colour rise to my cheeks. "Of course you"re not, seeing as they"ve abandoned you here," Tieria brushed off my anger carelessly, like a man swatting off an annoying fly. The word "abandoned" made me pause. Abandoned...? A warm hand placed itself on my shoulder. It was Feldt, offering silent support. Marie and Allelujah gave me smiles, and Lockon was patting my head. "Uh...what?" I asked warily, unused to these sudden displays of affection. Sumeragi stood in front of me, hands on her hips. "It"s called acceptance. Tieria"s opinion is clear. With your memory tampered and your quantum brainwaves wiped out, you pose no threat to us. True, all these aren"t within my calculations, but that"s all right. This is an exception that I"m willing to agree on as the tactical forecaster of Celestial Being. Besides, since you have obtained all sorts of information about us, there"s no way we can let you off this ship. You could stay on board on the Ptolemaios and help us out in any way possible." Before I could answer, Lockon popped out a very important question. "So, how are we going to address you?" "Uhm..." "Oh, that"s right!" Feldt looked at Marie, then at Lockon. "She doesn"t know her name..due to the...destructed memories." "Guess we"ll have to give you one!" "Azure?" "Nina?" "Rebecca?" "I have no part in this," Tieria said, giving me one last irritated glance just before the door shut. Setsuna shrugged and followed suit. Meanwhile, the names continued. All sorts were being suggested - odd names, too. Ramona. Merrilyn. Edith. The girls were clearly enjoying themselves. "Your hair is a dark green," Marie pointed out. "Maybe we should pick you a name something related to that..." "I don"t think I would like to be called a walking forest." Lockon grinned, amused, proceeding to list down almost anything green-related. "Apples, trees, leaves, algae..." The crew laughed along, and I found myself joining in as well. "What about emerald?" Feldt asked, peeking shyly at me. Emerald, eh? It could be shortened. Emmy. Era. Eri. Wait, that was it. "Eri. Just Eri would do." They stared for a moment, then Sumeragi extended her hand. "All right," she said, grinning. "Welcome to Celestial Being, Eri." Tieria Erde stared at the stars that flew past, the reflection on the thick glass windows telling him that his face was yet again etched into a frown. Even after all the times Mileina encouraged him to smile, he still couldn"t do it. With the constant attacks from A-Laws, the dark shadows of the Innovators and the obliteration of innocent people happening on Earth, Tieria found that smiling was a difficult task indeed. There was never a time of rest - battles were like races. You lost if you weren"t quick enough, and letting down your guard at inappropriate times were simply unacceptable. The girl. He overheard them calling her new name, over and over again. Eri. So that was who she was from now onwards. Her entire presence was a mystery, an unwanted one at that. Tieria had grudgingly allowed her to live, but only because his keen Innovade senses told him that she meant the truth - about not intending to be of any harm here. The rest of her explanations seemed reasonable, but there was a nagging feeling that still constantly crawled to his mind. If he was right and that she was really abandoned by Ribbons Almark and his creations, then there could only be two reasons. Either she was just too useless for him, or... ...she posed a threat that was too big for him to ignore. Tieria cursed inwardly. What kind of threat would it be, then? A threat so big that he had to resort to such tactics? But if she was really a danger, or an annoyance, then killing her off would have been easier. It would be simple, no questions asked, and the other Innovades wouldn"t have minded either. So, why didn"t they do that instead? "So that"s where you are. Defensive, aren"t you? Wound up, that"s what you are. Cut some slack. Sumeragi predicted that the A-Laws wouldn"t attack soon. Get some rest. Read a book. Relax." Tieria turned around to see Lockon perching casually against the doorframe. "And you"re being way too friendly to a stranger that has only been around for only a few hours, Lockon Stratos." Raised eyebrows. "Friendly? It"s called courtesy, Tieria. Besides, you more or less gave your approval for her to be on this ship. Shouldn"t you trust your instincts a little? Guarded looks and hasty accusations never go anywhere. You"ve been a Meister for some time and should know this well enough." "Being guarded is what keeps all of us alive," Tieria hissed, annoyance laced in his voice. Lockon sighed. He knew better than to start an argument with Tieria. "Well, think about it then. I can tell you, though, if everyone acted as you did, Celestial Being would have never come this far." With that, he left, leaving Tieria alone with his sharp, murderous and slightly confused thoughts. That"s it for this chapter. At least I have a name for her now. Took me some time to find something suitable. D: Read and review! Constructive criticisms are always accepted! - Anne No. I do not own Gundam 00. :( The only one that I own is Eri. "Arguments only confirm people in their own opinions."-Booth Tarkington Arguments "Nii-san! What are you doing here?" Laughter. Gentle smiles. There was nothing more except a flow of warmth, a sense of security. Hands around me, a comforting embrace. The happiness was there, a fuzzy glow that began from my chest and spread throughout. He was tall...much taller. All I could see was the button-up shirt that he wore, and his pale, slender fingers. "I"m making some final adjustments to this mobile suit, sister. Doesn"t it look magnificent?" "It does! Can you fly this thing way up in the sky?" "Of course." "Nii-san...I want to do that too!" More laughter. Hair ruffling. Tenderness. "You will. All you need are a few more years and..." ... My eyes snapped open of their own accord. The dream came rushing in, strong and unstoppable. I turned around blindly, half-expecting to see a tall, male figure looming around somewhere with a mobile suit by his side. However, all I saw was a girl with pink hair resting on a bed not too far away from me. Feldt. I was temporarily rooming with her after all. Reality returned - I was Eri, a new member of Celestial Being. I sighed. How vivid was that dream, to have me temporarily mix it up with reality? The bright red digits on the wall flashed . Four-fifteen a.m. huh? What on earth was I supposed to do now? Going back to sleep didn"t seem like an inviting option. My decision was swift. I kicked off the covers and decided to go for a walk. The area was deserted. To be honest, it was slightly eerie. The usual chatter of the Celestial Being crew was non-existent at this hour, and the only thing I could hear was the steady hum of machines. My footsteps echoed along the hallway, unusually loud. Perhaps this wasn"t such a good idea. All right, Eri, you wanted a walk, didn"t you? What are you worried about? Nothing"s going to harm you. Just walk. Then perhaps you could go back and have some proper sleep after all. The internal yelling somehow chased away any doubts. I wandered around aimlessly at a comfortable pace, not familiar with the layout of the Ptolemaios yet. Before I knew it, I stopped outside a room that I only knew too well. Veda"s terminal. Should I...? The urge for me to enter was strong, and yet, I hesitated - what if someone was around and saw me sneaking in? But then again, no one was here now. Nobody would know. I probably wouldn"t have a chance anymore when the sun came up. No. I couldn"t afford to waste time. Silently, I slipped inside, feeling a part of me bloom with joy as I felt myself float, weightless, amidst the vibrant hues of colours. I felt at ease. This was a great place to be. There was no darkness here, only colours.

Wine glasses - check. Roses adorning the table - check. Her heart thumped. Romance. There was way too much of it in this place. It didn"t seem appropriate for her, dressed in her casual uniform, to be sitting on one of these fancily-carved wooden chairs. The ladies around, she noticed, were all decked up in elegant, fancy dresses with glittering nail polish on their slender fingers. Touma cleared his throat. "You alright?" Misaka blinked, observing the shadows that danced on Touma"s face. Any lights in the restaurants were dimmed - obviously to complement the candlelight, creating the desired effect of romance on its customers. To make things worse, the restaurant was at the seaside. It reminded Misaka of one of those settings she had once read from Saten"s romance novels. "Sure, I"m fine." He looked at her reproachfully. "Hey, if you"re tired, we can forget about the movie later." And not enjoy their prize to the fullest after battling against Kuroko"s insanity? No way. "I"m fine. We"re definitely heading to the cinema later. Besides," Misaka said, yawning a little as she did, "I haven"t watched a movie for a long time. It"d be nice to, you know..." "Unwind a little?" She gave a small smile. "Yeah." Another long stretch of silence lapsed between them. "I"m sorry," Touma ventured. The unexpected apology threw Misaka off balance, but she quickly recovered. "What for?" "You were probably hoping for a...better blind date today. I know I wasn"t doing a good job, so I"m sorry about that." Touma cleared his throat self-consciously, continuing. "The truth is..." She raised an eyebrow. "The truth is?" He gulped, looking nervous. Misaka suddenly felt her heart skip a beat. "The...the truth is," he started again, looking at her seriously in the eye. A light breeze blew, and Misaka brushed her hair out of her face self-consciously. She tapped her foot impatiently, ignoring the sudden onslaught of butterflies in her stomach. "The truth is? Come on, I don"t have all day." "The truth is - I didn"t really prepare much for the date! It was a spontaneous decision, all right? Tsuchimikado and Aogami are probably laughing hysterically now. They were the ones who roped me into this in the first place," Touma confessed. Misaka felt something like disappointment claw its way into her heart. "You idiot! So you came to a blind date just because your two guy friends wanted you to? I"ll beat you to a pulp the next time I see you after tonight, make no damn mistake about that!" The waiter arrived as soon as she said that, placing two dishes on their table. "Here you go - the restaurant"s special. Enjoy your meal!" Misaka plastered a smile on her face that quickly faded once the waiter left. Before she could say anything else, though, Touma began fawning over the meal in front of him in delight. "Salad, mashed potatoes...and look at this assortment of seafood! I sure could use a meal like this after not having anything to eat for an entire day!" "Only because you forgot to bring your money along, moron," Misaka retorted, digging into the meal. She smiled a little, watching at how he ate like a hungry little boy. "Slow down, silly. You"re getting the sauce on your face." "I wasn"t the one who once had mush-tard on my nose," Touma said with a grin, speaking through a mouthful of food. Mustard? Oh, the day when they both had hotdogs and Misaka had grabbed Touma to be her pretend-to-be boyfriend while she escaped the clutches of a stalker? She never found out whether they shared an indirect kiss or not through their munched-up hotdogs, and Misaka decided that she was better off not knowing. "I wasn"t the one who got chased by thugs because he decided to save a so-called damsel in distress, not even recognizing that said damsel was the Ace of Tokiwadai and was more than capable of handling herself," Misaka refuted. Touma shrugged. "Well, I wasn"t the one who had to wear a dress and play the violin on stage." "It was a good performance, and you know it! At least I don"t complain about misfortune all the time like you!" He arched an eyebrow and said, "I don"t get harrassed by my roommate." Misaka rolled her eyes. "Of course not. You get bitten on the head by your roommate." Not pausing to wait for a retort from him, she rolled on - "I don"t have to attend extra classes, I don"t drop the eggs from the supermarket, I don"t need to fight against Magicians in Academy City all the time, and...wait, why are you laughing? All this is about you. You!" Touma laughed some more. "I - just - those were really good times!" "Good times?" Misaka snorted. "I"m throwing out all the worst memories I know about you into your face and you call those good times? Gosh, I just can"t figure you out!" "Well, they were still experiences. Experiences in life that taught me something. I bet that in the near future you"ll look back on today and say, "Hey, it was a really good day of fun,' wouldn"t you, Biri-biri?" Misaka stared, not having a comeback for that. It was true. And today was still an experience, no matter how flawed it was. "Yeah," she said, smiling. "I guess so." Touma grinned back. "Knew you"d agree. So, what kind of movies do you actually like?" Misaka glanced at her watch as they exited the cinema. It was already past ten. "That teacher"s going to give me one big beating again," she sighed, folding her arms nonchalantly around her chest. "Dorm curfew?" "Yeah," she nodded. "Ah, well, it was a good movie. Who"d have thought that you have good taste anyway?" "We picked it out together," he reminded her. "You know what? I never thought that girls would be into action movies." "Puh-lease. I practically live the action everyday." They walked past the crowded city with its animated nightlife and strolled past parks, chatting amiably like old friends. Touma realized that, for once, Misaka was speaking to him as an equal without - a) challenging him to a duel, b) threatening to turn his limbs into charred ash, or c) complaining about his flaws in general. It was...strange. Touma realized today that Misaka Mikoto was basically entertaining, amusing and adorable - just as she was also hot-headed, stubborn and arrogant. It was infuriating; to say the least, that there was still so much about her that he didn"t understand. "How"s it like," he hesitated a little before popping the question out, "being one of the Level Fives in Academy City?" Misaka smirked. "Well, there"s the fame to get used to. I get all sorts of attention, most of them unwanted. Sometimes I"d like to have fun without being worshipped and feared as the Ace of Tokiwadai, y"know? But these powers," she brushed her hair absently, watching as tiny blue sparks erupted, "are mine, so I make do with them and use them when necessary." "I heard you solved the Level Upper case." She paused and tilted her head to the sky, heaving a sigh. "Kind of. It was thanks to Saten, though, that all of us managed to get out of there alive." Touma smiled endearingly, recognizing the soft expression on Misaka"s face when she mentioned Saten"s name. "You really treasure your friends, don"t you, Biri-biri?" "Of course I do," she snapped, irritated that he saw through her. "Well, what about you? You have this magical arm that negates all Esper and Magic powers, don"t you? All this so-called "misfortune" of yours arises from this ability, doesn"t it?" Touma"s gaze wandered down to his right hand, to which he held up and studied closely. "Yeah," he said, balling his fingers into a fist. "Still, I think I"m...somewhat glad, to be able to use it to protect people. To help in any way I can." Misaka studied him closely, feeling a rush of affection for him. Touma was always this selfless. He didn"t care who the person in danger was. He didn"t care what kind of danger he"d go through if he participated in battles. His sense of justice was strong, and she was certain that his recklessness would get him into serious trouble someday. Still, it was one of his virtues. A noble, valiant virtue that few ever had. Touma wanted to protect. Was that why she felt this way towards him? "It"s raining." It was true, Misaka noted absent-mindedly. Small, tiny raindrops were falling out of the sky. Of all times, why now? "We better get you back to your dorm before you catch a cold," Touma muttered. Misaka wanted to retort, but the crunch of gravel behind them made her abruptly turn around. She narrowed her eyes, staring into the darkness of a nearby alley. There was someone there - someone with bad intentions. Touma"s expression turned serious. He felt it, too - an aura of a Magician. It looked like going back home would have to wait. Somehow, ending the story without a fight scene and some romantic phrases after that doesn"t seem right - so - the next chapter would be just that. I hope this chapter didn"t bore you all. I decided that Touma and Mikoto needed some serious conversationing instead of just insulting one another all the time. Feed me a review and tell me what you think! - Anne Thank you for all your reviews on the previous chapter! I love you all to bits! *Passes out virtual cookies* Anyway, this is the final chapter of "No Way!". Yeah, I know, I could have done better instead of squeezing four-thousand words together at one go, but...D: Basically, this chapter has a half-assed fighting scene, a not-so-well-done kissing scene (ohmyspoilers), and lots of confessions. Enjoy! BloodTrinity : Yes, what you said is true. It"s just that for the sake of fanfiction, I didn"t bother ironing out the details. Sorry about that! Misaka was exhausted. It had been tiring enough to go on a blind date with Touma, and now she might have to fight with some stranger - which was honestly the last thing she wanted to do at this time of the night. "Keep your guard up," Touma cautioned. Misaka snorted. "Watch out for yourself instead, will you?" They stayed still for several moments, watching for signs of movement by the person in the shadows. The light drizzle continued, soon becoming full-fledged rainfall. Dang it, and she still had school tomorrow. She only hoped Kuroko hadn"t hidden any of her extra uniforms away. Crrrunch. It was an empty can. It sounded close. Touma held his breath... ...and out stepped one of the youngest girls he had ever seen. Her hair was jet black, falling to her waist in waves. She was wearing an odd array of clothes, including a mini skirt and striped stockings. She flashed a brilliant smile at Touma, and he instantly relaxed. "Hey," he called out, "what are you doing so late out at night? It can get quite dangerous, you know." Misaka slapped a palm to her face. He was the one lowering his guard easily. "You idiot," she hissed, "She could be the enemy!" Touma shrugged. "Or she could be just a lost girl who wants to find her way home." "Are you a moron? I can sense the dark intentions from her!" "How sure can you be? It"s just sensing, right? True, I can feel that she"s a Magician - but," he whispered, "She probably just wants to ask some directions or something." Misaka groaned. She gave up - he could be just so dense sometimes. The girl spoke up. "What are you two whispering about?" She did something like a twirl, and Touma saw that underneath that skirt of hers was a long tail. His eyes widened. The girl was definitely not a normal human. Noticing his scrutiny, she giggled and continued, "Oh, this tail? It"s for keeping my balance. By the way, just so you know - I"m not wearing anything else but my panties underneath." Misaka clenched her fists, feeling a wave of annoyance wash over her. What the hell was up with this girl and her flaunting? Not that it mattered, of course, but it just irked her to no end. Misaka grabbed Touma"s hand before he could protest. "Come on, we"re going." But before she could take a step, the girl re-appeared right in front of them. "Where are you two going?" she asked sweetly. "You all haven"t even listened to my story yet!" I didn"t even see her moving, Misaka thought. It seemed like things were going to get more complicated from now onwards. If only they could somehow just ignore her and get away... "Who are you?" Touma asked. Instead of looking alarmed, he seemed to be curious. The girl laughed. "I"m so glad you asked! My name is Lessar. You"re Kamijou Touma, aren"t you? I"ve heard so much about you from the others." "Yeah, that"s me. Is there anything?" To Misaka"s utter amazement, the girl called Lessar deftly strode forward and planted a kiss on Touma"s mouth. On instinct, Touma tried moving away, but she kept him still with an iron grip. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it frustrated Misaka to no end. When they finally parted, Lessar pointed at Misaka and asked, "Who is this girl, Touma?" "You ask yourself that question! You appear out of nowhere, k-k-kissing him, and now you"re asking me who I am?" Misaka protested furiously, too embarrassed to even pronounce the "k" word properly. "Well, my name is Misaka Mikoto. Touma and I were supposed to be going home, in case you had no idea." Touma, meanwhile, had backed away with widened eyes - too stunned to even comprehend what had just happened. Lessar gave Misaka a cool look. "Oh, so you"re that Level Five they were talking about. Like I said, my name is Lessar. I"m from an organization called New Light. You probably haven"t heard about it yet, though. Anyway," she continued, turning to purr seductively at Touma, "he is a vital key for our success. And he is incidentally quite an interesting person that I would love to have." So it was Magician business, eh? Misaka scowled, not understanding but feeling irritated all the same. "Interesting? He"s a total goofy idiot!" "Ah," Lessar said, wagging a finger, "so you won"t mind if I snatch him away, would you?" Wait - what? No way. No way in hell. "You can"t," Misaka said stonily. Lessar pouted. "But why not? I"ve been observing you two the whole day, you know. You two don"t get along too well. You insult him all the time. I was even there in the haunted mansion, observing." Touma finally came back to his senses. "You were there?" "That magician you all had to defeat was one of my lackeys," she replied nonchalantly. Misaka glared. "That magician wanted to kill Touma, for your information." "I only lied to him just so he would give it everything he got, and I knew that there was no way you two would lose," Lessar said calmly. "Now, Misaka Mikoto, answer my question! You know that what I say is true. Give me your reasons why you think that Kamijou Touma should belong to someone like you instead of me." Misaka had to admit that Lessar was right. She had been doing nothing much but to insult Touma the whole day. She had troubled him by forcing him around, and he had to endure her mercurial changes of mood. They definitely didn"t seem like a romantic couple in love, but... ...but this didn"t mean that she wanted him to be taken away by some prepubescent girl either! Misaka wouldn"t like it at all if Touma were to be owned by someone else. Oh, scratch that, she would hate it. What did that mean, though? No, no. Misaka couldn"t lie to herself anymore. For a long time, she had known. Ever since he had touched her heart with his kindness and bravery, she had known... ...That she was in love with him. Misaka knew that she merely never wanted to admit it to herself. But for now, she had to continue lying just for a little while longer. She seized herself up and said, "I don"t need a reason. You just can"t. And I would never allow him to be taken by the likes of you." Lessar shook her head. "How disappointing. I see. In that case, I have no choice." Touma watched with bewilderment. "Oi, you two!" The two girls were acting as if he didn"t exist. "Are you all fighting here? No, stop it!" They ignored him. "I hate people like you, Misaka Mikoto, who think they"re so great," Lessar said with feigned sweetness. "Prepare yourself. Dromi!" With that, a long wire shot out - extending and curling with flexibility, reaching towards Misaka. Misaka evaded and yelled, "And I hate girls like you who act like brats!" So this Lessar girl wanted to take things seriously, eh? That was no problem at all. A good match sounded fun anyway - not to mention that this girl was a Magician who could probably kick up quite a challenge. In that case, she herself could not lose. Blue electricity crackled and flared, shooting out in all directions. The fight carried on for a few more seconds - Lessar casting elemental spells, Misaka letting off jolts of electricity that were beyond a thousand volts. "What"s wrong?" Lessar taunted, evading all of Misaka"s electricity attacks. "Is this all you have?" Misaka gritted her teeth, fishing out a coin. "In that case, I"ll have you see - what power truly is!" Touma, realizing what was about to happen, bolted between the two of them. "NO! STOP!" Lessar leapt back, but Misaka had already fired. "Are you alright? Oi!" Misaka grabbed Touma"s shoulders and shook, calling out repeatedly. What had she done? In her haste for victory, she had used her deadliest technique - only to have Touma caught in the crossfire. "Touma! Wake up!" Touma coughed, and Misaka peered at him critically, prodding his arms and feet cautiously to check for broken bones. Lessar shrugged. Unlike Misaka, she seemed totally unconcerned about Touma"s wellbeing. "He"ll be alright. I saw him use his right hand to negate the effects of our powers. The force must have knocked him backwards." With that, she glanced at Misaka. "Man, that was a boring match. It ended a little too early, don"t you think?" "What?" Misaka growled. "Touma"s injured, and that"s all you have to say? That it was a boring match? Would you have preferred if my rail gun actually landed a direct hit on you?" "I would have been able to stop your rail-gun even if he couldn"t," Lessar said flippantly, standing up and brushing dirt off her skirt. "Like I said, Touma"s fine. We should fight again some other time at another place where he won"t be able to interrupt. It really cuts the mood, you know? To have a match interrupted like that. I"ll just leave and come back some other time." "Wait! You"re not thinking about really leaving now, are you?" "Of course I am. The match was interrupted after all. But take note, I will come back. And the next time I do," a cunning grin crept onto Lessar"s face as she spoke, "I will claim Touma as my own." And with just that simple declaration, Lessar was gone. Misaka sighed, wondering what all that was about before turning her attention back to Touma. "That was irresponsible of her...hey, how are you feeling?" "I"m fine - OUCH!" Misaka had punched him. Hard. Touma fell back, and was now clutching his face. "What was that for?" "You - big - blundering - moronic - idiot!" She yelled. There was no doubt about it. Misaka was angry, and Touma was about to face the storm. He didn"t know whether to stay put or not - this girl was about as dangerous as the other Magicians that he had ever faced. But then again, a part of him distinctively knew what she was trying to say. And, true to his word, Touma saw something other than anger in those hazel eyes. Those eyes were filled with anger and exasperation, true - but Touma saw worry and fear in them as well. She was worried for him, wasn"t she? Touma smiled faintly to himself. He knew she was just never open in expressing herself. "I"m sorry, Misaka." He was expecting her to blush and continue on with some torturous physical hits, but she didn"t. Misaka sat in front of him with a sigh, caressing his face. "That will bruise." "You did that to me," he stated bluntly. She flinched and gave him a half-hearted glare. "Like I said, you were being an idiot. Who on earth would jump right in the middle of a heated battle? You know, without your Imagine Breaker, you would have died many times - not only by my hand, but others as well." Without really thinking, she grabbed his right palm and inspected it. It looked unblemished, unscratched - good as new. "Amazing...after all these times, it still doesn"t look affected." Touma allowed her to do the inspecting, enjoying the feeling of his palm in hers. When he had intervened in Misaka and Lessar"s battle earlier on, he had stretched out his right palm into the crossfire, which negated the powers of both Esper and Magician - which allowed him to escape, unharmed. "...why?" Her whisper was so soft that Touma wondered whether that question was directed at him or not. "Why, Touma? You could have been killed," she said, even louder this time. Touma grinned. "It was a reflex action." Her eyebrow twitched. "You could have died." "I didn"t. Right hand here, see?" "That is so not the point, moron." "Then what is?" "Like I said, you could have died!" "And the thing is," Touma said calmly, "I didn"t." Misaka slapped a palm to her face in frustration. "And like I said, that"s not the point!" Touma raised an eyebrow. "And like I asked, what is?" "Honestly, I never knew you could be that dense," Misaka said with a sigh. "Have you ever considered what could have happened if it hadn"t been your right hand that entered the fray first? Our powers were raging, you know. Have you ever thought what would have happened if you really died? How do you think I"d be able to face your friends? When you die, you just...die. You don"t come back. How would I be able to live with it?"

And suddenly, it was over. They were in an office with nineteenth-century furnishings - a chandelier hung from the ceiling, its warm lights glowing ; paintings sent Feldt"s mind spinning with their vivid hues ; books shelved neatly on a tall oak shelf towered, sending shadows on the thick carpet ; while a crystal grand piano stood nearby, glinting under the light. It was all very regal, but it seemed too unreal to Feldt. It was as if she had arrived at a place of great importance in a different era. "Welcome," a soft voice spoke. Her eyes widened, and Feldt could feel the sudden fear gripping at her heart. It was rushing throughout her body - the anxiety, the adrenaline - squeezing, tightening its hold on her. The man in front of her was young, very young. His hair was a pale green, paler than the shrubs or vines she saw outside. What stood out, however, were his eyes. His eyes were fuchsia, but when Feldt watched closely, they glowed liquid-like into striking gold. This man was dangerous. While Setsuna was dark and stoic, he never had the aura of a cold-blooded, cruel killer. This Proctor - whoever he was - held an aura of a snake. The sly cunningness, the dark intent of pouncing and killing - Feldt just knew. She could feel it. Trouble. She was in deep trouble. "My name is Ribbons Almark, and I am the Proctor," he said, smirking and giving her a mock-bow. "Why don"t you have a seat, Feldt Grace?" Setsuna, she thought. Her hands were trembling, and fear was taking over. Setsuna.... Dum dum dum. Ribbons Almark has appeared. How will Setsuna and the rest be able to get Feldt safely out of the enemy"s embrace? Stay tuned to find out! So. What do you think about the story and the other character interactions so far? Q : "Why isn"t Alle doing ANYTHING and why isn"t he with Tieria and Lockon yet?"A : "Calmmmmm down. Marie and Alle will be helping out a lot in the next chapter!" Yes, stay tuned. AND OH. PLEASE REVIEW. :) Thanks for reading! - Anne Although I may not reply to every single review I receive, take note that I read them over and over again happily like some kid with candy. You all make me happy - yes, you all do. Thank you so, so much for all the reviews, favs, and alerts. :) Anyways, here goes. P/S : Advanced warning provided for massive amounts of Ribbons. Oh, and the involvement of MarieAllelujah. Insert a little drama and...poof! Now you have angry, helpless Feldt. Enjoy! Confrontation For Marie, the question had been casual. "Where"s Feldt?" Marie glanced up in surprise at the trio before her. Setsuna, Tieria and Neil were crowding around the already cramped cafeteria table, their expressions serious and thoughtful. "She was with us until the two Union officials led her away," Allelujah said, sidling closer to Marie. He placed his empty coffee can down on the table, noting silently at how their expressions shifted and darkened at the information. Neil"s jaw was set in a grim line. "Who exactly were they?" Marie was unsure why they wanted to know, but she answered anyway. "Graham Aker and Billy Katagiri. They just appeared out of the blue. Feldt seemed surprised, like she wasn"t expecting it." Neil groaned. "Of course she wouldn"t." "I knew she was nothing but trouble," Tieria muttered from aside, a look of annoyance crossing his face. "Shut up, Tieria." Turning back to Marie and Allelujah, Neil asked, "Do you know where they went off to?" "No, they just took off without really saying," Allelujah replied, drumming his fingers casually on the cafeteria table. "They did mention that it wasn"t going to be a public place, though. Perhaps a meeting room or somewhere...?" The discomfort was growing throughout the trio - Marie could tell. She knew who they were, of course - Setsuna F. Seiei, Neil Dylandy - or Lockon as people normally called him - and Tieria Erde were three famous, outstanding university students. How Feldt managed to be so familiar with them was a mystery to Marie. Perhaps she was just imagining it, but they seemed to be genuinely worried over Feldt"s current wellbeing. Neil was laughing uneasily, Tieria"s gaze was too sharp and calculating - Setsuna"s reaction, however, startled her the most. His fists were clenched tightly, and something of a feral snarl ripped out from his throat. For someone known to be void of emotions, this much of a display from Setsuna was enough to send Marie into a spiral of panic. What was going on? "Is anything wrong? Did something happen to Feldt?" Marie asked anxiously, rising from her seat. Allelujah grabbed an arm, trying to calm her down. "It does not concern you," Tieria began, only to stop when Neil placed a heavy hand on his shoulders - a dangerous do-not-make-things-worse expression clearly written on his face. "There"s nothing wrong," Neil replied patiently, trying to ease his face into what he hoped was a confident smile. "Thanks anyway. We"ll see you around." The three of them turned to leave, but Marie"s sharp voice stopped them in their tracks. "Liar." Tieria was the first one to whirl around furiously. "What did you say?" "I"m saying that you three are liars," Marie snapped, noting how Neil shifted around guiltily as she did. "Something is going on, isn"t it?" "Listen," Tieria hissed, but Marie cut him off. "No, you listen. I know that Feldt has her secrets. It"s hurtful to know that I can"t do anything for her, and that I can only watch as she suffers." Marie shook her head sadly, but then her gold eyes shone with stubborn determination. "Well, guess what? There"s only so much of it that I can stand. I want to help, and I know you three are worried as well. Why don"t you tell me the truth?" Tieria assessed the situation coolly. The soft-spoken silver-haired girl had evolved into something of a snappy piranha. Perhaps the next best step would be... "Do you really want to help?" Setsuna asked, moving past Tieria to stand in front of Marie and Allelujah. This was the only way to avoid delays. Even if they didn"t find out now, they would stumble upon the truth sooner or later. Besides, in such a desperate situation, having an extra hand or two wouldn"t hurt. Marie nodded fiercely. Allelujah smiled from Marie"s side, knowing that he loved her for her courage and loyalty. If she wanted to help Feldt, then Allelujah would support her in any way he could. "Then," Setsuna continued, ignoring Tieria"s indignant squawks of protests, "Let"s go." For Feldt, the question had been casual. "Tea or coffee?" Feldt licked her lips, unsure of how to handle the situation. "Uh..." "I"ve always preferred Darjeeling, though the aroma of freshly brewed coffee can be quite a kick-start for the day. What do you think?" Ribbons asked pleasantly, the smirk on his face blatantly apparent. "Come now, don"t be shy. Discussions are best made over a drink - unless you would prefer to have something...a little wilder? Alcohol, maybe?" Alcohol with a dangerous Proctor? Not a bloody chance. She gave up. "Alright. Tea, then." "What about us?" Graham asked dramatically, feigning hurt. "Don"t we get free service from the almighty Proctor too?" "Leave," Ribbons answered dismissively. "You two have fulfilled your purpose for today." "But..." Graham whined, sounding more like a schoolboy than a Union official. Billy sighed - Graham could be so persistent. The two of them had been carrying out Ribbons" ideals for years - Graham, of all people, should have understood that Ribbons" temper was not to be tested by now. "Ribbons," Billy began quietly, shutting Graham up effectively. There was something he had to let his superior know. "There are concerns that she may have made contact with the rebels." Feldt"s eyes widened. Billy and Graham were now eyeing her coldly, ignoring the way she shook with fright. The rebels would have to mean Setsuna, Tieria and Neil, wouldn"t it? But...they couldn"t have known. Unless... "Then let"s put those concerns to rest today, shall we?" Ribbons asked conversationally. He strode over when she didn"t say anything, hovering dangerously over her. Feldt shrank away, but all Ribbons did was press a teacup in her hands. "Here you go - tea at its finest." Feldt sniffed the tea a little and sipped, satisfied that it didn"t carry any traces of bitterness. He wasn"t trying to poison her, at least. Realizing that the two government officials were still in the room, Ribbons turned to face them. Without a trace of friendliness, he snapped, "What are you still doing here? Leave, I say!" As Graham and Billy sauntered out of the office, Ribbons poured a cup of tea for himself and seated himself on Feldt"s opposite. Feldt shivered - the fear within her was growing now that she was alone with him. She had to prepare herself for what could be coming up next - but what could she do when she was trapped? Billy and Graham were enemies, but she would have felt better if they were in the same room as her. "There, there," Ribbons said in mock comfort. "There is nothing to fear. As long as you behave as how you should, I will spare your life. Drink up - Darjeeling tastes best when served hot." Spare my life? This man was a monster! "It was you," Feldt bit out, unable to contain the sudden anger that overwhelmed her fear. His smooth words and promises sent her over the edge - Ribbons was more than just a university Proctor, that was for sure. "You sent the assassin to kill me!" Ribbons didn"t deny it - if anything, his smirk grew larger. "That is correct." "What is it that you want? What are your motives?" Feldt asked, expression hard and determined. "We will stop you, whatever it is!" Feldt knew that Setsuna would stop him with Tieria and Neil by his side. It was just three of them, but did it matter? They would do it. They could. Those three weren"t normal teenagers. They knew things. She trusted Setsuna with her life. If he wanted to save the world, Feldt knew that he would. Instead of an angry outburst, Ribbons merely threw his head up and laughed. His laughter resonated around the room, full or mirth and amusement. Feldt merely sat in her seat, unsure of what to do. Perhaps she could ready herself to run and attack him with the teacup if necessary. "Stop me? Me, Ribbons Almark?" He continued chuckling, seeming to find the idea of being defeated ridiculous. "Quite the naïve dreamer, aren"t you?" "It isn"t naïve. One can always hope." "You merely have not seen what true power is." Ribbons stood up and walked to the window, the cup of tea still in his hands. He shut the blinds with a snap - any vestiges of sunlight that had trickled through the glass was now almost non-existent. "Feldt Grace," he intoned. "Born on 28th December, 2293 AD. You had a lonely, deprived childhood with merely machines as companions. Due to extensive exposure to the makings of mobile suits at a young age, you were highly skillful, earning the praise of experts during the era of growing technology." Feldt narrowed her eyes, unsure of where this was going. "Your parents Ruido Resonance and Marlene Vlady were killed in a mobile suit conflict. A small funeral was held, with only close friends and relatives attending. Their deaths were not publicized for fear of the public"s reaction." "So?" Feldt asked wearily. She knew these already. "Details of the battle were unknown," Ribbons continued, the golden gleam present yet again in sly fuchsia eyes. "However, it is known that their sole daughter threw herself into the world of mobile suit technology after their deaths in order to move on in life. Quite the touching story, isn"t it? I"m sure they would be proud, knowing that their daughter tried so very hard..." "Narrating my life-history won"t do you any good," Feldt said, attempting to stem any feelings of hurt and unease at the bottom of her stomach. Those were memories that she had so desperately wanted to forget, secrets she never really wanted to share. "Cut the chase and tell me what you want." Ribbons set his teacup down with a soft clink. The high-collared suit he wore with ruffles at the side made him look like an elegant aristocrat in the nineteenth century - a charming, cunning, and dangerous one. "I know about your acquaintance with Setsuna F. Seiei. That includes Neil Dylandy, Tieria Erde, even Marie Parfacy - your closest friend, with her sweetheart Allelujah." The grin on his face was cruel, and his next sentence nearly made Feldt"s heart stop. "If you do not cooperate with me, I will kill them - just like how I killed your parents." "What? Are you serious?" "I find it hardly appropriate to joke at a time like this," Tieria said drily to Marie, who looked shell-shocked at the stunning revelation that had been just revealed to her. The five of them were sprinting past the campus lawns, ignoring the curious looks other students were sending them. It was a beautiful day, Marie noted. Such bright sunlight was perfect for a day-out - but there was no time to relax. Heading to Feldt was the topmost priority. "I never knew she kept such a large secret..." "It"s not your fault," Allelujah said gently, his eyes kind and understanding. "She never told you anything." "I know, but at the moment she could be seriously hurt. We don"t even know where she is..." Neil cracked a rare smile just then, knowing that Marie would be surprised at a few things next. "We"ll just have to find out, won"t we?" "...Find out?" Marie furrowed a brow. "That"s impossible." "Uh-huh. Just watch Tieria perform the impossible then." Tieria ignored the banter behind him, whipping out a device out of his pocket instead. It was time to put his knowledge to use. Although that pink-haired girl wasn"t important to him, allowing the enemy to have her was unacceptable. She knew far too much by now. Besides, Tieria didn"t want to see Setsuna go into a rampage. If anything happened to her, he knew exactly just what Setsuna would do. "The first thing that should be done now would be to check which direction they have gone off to," he muttered. "Tieria Erde. Requesting access." "Voice recognition complete. Welcome back, Tieria Erde." Marie and Allelujah jumped upon hearing the device"s monotone, shocked that it could even respond - much less interpret the sequences in an individual"s voice. Neil smiled a little. Tieria Erde was the unrivaled genius in hacking and information manipulation. After all, he had made it so that all three of them would be living in Dorm Seven - with him, Tieria, as the dorm leader. How else was it that they could sneak around and even make use of the hidden basement below as a second personal living space? Tieria scanned through copious amounts of information and photos, garnet eyes skimming through each one swiftly. "The last surveillance camera at point 36D caught their images. They headed into the direction of the forests a little past half an hour ago." Marie raised an eyebrow. The forests? There was just nothing there. It was just acres and acres of green, with a lake somewhere further ahead. Why would they head over to such a peculiar location? "There"s nothing beyond that place," Allelujah said, voicing out her thoughts perfectly. Setsuna, who had been silent the entire time, spoke up. "There is." Marie and Allelujah stared, unblinking. However, Neil and Tieria weren"t so surprised. They had always known about what lay hidden within those depths. "The only place that lies beyond that area," Setsuna continued, "is the Proctor"s office. If we hurry, we may still be able to make it on time." Feldt wasn"t sure she had heard quite right. Ribbons was still wearing that smug, satisfied smile - Feldt wanted to wipe it off his face. She shook - not in fear, but in anger. "You...killed my parents?" "I believe you heard me fine just earlier on," Ribbons said. He enjoyed aggravating her - the anger was practically radiating off her figure, enshrouding her in a cloak of dark resentment. Were those tears he saw in emerald eyes? My, my. Feldt clenched her fists tightly, feeling rage well up within her. A fine red haze clouded her vision - Feldt wanted to nothing more than to do something with the fury that was threatening to unleash itself. How dare he, she seethed. How dare he! Nothing prepared herself for what she did next. Instinctively, Feldt leaped off the couch with a primitive war cry and aimed for Ribbons, teacup in hand. If she smashed his head with it, perhaps it would knock him out. Wrong. She should have known that he was stronger. Despite his small frame, Ribbons Almark was not one to be messed with. Calmly, he moved aside, watching as Feldt"s teacup smashed into the glass case behind him. Without giving her time to react, Ribbons grabbed and shoved her into the shattered remains. Feldt gasped and squeezed her eyes shut, pulling her arms up to protect herself. More glass splintered - Feldt could only thank the fact that they broke into tiny pieces and not into large, sharp slabs. That didn"t mean she was unharmed. Feldt coughed, struggling to pull herself up. That wet stickiness that flowed from the side of her temple was most likely blood. To think that she had stitches on her arm not too long ago - perhaps she was just destined for a lifetime of injuries. Feldt laughed weakly, amazed at how her mind worked in times like these. Ribbons towered over her, looking twice as intimidating from that angle. "You should have stayed put like a good girl." In contrast to his cool, patronizing voice earlier on, Ribbons now sounded flat, almost machine-like. Any traces of mockery were gone from his eyes - and although it seemed impossible, Feldt swore that he looked more dangerous than before. She tried backing away, but the effort was futile. Her palm met more brittle glass, which only worsened the pain. At this rate, she may not be able to get out alive. "You...killed my parents," Feldt gasped. "Y-you planned to kill them from the very beginning." Ribbons laughed maniacally. "I did. Of course I did. Mind you, they sounded pathetic at the very last stages of their lives. Their suits was smoking, did you know? They were choking. Coughing. Begging for mercy. Begging for someone, anyone, to take care of their poor, lovely daughter." "You...you won"t get to my friends. I won"t...let you...kill anymore people I love..." "You? What can you do?" Ribbons strode over to her, pulling Feldt up by a lock of pink hair. A pained expression crossed her face, which only served to motivate him more. "You are a mere pawn in my plans, Feldt Grace. The same goes to your lovely little friends. Pawns should act like pawns. I decide on how to dispose of them when they have lost their purpose." "Why...why? Why do you do this? What...what exactly..." Feldt gave another shaky cough, mentally cursing the fact that her words weren"t coming out right. Damn it, she had to know. She had to understand why. Even if she were to die now, she wanted to die knowing the truth. A loud crash suddenly resounded from the front, grabbing Feldt"s attention. It didn"t seem too far away - and it was probably just her hallucination, but she swore she heard someone calling her name. Was that...Setsuna? No, Setsuna, don"t come. Feldt struggled at the grey dots that were dancing into her vision and hoped that somehow, in some miraculous way, Setsuna would be able to hear her pleas. This man is dangerous. He"ll kill you. He"ll kill me. He"ll kill everyone. Just like how he killed my parents. "Ah," Ribbons murmured, releasing his hold on Feldt. The amused, lazy tone was back in his voice. "Looks like we have guests." [Insert scream of frustration] Pardon the lack of SetsunaxFeldt interactions here. They"ll come soon. Movin" across the storyline first. I nearly died writing this chapter, I swear. It was the toughest one yet. How did a simple love story turn out into a mesh of complexities...? Up until today, I have no idea. Anyway, Ribbons is such a pain in the ass. It"s difficult to write about him. And oh, my deepest apologies if Feldt was slightly off the OOC chart. To me, if she could be pissed at Soma in the anime, she would be ferocious if this situation with Ribbons ever occurred. And, sorry for any mistakes. I"m just about to go and sleep now. Still, let me know what you think about the chapter. Give a poor, tired fanfic writer a review...? :) - Anne I know I don"t always reply to reviews, favs and alerts - but to those who did, you guys are amazing. I love y"all. How"s the summer going for those at the Northern hemisphere? If it gets any colder here at the South, I"ll be shattin" ice cubes. Anyways. Hopefully this chapter didn"t turn out too choppy. Enemy face-off scenes and...ugh, romance - were never my strong point. Happy reading! Rescue "We"re going right in!" Neil warned, whipping out a pistol from his pocket. "Anyone who"s unarmed, stay behind!" Marie and Allelujah dutifully retreated to the back, watching as Tieria shuffled to the middle. Neil and Setsuna took the lead, their shoes thudding loudly on the silent hallway. "Level Two and Three security cleared," Tieria announced, fingers flying over the keypad of his device in a blur. "The next door will take us directly to the Proctor"s office."

She should have known that he was stronger. Despite his small frame, Ribbons Almark was not one to be messed with. Calmly, he moved aside, watching as Feldt"s teacup smashed into the glass case behind him. Without giving her time to react, Ribbons grabbed and shoved her into the shattered remains. Feldt gasped and squeezed her eyes shut, pulling her arms up to protect herself. More glass splintered - Feldt could only thank the fact that they broke into tiny pieces and not into large, sharp slabs. That didn"t mean she was unharmed. Feldt coughed, struggling to pull herself up. That wet stickiness that flowed from the side of her temple was most likely blood. To think that she had stitches on her arm not too long ago - perhaps she was just destined for a lifetime of injuries. Feldt laughed weakly, amazed at how her mind worked in times like these. Ribbons towered over her, looking twice as intimidating from that angle. "You should have stayed put like a good girl." In contrast to his cool, patronizing voice earlier on, Ribbons now sounded flat, almost machine-like. Any traces of mockery were gone from his eyes - and although it seemed impossible, Feldt swore that he looked more dangerous than before. She tried backing away, but the effort was futile. Her palm met more brittle glass, which only worsened the pain. At this rate, she may not be able to get out alive. "You...killed my parents," Feldt gasped. "Y-you planned to kill them from the very beginning." Ribbons laughed maniacally. "I did. Of course I did. Mind you, they sounded pathetic at the very last stages of their lives. Their suits was smoking, did you know? They were choking. Coughing. Begging for mercy. Begging for someone, anyone, to take care of their poor, lovely daughter." "You...you won"t get to my friends. I won"t...let you...kill anymore people I love..." "You? What can you do?" Ribbons strode over to her, pulling Feldt up by a lock of pink hair. A pained expression crossed her face, which only served to motivate him more. "You are a mere pawn in my plans, Feldt Grace. The same goes to your lovely little friends. Pawns should act like pawns. I decide on how to dispose of them when they have lost their purpose." "Why...why? Why do you do this? What...what exactly..." Feldt gave another shaky cough, mentally cursing the fact that her words weren"t coming out right. Damn it, she had to know. She had to understand why. Even if she were to die now, she wanted to die knowing the truth. A loud crash suddenly resounded from the front, grabbing Feldt"s attention. It didn"t seem too far away - and it was probably just her hallucination, but she swore she heard someone calling her name. Was that...Setsuna? No, Setsuna, don"t come. Feldt struggled at the grey dots that were dancing into her vision and hoped that somehow, in some miraculous way, Setsuna would be able to hear her pleas. This man is dangerous. He"ll kill you. He"ll kill me. He"ll kill everyone. Just like how he killed my parents. "Ah," Ribbons murmured, releasing his hold on Feldt. The amused, lazy tone was back in his voice. "Looks like we have guests." [Insert scream of frustration] Pardon the lack of SetsunaxFeldt interactions here. They"ll come soon. Movin" across the storyline first. I nearly died writing this chapter, I swear. It was the toughest one yet. How did a simple love story turn out into a mesh of complexities...? Up until today, I have no idea. Anyway, Ribbons is such a pain in the ass. It"s difficult to write about him. And oh, my deepest apologies if Feldt was slightly off the OOC chart. To me, if she could be pissed at Soma in the anime, she would be ferocious if this situation with Ribbons ever occurred. And, sorry for any mistakes. I"m just about to go and sleep now. Still, let me know what you think about the chapter. Give a poor, tired fanfic writer a review...? :) - Anne I know I don"t always reply to reviews, favs and alerts - but to those who did, you guys are amazing. I love y"all. How"s the summer going for those at the Northern hemisphere? If it gets any colder here at the South, I"ll be shattin" ice cubes. Anyways. Hopefully this chapter didn"t turn out too choppy. Enemy face-off scenes and...ugh, romance - were never my strong point. Happy reading! Rescue "We"re going right in!" Neil warned, whipping out a pistol from his pocket. "Anyone who"s unarmed, stay behind!" Marie and Allelujah dutifully retreated to the back, watching as Tieria shuffled to the middle. Neil and Setsuna took the lead, their shoes thudding loudly on the silent hallway. "Level Two and Three security cleared," Tieria announced, fingers flying over the keypad of his device in a blur. "The next door will take us directly to the Proctor"s office." Neil grinned, removing the safety of his gun with a pop. "Alright, here we go. Everyone ready?" Marie laughed shakily, watching as Allelujah positioned himself in front of her so as to shield her from any potential attacks if necessary. She was not ready for this - but there was no chance of backing out anymore. Tieria pocketed his device, grabbing out a Taser instead. Setsuna, like Neil, carried a gun on himself where ever he went - and today was of no exception. He fluidly pulled out a gun, briefly checking to make sure it was loaded. They approached the door, careful and apprehensive. "Ready?" Neil asked Setsuna. Setsuna nodded, his lips pressed together in a thin line. Tieria gasped, suddenly aware of a painful fact. "Stop! What if there were traps beyond the door? We should try an alternative..." It was no good. Tieria"s warning went unheeded. Setsuna and Neil charged in with a deafening yell, slamming the door against the wall with so much force that Marie thought it would be ripped off its hinges. She squeezed her eyes shut, preparing herself for bloodcurdling screams, gunshots, blood - anything that would have appeared on an action movie. However, when all that met her was silence, she decided to sneak a peek. And regretted it almost instantly. The first thing she saw was the destruction - and there was quite a lot of it. An entire glass case had collapsed, its contents lying on the floor in bits and pieces. A table had been overturned and flowers from a vase had toppled out, lying haphazardly on the rug. The next thing that could be seen was a young man with glowing eyes, smirking devilishly. He stood arrogantly, arms crossed, over something - or someone... And finally, the most horrendous scene met everyone"s eyes. It was the sight of a broken, twisted Feldt lying on the ground, covered in glass and blood. Feldt"s normally neat pink hair fanned around her, framing her pale face. Her eyes were closed, but even from a distance, it was clear that she was in pain. "Feldt!" Marie screamed, rushing forward. She had to reach for her - she had to! As if anticipating her reaction, Allelujah pulled her back almost roughly, his face was twisted into one of sadness. "No." "Let go of me!" Marie cried, attempting to release herself from his hold. "No, Marie. I can"t let you get hurt," Allelujah stated firmly. "Calm down. Neil and Setsuna will do something about this." As much as Marie hated to admit it, Allelujah had a point. She bit her lip, hoping that the warmth prickling the corners of her eyes weren"t tears. It wasn"t the right time to cry, after all. "Welcome, fellow students." The monotone that came from the man made Marie jump. Allelujah"s grip on her arm tightened - she was certain it was going to bruise later. Neil and Setsuna watched the pale-haired man warily, their guns aimed at him. Setsuna growled. "You are not just a Proctor, are you?" The urge to run to Feldt was strong, but Setsuna knew that it was unwise to rush to a comrade"s aid when the enemy was still in sight. History was the best teacher, after all. The man"s eyes glowed in an eerie fashion for a few more moments before finally fading back into a striking fuchsia. He cocked his head to a side in mock confusion, feigning innocence. "I"m afraid I do not understand. I do happen to be your Proctor - you may call me Ribbons Almark." "Ribbons, was it? You might as well cut the crap," Neil said. His tone was jovial, but the expression on his face was anything but that. "We"ve got you cornered. I hope you noticed that." Ribbons chuckled. "Ah, Neil Dylandy. Always trying so hard for others, aren"t you? The same could be said when...oh, I remember - it was your family that was killed in the horrible accident years ago, wasn"t it?" Neil"s gaze darkened, and his grip on the smooth pistol tightened. Ribbons ignored him, turning to face Tieria instead. "Tieria Erde - you are no doubt truly skilled in the art of hacking. It truly is a pleasure to finally meet you." Tieria huffed, refusing to respond to the compliment. "However..." Ribbons said, pausing for several seconds before continuing, "...is this what you truly want?" A look of confusion crossed the purple-haired man"s face. "...I"m afraid I do not understand." "You realize, don"t you, that you could use your abilities for so much more?" Ribbons asked. "I do wonder why you stay with your little group of helpless friends when you would be valued so much more in the military..." "They"re not my friends," Tieria replied testily. "I just happen to benefit from them in my own way." Unfazed by Tieria"s response, Ribbons now advanced towards Marie. "Marie Parfacy - how convenient for you to be here! I do apologize for the mess. Do understand, though, that your best friend would not have been injured had you paid more attention to her." Marie opened her mouth and shut it again, bewilderment written across her face. Allelujah slung an arm around her protectively, glaring at Ribbons fiercely. "Leave her out of this." "Ah. Allelujah Haptism - you are quite an interesting one. How long will you be able to protect your beloved, when she is so intent on wandering into danger herself?" "I will protect her as long as I have to. Especially from those of the likes of you." "Of course, of course." Ribbons laughed again, shaking his head like he was humoring a child. Finally, he turned his attention to Setsuna. "And you, Setsuna F. Seiei! You are our university"s very own prodigy - do you not feel proud?" Setsuna remained silent, refusing to allow any form of emotion to show on his face. It was clear that Ribbons was a manipulative menace who picked on the emotional weaknesses of individuals, and Setsuna refused to be provoked by him. "Smart, talented, adored and wanted by many females on the campus," Ribbons whispered, leaning dangerously close towards Setsuna. "How many know of your true past, or what you are capable of? You are a true killer, Setsuna." "I know," Setsuna replied simply. "But I assume this girl here," Ribbons paused, motioning to Feldt, "Already realizes that, doesn"t she?" That was it. Setsuna calmly pulled the trigger, allowing the bullet to ram into the spot where Ribbons" heart was. Ribbons" eyes widened and he staggered back, flailing helplessly for a few seconds before landing onto the floor with a loud thud. "We should have done that ages ago," Tieria muttered, watching as Setsuna rushed to Feldt"s side. "I suppose we have to clear this mess up..." "There"s no time," Setsuna said sharply, pressing what seemed like an oversized handkerchief in order to stem the bleeding on Feldt"s head. "We have to go." Neil threw a look of disgust at Ribbons, who was lying face down in a pool of blood. "We didn"t manage to get much information out of him, but at least he"s dead. The fact that he knew our life story irritated the hell out of me, though." "He must"ve had some brilliant intel," Allelujah chipped in. Setsuna placed his pistol away, scooping Feldt up effortlessly in his arms. She was still breathing, he noted. Feldt may have been bruised, hurt and battered - but at least she was still alive. And that was when the laughter began. Everyone paused in horror - realizing that the peals of laughter were coming from Ribbons, who was supposed to be very, very dead. They watched, dazed, as the pale-haired man pushed himself up from the floor, patting and dusting himself in a casual manner. "W-what?" Marie gasped. "That"s impossible...Setsuna hit his heart!" Marie was right. There was a large patch of blood on Ribbons" chest, staining his dress shirt to a dark crimson - and yet Ribbons stood up and smiled calmly, not a shred of pain on his face. Setsuna grasped the meaning behind this as quickly as the others did - that Ribbons Almark, whoever he was, was by no means a normal human being. He had many questions for Ribbons - they were at the tip of his tongue, nagging to be spilled out. Still, Setsuna wisely refrained from doing that. Feldt"s life was at stake. For now, her safety was of the highest priority. If Ribbons couldn"t be killed for now, then they would just have to leave him be until they could find a way to permanently destroy him in the future. "Let"s go!" Setsuna yelled, dashing through the doors. No one, not even Tieria, disagreed. The world was so dark. When Feldt was younger, she often tripped over all sorts of items. Bruises were common, and she had even fractured an arm once by missing a step on the stairs. In short, she had experienced physical pain quite often due to her own clumsiness. Still, the bruises always faded in time - and any fractures that impaired her mobility always healed up in the end. They weren"t permanent. Pain wasn"t something that would last forever - or that was what Feldt often said to herself. Sometimes it just hurt too much to think, to feel - or to move, for that matter. It didn"t matter whether the pain was physical or psychological - she was certain that it would go away. It would definitely go away. It would... "Feldt! Feldt! Stay with us!" Her name - that was her name, wasn"t it? Feldt had to respond - it was only polite that she did, but the darkness continued engulfing her. And then there was the stinging pain. It hurt. It hurt so badly. The faint prickles were growing into full-blown stabs of pain, burning and coursing throughout her body like fire. "Feldt!" "Feldt!" "Are you alright? Feldt! Answer me!" The voices all belonged to different people. Feldt couldn"t quite clearly identify who they were. It all sounded so hazy and distorted... "FELDT GRACE!" The deep voice roared in her mind, thrumming throughout her soul. That voice. She recognized it. She loved that voice. Gradually, Feldt opened her eyes... ...and found herself staring into Setsuna"s dark ones. "S-Setsuna...?" Feldt blinked a few times, idly wondering why his face seemed to be fading in and out of focus. "She"s awake!" Neil yelled, a triumphant grin crossing his face. "Thank goodness. We thought we"ve lost you for good!" Feldt didn"t have the energy to smile back. Her arms were heavy - she tried to lift them, but found that she was unable to. That was when Feldt realized she was in Setsuna"s arms, and that he was running. That puzzled her - why was he in such a hurry? Ah, it hurt too much to think. Feldt"s eyelids began to droop - she just wanted to go back to that dark world, where nothing much made sense. "Do not fall asleep on me, Feldt Grace!" Marie barked, sprinting up to Setsuna"s side. "If you die on me, I will personally go to heaven and drag your sorry ass back to life!" Feldt cracked an eye open. Marie sounded genuinely frightened, which seemed strange to Feldt. "Marie? W-what are you doing here? Are you on a date with...Allelujah...? And...I don"t think...heaven exists." "She"s in good spirits despite the amount of blood she"s lost. That"s a good sign," Tieria commented, pausing to glance at his device. "Alright, we"ll be out of the university compound as soon as we sprint another five hundred meters to the east." "I hate these forests," Marie muttered. Her long silver hair was an annoyance at a time like this - it got caught too easily in leaves and branches. The group clumsily shoved through bushes, shrubs, and more trees. The sound of leaves crinkling beneath boots and shoes caused a disturbance towards the forest inhabitants - squirrels, frogs and birds fled the scene in a flurry, their cries echoing throughout the verdant din. "We need to get emergency treatment for Feldt," Neil called. "Tieria, where do we head to next? At this rate, I doubt we can just return to our normal university lives anymore!" Tieria snorted. "There is a hospital a few blocks away after we exit the forest, if that is what you"re asking." "Will a hospital be safe after how we attempted an attack on the proctor?" Allelujah asked, swatting a fly away. "At this rate, it"s the safest place we can find," Tieria answered through gritted teeth. "Besides, Ribbons won"t do anything as stupid as charging in and arresting us with a police force. It would be too easy for him." "What do you mean?" "Isn"t it obvious? He likes a game," Tieria said, turning to cast a mild glare at the dark-haired man. "Besides, if all these were to be broadcasted to the public, it would cause a huge ruckus. That would most likely be the last thing he wants." Allelujah fell silent, and they continued ploughing through the mass amount of growth. Feldt, who had tried her best to listen and understand, didn"t seem to be able to keep up. "Keep her talking," Setsuna ordered Marie. He didn"t want Feldt drifting away again. "Y-yes!" Marie said. "Feldt, are you aware of what"s going on around you right now?" Feldt craned her neck slightly, only to have Marie"s worried face come into view. "Not really...but I think I get it all the same. It"s...so sticky." "That"s blood," Setsuna answered automatically, glancing down at Feldt"s tired face. The bleeding was slowing, which was a good sign. "Which you have lost a lot of." "...Oh," Feldt replied after a few moments, distracted by the continuous sound of shoes shuffling on the forest floor. "Is that a bad thing?" Tieria looked incredulous at the question. "Is she being serious?" "Alright, Feldt, I"ll just give you a run-down of what happened. Basically, we rushed in and found that you were out of it. There was some gun-shooting involved - Setsuna grabbed you, and now we"re making a break for it," Marie explained in a rush, her words almost jumbling together. "...Oh." "And losing blood is a bad thing," Marie added after an afterthought. Feldt sighed. Now she remembered what happened - she had attacked Ribbons, only to suffer the consequences instead. "Can I sleep?" she asked, curling up and closing her eyes. The group"s chorus was instantaneous and decisive. "No." "Hold on, Feldt, we"re almost there," Neil said. "See, we"re out of the forest already." Setsuna glanced at the pink-haired girl in his arms, urging his feet to pick up the pace. She was incredibly light - even lighter than what he had expected. He cursed when he felt more wetness on his arm - had the bleeding began again? However, Setsuna was surprised to find that instead of blood, tears were spilling down her face. "Why," he asked lowly so that no one else could hear him, "Are you crying?" Feldt gasped. It was the same question Setsuna had asked when they were alone in a different dimension during the mobile suit"s Trans-Am. But...was she crying? To her horror, Feldt found that she was. The tears were mingling together with the blood - it tasted awful on Feldt"s lips. She hated it. Feldt instinctively buried her face into Setsuna"s chest. Despite the blood, dust and sweat, Setsuna"s scent was comforting. "I...it hurts. Everything, Setsuna. Everything. That man, Ribbons, he..." "Stop talking," Setsuna ordered. "We"re taking you to the hospital. Do not think about him any longer." "B-but..." "You can tell me after you"ve recovered," he added softly, vaguely realizing that the hospital was just a few meters away. Feldt chuckled lightly. "I wonder how l-long that"ll take. But...Setsuna, t-thank you. Thank you so much." The words felt odd to Setsuna. Being thanked was still something he wasn"t used to. "Why are you thanking me?" "F-for...saving me, once again." Feldt managed a weak smile, her breath hitching. "You...always do that. It was...your voice...I heard your voice, Setsuna." Unsure of how to respond to such a comment, Setsuna could only watch as he handed her over to the medical personnel. They wheeled her quickly to the emergency room, their shouts echoing throughout the hospital. Setsuna collapsed onto the chairs at the waiting area, realizing that everyone else had done the same out of exhaustion. Marie was in wrapped in Allelujah"s protective embrace, while Lockon and Tieria were sweating and panting after such an exerting run. His voice, huh? All Setsuna had to do now was wait. Too many things had happened in a short time, but the facts were slowly but surely falling into place. Setsuna was hit by a sudden realization. Everything had begun ever since he and Feldt had met each other. Life was so much more quiet before that, wasn"t it? He laughed a little bitterly, ignoring the wary glances Neil and Allelujah sent. Just how much had Feldt changed his life...or him, for that matter? Ehhhh...[drops off into slumber] I kinda crammed this chapter in one entire Saturday. Overkill? Read and review... - Anne

"It"s free. So w-we"re going. No excuses," she snapped, linking an arm around his. He made an incoherent noise, surprised at her sudden actions. "What? We have to act like a couple to get the free entrance, you idiot." The ticketing officer smiled at them in a kindly manner. A tall, lanky boy and a blushing girl, what a match! She waved them through, even wishing them a happy date on this lovely day. Misaka felt like she was about to explode. The whole thing was just too much. She couldn"t even look at him - "There sure are a lot of people," Touma commented. Distracted, she looked up. It was true. All the couples were taking advantage of this opportunity to swarm the amusement park. They were everywhere, laughing together, sharing meals, and even kissing each other with no shame. Ugh. Misaka noted that her arm was still linked with his. She felt like she was about to explode again, until she saw the booth up ahead. It was one of those typical booths where you won prizes for hitting the targets, things like that. What attracted her wasn"t the booth. It was the Gekota plush toy that was on display. "What? You want that?" Touma asked as she raced towards it. She ignored him. "Hey, how do I win that?" The young lady at the booth smiled at her. "Just hit more than twenty targets in a minute, and that Gekota is yours. It"s not easy, though, no one has managed it yet. However, maybe you will be the first one to succeed...?" Misaka did not need to listen more. She grinned, feeling the electricity course through her. She would zap all the targets in just a second - then that Gekota would be hers - "Ah, but no Esper powers are allowed," the lady interrupted, noting the sparks flying around Misaka"s head. Touma stepped forward. "Let me try." "What can you do?" she scoffed, but let him anyway. Touma knew that his reflexes were not the best, but they were not that bad. He was Kamijou Touma, powerless, the one with the Imagine Breaker, and coincidentally, the one targeted by many. He had lost count of the times he had ran, twisted, rolled, jumped - to escape the attacks of others - mostly magicians - and had managed to survive, even getting decent punches into them. Yes, he was definitely quick enough. He had been quick enough to land punches on enemy faces after all - The minute passed. Said woman was stunned. So was Misaka. "You...you..." she stared, unable to speak. "Here," Touma said, placing the Gekota in her arms. Misaka was definitely speechless. "I..." "What? I thought you wanted this." He watched again, fascinated, as she hugged it tightly, a delighted expression on her face. "T-Thanks...I guess." Touma shrugged. It was the least he could do. Besides, he had an urge - a yearning - to make this Biri-biri be happy for today. He had no idea where this feeling came from, but he found out that he didn"t mind it that much. After all, he knew that being a Level Five and having more than ten thousand sisters was surely stressful - the least he could do was to make her smile for the day. Now that the initial joy of having her favorite plush toy in her arms was over, Misaka Mikoto was back to being a blushing figure, simply clueless of what to do. It was getting worse by the minute. The sun. The people around. The scent of fresh cotton candy. The fact that that particular idiot was just a mere centimeters away from her, his arms almost touching hers. And, oh, they were on a date. She had to cool off before she totally lost it and started a mass electrical zap in the amusement park. In fact, Misaka could already imagine the publicity of it all. Level Five Esper Loses Control Due To Uncontrollable Female Embarrassment. Uiharu and Saten would be mortified. Kuroko would totally lose her mind. No. No. Misaka could not let that happen. And just when she was at her wit"s end, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. The signboard was large enough for her to make out the words on it. HAUNTED MANSION - CHAMBER OF THE DEAD. "I never knew they had a haunted mansion in this amusement park," Touma said, peering up at the massive building with curiosity. Unlike all the tiny haunted mansions that were self-made by students during school festivals, this one towered over everyone, made out of solid steel and concrete. The windows were dark, not revealing anything within. He raised an eyebrow as a bat flew over and landed on his shoulder, followed by a few more. Misaka blinked. "Why are there bats in the middle of the day...?" A man dressed in black with blood painted all over his face approached, a grin on pale, gaunt face. "Like this place, missy? Not scared of my little friends, are you?" She stepped forward, determination written all over her face. "Scared? Who"s scared?" "My, my...such a feisty girlfriend you have here, young man..." "I - AM - NOT - HIS - GIRLFRIEND!" Touma grabbed her arm to negate whatever electricity that Misaka was threatening to let out, eyeing the man with caution at the same time. The bats, disturbed by Touma"s abrupt movement, took off with their shrill, haunting cries. Misaka winced, rubbing her ears, then promptly realized that Touma was gripping her arm tightly and had to fight the urge to enter another blushing phase. The man looked delighted. "Would you, perhaps, like to visit my lair?" "Uh..." Touma began, uncertainty in his voice. "Definitely." Misaka cut in, disliking the man even more as the seconds ticked by. She would go in and prove that she wasn"t afraid of anything. "Biri-biri!" "What? I"m going in. You can stay outside here if you want." She shook off his hand, huffing as she did. The man leered, motioning her through the mansion doors. Touma sighed and followed. Somehow, he had a feeling that more misfortune was awaiting him. So...how was that? :) There"s going to be exciting things happening in the next chapter. It"s not your typical haunted mansion, and I intend to make Touma and Mikoto enjoy (or suffer) every moment of it. Reviewwws encourage me to write. :D Please drop me one! -Anne In this chapter, you shall have more misfortune, insanity, and fluff - though the "fluff" part is more obvious toward the end of the chapter. With that said, this took some time - so I hope you all like it! :) I know it may seem a bit too random...but I guess I was just having random spurts of randomness while writing this... P/S : Thanks to MisterSP for pointing out the previous mistake I made in Chapter Two! It was less than ten thousand sisters. Yeap, I"m careless. The only haunted houses Misaka had ever visited were the ones made by students during school festivals - and none of them scared her much. There would always be laughter as people enjoyed themselves, and the ones doing the haunting were all students with painted faces. In fact, those that recognized her tended to back away - they knew what the famous railgun was capable of after all. This particular haunted mansion would contrast greatly to the previous ones she had visited. Of course, she did not know this yet. Misaka twitched in annoyance as the doors slammed, enveloping the both of them in complete darkness. "Great. No signage, no markings, nothing at all that could tell us how to proceed." Touma heard the irritation from her voice and had to reluctantly agree. He did not have the faintest idea on which way to head to. In fact, he jumped when an arm looped through his - but then it was only Misaka. "What are you getting so jumpy for? I"m doing this so that we don"t get separated. It"d be annoying waiting for you if I got out of here first." Well, at least that made sense. "I guess we should keep moving forward," he pointed out. They moved on in the darkness, not making much conversation as they did. Misaka felt her heart pounding loudly in the cold, dead silence - she was thankful that Touma couldn"t see her right now - she was sure that she was blushing again. To cover up her embarrassment, she said aloud, "Why isn"t anything happening yet? I thought this was a haunted mansion. Where are the ghosts, the ghouls and the zombies?" Misaka couldn"t see his face, but she could already imagine him hiking an eyebrow at her question, an incredulous look on his face. "...Are you that eager to see one?" "You bet. I"d take them on anytime." Blue electricity crackled in the darkness, and Touma had to chuckle. Ghosts, ghouls or zombies - he knew very well that she would not hold her power back. As soon as that sentence left her mouth, a flicker of light came alive from a distance. It was a television screen that was currently displaying nothing but gray interference. "I"m going to have a look at it." "Are you crazy? Haven"t you ever watched "The Ring" before?" "What, so you want to stand here and do nothing?" The bickering continued on. None of them noticed the changes on the screen - from how it flitted from one scene to the next. Soon enough, the buzzing interference faded, only to be replaced with a smiley face and a mechanical voice. "Welcome! Welcome! You are now in the haunted mansion! To get out of here, you must overcome the challenges!" They stared at it incredulously. After a few seconds, Misaka repeated, "...Challenges?" "There are many challenges in this haunted mansion, and they get harder as you proceed! They get harder as you proceed! So far, no one has been able to overcome them all! No one! No one!" Misaka and Touma looked at each other dubiously, wondering what to do next. This was certainly not what they were expecting. The smiley face was clearly enjoying itself. "Here comes your first challenge!" Touma narrowed his eyes and gazed toward the infinite darkness while Misaka stood upright, sparks crackling around her bangs. They stood back to back, ready for whatever that would be coming for them. With a sudden hum, the lights came on. Misaka frowned against the sudden brightness, blinking furiously. "Listen - do you hear that?" "Hear what?" Misaka asked, hearing nothing except - Wait, where was that increasingly loud rumbling coming from? Giant multi-colored balls, each as tall as a wall, tumbled around from the corner at great speed. They knocked against each other as they rolled, creating clacking noises and thunderous booms. Touma"s eyes widened. "SUCH MISFORTUNE!" She glared at him, continuing her sprint. "Quit your complaining and run!" "It wasn"t me who decided to enter this haunted mansion in the first place!" "Shut up!" Crash! "Oi, biri-biri! You"re not supposed to be attacking me!" Misaka ignored him. There was a more important task at hand. She concentrated on her power and let it out in a giant blast - it was surely enough to destroy dozens of giant balls. "There, that should have done the - hey, what are you doing?" Touma had grabbed Misaka"s arm and was pulling her along with him. He pointed. "Obviously these balls have been made to withstand Esper power!" She glanced behind. It was true. The balls, though slightly charred, continued rolling towards them as if nothing had happened. "Fine, that didn"t work! What now?" "Over there!" A small tunnel that seemed fit for human usage loomed up. Misaka picked up the pace and leaped inside, quickly followed by Touma. He heaved a sigh of relief. "Looks like the first challenge if over." The balls slammed hard against the tunnel, the strong impact creating cracks on it. Misaka gritted her teeth, wishing she had Kuroko here for teleportation. "...Or not. This thing is going to cave in. Hurry!" They clambered through urgently, not wanting to be crushed by collapsing concrete slabs. Finally, the tunnel widened out, and out they fell - Touma yelling about his misfortune as he went. Misaka expected to feel the pain of falling onto a hard surface - but what she fell on was soft, fuzzy, and incredibly pink. "What on earth...?" Hesitantly, she plucked a bit of the substance and brought it to her mouth. There was no mistake - they had landed on - of all things - cotton candy. On normal occasions she"d be jumping for joy, but for now it was downright nerve-wracking. Touma, who had been examining the cotton candy with curiosity, was now looking genuinely bewildered. The screen appeared, along with the smiley face. "Congratulations! Congratulations! You have passed the first stage! Now you must face the second challenge. There is a door for your escape - but the key is hidden! Find it - before time runs out!" Touma fingered the cotton candy. He turned to Misaka - however, before he could say anything to her, lumps of cotton candy begun falling from above - lumps that were getting larger by the second. Touma was mortified. Being drowned in cotton candy was not how he wanted to die. "Well, what are you waiting for? Start eating!" "It"s free cotton candy - you eat it!" "No thanks - I"m a nice person. Go ahead, it"s all yours." Misaka glared viciously but ignored him for the moment - she had a theory that she needed to test. Narrowing her eyes in concentration, she let out strong, staccato bursts of electricity that would have shocked even Kuroko to unconsciousness. The cotton candy sizzled, but did not burn. "Well, don"t be upset - we already knew that even these cotton candy would be immune to your electric shocks," Touma said kindly. "Don"t be an idiot. Look what I have here." She unfolded her palm, revealing an iron key. Touma looked at her quizzically. "How did you do that?" Misaka gave a rare smile and dove for the nearby door, thrusting the key into the keyhole as she did. The door clicked and swung apart. "Well, don"t forget that my ability is capable of influencing electromagnetic fields. I figured that since the key was most likely made out of metal, I could attract it with my Esper powers." The next few stages were all equally ridiculous. They had to wade past a pile stuffed animals that attacked them with laser beams ; slide down walls that occasionally erupted with razor-blades, escape narrowing walls that threatened to crush, and had to swim past a pool of strawberry milkshake. There didn"t seem to be an end, and Misaka was getting more than just merely irritated. She had lost her hairclip, her hair was in complete disarray - in short, she was in a very, very bad mood. "All right," she growled, "this was supposed to be a haunted mansion - where did all the undead run off to?" Touma was more interested in something else. "...When will this misfortune ever end?" The smiley face grinned, seemingly eager to mock them. "Congratulations! It has been a long way! You are now at the final stage, and this will be the most difficult battle ever!" Misaka chuckled darkly. "Finally. The most difficult enemy ever, huh? I can"t wait to defeat him." She was expecting all kinds of enemies - perhaps a horde of undead rushing towards her? Perhaps it was a real Esper she had to fight. It was probably wild animals with twisted powers. Whatever it was, Misaka was prepared. Her adrenaline level was at its peak, and she badly wanted to defeat this opponent as a payback. The eerie cackling began - and they looked up, only to see the pale man that had invited them to enter the haunted mansion earlier. He looked sly, arrogant and confident - his black cape fanning out behind him, making him look like a giant bat - a leader of the hundred bats that clung to him, their shrill cries echoing in the air. "So...how did you enjoy my little home?" Touma looked nonchalant. "It wasn"t as frightening as I thought." "How dare you insult my wonderful creations!" the man retorted. "They were all specially designed and created by me!" Misaka folded her arms across her chest. "It really lacked taste." "You will pay!" Without hesitating, he let out a shrill, haunting screech that reverberated around the room, forcing the duo to clap their hands over their ears. The bats, seemingly having received a message, flew towards the both of them at great speed, claws outstretched. Misaka and Touma, who were together, ran toward opposite directions - hoping to distract the bats. It worked. The bats, though good in receiving instructions, were unfortunately not that smart in figuring things out. They paused in mid-air, confused. The man shrieked impatiently. "What are you doing, you idiots? Attack them! Kill them!" Misaka released a slash of electricity towards the man, watching as he flipped out of the way at the very last minute. While he was safe, his cape, however, was not. "My cape! You...you defiled my cape!" "Well...so this is supposed to be the "most difficult battle" ever, huh? I guess the description was a little off." Misaka said, smirking. He looked up, long, bony fingers curling into fists. "Watch your mouth, you little defiler! No one has ever defeated me! No one!" Misaka was already sizzling bats as she spoke. "Really? The fact that my electricity burnt your cape proves that you yourself aren"t immune to it - unlike the little stages earlier on that you so cleverly designed. You have a real nerve - creating such annoying challenges that make - no - sense!" The man, crying out in horror for the death of his little bat friends, never noticed Touma"s presence behind - not until the punch to his stomach knocked him off the ground, sending spittle everywhere. Several bats flew over, determined to help their master, but they were no match for Misaka"s quick electricity. They dropped to the ground, crisped and burnt. Throughout the match, Misaka noticed something. She and Touma had not argued at all. They did not even need to yell out instructions each other - if anything, they fought together in a quick and coordinated manner against their enemy in such fluid, synchronized motions without any hesitation. It was as if they were one. Misaka flipped her hair and fished out a coin, knowing it was time to end this. "So...I wonder why he wanted to finish us off so badly." Touma looked up towards the bright sky, hands stuck into his pocket. "Who knows? Perhaps no one managed to reach the final stage before. Perhaps he didn"t want to admit defeat." They fell silent, watching the couples, the children and the crowd that went about the amusement park as if nothing had happened. The both of them had hastily raced out of the haunted mansion, expecting it to catch a fire and explode - but no such thing happened. In fact, the haunted mansion had abruptly disappeared into thin air. She had no idea what was that about - and decided that she didn"t want to know. There was one thing that disturbed Misaka, though. She recalled the words of the man, the words he had uttered to her after being hit by her railgun. Those words were soft, and clearly meant for her alone. "You...love him very much, don"t you? He...he cares for you too...I could tell...it"s a shame that they want him dead, really..." He went unconscious after that, and Touma had quickly pulled her to her feet, urging her to leave. Misaka sighed, feeling very tired all of a sudden. Touma was staring straight ahead, lost in thought - until he felt something warm drop on his shoulder. The biri-biri had her head on his shoulder, and for once, she was not blushing or making any sarcastic, snide comments. She looked genuinely exhausted, and she was leaning on him as if it was the most natural thing on the world. The oddest thing was, he didn"t seem to mind - so he let her, appreciating the way how her head seemed to fit well with the spot on his shoulder, appreciating the close proximity and all the experiences they had just shared. It just seemed so ideal, though he didn"t seem to understand why. The moment didn"t last, though. Soon enough, she yawned, stretched and re-energized - reverting back to the confident, powerful Level-Five that everyone knew. "So...where do you want to go to next?" Well - you know it. This little haunted house incident is going to lead to something in the future chapter. It may not come so soon, though. :) Wait! Their date isn"t over yet, and neither is the story! Please review and let me know what you think about this chapter! P/S : "The Ring" is an horror film that involves a female ghost crawling out of the television. -Anne Hopefully, you all will continue enjoying this light-hearted story. :) "Onee-sama...why, why, whyyyy!" Kuroko had been head banging the table continuously in the past five minutes. Uiharu and Saten stared in wonder, unsure of what to do. Kuroko threw herself at the table once again, her wails increasingly louder. "It"s all my fault! My tokens of love were not enough to satisfy my beloved Onee-sama! Now she has gone off to a land far, far away, never to return!" "Shi...Shirai-san..." Uiharu attempted to comfort the hysterical girl. "Misaka-san won"t be leaving us! She"s only at..." Saten clapped a hand to Uiharu"s mouth. If Kuroko found out that Misaka had a date, she would totally lose it. Kuroko stopped her crazed whining, giving Uiharu and Saten a look of suspicion. "Onee-sama is only at...?" "Ah, well, you see," Saten said, "We don"t know where..." Kuroko"s fists slammed into the table. "Saten, Uiharu..." Kuroko"s voice was soft and deadly. They watched in fright as her fingers flew towards the metal darts, strapped on a leather band to her thigh. "Where...is...Onee-sama?" "Oi, Biri-biri."

Later, at the backstage of a theater... "Eh? Two free V.I.P seats for these two boys? Who are they Luca?" Ojou-chan"s mom, who is her manager, asked. "They"re my new friends mom. They helped me out a while ago." "Help...? ...! You mean... Are you okay! You weren"t hurt, were you!" "No. Ayasaki-kun and Springfield-chan came to help me." "Uh... Our pleasure to... help out your daughter umm... Ma"am." Older Aniki said, being a gentleman as he is. "...Arigatou-gosaimazu, for helping Luca. But I"m afraid I cannot ask you two to be here." "Eh?" We asked. "Mom?" Ojou-chan asked. "If you two are no friend of those people, they will likely track you down and that will cause trouble for the people around you. Oh um... I meant no offense. Gomen." ...That"s kinda rude of her... Yeah, sure, those guys may have a problem of them being beat up by Aniki and Older Aniki but even then, they"ll just get beat up again. "Eh! But mom..." "No buts Luca. We"re in trouble enough already with the Sanzenin Company after you. And we don"t want you to get in trouble." ...! Did... Did she say... Did she say Sanzenin...? The ojou-chan we... That Older Aniki rescued that time? ...Aniki-judas did say that her family is rich... "But mom... " Poor ojou-chan... "Um... That"s okay... We"ll just... sit outside where we can see you. That is good enough for us, right Springfield?" Older Aniki said. "A-Ah. Yeah huh?" Come on Aniki... "No. You"ll have to leave." "Ah..." How cold. Ojou-chan"s mom seem to only want for us to leave. I understand that she doesn"t wish to get involved with us since we frankly made ourselves an enemy of a mafia syndicate. Outside... Without any objections. we exit the theater, which is quite bothersome. "Well that was a waste of time..." I said with a sigh. "It can"t be help. Not all people are true to themselves yet." Aniki said. "Hai, hai..." "Wait, Ayasaki-kun! Springfield-chan!" ...? Oh, it"s ojou-chan. "Wait up. Huff, huff." "Suirenji-san? What is it? We"re just about to leave-" She suddenly covers Older Aniki"s mouth, preventing him from finishing his sentence. "Shh." She observes our surrounding. "Come with me." She drags Older Aniki. "O-Oi, Suirenji-san...!"Me and Aniki follow them behind. Ojou-chan took us to an abandoned building that has a spot where we can see the whole stage, where apparently her singing performance will be performed. "You can watch from here. I used to watch the other singers performed here from time to time." "This is where you will sing?" "Ah. Ja, I better get ready. Wish me luck! Chu." Cling! "...!" She kissed Older Aniki"s cheek! Alright! Another 50,000 ermine dollar! "Uh..." Older Aniki is left speechless. "Wow... She really has taken a liking of you Ayasaki-san..." Aniki said. "Ha ha... ...Yeah..." "Hee hee..." Yosh. Another girl for Older Aniki! And that means, more money for me! "Hm? Why are snickering Chamo-kun?" Eep! "Eh? Uh n-nothing! You"re imagining thinks Aniki!" Hayate Ayasaki P.O.V ...Though Chamomile-san told Springfield that he has nothing to hide, I can see through him that he is delightened that Suirenji-san has taken a liking to me... "..." I touch my cheek that was kissed by her... "Ah..." I can"t help but blush... "Ah! There she is! Looks like she"s about to do her performance!" ...? Oh, there she is as Springfield said. She"s dressed in a black dress with a flower on her forehead. She"s... pretty... "..." "...? What"s the matter Ayasaki-san?" "Eh? Uh nothing. I"m just... surprised to see her in that outfit..." "Hm? Oh right. She"s kinda cute in that outfit doesn"t she?" ...You"re pretty bold to say that Springfield. But, since you"re still just a 10 year old boy, I guess you"re still not what most teenagers would think. "Yeah... Huh?" "..." Judas-san is staring at me with an all-knowing-look. I guess he can tell that I"m kinda attracted to her in that outfit... Ah... But I don"t think I"m the type of guy who is suitable for someone like her... ...Right? "Yosh, here I go everyone!" "YEEAAHH!" All of her fans become excited as she exclaimed that through the microphone. She begins singing... ...What a lovely voice she has... She"s like an angel of God... I don"t really know what she"s singing but from what I can hear and see at the signs of the fans, it"s entitled as "Heaven is a Place on Earth". "Wow! She really is a good singer!" Springfield commented. "Yeah! Way to go ojou-chan!" Chamomile-san cheered. "..." I just remain silent and watch her performance. Normal P.O.V Tap,tap... Two guys in suitswatch Luca from afar. Both nod at each other and proceed through the cheering fans. "Yeah! Luca!" "That"s the Luca we know!" "Alright!" All of the fans are cheering excitedly for their idol. The two guys find it difficult to pass through as a result so they decided to go around the back. "Hm?" Hayate noticed them. "Those guys are...?" "...?" Judas turns to his direction. "...! ..." It seems trouble... "Hm? What"s the matter Judas-san?" "Those guys... ...Prepare yourselves. Both of you." "Huh?" The two persona-users asked. "Those guys are after that girl. You"ll have to protect her!" "...!What? But... But why...!" "There"s no time! Hurry up and get moving!" "...Hm!" Both of them jump down from their spot and run towards the crowded stage. "Grr..." The two guys in suit are getting irritated of the cheering fans as it become more and more difficult for them to passed through. "Why the hell are these people-Ugh!" One of them got pulled by somebody... Strike! "Ugh!" He is knocked unconcious. "Huh? O-Oi, daijobou! What happened-" Strike! "Ugh!" "Hn." Hayate snucked up behind the other guy and knocked him out with a karate chop on the neck. Both he and Negi then drag the two guys somewhere where no one can see nor hear them. At an alley... "Hey." The two of them lay down the two guys on the ground with their backs facing the wall. "What do you think you"re doing in there? Who are you guys?" "Ugh. We"ve been sent... To kidnapped that girl." The concious guy said. "What?" "Who sent you?" Negi asked. "Ugh... Not of your business ki-" Strike! "Ugh!" Hayate kicks his abdomen. "Start talking." He demanded. "*Cough* Ugh. It was... It was... It was Sanzenin Mikado. He hired us to kidnap that girl. He didn"t told us why. We didn"t ask him any questions. It was not our place to do so." "..." Hayate and Negi look at each other then turn back to the guy. "And...? Where..." Hayate grabs him by his shirt. "...is he!" "Guh! H-He"s at the Sanzenin building! It"s at the northern part of the city! It"s the heart of their operations all over the world!" "..." He lets him go. "I see... Thanks for the information. But..." He grabs him again. "Guh!" "It"s way fast your bed time. Once you wake up, you"ll find yourself in your bedroom(prison that is). So, sweet dreams." Strike,strike,strike! He beat him up to bloody pulp until he"s no longer concious. "Springfield, call the police." "H-Hai." Negi goes to call the police by a payphone booth. "..." Hayate looks at Luca at the stage. "Suirenji-san... ...I have to protect her." "Ah. Make sure no delusional fool can get to her." Judas voice said. "Hm." He nods. He then left the alley. "Arigatou everyone!" Luca said as she finished her song. Her fans are throwing flowers all over the stage as a sign of their fondness for her. Meanwhile, at the Sanzenin building... "..." Sera flies to the higher part of the building. Below him, men in suits are lying on the ground with their blood spilled on it. All of them have evidently been killed by a sword. On Sera"s right hand, a probably seven feet katana is on his grasp. The blood of the men are on it. "Inferior creatures... Soon, the "Promised Land" awaits us all. All negativity... shall be lifted like fog that has lifted on the day the Sun has arisen..." He said with a deadly angry expression as he quicken his ascension to the higher part of the building. Below him... A dark fog engulfs the dead men... "Grr..." ...transforming them into Shadows with black, thin humanoid bodies with red eyes. "Grooaarr." "Now, go forth. Unleash our wrath to these creatures. ...And lead them to the "Promised Land". Ha ha ha." A dark wicked voice, who is presumably Jehovah, commanded the them. "Grooaarr." Heeding her command, they march inside the building... Back to Hayate and Negi... Negi called the police as Hayate told him to. "The police are on the way. I told them about those two men." He said to him. "Ah. Thanks. But..." Hayate looks at Luca, who is being praised by her friends, who are the crew for her show, at the stage. Most of the fans have already left since the show is about to be end. "I hope nothing bad happens to her..." "Yeah..." "More "hired guns" will probably come and try capture her. Mataka... People nowadays are so blind to these man-made papers you call money." Judas said in an annoyed tone. "It can"t be help. Not all people can easily through the fog of deceit." "Hmph. And this is why I consider the ego of people to be the source of all evil and suffering in this world. Tch... The fog has blinded them to their true selves..." "There"s nothing we can do about that right now. For now, we should focus on protecting Suirenji-san." Hayate said. "Hn. I suppose you"re right. But, you two might be able to do something about the foolishness of these delusional people." "Eh?" Both persona-users asked. "What do you mean by that aniki-judas?" Chamo asked. "I meant exactly what I just said. This journey of yours will be able to change this world. That is the destiny that has been entrusted on you two. That is what you two have been longing for." "How do we...?" "...Forget it. You"ll realize this soon enough. For now, you guys... we should attend to that Luca girl." "Oh, right. Let"s go, Springfield." Hayate said. "A-Ah. Let"s." They head around the back where there is a door that leads backstage. At the back... "Why did we sneak here?" Chamo asked. "We don"t want them to see us, do we?" Hayate said. "Oh. Right." "Wait, didn"t Suirenji-san mentioned that she"ll be meeting us back there at the spot where we were watching?" "...!Oh right... Then...!" Hayate then realizes that Luca maybe in danger that she is alone. "Suirenji-san... Suirenji-san!" He rushes to the spot where they were watching her performance! "Ayasaki-san!" "Tch. Go follow him!" Judas said to Negi. "R-Right!" He does so. Tap,tap,tap! "Suirenji-san... I"m coming!" Hayate thought as he quicken his pace. Meanwhile, at the spot where Hayate and Negi watched Luca... "Ayasaki-kun! Springfield-chan! Eh?" Luca came to check on them but finds that they"re not there. "Where did they-?" "Suirenji Luca." "...?" She turns around... Men in suits are line up as if making sure there"s no way for her to escape them. "You are..." "You are coming with us. You"ve been quite a trouble for us to capture. Now the gig is up." One of them is about to reprimand Luca but... "Hiyaa!" Strike! "Ugh!" Hayate came flying out of the back alley and kicked the guy on his left cheek, pushing him away from his princess, sort to speak. "Ayasaki-kun!" The princess is rescued by her prince. "Wh-Who are you! Where did you-!" "I"m someone who show delusional fools like you reality, so be more respectful to women as you should be!" STRIKE! Strike, strike, strike! He fights them. "Ayasaki-san!" Negi came out of the back alley. "Springfield-chan!" "Ah, Suirenji-san! Daijobou!" Hm. Ayasaki-kun-" "Hiya!" Strike! "Guh!" Hayate kicked one of them on their right cheek, knocking them unconscious. "Teme-!" Strike! "Ugh!" One of them is about to pull out a gun but then Hayate kicked him on the cheek as well, knocking him unconscious. "Hn." He then turn to the other guys... "Gr..." They realize that they cannot beat him so... "Tch. If it has come to this... Oi! Get over here!" One of them yelled out loud. More of them have come to join the party... Sort to speak. "You brats. You"re going to pay for the trouble you caused us! Get them!" They all point their guns at Hayate and the other two! (Three if including Chamo.) "Ah! A-Ayasaki-kun...!" "Gr...!" "..." Hayate turns to his left. A trash can is there. "...Hn!" He jumps to it then...! Splat! He kicked it then he grabbed hold of the top of it and decided to use it as a shield. "Ayasaki-kun!" "Fire!" Bang, bang, bang! Block, block, block! He managed to block all of their shots! "Guh!" Much to the shock the men in suits. "Hua!" Whoosh! He throws the shield towards them like a boomerang. Strike! Strike! "Ugh!" "Guh!" "Ah! My head!" "Hiyaa!" Strike!Strike!Strike! He then jumped at them and begun beating them up while making sure that they don"t fire their guns so that he won"t have to look strange to the princess, again, sort to speak, that gunshots cannot wound him due to his persona. "Ayasaki-san!" Whoosh! "Ah, Springfield-chan!" Negi joins the battle! "Go get "em Aniki!" Chamo cheered which of course... "Eh?" Luca was able to hear his voice, much to her confusion, since there is no one else around. (She does not see him due to him under Negi"s shirt.) "Ah! C-Chamo-kun...!" Negi quickly grabbed him from the back of his neck and hid him under his shirt again through his torso. "Keep it down will you!" He said in a whispering tone. "Wari, wari!" Chamo said in the same tone. Then... "Yosh... Hiyaa!" Strike! Strike! Strike! Negi joins the party! "Ah." Luca is impressed by him, being able to fight at the only age of 10. Strike! Strike! Strike! Both Hayate and Negi beat up the men in suit. Most of them are lying on the ground unconcious with some of them, having some of their teeths punched or kicked out of their mouths. While the commotion is going on, the boss sneaks up behind Luca. "Got you." He said. "Huh? Ah!" He grabbed Luca. "Ahh!" He covered her mouth. "Suirenji-san!" Hayate, having his full attention on the other men, took notice of Luca"s predicament. "We got you. Hold them at bay!" The boss said as he drags Luca to their black limousine. "Hey!" Hayate intends to stop him but... Bang, Bang, Bang! Two guys block his path and fire at him non-stop. "Where do you think you"re going!" One of them said. "Grr...!" Whoosh! Hayate jumps above to avoid the shots which is sort of pointless since they won"t have any effect on him whatsoever due to his persona but since Luca is at the scene, he decided not to get hit by the gunshots and let Luca think that he"s not normal. "Hua!" Strike! Bang, bang, bang! He then kicked one of the guys" gun, making him pull the trigger while the gun is pointed upward. He then grabs him from behind, and pull his hand, that is holding the gun, to his neck. Bang, bang, bang! Making him fire at the nearby building. He then holds his other hand to his back, making it twitch. "Guh!" Strike! "Ugh!" The guy came face to face with his foot, and he is knocked unconcious. Hayate did the same to the other guy. Strike! Strike! Negi took care of the remaining men then turns to the spot where Luca was. "...! Suirenji-san...!" He spots the limousine and sees Luca in it. He realizes that they have failed in protecting her. "Suirenji-san!" Hayate pushes away the guy he"s holding and turns his attention to the limousine. "Suirenji-san!" "Ayasaki-kun!" Vroom! But it was too late... The limousine drives off with Luca as a hostage. "Suirenji-san!" Hayate is about to despair... "Suirenji-san... Huh?" ...but then hope came to him. A yellow motor cycle is parked nearby. He thought of using it. "..." He does so. "Ayasaki-san?" Negi asked his intention. Hayate rides on the bike. There"s a key attached to the handler, thankfully, and he starts the engine. Vroom. "I hope I know how to drive this thing..." Truth to be told, he once had ridden a motorcyle back at Wales as part his training but it didn"t go well so the only thing he learned is how to drive it. "A-Ayasaki-san...?" "Get on! We"re going to chase that limousine!" "E-Eh!" "Just ride the vehicle! You will just fine." Judas assured Negi. "...Hm." With a nod, he rides on the back while holding on to Hayate. "Here, wear this." He gives him a yellow helmet. "But, what about you?" "Daijobou! I"ve tried riding a motorcycle back at the academy countless times now without wearing an helmet. But no matter how many times I try I cannot seem to handle it properly ha ha... I only know how to drive it." "Eh?" Negi and Chamo suddenly felt reluctant on riding the vehicle. "Daijobou. Your driving skills is enough for you to be keep safe. Just make sure you don"t get into an accident or it might cause you your lives." Judas advised. "Ah! Yosh, here goes!" Vrooom! And they took off... with Negi holding for dear life. As for Luca... "Ayasaki-kun. Springfield-chan..." She is seating on the back seat, looking behind, hoping that the two persona-users would show up. "Ha ha! Those two brats had taken us by surprise back there. Maybe they are students of that infamous academy called Hakou Academy." The boss said. "Ah. It"s where brats like them can study or train to become rangers. I heard a lot of female students there have chosen to train to become rangers. There are only a few guys who took the same course." The driver said. "Ah. That"s what I heard too. You think those two were rangers?" "Who knows? Either way, they won"t catch up to us now and we"re on our way to become rich people after we hand over that girl to that old president of the Sanzenin Company." "Ah. Ha ha ha!" Both laugh. "..." Luca is disgusted by their conversation and turns around with her eyes closed with tears falling from it. Then she prays to the stars above for a savior to come and rescue her. And then... "What the!" The driver exclaimed. "What is it?" The boss asked. "I-It"s those brats!" "Ah..." Luca opens her eyes and turns around to see... Vrooom! "Suirenji-san!" Hayate and Negi manage to catch up with the limousine. "Aya...saki-kun!" The princess, again for the third time, sort to speak, is delightened at the sight of her prince. "H-How did they-! Those brats! Keep driving! I"ll shoot down those two." The boss grabs an A.K. and opens his side of the window. "Ayasaki-kun! Springfield-chan!" Vrooom! Hayate drives closer to the limousine. "Hm?" At then, the boss is aiming at them with the A.K. "Hn!" Realizing the danger, he drives the motorcycle to the right side of the roadway to avoid being aim properly by the boss"s shot. "Steady... Fire!" Bang! Whoosh! "Gu...!" To the boss surprise, Hayate dodge his precise shot by slowing down the motorcyle a bit. Judas actually casted a masukuja spell on him and Negi to make things easier for them. At the moment, everything is moving slowly from their perspectives due to the masukuja spell. Hayate can see the bullets that are being shot slowly approaching and he can dodge it without fearing any accidents happening. The boss reloads his A.K. "Damn brats...!" "Ayasaki-kun!" "Hua!" Bang, Bang, Bang! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! "Too slow..." Hayate said as he maneuvers the motorcycle to dodge the slowly approaching bullets with ease. "Thanks a lot, Judas-san." Negi thought. "Hm?" He then spots someone moving in a slow pace... "That is..." It"s a girl with short purple hair with her bangs covering her face. Looking back at the events last night, he recognizes her as one of the Baka rangers, Miyazaki Nodoka. She"s carrying a load of books and she"s about to climb down a stone stairs... Tumble! "Gwah!" ...! She trips down! "O-Oi!" Whoosh! Negi, without thinking twice, jumped down from the motorcycle! "Oi! Springfield!" Hayate exclaimed. "Leave him be! He has something he has to do." Judas said. "Huh?" "Just focus on rescuing the girl." "...Gr." He reluctantly takes his advice. Negi held on to a street light to stop himself from being pulled away by the gravity when he jumped down from the motorcycle. With Masukuja still in effect, his fall is slow so he was able to land safely. "That girl... Oi!" "Aniki! Where are we going! Ojou-chan"s limo is heading that way!" Chamo said. "I got to save her!" "Yeah, but you"re heading for the wrong way! She"s- Eh?" At that moment, Chamo realizes Negi"s intent. "Ahh!" Nodoka is about to hit the ground...! "Ah!" Negi jumps to catch her...! And the Masukuja spell is about to wear off...! BONK! He succeeded in catching her but he himself got hurt in the process... "...?" Nodoka opens her eyes with tears on it. She thought she was going to fall on her head and have a concoction afterwards but she finds herself sitting on something... or someone. Regaining her composure, she sees Negi lying below her. "You"re..." "Ah... My back..." "Ah...!" She recognizes him as the "cool boy who beat up the yakuzas yesterday". A blush appears on her cheeks. "Ah..." Negi turns to her. "Daijobou? That was dangerous. Thank goodness you"re alright." "H-Hai..." Both of them stand up from their positions."This boy... It"s him..." She thought. Negi dusts off the dirt on his shirt. "Daijobou, Chamo-kun?" He asked Chamo, who is under his shirt, in a whispering tone. "Hai... That was dangerous you know... I thought I was gonna be flatten to the ground..." The ermine said with a bruise on his head. "Eh! D-Daijobou!" "Ah... And don"t raise your voice Aniki. She"ll suspect you." "Ah." Negi realizes his mistake and takes his advice. "...?" Nodoka is staring at him curiously.

... ...At the command room... "We just heard someone"s scream nearby. Is someone else in here!?" Kanata asked. "I"m looking on it." Kurugaya is operating the console. "Hey, Inohara, can you check up on the boy for me? We have to make sure he"s safe." "A-Alright! He"s at the second floor, right?" "Naturally. He"s a guy, after all. Now hurry! I have to track down Natsume"s signal. And it seems there"s someone else-Huh?" Just then, Kurugaya detected a signal that is moving. It would seem that someone is running very fast within the vicinity. "What the... Another signal?" "What"s wrong, Kurugaya?" Kanata asked. "I... I don"t know. I"m detecting a signal. It"s-" ... ...Back to Komari... "GROOOAAARR-!" The Shadow is approaching her. "Gyaaaahh-! S-Someone...!" She"s backing away slowly from this monster. "Kamikita-san...!"Someone"s voice is heard. "Huh?" Komari was surprised upon hearing that voice, she turned around to see... ... ...tap, tap, tap, tap... ...tap, tap, tap, tap... ...tap, tap, tap, tap-! "Kamikita-saaan!" It"s Riki running at full speed! "Y-You..." Komari remembered him from last time. Where he saved her from those punks just this morning. "What are you-" "GROOOAAARR-!" The Shadow approached Komari-to the point that it"s about to launch an attack on her-! "Ah," Komari turned her attention back to the Shadow and she immediately realized she"s in trouble. The Shadow raised one blade-then it swung it towards Komari-! "GROOOOAAAAARRR-!" "Gyaaaaaahhh-!" Komari covere herself in terror with her eyes closed. "Gr, don"t you dare to even TOUCH HER-!" Riki said as he ran in-between Komari and the Shadow, he said that last part with the combination of his and his Shadow"s voice, by the way. Flaash-! Flaash-! Riki summoned two cards on his palms. "GROOOOAAARR-!" The Shadow is about to hit its target-! "Fusion Spell: Infinity!" Riki exclaimed- FLAASH-! A barrier formed around Komari. "GROOOOAAAARRR-!" BLOOOOCCCKK-! The Shadow"s attack couldn"t reach Riki or Komari due to the impregnable barrier. The sound of the screeching blade annoyed Riki since it"s so damn loud. "Gr, why you..." Riki covered his ears since the screeching is so loud. "GROOOAAARR-!" Bloocck! Blooock! Block! Block! Block! Block-! The Shadow didn"t stop attacking and it"s trying to pierce the barrier with its blades. "Hm?" Komari opened her eyes and she found herself to be safe and sound. "Eh?" She stopped covering herself and In front of her, Riki is covering his ears due to the sounds of metal being very deafening. "You..." "Gr, would you stop that already! Try as many as you like and the result will always be the same!" Riki said to the Shadow as he removed his hands from his ears, then- Flash-! He summoned his persona card in front of him- FLASH-! He crushed it with his right hand- BLAASST-! "GROOOAAAARR-!" Seth is summoned. It hovered and it turned its attention to the Shadow in front. "Groooaarr!" *Myriad Arrows* Tsing, tsing, tsing... tsing, tsing, tsing, TSIING-! "GROOOOAAAARRR-!" A wave of piercing forces destroyed some of the Shadow"s arms and they exploded in the process, the Shadow is also wounded on its middle. "GROOOAAARR-!" -Riki extended his arm forcefully. "Finish him off, Seth!" He commanded of his persona. "GROOOOOAAAARRR-!" *Megidolaon* Three massive lights gathered above, then they slowly descended towards the Shadow while condensing altogether- "Ah..." Komari is watching in awe, this is all so unbelievable and... ...awesome. Riki is awesome... She"s watching him from behind. She"s watching Riki perform- "What is-" *BOOOOOOOOMMM-!* "GROOOOAAAARRR-!" The Shadow was completely blown away by that attack-All of its remains turned into black mists and they disappeared. The battle is over. ... ...From afar... "Huh!?" Kyosuke heard that explosion from afar. ...Somewhere else... "Huh!?" "Wha-!?" "Ah!" "Guah!" Rin, Kanata, Kengo and A-chan heard that explosion as well. "Wh-What was that!?" Rin asked. ... ...Back to Riki and Komari... "huff, huff, huff. Ah." Riki is catching is breath. "Groooaar," Seth disappeared from above. "Ah..." Komari is completely in awe. The monster is gone... Riki defeated it. "That was... ... ... Ah..." She smiled brightly like the Sun. "Th-THAT WAS AMAZING!" She exclaimed happily and cheerfully. ... ...Later... "Augh," Riki knelt on the ground. He"s still exhausted from all that excursion, sort of speaking. "You"re safe now." He told Komari who is behind him. "You," Komari went in front of him and she knelt down as well, they"re facing each other. "What was that? There was that dragon and-and-and-" "Ah, it"s... complicated." Riki said slightly looking down. "I"ll explain... later..." "Hm, you can tell about it all you want. Either way, this is now the second time huh?" "Eh?" Riki slightly raised his head. "A second... time?" "Hm," Komari nodded. "This is now the second time that you rescued me. From those bullies and now... from that monster." "Oh, I... see." He said with his eyes looking slightly downward on the left side. "Hm, well," He tried to raise his body- "Gurk!" But he couldn"t. "Ah! You better be careful." Komari said as she placed her hands on his shoulders to support him. "Ah, I"m tired..." "Hm, yeah, I can tell that by looking at you. Say... Do you think I should give you a reward for rescuing me this second time...?" "Eh?" Riki looked at Komari. "Hm, you don"t have to do that." "No, not thanking is a crime! I should give you something as reward!" Komari insisted. "Ah..." Riki sheepishly looked down at his left side, it seems Komari is pretty adamant about giving him something in return for saving her this second time. "Well, you can do as you wish, I guess." He said not looking at her. "Alright! Well then..." She said as she put an index finger on her chin. "How about..." ...She placed her hands on Riki"s cheek, grabbing his face. "Eh?" He is forced to look at her. Then... She leaned closer... closer... ... ...chu. "...!" ...He got kissed! On the lips. "Hmm, hmm," "Hmm, hmm...!" Riki couldn"t process immediately what"s going on, but the taste of her lips is like orange, and he feels... tired, even more tired than before. "Hmm, hmm, hmmm~" "Hmm... hm..." Riki"s eyes are becoming heavy now... ...chu... Komari broke the kiss. She let go of Riki"s cheeks. "Hehe," She sheepishly laughed with her own cheeks blushing red. "Ah..." Riki is slightly looking down, he can"t look at her like this. "I... am... ah..." Then he started to lose all of his energy all at once-He fell unconcious. "Ah! H-Hey! A-Are you okay!? H-Hey, whoever you are, I don"t know your name yet, but..." Komari shook his body. "Hey, come on, answer me!" ...tap, tap, tap, tap! ...tap, tap, tap, tap! ...tap, tap,tap, tap! "Hey, what"s going on-Huh?" The group, Rin, A-chan, Kanata and Kengo, arrived at the scene. A-chan is the first to speak up. "Huh?" Kanata saw Riki unconcious with Komari shaking him. "Ah." "Wha..." The next ones to react are Rin and Kengo. "N-Naoe!" "Naoe!" "..." Riki could hear the voices of everyone from afar... Then... There was only... ...darkness, afterwards... End of Chapter 3 Note: If you must know, the scenes with Komari are reflecting the scenes in Persona 3 where Minato saved Yukari from the Magician Shadow. I"ll stop here for now and see if I will get any reviews at all. I might get motivated to continue this if I receive some. Well, I hope you have enjoyed this. Farewell. ...Inside Riki"s Psyche... "Agh... Ah..." Riki slowly opened his eyes, he found himself in a gray colored place where there is nothing but gray color everywhere... Then that gray color turned dark, but it"s not completely dark here... ...shaaaadddeeee... ...shaaadddeee... ...Then a lot of rectangular shaped mirrors appeared hovering about. They appeared out of nowhere as if they"ve been here from the start and that they were invisible for the whole time. "Huh?" Riki looked about at his surrounding, "This place is..." "So you"re finally awake." A hollowed sounding of Riki"s voice is heard. "Huh?" -Then all of the sudden, Shadow Riki is being shown in all of those rectangular shaped mirrors. "Other... me?" "Can you heed my voice clearly? You became unconcious after you have used the Fusion Spell for the second time. Hmph, but I suppose it is nothing to worry about. So simply calm yourself..." Shadow Riki crossed his arms together. "By the way..." "Hm?" "How long do you plan to lie still there?" "Huh? Oh, r-right." Riki stood up straight and dusted himself off. Then he turned to the mirrors about, "What happened after... after..." He remembered defeating that huge Shadow and saving Komari... "Things have improved ever since you defeated that abomination. But the time for our conversation is short, so I"ll be clear... Don"t overdo your own body, and act on your own volition. That is all." Shadow Riki disappeared from the mirrors, they"re all blank again. ...shaaaaaaaaddddddeeee... Then it became very dark in this place, only Riki can be seen now... "I... What?" Then he himself is engulfed by the darkness... "I... feel... sleepy..." ...Those were his last words before silence took over... ... ... ...At the command room... "Hng, ah..." Riki once again opened his eyes slowly, the first thing he saw is the ceiling of a room that he"s not familiar with. "Ah... Ah." His expression tells that he"s fully awake, and he found himself lying on a sofa. He raised his body up, "This place is..." He said looking around. The one thing that caught his interest greatly is the huge monitor in front. "Hm? A... computer?" -The door opened, it seems Kanata has brought a tray of food. "Hm? Ah, Naoe-kun!" "Hm? Futaki...-san?" Kanata approached Riki and put the tray down on the table in front of Riki. "Are you feeling better?" She asked, placing a hand on his forehead and then placing a hand on her own forehead. "Huh? Uh, y-yeah." "Hm, I see." She removed her hands from their foreheads. "It doesn"t seem like your temperature is high or that it"s something that cannot be compared to my own temperature, so I suppose I could assume you are well." "A... Ah. Where... Where am I?" He asked, looking about at this room that he"s not familiar with. "Ah... This place is..." -The door opened, Rin is at the door, she didn"t came in, but she is taking a peek from there without opening the door widely... "Futaki-san, is he-Huh?" Then she saw Riki to be awake. "Ah! Y-You"re awake!" "Hm? Oh, R-Rin-san." "Rin-san, please call the others. We will begin our meeting in this very room." Kanata turned to Riki as she said that, "We will explain everything we can for you, Naoe-kun." She then bowed in an apologetic manner. "I apologize for not telling you about this much earlier, but we will disclose everything to you now." "Huh?" Riki blinked, "Disclose...?" ... ...Later... ...A long table has been presented on the middle, Kanata is sitting at the middle end with Riki sitting at the opposite side across her. "Um, what exactly... are you going to tell me?" Riki asked. "Hm, we will explain everything as soon as-" -The door opened, a lot of people came in. "Hm? Oh, Riki!" Kyosuke exclaimed joyously at the sight of Riki. "Naoe!" "Oh, it"s that one guy!" A-chan and Masato exclaimed joyously. "Everyone..." Riki is eyeing everyone on the door. "Hm, I see you have awakened, boy." Kurugaya said. "Hello, Naoe Riki." Mio said without much emotion. "Huh?" Riki remembered her from the school assembly at the auditorium. "You are..." "Hm?" Kurugaya turned to Mio, then to Riki once more. "Ara? Have you met before?" "Oh, well... Y-Yeah, I suppose so." "Hm," Mio nodded. "At the school assembly. He picked up my handkerchief by chance and returned it to me." "Oh, a gentleman, I see." Kengo said eyeing Riki. "You"re an honorable, decent person, I see." "Eh?" ... ...Everyone is seated at the seats provided on the sides of the table. "Very well. We will now begin our meeting regarding our case with Naoe Riki-kun." Kanata said, commencing the meeting in-session. Upon saying that, everyone turned to Riki. "Before we proceed, however," Kanata picked her cellphone from her pocket and dialed someone. She waited for the other line to pick up, and when they answered-"Hello? It"s me. I would like of you to bring Kamikita Komari to the command room. We have something to discuss with her." "Kamikita-san?' Riki thought. "Hm, it"s that cute girl that the boy rescued from that huge Shadow, yes?" Kurugaya asked. Rin nodded. "Yeah. She was escorted by Futaki-san and Nishizono-san after that fight..." "We took her somewhere safe. Then we planned to explain everything to her once Naoe-san has recovered." Mio explained passively. "Hm, I see." Kurugaya said. She then turned to Riki. "You are brave, boy. To risk your life for that girl... Hm, you may be more than I thought." She said giving a somewhat michievous expression. Riki sweat dropped at that. "Uh, I... I guess?" "Well anyway, it"s good to see you awake, Riki. We were surprised when we found out that you went outside during the dark hour and then you saved that girl from harm." Kyosuke said. "Eh? The... dark hour?" Upon Riki asking that, Kanata has finished her phone call and she put her cellphone away, "We will explain that now. Now then..." She placed both of her hands on the table. "Naoe-kun, to begin with, would you believe me if I told you that day consists of more than 24 hours?" "..." Riki was indeed confused by that question. "Excuse me?" "Haha, I"m not surprised by your reaction." A-chan said, chuckling. "But you already experienced this twice now, you know." "That"s right, boy. You must have noticed the signs during your first day here. Futaki mentioned that you arrived prior to the end of the dark hour during your first day." Kurugaya said. "Ah," Riki remembered the greenish environment and all of those coffins about. "You mean..." "Surely you"ve already seen those coffins on the street, there was nothing working-no electric devices or equipment functioning and the surrounding was green in color, right?" Kyosuke said. "Coffins... Nothing was working..." Riki said recalling his first day, and then the time when he rescued Komari... "What was... going on?" "That was the dark hour. A time period hidden from one day and the next." Kanata said. "Hidden?" "Hm," She nodded. "I suppose you can think of it as something that no ordinary person is aware of. But the dark hour is very real, it occurs each night-at midnight. It will happen tonight and every night to come." "Ah." Now that surprised Riki. "I know it"s all of a sudden, but it"s true. Heh, I was scared too when I first learned of it." Masato said being understanding of Riki"s position. "Hmhm," Kengo nodded. "Fear not, though. You have comrades who will guide you in the right way." "Hey, don"t give him more hard time than it is." Rin said to the two guys who spoke up. "Uh no, it is all right." Riki said. He slightly looked down on the table, "So you mean to tell me that... Those previous nights that I experienced... are... supernatural phenomenon?" "Yup, you got it." Kyosuke said. "Well, I wouldn"t worry about it too much if I were you." "Kyosuke! He just learned of it! Don"t say it like it"s a natural thing for those who are new to it." Rin said. "Hm," Kurugaya nodded, then she turned to Riki. "Are you shocked? Are you afraid?" Riki slightly raised his head. "No, it"s just... Well..." "Well, I wouldn"t expect you to collect all of your thoughts together just yet. But be assured that we will offer you our protection and our guidance in this entire ordeal." Kanata assured. She turned to everyone around her, "Are we all in agreement to this?" """Yeah!""" "Sure thing." "No problem." "Okay." Everyone said while nodding. Then they all turned to Riki. "Well, Riki, we"ll give you enough time to think about this." Kyosuke said. "But for now..." He formed a serious expression. "Let us discuss about those monsters that you defeated." "Eh?" Riki recalled those "Shadows" that he fought and defeated. "Monsters?" Everyone nodded. "Yeah. Those nasty things that appear only during the dark hour." Masato said. "Normal people don"t realize the dark hour exists, but there is also another factor that they are oblivious at aside from that." Kengo said. "You"ve seen them, yes? Those creatures that you defeated... We call them "Shadows". They only appear during the time period when the dark hour occurs and they attack anyone who is not among those who have transmogrified into a coffin." "Eh? Trans... mogrified? Wait... Are you saying that those coffins are...?" Riki said getting into a conclusion... "Ah." Kurugaya nodded. "They are people who are sleeping... perhaps. I"m not sure what kind of state they are on other than they are oblivious of the things around them when the dark hour is in session." "Hmhm," A-chan nodded. "But there"s no need for us to worry about them except..." She slightly looked down when she said the last part. "Recently, the Shadows have been able to transform people back into their human forms and they have attacked those people." Kanata informed. "That girl, Kamikita Komari, may have joined the list of victims who were attacked when they were active during the dark hour had you not intervened, Naoe-kun." "Transform... people back into their... human forms?" Riki asked. "Ah. Only us who have the power to fight Shadows are safe during the dark hour." Kyosuke said. "While those who don"t have that power... ...might end up being devoured by the Shadows that lurk during the dark hour." He said darkly. "Power?" Kanata stood up. "That power that you used... We call it, "Persona". It is something that we ourselves use to fight those monsters-the Shadows-and it is something you yourself can use to protect yourself and those around you." Kyosuke himself stood up, "Yeah. Which pretty much means that we"re the only ones-Well, plainly speaking, it"s all up to us." Everyone else, with the exception of Kanata, nodded on that. Then they all turned to Riki. "It"s our job to fight them as persona-users." "Persona-users...?" Riki asked. "Ah." He nodded. "That"s what we refer to ourselves. Long story short, we have banded together to achieve one simple goal: to eradicate the Shadows and to protect the world from them." "Hm," Kanata nodded. "That is why... Naoe-kun," She turned to A-chan who nodded and picked up a briefcase below the table. She put it down on the table and opened it. Inside are a communicator, an armband and a medal of some sort. Kanata turned back to Riki. "What we are saying is... We would like of you to join us. We"ve prepared these for you. We like you to lend us your support, Naoe-kun." She said looking at him earnestly. "..." Riki is speechless. ...shaaaaadddeee... ...Riki found himself to be inside his psyche again, it"s all dark here. And the rectangular shaped mirrors are hovering about again. "It seems the time has come." Shadow Riki"s voice sounded. '...Other me.' Shadow Riki is shown in all of those mirrors. "The time has come, other me. These people will benefit at your presence, and the same can be said about their own existences being a boon for you. Now, take responsibility and lead these people to enlightenment. Let the gentle touch of your darkness be spread... Other me." "Hey, aren"t we pushing him a bit in making a decision so soon?" Rin said feeling like they"re forcing Riki to make a difficult decision rashly. "...Okay."Riki said in a low tone. "Hm?" "Hm?" Both Kanata and Kyosuke heard him though. Riki looked up at Kanata, "I will join you." He said with firmness. "See? We can-Huh?" Rin couldn"t finish what she intended to say as she was surprised by what Riki said as she turned to him with a surprised expression. "Wha... What did you say? You... You"re just okay with that?" Riki turned to her and nodded, "I will do what I can to fit in." He said having a serious expression. "...Hm," Kanata smiled earnestly. "Thank you. I"m sorry if we"re being rash a bit in making you choose a difficult decision. We"ll do what we can to guide you, I promise." She said giving her word with a promising nod. The others smiled as they looked at Riki. "Welcome aboard. This is your first time, but I imagine that we"ll all have fun in the end." Kyosuke said. "Hey, don"t be shy around here. We"re all in this together, right?" Masato said cheerfully. "Hm, another comrade has joined us. It"s a nice change of air in the environment." Kengo said. A-chan turned to Kanata. "Well, Kanata? Aren"t we going to give Naoe his permanent key?" Kanata turned to her and nodded, "Yes." She then picked up a key from her pocket, she turned to Riki. "Naoe-kun, about your proper accommodations..." ... ...Outside Riki"s room... Riki, Rin and Kyosuke arrived here altogether. "Looks like this will be your permanent room from now on." Rin said. "Yeah. With you being part of the group, you"ll just have to do your part regarding the Shadows. We usually hang out at my room-Oh, me, Kengo and Masato, that is. Rin is not allowed there." Rin turned to Kyosuke with an annoyed expression. "Of course I"m not. It"s a guy"s room." "Hm," Riki nodded. "Well, I think I"ll go rest-" "Hey, you guys!" A-chan"s voice is heard at the hall. They all turned to her as she ran towards them.

"Oh uh okay, but... don"t you think..." It might be just another star so... Flipping it... "Huh?" The hanged man... in the downward position, what does this mean? In the Thoth reading, this represents unable to move on, or... unable to do anything, normally this is a bad sign, but in this case, three stars in a row may mean that this inability to move maybe that the person cannot change destiny itself, and in Ichika"s case, this might means... he may be blessed... whether he likes it or not... or whether he will acknowledge it or not. "Uh, this is..." "Oh, the hanged man, hehe, you might find yourself blessed with fortune... despite how you might see it as a curse or misfortune." "Eh? Wha-" Just then Ichika finds himself surrounded by two people whose faces are covered in... clothing, which may seem look like they"re a bunch of terrorists who are onto hiding. "Eh? Who-" They suddenly stand beside him. "To that end, I think you will need this." The old man with long nose presents a long canister with... red substance on it. "Hehe, hold him." "Hai." The two guys said, and..." "Eh? W-Waah! H-Hey, what is the meaning of this!" Ichika got grabbed from both sides and he"s struggling to break free, but these guys seem to be very relentless. Then another guy with his face covered in clothing comes with a... stretcher, for operation. Ichika is laid on it, with his arms and legs incapacitated by the other guys. "H-Hey, what is this? What is the meaning of this? Grr, grr, let me go! I said let me go!" "Relax my boy, with this," The long nose old man presents the canister, "You shall be... the star the grants wishes to the appealment of women this day." A lightning struck as he said that with a striking expression. "What does that mean? Hey, let me go, hey, gr, urgh!" He tries to break free but those things are like... well, they"re like equipments in a gym that Ichika finds lacking the strength to lift them, well, if they"re not attached to the stretcher, he might be able to lift them, but the real problem is... something like an helmet is placed on Ichika"s head, with many connectors on it, when they put it on him, all of the connectors are stuck on his head. "Eh? This is?" They are connected to his brain it seems, no, no, not like the brain organ in his head is stucked with a bunch of connectors but rather... there are motion waves that are causing his brain waves to be like... well, putting in a state where you feel like you"re sleepy, similar to a surgery room wherein a couple of doctors has put the patient to sleep for the duration of the operation, but this one... Ichika"s brain is being connected to something. "What are you..." The old man sits beside him on a operation equipment that is provided by the men. "Well then, show me, show me... what the Hysteria Zero Syndrome will do to the human, ha ha, for the latest of my invention, something that trascends the logic of others, some say that the brain is the senses of all things... well then, let us see how far will this theory go, ha ha! Ha ha! Ha ha ha!" "Ahh! You"re insane! Help, someone help-!" blurrgh, blurrgh, blurrgh! The Hysteria Zero Syndrome as the old man would put it, is installed into a something that is input on Ichika"s connectors, then they all flew through him like a bunch of blood being poured out of his head, then... "Urgh, wha..." Ichika feels like something inside him is about to boil, like his blood is boiling... the brainwaves... his brain... those connectors are providing a motion wave that is too... too... overwhelming! It"s awakening the sixth sense, like... like... "Urgh, uaarrgh!" Ichika"s eyes become sort of empty, but then they return lively again, the sixth sense is gain and then... ha ha... ha ha... ha ha... Ichika could see a bunch of girls laughing, some may say that he"s hallucinating these things but... there are some things that are beyond human comprehension... this... is one of them. blurrgh, blurrgh! The brain waves still intact, started to show Ichika something like a bunch of boiling red substance that seems to have been input on his spinal cord, then into his brain and then finally, it kicks in, it becomes hot inside like his brain is being boiled, allowing the sixth sense to become active. "Ah, ah... ah." Ichika exclaims some air for a while, it"s not really painful but it can certainly makes you feel nervous when you feel like you"re diving into the unknown and then... all sort of images of people comes to Ichika"s mind, almost all of it... no, it"s not almos... all of them are girls, and then... even Chifuyu is included it seems... then the last is... a star... which sends... endless amount of possibilities. "Ah!" Ichika opens his eyes to see himself not lying on a stretcher or operation equipment but rather, he"s lying on the ground near the sedan that is owned by his older sister. "What the... I... Ugh," touching his head, he still feels a little headache from that experience, it feels like he"s been under a surgical operation wherein a new type of blood was input onto his well-being, those connectors around his head sort of affected the brain waves on his brain, but that"s not the problem, the problem is... "Ugh, I... I feel like..." Trying to maintain his composure, he tries to stand up while shaking, he cannot seem to get himself straight from the trauma and something inside his head... seems to be boiling for some reason, he can feel some beats around his head, as if the brain is beating, well, not exactly the brain but... nah, he"s not good at the bisecting lesson of biology, so nevermind about that. "Ah, the stars..." Staring up, he still hallucinating some things due to the experience but he can see clearly and his brain is functioning real well. Keplunk. "Hey, sorry for the long wait, let"s get going." Chifuyu emerges out of the house, oblivious of what just transpired... the strange part is, there is no trace of all the activities earlier, that strange, eccentric, long nose old man is not within the premises and that stretcher and other equipments seem to have been removed as well. "Hm? What"s the matter? You look a little dizzy." "Ah... Ah, yeah, I guess so..." He said trying to use the car as a balance so that he may not fall. "...? What"s wrong? Are you sick? Let me feel your head." Chifuyu touches his head, then toucher her own to see if there is any different in temperature, strangely, Ichika"s head seems to be hot and hers is only... well, it"s hot but not really in the same temperature of Ichika. "Hm, that"s strange, do you have a flu?" "Uh no, I... huh? Wah!" He didn"t noticed it, but Chifuyu held his head around her chest to see if his neck is hot as well, then... without Chifuyu"s notice, his head is now on her chest... which... "B-Black bra, C-Chifuyu-nee... you"re..." He didn"t dare go say it outloud, but... at this case... Chifuyu removes his head from her chest, to see if any other of his body parts are the same temperature around his head. "I..." blurrghha. "Huh?" Something boils in his head. "Ugh." This causes him to touch his head again as he is aching. "What"s the matter? Are you sick?" "Augh, no, I... Guh." He falls on the ground. "Ugh, I... Gwah!" Black panties... pretty attractive. blurrgh, blurrgh. Blood boiling... too hot. "Ugh, dammit." "Hey, snap out of it, come on, let"s get you to the academy before you started to pass out here, we can"t affor to... huh?" Just then, a tank came passing by the neighborhood. "What the..." "Huh?" Ichika turns to it and then he realizes it"s... "Hey, that"s..." "Yeah, lucky! lucky! lucky!" Bang, bang, bang! "Damn!" "G-Guah!" Chifuyu took Ichika and he pulled... no, he got pulled by Chifuyu around the neck collar and they hide behind the sedan car, it"s a terrorist attack. "Stay down!" Chifuyu brought out a gun as gunfire erupted in the neighborhood. "lucky! lucky! lucky!" "Those are..." Ichika knows these guys, they"re the Wild Lucky Bunch who are causing trouble around the area recently, most of the residents are having a hard time breathing at night due to their usual interference around here. They are reported on the news but it says the politicians do not have the manpower to manuever the problem right now, why? Because... well, due to the introduction of IS, terrorism, looting and other criminal activities have spread, evidently, some men who didn"t like the idea of men being outstrip by women when it comes to the superior gender, it"s a superiority complex in other words. Bang, bang, bang! A gunshot broke out. Some police patrol cars arrived in the area. "Take cover!" Some squad forces with shield kneeled forward with shields as their cover, some police officers with guns came out of their cars and use the door as barricade and shield while they fire and the squad forces of the police with heavy artillery, mainly a.k.s and other heavyarmed guns, step forward while couching in a position that is aimed for the thugs. "Lucky, lucky, lucky!" The guys who are "lucky" as they put it continue firing at the town. "Mommy, what should..." "Let"s go dear!" Some civilians are present and they run for it at the sight of this battle, some battlefields out there involved men and women, those who said to have sided with women are a bunch of "girly" men who don"t have guts to fight, though that is just egotistical thinking and very unreasonable, some men are like that, always prowling about how great men should be and how women are forever be housewives and nothing more, it"s barbaric and egotistical, that is why, reason must reign in. "Tch, bastards, why now?" Chifuyu tries to contact someone. "Yamada, we have a slight problem here, I"m going to need a detachment of IS force here immediately, some terrorists are raiding the neighborhood, we need IS deployment here, hurry!" She hangs up. "Tch, bastards!" Bang, bang, bang! She fires at them, she got two of them, they"re not dead, only injured, there would be casualties if these guys would be dead so it"s best to just humiliate or incapacitate them. If they would even do that however, if they do not, then they will... die... so... "Ugh, urgh." Ichika is still feeling the effect of that boiling substance that is on his brain and that is coming from the spinal cord, it"s too much, it sometime makes him hallucinate things that are not there but... sometimes... the sixth sense that is opened up to him, seems to suggest... that he mus do something, but first... "I... must..." Bang, bang, bang! "Ichika, stay down!" Hit! "Gr," One tries to hit them, the bullet reflected on the sedan, reducing some of its beauty. "Those bastards, I spent a whole day cleaning this, they won"t get away with this." Chifuyu bowed on that. "Hiya!" Bang, bang, bang! "Ugh!" "Ugh!" "Augh!" Three are hit, and they unconcious on the ground, the bullets that Chifuyu is using is that of stun bullets, which they do not kill, but only incapacitated. One guy sneaks up from the side but... Bang! "Guh!" With a sharp sense, Chifuyu performed a rotating shot without looking and hit the guy on the abdomen, it"s too risky to aim at the head part or the chest part, so the abdomen will have to do, the very chance that they will faint from there is very high. "Everyone, we have an hostage!" "No, make that three hostage, ha ha!" The boss of the Wild Lucky Bunch announced while standing over a tank that they stole. "Waah! Help us!" Three girls, students it seems, are being held captive, all of whom are all from the same school it seems. "Hm? That"s..." Chifuyu recognized their uniforms to that of IS academy, that one of them is also a representative candidate of Japan, Sarashiki Kanzashi. She"s the younger sister of the student council, and she"s being held hostage along with some other women. "Kyaah!" "Ha ha, look how helpless these girls here, this is what girls should be, housewives, maids, servants, hosts, for us! Ha ha! Ha ha ha! ha ha!" The insane sicko who is the boss of this group exclaimed loudly over the microphone, mocking every women who is present here, some of the civilians are hiding behind cars to avoid the gunshots. "Now look, as I make myself comfortable at the presences of these babes!" The boss taking off his shirt. "Kyaah!" Which frightened the girls. "Yeah, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky!" With the henchmen laughing at the development. "Gr," Chifuyu curses. She picks up her phone again. "Hey Yamada, what"s taking so long? We need backup here, three... no... one of our students who is highly important is being held hostage along with other two students." "What? But..." That someone in the phone sounds timid and nervous at the development. "We need backup here, don"t waste anymore time, we need you here, now!" "H-Hai, be right there." She hung up. "Tch, it may take some time before they arrive... dammit, they won"t..." At this rate, those girls will be abused and they won"t be pure anymore, sort to speak. "Kyaah!" "Kyaah!" One of the students, the one with blue hair, just got stripped of her outer uniform, now there is only the undershirt. "Whoo! Lucky, lucky, lucky!" And those sickos begun cheering like wild animals. "Tch," "Oh my." "Those poor girls." Chifuyu and the other civilians are disgusted by the development. Then... one shooting star just passed by... and the girls wish is... "Save us-!" They all yelled and... "Huh?" Ichika, who has been feeling hot on his head for some time now, takes notice of the development. "What the..." He can see almost half-naked girls in sight, this proves to be... blurgh. "Ah." This time it doesn"t feel unpleasant, but rather... "I..." blurrugh, blurrgh, blurrgh! All sort of information are flowing, almost... almost... unlimited! Flash! That sparked it, the... the... Zero... Hysteria Zero Syndrome! "...Ah." Ichika smiles... almost... wickedly. "This isn"t gonna be pretty, we better- hm?" Chifuyu notices that her younger brother is making himself a target practice by exposing himself. "Hey, I told you to stand down and- huh?" He suddenly grabs her hand with the gun. "Daijobou, Chifuyu-nee." He is sort of smirking at her. "Ah, you"ll be the princess who watches how this turns out." "Huh?" Now that"s odd, he"s acting like... he"s very confident of what will transpire and he"s acting almost chivalrous... too chivalrous, almost too, too, very, very chivalrous as he just took Chifuyu into a bridal style carry and carries her to a bench nearby. "Wh-What"s gotten into you? Ichika, you"re..." "Shh, be remain, I"ll take care of things." He said that with a wink. "Ah." She blushes because of that, what"s gotten into him? As he gone crazy? Or... "H-Hey, get down, you"re gonna get shot!" "Daijobou, it"s better that you stay safe right? Like a princess should leave things to her prince." "Huh?" Shrugging off these nonsense words that are like of a chivalrous knight, "What"s gotten into you? Did you suddenly hit your head a while ago?" "No, I... As your older brother, I must repay your love with tender, Chifuyu-nee, chu." A blow kiss. "Ah." She blushes because of that. "Now then, I will borrow this." It"s about the pistol. Then... a sword that is in its closed form for now, it"s an IS equipment actually, Chifuyu can carry this like her strength is that of almost superhuman. Due to some strange occurrence, Ichika"s reflex and enhanced physical strength seems to have drastically increased, almost like there"s something in him that has awoken, it"s a like a demon inside that is aiming to do... to do... to do... "Ha ha, des... truction to those who harm women." Ichika"s eyes are glowing red in a slight degree that it"s indicating the effect of the Hysteria Zero Syndrome or something that eccentric old guy implemented on him, he steps into the battleground. "Hm? Hey, boss, we got another one here!" "Hm?" The boss just took off his shirt for his so-called "entertainment" with the girls. "Huh?" "Hm?" The girls, Chifuyu, the Wild Lucky Bunch and the civilians all turn to Ichika who is walking slowly towards these guys. "..." He"s keeping a confident smirk on his face as the Syndrome compels him to. "Hey, step back, our boss is keeping his luckiest moment here." All of the guys point their guns at Ichika. "Huh, is that so." He said lowering his head then turning to them with a smile... sort the least. "Ja, why don"t we all calm down and think about stuff and then let"s all be gentlemen and forget about all this." A smile like an innocent kid... an angel... but... "..." "..." "..." Everyone feels awkward, the girls, the civilians and Chifuyu are all wondering what he is trying to do, asking these guys to surrender the girls peacefully and repent for what they have done, how naive... how... foolish into the eyes of these guys but... "Ha ha ha!" "Ha ha! Hey, look who it is, someone trying to be a hero, ha ha!" "Ha ha! Yeah, get lost sucker, ha ha!" "Ha ha ha!" All of the Wild Bunch Lucky or Wild Lucky Bunch laughed hysterically at him. ...Speaking of Hysteria... At that laughter, it is apparent that they won"t surrender so... the demon... has awaken... the angel has passed... now... there is only... "Ah, ha ha." Ichika slowly begins to form a wicked smile... replacing the angel smile earlier. "Ha ha, so, it"s that your final answer?" "Huh, if you want an answer, answer this!" Bang, bang, bang! All of them fired, creating a smoke screen. "Ichika!" Chifuyu exclaimed, she"s still on the bench where Ichika carried her and told her to watch like a princess. "Ah." The civilians are in awe. "Hm?" As well as the police. "Ha ha, some hero he was. Huh?" Just as the smoke screen fades, the Wild Lucky Bunch find that... "Ha," Ichika has deployed a large katana and he seems to have blocked all the shots of these guys. "Wha..." "What the?" "Hm?" The boos who has just took off his pants turn to the commotion. "Why are you...?" "Huh?" The girls, who are hostages, also turn to Ichika. "Why are you...?" "Ichika." Chifuyu and the others are expecting something that will happen and... "Ha," With a wicked smirk, Ichika raises his head as one card, the hanged man, is left with a lot of holes on it as it falls to the ground, while reflecting on Ichika. That card seems to be a keepsake for him from that eccentric old guy. "You know there is a saying that bad men tell no tales, and you know what they say about the bad men... they all..." Turning around... with he deployed katana in hand... turning around again. "Die." Slaarrgh, slaarrgh, bang, bang, bang! "Guah!" "Guaargh!" "Uraggh!" "Arrgh!" A lot of the men received a hit on the neck by the side of the katana while the rest got deafened on their ears by the shot that Ichika performed rapidly. "Arrgh!" All of them fainted as a result. "Wha...?" The boss is all that is left. "Huh?" The girls turn to Ichika. "M-My luck, it"s..." "Teme!" One guy remains but... Bang! "Guah!" One of the police shot him from behind with a stun gun. "Gather around, protect the civilians!" The lieutenant exclaimed. "Hai, yes sir!" The police squad froces split up. "You dare interrupt with my luck?" The boss got all aggressive. Whoosh! "Huh?" Then Ichika stepped forward to challenge him from the sides. "Geh, you, you"re responsible for this!" Bang! Whoosh! Ichika moves his leg to the left to avoid contact with the bullet that he just shot, he can see he bullet slowly due to some reflexes, or rather, his reflexes are too fast at his state that he can participate in dodging something before it comes before his eyes. "Hiyaa!" Bang, bang, bang! Block, block, block! Ichika used the katana deployed to deflect all the bullets. Then he held it in a striking way like he"s challenging the boss to a contest. "Hm," "Guah!" The boss is at a disadvantage. "Ah." The girls are rather in awe in all this development. "You"re rather rude, treating women like this, you know there is only one solution for something like his, sa, I challenge you, I will make you a bet that if you lose, you will be disgraced as a man for treating women like this and if you... haha, honestly, I can only see you lose." He said that with fury in his eyes. "Shut up you indoctrinated man! I won"t let you ruin my luck!" The boss untied the rope for the girls, freeing them but, "Guah!" "S-Sarashiki-san!" "Huh, I"ll be taking this girl with me, we"ll be having fun!" "Gyaah!" "Sarashiki-san!" "Hmph, bastard." Blood boils on Ichika, he steps foot on the tank where the guy is standing. "Don"t come any closer, or this girl dies!" He points a pistol on the girl"s temple. "Wah!" Everyone is worried. "Yabe, we"re at a disadvantage." The police can"t do anything. "We can"t let her be dragged." "But we can"t let them get away as well." "Shut up!" Bang! The man fired above, alarming the citizens. "I want you all to be quiet if you don"t wish to be put a hole in this girl"s head!" He points at the girl"s temple again. "U... U," She"s on a verge of tears. "Ja, what are you terms?" Ichika step forward. "Don"t come, don"t come any closer, step another foot and I"ll shoot her." "Hmph, ja, what are you terms? We"re at your disposal." "..." The police cannot do anything so the police just lay their faith on Ichika for the best outcome to this.

"Yeah... You"re right..." Setsuna said jokingly to which Konoka mused. "Hmph. Spoiled girl." Judas said. "Ha ha ha..." To which Hayate only laugh at. Later... Whoosh! The group finally arrived on the island. It"s small surprisingly. The trio, Nagi, Nodoka and Yue watched the view from the windows as they land at the cliff near the sea. They then exit the plane afterwards. Surprisingly, Nagi brought some luggages with her. "Do you really need all of these stuff?" Setsuna asked annoyed by her spoiled attitude. "Yeah. You don"t really need all of these luggages." Hinagiku added. "I can bring whatever I want." The spoiled girl said. "...Hmph." Both Setsuna and Hinagiku simply ignored her to which Maria could only give off a laugh. "So this is the island..." Hayate said looking around. "It sure is peaceful here..." Negi said observing the surrounding. "Do not be fool by the tranquility of this place. It"s full of traps and dangers." Judas warns the two. "We know. We have to make sure that no harm would reach them." Hayate refers to their companions. "Ah. I hope they do not prove to be a nuisance to you two. But I suppose that would rude if I say it like that. Just make sure you guys will protect them." Hayate and Negi nod to that. They clunch their fists to that promise. They approach the group. "Ja, I think you guys will have to stay here." Negi said. "Eh!" Everyone complained of course. "Why is that?" Nagi is the first one to speak of her complain. "We didn"t come all this way just to stay here you know." Second is Risa. "That"s right! Come on Hayata-kun~" Third is Izumi. Both persona-users rub the back of their heads. "Uh well... It"s just... too dangerous in there." Hayate said. "You don"t know that yet." Hinagiku said. "Yeah, we"re coming with you two. Like it or not." The two, and Judas and Chamo, give off a sigh. "...Very well. Just make sure you are prepared okay?" Negi said to which they all nod. "There are already people inside. It"s those two..." Luca said trying to sense anything other than monsters inside the temple in front of them. Then she sensed something more evil than the Tennouso sisters... "...And that guy." This alarmed Hayate, Negi, Chamo and Judas. "That guy... Does she mean...? ..." Judas said getting the hint. "That guy in black..." Negi said. "..." Hayate has a troubled expression on his face. Sera is actually a friend of Ikusa in the past. He has the feeling that he may have something to do with his older brother"s death... "...Let"s go." He said. Negi, Chamo, and Judas nod. "Ja, everyone who is coming, please come with us." "Alright!" The chinese girl, who was introduced by the girls(Negima girls) as Ku Fei, cheered. She"s the new girl in the group. "Yosh. Time for some adventure." Kaede said. "Bring it on. We can do this." Asuna cheered. "Don"t get too arrogant now. We are being expected by a lot of malevolent beings inside." Setsuna adviced. "That"s right. Expect a lot of unexpected things you guys." Hinagiku said to the girls.(The Hng girls that is). "This will be a cinch!" Konoka cheered. "I hope there aren"t any dirt inside that dirty temple." Nagi said sipping her juice. "That is very unlikely Nagi." Maria said. "Take care of the plane Klause." She tells her butler and pilot to which he saluted. "Hm?" Then a white tiger(The white tiger in the previous chapter who is happen to be Tama) is seen near the plane. He seems to have snuck inside without being noticed by the group. "..." Klause thought of what to do with him but since he looks helpless, he decided to let him in. "Just so as long as he doesn"t eat me or ojou-sama..." He thought as he signaled the tiger to follow him in the plane to which he did. "Ja, let"s go." Hayate said taking the lead. "Alright!" "Yosh!" "This should be worth the time." The trio said. "Yay!" "Adventure time!" The Narutaki twins cheered. "I hope these guys know what they are about to get themselves into." Judas said. "Daijobou. We"ll be there to protect them." Hayate assures. "Ah. Do that." "We"ll be just fine." Negi added. "I hope you"re right Aniki." Chamo said. All of them walk towards the entrance of the temple. Meanwhile... Tap, tap, tap. Sera is walking down a hallway which walls is filled with strange drawings as if depicting a prophecy. "...When the barbaric beasts have brought about the world"s demise, a single jewel will brought about the salvation of the world. The great being, Jehovah, will lead all of these souls to their eternal slumber of peace. There will be no sufferring. Only joy... In the eternal tranquility that awaits all living things. ...Such is the way of the universe. Just as sands run out, so does the lifespan of a living thing. ...The same goes for me..." He turns back with an angry expression. "To think... my traitor friends..." Flashbacks of Nagi Springfield, Negi"s father, and Ikusa Ayasaki came to his mind. "...To think that I have delivered them there..." He kneels on the floor shaking... "...In the Promised Land... I was left alone... In this cruel world that most barbaric creatures live in..." ...His expression is becoming of that of an insane man... "I"M TIRED OF IIT!" He let out a loud cry that echoes throughout the temple. Somewhere else... "Huh?" His cry was loud enough for the Tennousos to hear. "What was that?" At the group... "Huh?" Hayate also heard him from the entrance... "What"s the matter?" Negi asked noticing his best friend"s troubled look. "Uh no, it"s nothing." He said followed by the thought. "What was that just now?' He looks far ahead where darkness lurks. Nothing can be seen at the moment but there are evidences that somebody just went in. "Look at these tracks. You don"t think they..." Makie said having an idea whose tracks are those in the floor. "It"s those blonde girls, no doubt about it. But..." Hinagiku notices unfamiliar tracks. "These two tracks... One of them probably belongs to that idiot butler of theirs and this one is... Hmm..." "A new enemy?" Setsuna asked. "Who knows? Best prepare ourselves as we march in. Let"s go." They walk in... Tap, tap, tap, tap... ...Their footsteps are the only thing that can be heard in the hall until... Crash! "Guh!" Everyone is taken by surprise when something broke through the wall! "Wh-What was that!" Asuna asked. "Wohohoho!" A golem with a bat! "I am the guardian of this place! All non-Ancients shall be exterminated!" "Huh? H-Hey! Wait a minute, we have an Ancient here!" "Huh?" Asuna pulls Luca. "Ah, K-Kagurazaka-san!" Hayate exclaimed. "You good for nothing traitor! Don"t sold one of our comrades!" Ayaka pulls Luca out her grasp. "What? You sold me once too you know!" "Be quiet! This isn"t the time and place for your childish quarrel!" Setsuna scolds the two. "Wohohoho! I can only see a few Ancient blood within her. She does not much the requirements unlike the other two!" The golem probably refers to the Tennouso sisters. "Now, I shall now proceed in smashing all of you!" It raises its bat! It"s gigantic bat that is. "Gyaah!" Everyone exclaimed. "Tch! Hiyaa!" Hinagiku charges forth! "Hinagiku-san!" Hayate calls her out. "Hiya!" Slash! She hit it successfully in the head but... "Wohohoho! Weak minded human female. Is this all the strength you got?" Her attack is just as if her sword just touches it. "Now I shall smash you!" It grabs hold of her sword that is stucked on its head. "Gyaah!" Hinagiku is in trouble! "Hinagiku-san!" Hayate rushes to her aid! "This should help." *Hero Spell* Judas casted the same spell last night. A golden glow surrounds Hayate then... "Haa!" Whooosh! Two white angel wings emerged out of the back of his shoulders! "Ah!" Everyone is surprised by this. "Ayasaki-san!" Negi exclaimed. "Hiyaa!" Strike! "Guh!" Hayate managed to break the golem"s grip on Hinagiku! "Gyah!" He then catches her. "Hinagiku-san, daijobou!" "Hayate-kun... H-Hm." She nods blushing. "Wohohoho! Amaizing for a human. So it seems some of you are worthy of time. Let this entertainment labyrinth begin!" It said raising its bat. It"s gigantic bat that is. Scrutch! Scrutch! "Guh!" ...! To everyone"s surprise, Makie is pushed to the secret rotating door on the left wall by the right wall which seems to be a trap for those who are not Ancients. "Makie!" "Sasaki-san!" Negi and the others exclaimed. Scrutch! "Gyaah!" ...! The Narutaki twins fell to a trap hole! "Fuka! Fumika!" The girls(Negi girls) exclaimed. Scrutch! "Guh!" Konoka is pushed to another secret rotating door that is on the other side of the left wall! "Ojou-sama!" Setsuna exclaimed as she comes to her aid but was too late. Bonk! Bonk! To her surprise, the door wouldn"t rotate. "What is wrong with this! Why won"t it open!" "Sakurazaki-san!" Negi exclaimed but... Scrutch! "Gyah!" She too has been pushed to the door. She cannot come back... "Sakurazaki-san!" Bonk! Bonk! "Springfield, get away from there!" Judas warned immediately then... Scrutch! "Huh?" The wall is going to push him as well! "Guh!" Whoosh! BONK! He managed to slip out of the way in time. "Aniki!" Chamo, who is on his right shoulder, exclaimed. But then... Scrutch! "Guh! WaWaaah!" The floor suddenly opened! "Gya-gyaaah!" Chamo exclaimed as they fall. "O-Oi Springfield!" "Negi!" "Negi-kun!" "Negi-chan~!" The others in the group who have still not yet fallen for a trap exclaimed. "S-Springfield..." Hayate said concerned for his best friend. "Just great..." Judas said placing his hand on his forehead. "Now what?" Asuna asked. And then suddenly... Scrutch! "Gwa-waaah!" She falls for a trap hole as well. "Asuna!" "Asuna-san!" Scrutch! Scrutch! Scrutch! "Gwaah!" "Gyaah!" "Guh!" Nodoka, Yue, Haruna, Ku fei, Kaede, Nagi and Maria fell for different traps such as trap holes and by the trap wall that pushes people on the rotating doors on the left. "E-everyone!" "Sakurazaki-san...!" Hayate and Hinagiku are the only ones left. (And Judas too for that matter.) "Oh great... This complicated things..." Judas said. "Now what do we do...?" Hayate asked. "...We have to find the others." "But how?" He asked Judas, forgetting that Hinagiku can"t see him. "Huh? Who are you talking to?" She asked. "Oh uh no one. Anyway, we have to rescue the others." "This whole place is a trap! Guuh!" Oh, and Ayaka is one of the only ones who haven"t fallen for a trap yet. But the bigger problem right now is... "Wohohoho! Now the fun begins!" The golem said getting ready to annihilate them. "Gr..." The three of them take a few step back. Scrutch! "Huh? G-Gyaah!" "Yukihiro-san!" "Inchou!" ...And in the end, class rep fell for it too... "Ah, we"re the only ones left..." Hayate said grimly. "Wohohoho! Now it"s play time!" The golem waves its bat. Hayate gives him an angry glare for the mischief that he has played on their friends. "Go play yourself!" Strike! "Guhh!" He kicks him on his metal leg, though it"s rough, he is able to hurt him due to his persona. "Guh! No fun. I will smash you!" "Let"s go Hinagiku-san!" "H-Hai!" Tap, tap, tap! The two of them made a run for it to the deeper part of the temple. "Wohohoho! You can run but you cannot hide. I will hunt you all down. Wohohoho!" Meanwhile... At Negi... "Ahh!" "A-Aniki!" Negi and Chamo brace themselves for an impact! Bonk! "Ow..." He landed on his butt. "Sigh... That was dangerous you know." "I know... ow." He rubs his butt. "Where is this? Where are Ayasaki-san and the others!" He asked worriedly. "We fell for a trap remember? We cannot know what happened to Older Aniki and ojou-chans." Chamo said looking up. It seems the option of going back is impossible. "...At the moment, we have no choice but to keep moving." "Eh? But... Where are we going?" Negi asked getting up. "Right now, we have no choice but to keep moving forward. So let"s go." "B-But... We don"t know what"s up ahead... If only Ayasaki-san and the others are-" "Daijobou Aniki. You got me!" "H-Hai..." ...He won"t be much of a help though. Of course, he can guide little Negi... Oh, about the trio...(Izumi, Risa and Miki)...Here"s a Flashback... When the group were about to enter the temple... "Ooh, this should be nice." Flash! Risa takes a picture of closophie flower that is near the entrance of the temple. "Wow! This place looks great!" Izumi cheered. Then... Click. "Eh?" She steps onto a what seems to be a trap... Scrutch! "G-Gyaah!" ...She fell to a trap hole. "I-Izumi?" Risa didn"t see her fall but... Scrutch! "Huh? G-Guuh!" A trap hole that is beside her opens and she loses balance and fell to it. "Hmm?" Miki didn"t see her friends fall to the traps then... "Where did they- Hmgm!" Two magic hands that emerged out of the temple"s wall covered her mouth then pulled her to it, before it rotates, sealing her within somewhere the temple. Hayate and the others were too busy about observing their surrounding for anything unexpected so they pretty much have forgotten about them. ...Except Judas who decided to inform them about them later since they"ll be going deeper into the temple anyway. End of Flashback... "A-Ano... Do we have something like a flashlight?" Negi asked since the halls up ahead is pitch black. "Hm... Maybe Aniki-Judas can help. Oi! Aniki-Judas!" Chamo yelled. "I think Judas-san is with Ayasaki-san right now..." "You call?" "Guh!" Both are taken by surprise when Judas"s head passed through the ceiling above them. "I figured you might need my help." "Judas-san!" "How did you get here? Where are the others?" Chamo asked. "Ayasaki and Katsura are still up there. Everyone else has pretty much fell for it." "Oh... So... We all fell for it..." "Well, except those two who are still up there." "Why did you come here?" Negi asked. "I figured they would be safe since I casted that Hero Spell on Ayasaki, so I decided to check on you two. Anyway, let"s go. This should help you on the way." Flash! He summons a small ball of light for Negi. "Here." It flies on his palms. "Ah, this should help us." "Come on." Tap, tap, tap. The three of them made their way. Meanwhile... At Makie and the Narutaki twins... "Ow... My butt hurts..." Makie said rubbing her butt. So are the twins. "Yeah... Ow... Where did we...?" Fuka asked observing their surrounding. "Huh? This place is...?" Fumika asked. Then they realized that they might be helpless when it comes to dealing with the residents of the place. "Gyaah! What do we do onee-chan!" She clings to her sister. "Daijobou! Negi-kun will surely come and save us!" She assured her. But... "Now, where are the others?" ...looking around, they realize that their hero, sort to speak, is nowhere to be seen nor the others. "Uh... Where is everyone...? ..." "..." Realizing the situation... "Gyaah!" Both twins run up to Makie. "Makie-san! What do we do! We"ve been separated from the others!" Fumika said crying. "Daijobou! We"ll just call out for them to come to us!" ...What a bunch of naive girls... Oh well. "Oi! Everyone! We"re over here!" She said waving her hands thinking that anyone will come over to rescue them... "Eh?" Realizing that no one will be come, they... "Gyaaaah!" They cried out in despair. "Where is everyone?" "That"s what we have been trying to tell you!" The Narutaki twins said. Meanwhile... At Nagi and Maria... "Ow..." Nagi rubs her butt. "That hurt... Daijobou, Maria?" "H-Hai. I think I hurt my my ankle though..." "Eh! Daijobou?" "Ah. Daijobou. I can still walk." She stands up only to... "Ugh." ...She finds it difficult to do so. "You"re not okay at all! You need help! Hayate!" Nagi"s voice echoed throughout the dark hall. ...No respond though. "Hayate?" "I think we"ve been separated from them. We"re on our own..." "Eh! B-B-But..." Nagi is tearing up from fear. "This is bad... We don"t know what"s lurking inside here. And we"re not good at dealing with those sort of things." Maria thought. "Grr." ...! Then a roar of a monster is heard in the hall... "Wh-What was that...?" Nagi asked frightened. Now she knows what fear is. Meanwhile... At Ku fei and Kaede... And Ayaka... Ayaka, who was the last one to fall to the trap, fell on top of Ku fei. "Ow... That hurt you know inchou." She complained. "I couldn"t help it. I fell, remember?" "Hai. Hai..." Both of them stand up. "The others seem be nowhere in sight." Kaede said observing their situation. "We must have fall off far away from them." "Nooo! Negi-chan~!" Ayaka yelled crying. "Calm down, inchou. Negi-bozu will be fine. He has that persona thing remember? He"ll be fine." "Yeah huh? We best focus on our current situation." Ku fei said. "By the way, is that kid for real?" "Negi-bozu? Ah, he"s really cool. That friend of his is cool too. I think he may have won Katsura"s heart." "Eh? R-Really? The almighty president of the student council, Katsura Hinagiku, have fallen for him?" "Ah. I"ve noticed her behavior whenever she"s around him. I envy that girl. Finding true love at last... Dreamily Sigh... It"s so dreamy." "Yeah huh?" Ku fei goes to imagine what it feels like to find true love. "This isn"t the time for that you two!" Ayaka snapped them out of their daydreaming. "We need to focus on getting back to Negi-chan and the others!" "Yeah, you"re right. But do you two know how to get back?" Kaede asked. "Hmm... We fell really high. Maybe they"re in the high floors." Ku fei said. "Hm. I guess you"re right." "I think this whole place is a trap. Be careful not to step on any trap you guys." Although Ayaka said that... Click. "Huh?" ...She step onto something...Splash! Splash! "G-Gyaah!" Water is pouring the room! "Ah, inchou!" The other two girls exclaimed. "Wh-What is this!" "I think you just activated a trap inchou!" Ku fei exclaimed with an accusing finger. "What!" Splash! Splash! "If this continues, this place will be flooded soon. We must leave!" Kaede said and then she and Ku fei took their leave. "H-Hey, wait for me!" The class rep follows behind. Meanwhile... At Asuna, Konoka and Setsuna... "Ah... Ahh... Where..? Gyah!" Setsuna finds herself face to face with Konoka"s underwear as she fell next to her. "O-Ojou-sama! Get up! You need to get up!" She instantly stands up and wakes her beloved friend... or it looks that way. "Ahh... Se-chan?" She wakes up from the impact. "Where...? Where are we...? Where is everyone?" "Ahh..." Luca is the next to wake up. "Where...? Ayasaki-kun...?" She asked looking for Hayate but finds that he"s nowhere to be found. "What happened?" She asked as she stands up. "It seems we fell for the trap of this place. By the way, we didn"t see you fell here. How did you get here Suirenji?" Setsuna asked. "Ah well..." Flashback... "Don"t sold one of our comrades!" Ayaka said as she freed Luca out of Asuna"s grasp when the golem guardian said that those who are not of Ancient blood are to be exterminated. "You sold me once too you know!" Asuna exclaimed. Then... "Huh?" Luca notices that the right wall seem to be... free of space. "How could-" Scrutch! "Gya-!" ...A secret rotating door pulls her in without being noticed by everyone. End of Flashback... "And that"s how it happened. Hehe..." Luca said. "...Wow. So you were the first to fall the traps of this place." Setsuna said. ...Well actually it was the trio who fell first. "Well anyway, we need to rendezvous with the others." "Ahh... Huh? This is...?" Asuna is the fourth one to wake up from the impact. "Were we...?" "It"s about time you wake up. We"re on our way now." "Huh? Where are we-?" Crash! ...! "Gyah!" Something came crashing in! "Grooaarr!" Monsters, that are similar to Shadows, came crashing in through the wall. They have the appearance of a rabid wolf with two horns. "Grooaarrr!" "Gyaah!" Asuna backs away from them. "What are those!" Konoka exclaimed. "Monsters! Looks like you were right about this place being dangerous Suirenji!" Setsuna said as she drawed out her sword. "Se-chan!" "Stand back! All of you! I"ll handle this!" She said as she entered into a fighting stance. "Not alone you won"t!" Asuna said joining her. "Stand back Asuna! This isn"t something you can handle." "Oh yeah? Watch me!" "Me too." Luca said joining them. "Luca?" "Daijobou. I can deal with them. Ahh." She closes her eyes. Flaash! "...!" To the girls" surprise, a pure green light surrounds Luca. They are gathering around her... "Ah... Ahh!" Flash! ...A pink figure came out of her... A persona... "Ahh..." It has an elegant pink body with red-orange pony tail hair. (This persona"s face is similar to that of Aerith in FF7). "Ahhh..." It unleashes pure pink light on her surrounding environment... "Grooaarr!" "Grooaarr!" The light seems to be painful for the monsters. "Grooaarr!" They all fall down and dissolve to the ground. "Ahh..." Luca dismisses her persona. "Hm..." "...Wow... Wow!" Asuna exclaimed which surprises the idol. "That was cool Luca!" She embraces her. "Eh? Uh..." "Yeah. We didn"t know you could do that." Setsuna said amaized by Luca"s power. "Yeah. That was beautiful! You should have told us that you have powers too!" Konoka said cheerfully. "Ah well... We... Ancients were the first one to ever summoned personas so... since I have Ancient blood I have less ego and I"m... well, intuative, sort to speak, so I can do it. It"s the same thing for Ayasaki-kun and Springfield-chan. Ha ha..." "I see. So that"s how it works." Setsuna said. "Well, with that power of yours, we should be fine as we go to the other sections of this place."

I will turn my back to my former self...! Gone in a second! Ultimate End! Gods are fighting! In a never-ending sorrow! "Ahh! Ten thousand words of Truth!" Flash! They both said then... Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! The two of them inflicted multiple attacks on him! "Grooaarr!" Sera-Lucifer agonizes in pain and then...! Whoosh! "Hua!" Hayate and Negi jump upward above him then...! "Hiyaa...!" Endless Chaos for an eternity! "HIYAA!" They both lunge their swords towards him and then, for a fitting finalle...! Welcome to... ...HEEELL! SLAASH! A huge scar has been inflicted on Sera-Lucifer, completely spilling his blood. "Grooaarr!" Cricker! cricker! Bright light burst out of him as he begins to dissolve into black mist. "Grooaarr... GROOAARR!" He slowly falls to the sky behind him as he dissolve into black mist then to nothing. Flash. ...The sky returns to normal. "...Did we do it?" Negi asked. "I... don"t know. I..." Sharp! "Ugh!" Hayate is brought to his knees. "A-Ayasaki-san! What"s wrong!" "He"s... still alive..." "Huh?" "...!" Judas then notices that something... or someone is in the dark fog in front of them. "Sera. He"s..." Hayate slowly flies towards it. "A-Ayasaki-san!" "Older Aniki!" "Ayasaki!" Judas accompanies him. Both of them enter the blinding fog... "Huh?" Haruna notices it from the harbor. "What"s wrong?" "Over there. Look." She points the black mist with Hayate entering it. "Guah! Huh? Is that...?" Nagi and the other four have arrived at the harbor as well. "Hayate-kun?" Hinagiku said. She also takes notice of the person she love flying towards the fog of where a certain someone is waiting... "Hayate-kun!" "Hayata-kun!" "Hayate!" The others have taken notice of this as well. "Hayate!" Athena, who is still on the cliff with her sister, said. "..." Without feeling any fear, Hayate enters the fog. ... Unknown... ...Hayate slowly falls down to an unknown place with Judas providing him with the Hero Spell then... "...Hm?" He opens his eyes to see... "Huh...!" "...Hmph." A shirtless Sera with his seven foot katana in hand. He gives a wicked smile. "...Hn." Hayate understood why he was summoned here. And then... (Final Battle) Both enter into a fighting stance. "Hn." "..." Sera has nothing to say as he holds his katana left handedly. "..." Hayate understands that he finally realizes that he is being deceived by the fog of delusions all this time. "..." He gives a glare in which he"s telling him to finish him off so that he could be free of delusions once and for all. "...Okay." Hayate does so then... "Ja, prepare..." Blast! He summons Seraph then... "...to die." "...Hm." He nods quietly and so, "Hiya!" Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Whoosh! For the finalle of the year, Hayate frees Sera from... "Ugh." "...Goodbye." Flash! SLASH! ...the delusions that he has been clinging for some time now. "Ugh! Guh!" Sera could no longer stand the pain and he falls down to his knees. "Ahh... Ah..." He slowly looks on Hayate. "Huaargh..." He slowly falls down but he"s body floats. His seven foot katana is dropped to the abyss below. The fog clears out. "Ayasaki-san!" Negi is there, from his position earlier. "..." Both he and Hayate look down on Sera"s body that is bloody. "Did he...?" "Ah. He"s been freed of the delusions." "...I see." Sera P.O.V I... I have lost. I have the power of the accursed fog of deceit yet I lost. ...I suppose it is as they say, delusions will always be delusions. It cannot alter reality. I was a fool to think otherwise. ...It"s all over. Maybe... Maybe I"ve known from the start what"s wrong with me. It was not my two friends who betrayed me. It was I. ...I betrayed myself. ...The irony of Fate. ...Now I am going to succumb to my death and leave this world. With all of my memories of my past and even now be forgotten. I suppose... ...I suppose this is my punishment for all the sins I have commited. Now all is lost. ...For me. "All is not lost." ...? This voice... Normal P.O.V "Hey, everyone look!" Haruna points above where Hayate and Negi are along with Sera. "Huh?" Athena and Evangeline turn their gazes there as well. And so did Chachamaru and Machina. "Ah." Luca and the crewmembers came across the two Tennousos on their way to the city and they turn to the two as well when the sky returned to normal. This time though, the fear is no longer present and hope has replaced it. "Ayasaki-san." Luca smiles at the two above with delight. "You"re free now. You can rest peacefully." Hayate said to Sera. "..." Sera floats is mid-air, bloody and beaten, looking at the now normal sky above. "...Hm. Right..." He accepts his defeat and death without malice. Flash. A pillar of light shines down upon on him on the sky. "Huh?" Flash! "Huh? This is...?" Two shining cards appear right before Hayate and Negi. "What is this?" Hayate is the first to pick it up followed by Negi. "That, is your reward for your deed." Judas said. "Reward?" "Ah, with that, you can deliver the Promised Land to everyone. Sa, why don"t give to them? Show them the Truth? Lift all of these fog of delusions so that the Sun can rise and the brand new days will come." "...Hm. Okay." He turns to Negi who gives him a nod and he gives a nod of his own then... "Sa," Both raises their cards upward then... Flash... Flaash. The cards eminated light from them, making the night go away as if a brand new day has just risen, even though it"s still 12:30 a.m. "Ahh." Everyone sees this. "Hey guys, look!" Haruna said. "Ah." Everyone is mesmorized by the brilliance of the light. "What is that?" "Some kind of fireworks?" A child said. "Ah." Nagi and the other four watches as well. "Hayate-kun did it." Maria said. "Ah. Hayate." Nagi said with tears of joy. "Hayate-kun!" "They did it! Negi-kun did it!" "Yay!" "Alright!" Hinagiku, Makie and the other Baka rangers cheered followed by everyone in the city. "They did it onee-chan!" Evangeline cheered. "Ah." The two Tennousos run up to the harbor in the city. "Masters." Chachamaru followed while carrying Machina. "Ayasaki-kun." Luca followed behind. "Luca!" Her mother and the crew members follow. Flaash. The light from the two cards, which Judas revealed to be the wild cards that has been aiding Hayate and Negi throughout their struggles, continue to glow giving the light of truth all over the world, banishing the fog of deceit that has been plaguing everyone. A brand new world has been granted with the fog having but all lifted and everything is just as it was from the beginning where love will blossom and will continue to grow. "Ah. We did it Springfield." Hayate said. "Yeah!" "Alright! Way to go Aniki and Older Aniki!" Chamo, who has been under Negi"s shirt the whole time, climbs up to Negi"s right shoulder and cheer. "Ha ha." The two give a laugh. A laugh of victory that is. As for Sera... "This light..." The pillar of light that only he can see continues shining down on him, removing the remaining fog within him. "Huh...?" To his surprise, he can see two figures with two white wings coming down towards him. The white feathers are scattering on the surrounding pillar of light. "Huh?" Hayate and Negi notice it then to their surprise. "...Huh." Sera smiles at the two figures and he reaches out his right arm towards them. They both take his hand and they slowly raise him upward to the pillar. "It"s you guys. Hmph, you two are always full of surprises. Just like when we celebrated my birthday at the academy." He said recalling a certain celebration during their time in the academy in Wales. "Ikusa-nii-chan!" Hayate said recognizing his older brother. "Father!" Negi also recognized his father. "Hm." Both give the two a smile and a wave of a hand as they take Sera to, presumably, Heaven. "Hm." Sera does the same to them. With his serious or angry expression gone, his facial expression looks exactly of that of Hayate. "Ah..." Both Hayate and Negi are speechless of the phenomenon. "They have come to pay you two a visit. And to bring him "there"." Judas said which made the two wonder of where exactly does he meant by "there". "Heehee." Both the spirit of Nagi Springfield and Ikusa, and that of Sera whose physical body has dissolved since its time has now passed by, give the two a farewell wave and a smile with the impression of that they"ll be watching them from "there". "Ikusa-nii-chan... ...Hm." Hayate smiles at the figure of his older brother as he disappears to Heaven. "Father... Hm." Negi does the same to his father. Then suddenly... crutter. "Hm?" Crutter! "Huh? W-Waah!" Whoosh! "G-Gyahh!" "H-Hey!" Judas said. The floating rock they"re stepping on suddenly crumbles, so they fall onto the sea below. "Oh, confound it." Judas follows behind. "Yay! Negi-chan did it!" The Narutaki twins cheered then, "Huh? Hey, is that...?" Haruna asked as she spotted the two falling. "...waah... Wahh!" Splash, splash! Both fell to the sea. "Guah!" Everyone saw that. "N-Negi-kun!" "Negi!" "Negi-chan!" "Hayate!" "Hayate-kun!" "Hayata-kun!" Everyone exclaimed. Judas flies down near the sea shore. "Hey! Daijobou!" He asked frantically yelling. He didn"t mind going underwater but he cannot see clearly below the water since its still night time. Or at least the Sun hasn"t rise up yet. But the glowing light remains though so it"s looks like that it"s already morning. Splash! "Muuah!" The two rises up from the water. "*cough* *cough*" "How did we-" Negi said unfinished as, Flash. "Huh?" Their cards continue to glow. And then... Flaash! Small pillar of lights is sent towards the now no longer a danger "meteor". "What is this...?" Before Hayate could finish his question. A miracle has just answered that. Flaaash...! "Ah...!" To everyone"s surprise, "meteor" has been reduced into a lot of pieces, though they are not of craters but rather, they are black mists, presumably fog that were absorbed by "meteor" as it continued to grow itself. "Waah." Everyone is in awe of the miracle. "The "meteor"..." Negi said looking above. "It"s gone." Hayate said. Judas flies near them. "Congratulations. You have saved the world. And you have shown the Truth to everyone and you two have reached the Promised Land." "R-Really?" Negi asked. "Ah." "Yes!" Both of them cheered. "We did it Springfield!" Hayate cheered. "Ah! We did it Ayasaki-san!" "I knew you guys could do it!" Chamo cheered. "Heeey!" Voices called them out from the harbor. "Hayate-kun!" "Negi-chan!" "Negi!" "Negi-kun!" "Hayata-kun!" "Hayate!" "Boya!" "Ayasaki-kun! Springfield-chan!" Everyone is there, waving at them. "Ah, everyone!" The two of them wave back at them. "Hm." Judas smiles with delight. It"s finally over... The fog that were absorbed by "meteor" slowly fade away into the sky. It"s been a memorable year... 2011 slowly passes by and a new years arises. Brand new days await everyone. With the fog gone, most of the negativity will banish without a trace and the memory of those bitter days would eventually fade away. But... One thing that will never be forgotten is... ...that it was the deed of two children that brought about these brightful days... Later... boom! boom! With "meteor" gone, the power in the city was quickly re-open and a New Year celebration was celebrated. Fireworks are being fired everywhere to the sky, making the scenery all over the city like paradise like the United Kingdom where Hayate and Negi"s homecountry Wales is, well actually Hayate immigrated there when he was ten years old when he was abandoned by his parents and was admitted by the grandmaster, Igor. Many people are outside celebrating the birth of a new year, 2012. With most of the fog of deceit gone, brand new days await everyone. Most are eager to see those days. At Hakou Academy... boom! boom! Meanwhile, at the institute where Setsuna, Hinagiku and the Baka rangers attend to, and the school that is being run by the Tennousos, a New Year celebration is being celebrated by the students and staff there. Hayate and Negi are special guests. Athena walks up afront in the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen," She said through the microphone. "Please welcome Ayasaki Hayate and Negi Springfield!" "Yaay!" Everyone cheered as Hayate and Negi embarrasingly walk up in the stage, rubbing the back of their heads. "Uh... H-Hi, everyone." "It"s... uh... surprise to be here, in... stage." They both said embarrased in the microphone. "Yaaay!" Everyone is delightened at the sight of the two which caused them to be more embarrased. Most of the people they have known, the Narutaki twins, Makie and Haruna giggle at what they said. "Hayate-kun!" Hinagiku and the others give applauses to them. Evangeline walks up afront. "And now, the moment everyone has been waiting for, it"s now time for a celebration!" "Yeaah!" Everyone cheered again. This time it"s more wildly. "Let the New Year celebration begins!" "Yaaay!" Everyone gathers around Hayate and Negi. "WH-Whoa, hey!" "Guuh, w-waah!" The two of them are embraced by various female students. Athena, Evangeline, Hinagiku and the others, are among those. Sakuya and Isumi also attended the party along with Nagi"s fiance, well actually, it"s now ex-fiance since with the death of the head of the Sanzenin, Mikado, that agreement is no longer to be continue. And so the celebration continues. Most girls asked Hayate and Negi to dance with them and in the end, they ended up dancing with various female students since they didn"t want to upset any of them. The last girls that they dance with are the Tennousos. The party continued up to 3 a.m. in the morning and it doesn"t look like it was going to stop soon. More fireworks are fired as the Sun is about to rise up from its slumber... where brand new days await everyone. A brand brightful and magnificient days that is. And it was given to everyone by the two. "Ah, it"s great being with these people." Judas commented. He"ll be staying with the two for the rest of their lives, giving them guidance and protection for it is his purpose. And he was glad to be with them. Being with a lot of unique and interesting people, it"s great to be with them. ...And they will continue to be happy as they continue living... Love will Grow! And nothing comes in the way! It"s true that love is here to stay; All we have to do is to face tomorrow. Love will Grow! And nothing comes in the way! It"s true we"ve always been so slow- Should I tell you now what"s been burning inside? Darling, strange days are over, Fears and tears, they"re all gone. This is the very beginning- Now, the world is meant for you and me. Love will grow, and nothing comes in the way, It"s true that love is here to stay; Should I tell you now what"s been burning inside? Love will grow, and nothing comes in the way, It"s true we"ve always been so slow- Should I tell you now what"s been burning inside? Darling, strange days are over, Fears and tears, they"re all gone. This is the very beginning- Now, the world is meant for you and me. See how the day has just broken, Oh, so fresh from the world See how the brand new sun"s coming up- Let it now... shine on me! Shine on you... shine on me! Love will Grow! And nothing comes in the way! It"s true we"ve always been so slow- Should I tell you now what"s been burning inside? Darling, strange days are over, Fears and tears, they"re all gone. This is the very beginning- Now, the world is meant for you and me. Love will grow, and nothing comes in the way, It"s true that love is here to stay; Should I tell you now what"s been burning inside? Love will grow, and nothing comes in the way, It"s true we"ve always been so slow- Should I tell you now what"s been burning inside? Darling, strange days are over, Fears and tears, they"re all gone. This is the very beginning- Now, the world is meant for you and me. See how the day has just broken, Oh, so fresh from the world See how the brand new sun"s coming up- Let it now... shine on me! Shine on you... shine on me! Love will Grow! And nothing comes in the way! It"s true we"ve always been so slow- Should I tell you now what"s been burning inside? Darling, strange days are over, Fears and tears, they"re all gone. This is the very beginning- Now, the world is meant for you and me. Love will grow, and nothing comes in the way, It"s true that love is here to stay; Should I tell you now what"s been burning inside? Love will grow, and nothing comes in the way, It"s true we"ve always been so slow- Should I tell you now what"s been burning inside? Darling, strange days are over, Fears and tears, they"re all gone. This is the very beginning- Now, the world is meant for you and me. See how the day has just broken, Oh, so fresh from the world See how the brand new sun"s coming up- Let it now... shine on me! Shine on you... shine on me! Love will grow, and nothing comes in the way, It"s true that love is here to stay; All we have to do is to face tomorrow! The End Epilogue... The days continued on after New Year. The girls would occasionally spend their time with Hayate and Negi and they would also come to the Tennousos" Velvet mansion for some enjoyable time together since according to them, that place is the most enjoyable place to spend time with much to the two sisters" dismay but since nothing breaks there, they didn"t mind. Hayate and Negi would visit each of them with either they have presents or they just thought of visiting them. Oh, and they each went on dates that involves each of the girls. Their days went on like that in which they are doing their promise in their "contract" that they"ll rescue kidnapped people or find missing things. And then at the month of March... "Well, looks like this is it." Hayate said as he and Negi give one last look at the Tokyo before going back to Wales. They have completed their contract for a year and now it"s time for them to go back to the academy. "It wasn"t long but I had fun here." "Ah. It was our most enjoyable time together with everyone. I"ll never forget them." Negi said. "Ah." They then turn to their ship. "Sa, are you guys ready? Because will be having a lot of company." Judas said. "Huh?" Both asked. "What do you mean by that Aniki-judas?" Chamo asked. "Negi-kun!" "Hayate-kun!" "...!" To their surprise, they see everyone with luggages. "Wha...!" "What are you guys doing here!" Negi asked. "Uh well... ha ha." "We thought we might come with you." Izumi and Setsuna said. "Huh?" The two asked. "Yeah. Since we now know of the Shadows existence we thought of learning about the summoning of our own personas." Hinagiku said. "Eh? You mean...?" "Hai! We"re going with you!" Everyone said. "..." An awkward wind passes by them then... "WHAT!" Hayate and Negi exclaimed. "Yeah, so let"s go!" Izumi said running towards the ship with her luggages. "Ah S-Segawa-san!" "Sa, pack your things everyone. We"re going to Wales." Setsuna goes there as well. "Yeah!" Everyone said as they pack their things. "W-Wait a minute everyone!" "Sa, we"re under your care Hayate-kun." Hinagiku said with a wink. "Uh..." "Sa, let"s go." "Ah, H-Hinagiku-san...!" She grabs hold of his right arm and drag him. "Well, you all seem to be enthuastic." A noble feminine voice said. "Huh?" Everyone turns to it then... "A-tan?" "Evangeline-san?" "Since you all seem to have a neck to get into trouble, we thought we might as well accompany you to a foreign country." Evangeline said. "Indeed. Sa, let us go, everyone." Athena said packing their luggages. "Yeah!" Everyone said as they head for the ship. "Uh..." "How did it... Come to this...?" Hayate and Negi asked. "Well, there is a saying that one adventure leads to another." Judas said to which Chamo nods. That"s true. Looks like there will another adventure for the group. In Wales that is. "Sa, let"s go Hayate." Athena grabs on to Hayate"s other arm with Hinagiku on the other. "Ah A-A-tan..." "Let"s go then." Hinagiku said as they drag the young man to the boat. "Sa, let"s go, boya." Evangeline does the same to the ten year old. "Uh..." Both are speechless of the series of events. "Looks like the academy will be having a lot of new students. Hm, sounds worth the time. This is going to be another exciting adventure for you guys." Judas said as he follows everyone to the boat. "Yosh! More ermine dollars for me! Heehee." Chamo said as he climbs up to Negi"s left shoulder. Chachamaru, her older sister and Machina, who after several weeks, have finally recovered. Looks like their days in the academy will be more exciting than before. FIN Note: And that"s it! I had fun writing this. I felt sad since I was kinda like watching the end of an anime ha ha. Anyway, some words from the battle poem during the final battle were from One Winged Angel, Sephiroth"s theme, in FF7 as you no doubt know. And the other words in the second battle poem are from God in Fire from Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. Oh, just to want to let you know, Brink of Delusion is like a synonym of Final Fantasy ha ha. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. I am thinking of making a sequel of this in which Fate from Negima will be the main antagonist and that the story will be more focusing on Negi but Hayate will also be in it and like here, he"s a main character and a protagonist. If all of you who read this want me to write it, send me reviews and I"ll get into it ha ha. Anyway, enjoy! Ja ne!

Riki has just finished preparing for school. He"s currently fixing himself on the mirror by the sink. "Hm, I guess I better go downstairs." He decided to go downstairs. ... ...Second floor, hallway... Riki is walking down the corridor. Then- ...tap, tap, tap, tap... "Hm?" Someone, a female student with an attractive body, came down from the floor upstairs. "Hm?" Riki came into an eye contact with this person. "Oh, you"re..." "Hm, I"ve never seen you here before. Are you new here, boy?" This young woman referred to Riki as "boy" as if she"s a big sister figure for any young girls around her. This is Yuiko Kurugaya. "Eh?" "B-Boy...?' Riki felt awkward at being referred to by that term, so he was caught off-guard. "Oh, uh... Y-Yeah. I just... arrived here last night." "Hm, I see... Then you"re that boy that Futaki-san mentioned." "Futaki-san? Oh, by the way, where is she?" "Oh? Futaki-san? Ohhh... Are you perhaps..." She eyed him instensely... "...after the Head of Student Council, too?" "Eh?" Again, Riki was caught off-guard at that. "She"s very popular, you know. Most of the girls look up to her as if she"s an idol or a goddess figure. And most of the boys can"t even approach her due to her aura that tend to make people bow to her. I would say though, she"s quite distant and quite... eh, overbearing. You got nice tastes, boy. Hm," She winked at him. "...Eh," Riki sweat dropped at her words. "Well, anyway," She flipped her hair, making her look beautiful from men"s perspectives."I"m Kurugaya Yuiko, what a pleasure to meet you, boy." Riki sweat dropped big this time. "Uh, yeah. I"m...I"m Naoe Riki. Pleased to meet you, um, K-Kurugaya-san." "What was that you said just now!?" A loud voice from downstairs is heard loudly. "Hm?" "Huh?" Kurugaya"s and Riki"s attention were caught by that voice. "Hmph, you"re all into brute force, Masato. You cannot defeat me without even knowing the extent of your physical strength." Another voice is heard downstairs. "Yeah? Say that again!" There"s the first voice again. "What the...?" Riki ran downstairs to see what"s the commotion is all about. "Sigh, not again." While Kurugaya simply put her hand on her forehead, feeling annoyed at the voices that are coming form downstairs. "Those two muscle-brained are going at it again. Sigh, well, I suppose I could watch some entertainment." Kurugaya declared and she herself decided to go and see what"s going downstairs. ... ...First floor, dining room... "Ora! Hey, get back!" Rin Natsume is picking up her cats that are running about due to the loud voices of Masato Inohara and Kengo Miyazawa. She"s keeping them from harm"s reach-in which she"s preventing them from being caught in the fight between the two guys. "Hmph, Kengo, it"s been too long since we had a good match. This time, I"ll prove I"m the strongest!" Masato exclaimed loudly while giving off a confident expression as he stared at his rival, Kengo. "Hmph, you? Huh, for someone who can"t even defeat Kyosuke, I"m pretty sure I"ll be the one to challenge him soon enough. Well, you might get hurt as well if someone else interfere in our match." Kengo gave a calm statement which only angered Masato. "As well? You think you can hurt me!?" Masato said clenching his fists tightly and strongly. ...tap, tap, tap! Riki arrived at the scene. "Huh?" He witnessed the fight that is transpiring right now. "What the..." "Ah, hey! Don"t go in there!" Rin exclaimed as one of her cats ran straight to where the fight is transpiring. "Ah...!" Riki himself felt like going in there and try to save the cat. "H-Hey, it"s dangerous!" "Hm?" Kurugaya arrived at the scene as well. At the same time, Riki ran straight to the battleground. "Hey, it"s dangerous there! You"ll get caught in the fight!" Riki exclaimed as he chased the cat to pick it up. "Ah, you..." Rin eyed Riki. This is the first time she has seen him in person. "Ah, boy!" Kurugaya exclaimed as she felt worried for Riki who is not stopping in chasing the cat that is running straight to those two big idiots. "Alright, Kengo, I won"t let you make a fool out of me! Uryaaaa-!" Masato is the first to attack! "Hmph," Kengo remained steady, then he put on a stance of a samurai, and-"Hn!" Then he himself lunged forth! "Huaaarrgghh!" "Huuaaaarrhh!" Both of them are going at it! "Meow!" The cat ran in-between the two-and- "Hey, STOP!" Riki jumped towards the cat... and in-between Kengo and Masato whose attacks are about to collide and- "Ah!" Kurugaya exclaimed as she realized that Riki will be caught in the attacks of those two. "B-Boy!" "H-Hey!" Rin exclaimed with her arm extended towards Riki"s direction. "Oh no... I"m... I"m an idiot.' Riki thought as he realized that he just put himself in danger. "Why did I jumped here!?' "Gr," Closing his eyes, he waited for whatever it is that is coming his way and- -Sharp-! "Grrr!" Seth suddenly appeared in his mind. "Huh?" Riki opened his eyes and- *Counter* BLOOOCk-! BLOCK! "Huh?" "Wha...?" Both Kengo"s and Masato"s attacks were stopped by an invisible barrier and- REFLEEECT-! THWACHT-! BAM-! TWAACTHH-! "Guargh!" "Guggh!" Both of their attacks were redirected backwards... ...back to them, that is. *BAMMM-!* "Gaaahhh!" "Uwaaahh!" *CRAAASSHHH-!* Both of them were sent flying backwards and they crashed on the walls. "Eh?" Riki was dumbfounded at the development. By the way, he managed to catch the cat when he jumped at it and right then, he could swore that Seth"s ability "Counter" was activated and that pretty much sent both Kengo and Masato flying towards the wallls. "Eh?" He was even more dumbfounded at that part-the part that they are now unconcious and are glued on the walls, that is. "Eh?" Even Kurugaya is dumbfounded at what she saw-or at least, she thinks Riki somehow managed to summon unreal strength that pretty much sent those two idiots flying. She didn"t see the invisible barrier that protected Riki. "Ah..." Rin"s eyes are glued at Riki. "... ... ..." Riki isn"t moving a muscle. He cannot fathom what just happened here other than... ...he just injured two guys indirectly. "I... just..." "Meow." The cat he"s holding jumped to his left shoulder and licked him on the cheek. "Ah... ...Wh-What I have doneeee...!" He exclaimed loudly, with this voice echoing throughout the dorm. ... ...Later, at the school gate... "Ah." Riki arrived here with a dumbfounded expression. "...I guess... I should attend... the first day of school... Ah." He recalled what happened after the "incident". Flashback "Hm," Kurugaya eyed Kengo who is unconcious and is glued on the wall. "Hm," Then she turned to Masato who is at the other side and is on the same state as Kengo. "Boy..." She then approached Riki who is still in disbelief of what happened. "Boy, you..." "What have I done! Q-Quick, someone call for help or... Huh?" Kurugaya placed her hands on his shoulder, then she made him turn around to face her. "K-Kurugaya-san...?" "You... How did you do that?" She asked with her eyes intensely looking at his. "Eh? Oh... Well... I... think... Uh..." Rin ran up to Riki. "You... You saved my cat..." "Meow." The cat that Riki rescued walked up to Rin and she picked him up. "Meow." "You"re..." Turning her eyes to Riki, "..." -Suddenly, the front door opened- "What"s going on!?" "We heard someone yelling here!" Both Kanata and A-chan arrived at the scene. ""Hm?"" Then both of them witnessed the scene before them. ""Huh?"" They reacted the same and at the same time. ... ...Later... "I see..." Kanata said. All of those who are present-with the exception of Kengo and Masato who have been laid on the sofas due to their unconcious states-are seated at the dining table, Kurugaya just gave the full details of what transpired befor Kanata and A-chan arrived. "Then..." Turning to RIki who is sitting at the middle end of the table, "Naoe-kun, you stopped those two from harming that innocent cat of Natsu-I-I mean Rin-san, and we have just arrived to see the result of that incident." ""Hm,"" Both Rin and Kurugaya nodded at that. "That"s pretty much how it stands. Those two idiots were going at it and then this boy stood up and broke the fight." Kurugaya said. "Hm, I see." Kanata said in acknowledgement. "Well, I guess that"s that?" A-chan asked if the meeting is already adjourned. "Well, I suppose this misunderstanding is already cleared. And school will start soon, all you can go now." Kanata turned to Riki after saying that. "And Naoe," "Y-Yes?" "...Hm," Kanata smiled. "You did good." "Eh?" "From saving Rin-san"s cat and breaking off those two from doing something foolish." "Oh, uh... It"s..." He slightly lowered his head, "Can you... offer my apology once they recovered?" He turned to the sofas where the two unconcious guys are. Everyone else turned to where he is staring at. "Why are you apologizing? It"s not like you did anything bad." A-chan said. "But... I sort of went overboard there, didn"t I?" "Hmph, if you ask me, this is something that could give this those two something to think about. Something that should straighten them up, that is." Kurugaya said. "Hm, I suppose your request is fair, Naoe. Very well. Well then, you"re all adjourned." Kanata declared. ...Later, outside the dormitory... Riki stepped out of the dorm, right before he could close the door behind him, however- "A moment, boy." Kurugaya placed her hand on his hand that is closing the door. "Eh? Oh, K-Kurugaya-san." She"s just on the other side of the door that is slightly opened. She managed to stop him from closing the door just now. "What is it?" "Hm," She opened the door for her to able to step out, but she didn"t let go of Riki"s hand as she stepped out. "You seem to be interesting, boy. I didn"t think you could incapacitate those two with bare strength." "Ah... That"s... W-Well, uh, I-I think I should go now. W-Well, s-see you..." He attempted to leave, but... "Oh... You"re just leaving me behind?" As he is about to go, Kurugaya didn"t let go of his hand, and he has to stop because of that. "Eh... K-Kurugaya-san..." He nervously looked at her. "Can you... let go of my hand...? I have to get to school and..." "Hm, we"re heading for the same direction, boy. Why don"t we simply go there... together?" She winked at him when she suggested the last part. "Eh?" Riki was caught off-guard at that. "Well then, let us go, boy." Kurugaya started walking with her not letting go of Riki"s hand, and he"s pulled along. "W-W-Wait, K-Kurugaya-san..." He is forced to walk alongside her. ... ...Later, inside a train... Riki and Kurugaya has met up with Rin onboard this train. Rin was able to catch up with the two of them when they were about to board this train and they all went onboard altogether. Rin and Riki are staring out through the window-with Rin explaining to Riki about the environment and the school. "So, that"s it. See? You can see it from here." Rin said, pointing at the sight of the school. "Ah." Riki could see it from here as the train is like gliding over the sea. "We"re almost there." "You two should sit down." Kurugaya, who is seated beside Rin, told the two. "Come on, you should relax before we get there." "Hm," Rin nodded. ... ...Later, at Port Island Station... The train arrived at its intended destination. As soon as the doors opened, all of the students stepped out. Riki, Rin and Kurugaya stepped out altogether. "Hm," Kurugaya stretched out her arms to feel the warmth of the pleasant morning. She put down her arms afterwards, "Ah, the sight of the sea can certainly be sleepy. It"s like a calm that is putting you to sleep. What a marvelous way of life." "Hm? What"s that?" Rin asked. "Nothing. Well then, should we get going?" "Hm," Riki intended to follow them, but- Sharp-! ...The other Riki appeared in Riki"s mind. "A moment, my other me." "Eh? My... other self?' Shadow Riki nodded. "There is an urgence in going to the almost deserted part of this station. You may meet someone who could benefit from your aid... And you will form a new bond. Now go." Flash-! Shadow Riki disappeared as Riki could only see whiteness in his mind afterwards. "..." Riki just stood about. Both Rin and Kurugaya didn"t seem to have noticed that he"s not tagging along with them. Both of them went on ahead while Riki pondered on what to do. "...A deserted part of this station? Hm," He looked about, seaching for any deserted-looking part of the station. "Hm, maybe I should..." He started walking out to the direction where Rin and Kurugaya went. ... ...Behind Port Island Station... Riki found himself here, seeing that the place is deserted. So this might be the right place. "...But..." Riki sweat dropped as this place is more like an hideout for punks, criminals and all that kind of people. There are signs that this place has been used by some people already as there are littered cigarrettes about, litterred cans of soda and other kinds of litterred things. "But what exactly am I supposed to find here...?" "Eeek! P-Please, I just got lost and..." A girl"s voice is heard loudly. "Huh?" Riki became alerted at that. "What the..." He looked at the right side where the voice came from, he could swore. "Is someone..." He ran to the direction ahead of that path. ... ...At a deserted part of the alley... "Eek..." Komari Kamikita is surrounded by four punks. "P-Please, I just got lost on the way here..." "Huh? What was that?" "Hey, bro, can I get piece of her? Ooh, she"s hot." "Hey, I want a piece of her, too, bro!" The punks are talking sick... "Fine, fine... Just make sure that she can"t report this to those police bastards." ...tap, tap, tap... Riki arrived at the scene. "Hm? Wha..." He found Komari to be surrounded by these punks. Sharp-! Shadow Riki appeared once more in Riki"s mind. "Fear not, my other me. Remember, muster your will and take responsibility for it. It is then that your obstacles would be swept aside, much like these degenerates about. Now, SUMMON FORTH YOUR DESIRED OUTCOME-!" "...Hm," Riki slightly clenched his fists, then... Flash-! Riki summoned his persona card, it landed on his right palm- FLAASH-! -then he crushed it. *Swift Strike* Riki prepared himself-then he rushed towards the people ahead of him. "Gr..." Komari is terrified as she backed away a bit from the punks. "Alright, let"s see what we can get from her... hehe," They started to approach her then... "Hmrh," Komari closed her eyes with her slightly turning away from the punks. "Alright, let"s see wha-Wh-What the-! Guark!" POW! POOW...! "What the-! Who are- Guaargh!" Pow, Bam, Baam! "B-Bastard, what did you do to my bro!? Haaaa!" BAAAM-! "GUAARRGH-!" "D-Dammit, I won"t forget this!" "Gr, let"s go!" The sounds of the punks running away are heard. "...Eh?" Komari didn"t witness what has happened, but... "..." Riki is here, having beat up the punks and forcing them to retreat. "..." He stood up straight after dealing with the punks. (Note: This scene is reflecting the Social Link event of the Lovers Social Link in Persona 3, if you must know. And if you must also know, Komari"s Arcana is the Lovers, much like Yukari.) "Eh?" Komari was surprised to see him. "Y-You... Who are... you?" "..." Riki turned to Komari. "You should not come here. Well, I suppose it wasn"t your fault that you ended up here. But just go to where other decent people head to, okay?" "Ah... You... What happened to those people?" "Hm, them? I drove them away." Riki said, looking at the direction where the punks ran off. "Well," He turned around. "You best leave this place." "Oh, um... Y-Yes... But... You... You saved me?" "What does it look like? I cannot leave you to your fate when you were surrounded by those ungrateful bastards. Well, school is about to start. You best hurry." tap, tap, tap, tap-! Riki ran off. "Ah, w-wait!" Komari extended a hand towards his direction but he didn"t stop running. End of Flashback ...Back at the present, at the school gate... "Ah, is that what was urgent, other me?" Riki is speaking with his other self. "Yes. You did well in saving that girl, but I would conjecture that you will meet more people today. So, I will be watching... Be well, other me." Shadow Riki disappeared in his mind. "Hm, I suppose I should go to that building over there..." Riki headed for the main lobby building. ... ...Main lobby building... A lot of students are looking at the bulletin board where the classroom assignments are posted. Riki himself is trying to see where his name is... "Hm, no... no... Ah, the list is so long that- Oh, wait, there it is." He spotted his name. "Hm?" Looking below his name, the name Natsume Rin is right there... "Rin...? Rin-san will be my... classmate? ... ..." It seems that is the case. "Huh, o... kay. What coencidence." -Just then, the intercom sounded. "Attention all students. Please come to the auditorium for the opening ceremony. All are required and no exception. We will begin with the..." It seems everyone is being summoned to the auditorium. Some people are heard complaining. "Oh man, this isn"t gonna be just some boring rants from the principal, is it?" "Hm, I hope not. I got better things to do. My mom will be..." Riki could hear more complaints. "Hm, it"s not that of a hussle or nuisance.' Bonk! "Gah!" Someone bumped into him as they ran passed him. "Oh, sorry about that." He apologized to that person even though he"s the one who pushed a bit. "Hm? Oh no, that"s okay. Haha, sorry about that." This is Haruka Saigusa. She was running energitically and she bumped into Riki on the process. "Well, see ya!" She left running energetically again. "Huh, an energetic person." Riki watched her leave. "I guess I better go, too." ... ...Later, at the auditorium... All of the students are gathered here. "Now then, the school assembly is about to start. First, the principal has something to say." A teacher said over the microphone. She stepped out of the podium and the principal took her place there. "Hmhm. Ahem. Good morning, I would like to welcome all of you as we begin the new school year. Today marks the beginning of your paths towards new educational experiences, your way of making new friends and acquiantances and most importanly, today also marks the day where you yourselves may begin to see forth a new light in a different perspective. When we talk about..." The principal continued with his speech. "..." Riki is sitting still on his seat. He could hear the yawning of some male students behind him, he can tell that they"re not interested in listening to this speech whatsoever. He sweat dropped since they"re frankly speaking in which anyone nearby can hear them, and there are teachers about. "Aren"t these guys worried that they may get caught talking while the principal is speaking?' "Hey, who"s talking over there?" A teacher seemed to have heard them talking. Upon hearing that teacher, the boys were alarmed and they all sat still and straight. '...That"s karma, I suppose.' Riki thought. Plat "Hm?" He noticed that an handkerchief fell on the ground. "That"s...' He thought of picking it up, and he did, but- -In doing so, another hand appeared to have the same intention. Riki"s hand and that hand involuntarily came into contact. "Ah." "Hm?" The one sitting beside Riki, Mio Nishizono, seemed to have dropped her handkerchief. "Ah." She regarded Riki without much expression... or emotion. "Oh, uh, is this yours?" "..." She nodded in response. "Oh, then..." ...While pausing in mid-sentence, he picked up the handkerchief and dusted it off. "H-Here. It"s still clean." "Hm," She received the handkerchief without much expression again. "Thank you." "Y-Yeah... Ah." Riki turned his attention back in front afterwards. "She"s passive...e motionless... Hm, oh well. I shouldn"t be rude on how people act as they see fit.' Sharp-! -Suddenly, Shadow Riki appeared once more in his mind. "I know this is a sudden, but another urgent thing has come to our attention." "Other me...? Wha... What is it this time?' "Once this gathering is over, go to the courtyard. You will see something... familiar." '...? Familiar?' The Shadow nodded. "That is all. Go do what you must." Then he disappeared in Riki"s mind. "...The courtyard." Riki muttered. "Hm? What about the courtyard?" Mio heard him muttering that. "Eh? Oh, uh... N-Nothing." He said as he fidgeted a bit. He sat still and straight to make it look like that he"s acting normally. "Gr, I better stop talking outloud when people are around me.' He made a mental note of that. "...Hm," Mio took his word and she herself turned her attention in front... ... ...Later, after the assembly, at the courtyard... As he was instructed to by his Shadow, Riki went to this courtyard to check out something... which he has no idea of what it is whatsoever. "Okay... I am here... What now?' He looked around at his surrounding. This is a nice courtyard. One can probably have a lunch here if they wish. Perhaps a lot of students eat their lunches here. "Meow." A cat is passing by the grass. "Hm?" Riki noticed that cat as it passed by, and then that cat went behind a tree. "A cat? Could it be... Rin-san"s cat?" "Hm? Someone say my beloved sister"s name?" A voice behind the tree asked. "Eh?" Riki was caught by surprise there for a second. It seems there"s someone else here... "Who... Is someone... Is someone there?"

"The corner of your mind. But enough about that, it would seem that something urgent has come to our attention." "Urgent?" "Yes... Abominations are roaming the corners of the place that you are staying at. Go save her... She"s waiting for you. She will need you." "She? Uh... Who?" "Komari Kamikita." Everything was engulfed by a blinding light after the Shadow said that name. ... ... ...At Riki"s room... "Hm!" Riki opened his eyes widely, he"s fully awake now. The first thing he saw was the ceiling of his room, it"s colored green for some reason. Riki blinked twice, "Huh?" He rose his body up, "What the..." He looked around his room. Everything is greenish for some reason. "What happened?" He then turned to the window, "Huh?" He stood up from his bed and decided to check outside through the window. "Hm," He"s looking about on the street below. There are... ...coffins. Riki blinked, "A coffin?" He remembered the coffins that he saw when he first came into town... "...Those are the same coffins much like before..." Sharp-! "Ah..." Riki felt a slight pain on his head. Like a worm squirming into his skull... He touched his forehead. "What... the..." ...He suddenly started hearing some eerie voices... "The humans... Their minds are delicious... Those minds that are filled with endless darkness... They give Mother eternal power." This voice sounds malevolent and wicked, and feels unnatural. Supernatural, in fact. "I will have this girl, Komari Kamikita. She is OURRRSS-! GROOOAAAARR-!" Sharp-! "Garrgh!" Riki knelt down in pain, he cannot hear the voice anymore. "huff, huff, ah." He touched his forehead again. "What was that...? Is that girl Komari..." He remembered that girl that he saved from punks recently... She"s in trouble... danger. "..." Riki stood up with him touching his forehead still. "I... I..." He slightly lowered his head and removed his hand from his forehead. "... ..." He slightly raised his head as he stared at the window with an expression that tells that he has a premonition that something bad will happen soon... to Komari Kamikita. "I better go to her." ...With that, he dressed in his school uniform and he headed out of his room to find that girl, Komari Kamikita. ... ... ...At the riverbank side... -tap, tap, tap, tap-! Riki arrived here after running for a while. "huff, huff, huff, ah." He"s catching his breath with his hands on his knees after all that running. "Ah." He straightened himself up. "Ah, where..." He looked around. The river is just at the side-on the right side-and there"s no one within the vicinity. "Hm," He looked up. There"s a full moon tonight... But looking at it feels eerie for some reason. "What in the world is going on here...?" ...Meanwhile, at the command room at the dormitory... Everyone, with the exception of Kyosuke, is still here, doing whatever they wish. Masato is working out with his dumbbells at the corner, Kengo is sitting on a meditative state at another corner, Rin is feeding her cat with a cookie on the sofa, A-chan is drinking tea still, Kurugaya is reading a book on the sofa as well, and the same goes for Kanata who is seated on the same seat earlier. "Say, where did Kyosuke go?" A-chan asked after filling up a cup of tea. "He said he"ll be training himself for a while. Hm, why didn"t you want to go with him, Inohara?" Kanata asked without diverting her attention from her book. "Heh, Kyosuke thinks Tartarus is just a training ground. But if you ask me, there are some things that are best left untouched." Masato said without stopping on his work out. Kengo opened his eyes upon hearing that. He turned to Masato, "Hmph, I"m surprised to hear that from you. I guess you"re not entirely devoid of cognitive functions." Masato turned to him. "Huh? Cogniwhat now...?" Even though Kengo"s statement was a bit insulting, Masato is so much of an idiot that the insult didn"t even reach him... "By the way, I heard-" Teeerreet, teeerreet-! Before Kurugaya could continue, the console sounded. Kanata stood up and approached the console, she pushed a red button. "Command room. ...Is that you, Natsume Kyosuke?" "*static* *static* You"re not gonna believe this, this thing"s huge! Unfortunately, I don"t have time to talk, it"s chasing me... I"m at the Riverbank, I-What the- W-Wait, G-Gaaauurrgh-!" Kyosuke"s line was cut-off with a loud static. """*gasp*!""" The girls gasped at that. "K-Kyosuke!" Rin stood up from the sofa, agitated. "Meow!" Her cat is on the sofa still. Masato put his dumbbells down. "What was that? It sounded like he was in trouble." "That thing is huge...? What was he referring at?" Kengo asked. A-chan turned to him. "Duh, it"s the dark hour. That means-" "Kyosuke is under attack by a Shadow!?" Rin asked, agitated. Everyone else felt alarmed and alerted. Kanata faced all of them, "Prepare yourselves. Natsume said he"s at the Riverbank, and if our suspicion is correct, a battle may be unavoidable." She turned to A-chan, "A-chan, prepare everyone"s weapons. Make sure that dorm is secured and make sure Naoe-kun is safe." A-chan felt nervous for a moment, but she nodded. "R-Right. Be careful!" ... ...At the Riverbank side... ...tap, tap, tap, tap... Riki found himself wandering around here. "Where exactly am I supposed to go?" "Grooooaaarr." "Huh?" He heard something... a roar... He turned to his left-"Wha...?" "Groooaaarrr..." "Groooaaaarr..." "Groooaaaarr..." ...Monsters are crawling... They"re using their arms to drag their bodies to move... They"re colored black and greenish... They have red eyes and they"re all staring at Riki. "What... the..." Riki took one step backward- Shaarp-! "Other me." The voice of his Shadow. "Huh?" Riki is summoned inside his mind and his Shadow self appeared behind him, "Other me?" Much like before, the Shadow"s back is facing Riki"s and he"s not facing Riki himself. "You are now facing the mere fragments of human ego, as they call them. The Shadows. Prepare yourself, other me. And use the given power to you to destroy your enemies... Fusion Spell!" -Everything is engulfed by a blinding light inside Riki"s mind. "Ah." Riki"s focus is back to the real world once again. These monsters, the "Shadows", as Shadow Riki referred to them as such, are approaching with menacing expressions. "Groooaaarr..." "Grooooaaarrr..." "Groooaaarr..." "Ah." Riki just stood on his ground- "Use the Fusion Spell, other me." Shadow Riki"s voice is heard. "That bond that you share with that oaf, Natsume Kyosuke, should help you. Use it!" "Ah," Riki felt a soothing light- Flaash-! A card appeared in a flash of light on his right palm. The Wheel of Fortune Card. "Ah." He stared at the card, "This is...? The Wheel... of Fortune?" Flaash-! "Huh?" He turned to his other palm, another card has appeared in a flash of light there. The Fool. "The Fool..." Flaassh-! Flaash-! Both of the cards he"s holding glowed brightly. Then they floated upward and both of them rotated in a spiral manner as they ascended-this is a fusion. Sharp-! "Fusion... Spell?" Riki said looking up as he watched cards ascend, he felt a sharp sensation and he knew immediately of what is happening... "...With this, I..." FLAAASH-! The two cards merged. Fusion Spell: Infinity! Flaaashh-! A barrier formed around Riki. "Infinity." He said looking up still, then he turned to the Shadows in front. "Groooaaarr!" "Groooaaarr!" "Groooaaarrr!" They all lunged towards him-! Block, Block, Block-! The Shadows found themselves unable to reach Riki due to the invisible barrier around him. "It worked. Hm," Riki readied himself. "Alright..." -Flash-! He summoned his persona card, it"s floating and rotatin in front of him. Then he reached it out with his right hand- Flaash-! -And he crushed it. BLAASSTT-! Blue mists burst out of the ground. "Persona...!" Riki said. BLAAST-! "GROOOOOAAAARR-!" Seth is summoned. It hovered above, "Hm," Then Riki extended his arm forward. "Destroy them." He spoke in a combination of his and his Shadow"s voices. "GROOOOAAAAARR-!" Seth obliged to that command. *Maragidyne* "GROOOAAAARR-!" *ABLAAAAZZEEE-!* *ABLAAAAAAAAZZEE-!* "Groooaaaarrr-!" The Shadows were burned to ashes by the wave of flames that Seth summoned. "..." Riki watched as the flames dispersed, "Grooaarr," Then Seth disappeared as well. "Shadows... Hm, I guess my other me wasn"t lying about them. But where do I-" Sharp-! "I will take this girl..." ...Riki recognized this voice... It"s that same wicked and malevolent voice that heard earlier at his room. "Komari Kamikita, your soul is mine!" Sharp-! "Grk!" Riki touched his forehead in pain as he could no longer hear that voice. "Gr," Then he opened his eyes, "Kamikita... Komari..." He removed his hand from his forehead- Tap, tap,tap, tap-! -Then he started running at the left direction. "I have to get to her... Before that monster does! Kamikita-saaan!" He said running at full speed! ...Meanwhile, at the other side of the Riverbank... -Tap, tap, tap, tap-! "Dammit, dammit, dammit...!" Kyosuke is running away from something huge... TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP-! This freak of nature, a large Shadow, is using its multiple arms to walk-or run as he is chasing Kyosuke-and he"s wielding multiples blades at the same time. -tap, tap, tap, tap-! "Dammit, what have I ever done to you!?" Kyosuke is already running out of breath as far as he could tell. He can"t keep running forever. "Dammit, grr!" He took a detour and he ran at the alley way that is narrow in which the Shadow cannot follow him. "GROOOAAAARRR-!" The Shadow was enraged by that fact as it just stood outside the alley, giving a loud roar. "Tch, see you later, loser!" Kyosuke mocked the Shadow as he continued running throught he narrow alley way. Riiing, riiing, riing-! -His cellphone rang. He answered it. "Hello?" "Hey, where are you!? We can"t find your signal anywhere!" It sounded like Rin"s voice. Kyosuke cannot mistake it for someone else. "I"m at the Riverbank, at the southern side. Anyway, I"m still running, but... Gr, I gotta stop, I"m pretty tired." He stopped running and he put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "huff, huff, huff, ah. huff, huff..." "Hey, are you all right?" He answered, "Yeah, I"m fine. Sorry, but I gotta rest here for a while. I"ll send you a strong signal so you can detect me, if anything else-" "GROOOAAAARRR-!" The Shadow is heard from afar. "Hey! What was that!?" It seems Rin is agitated when she heard that roar of the Shadow. "That was the Shadow. I"ll be waiting for you guys here, hurry!" "Huh? But-" Before Rin could say anything further, Kyosuke hung up. "huff, that damn bastard... What the hell is he doing now...?" He"s catching his breath still. "I only hope he can"t follow me here in this alley..." ... ...At the middle of the street, at the Southern Riverbank side... One coffin is standing on the middle of the road... -Shaade-! -It transformed into a person-Komari. "Hm," Her eyes are closed. Then she slowly opened them, the first thing she saw is a greenish environment with coffins on the street-there are two of them. Komari blinked twice. "Eh?" Her facial expression is groggy, she looked around and she saw more coffins. The river"s color is that of a sea of blood. "Ah... *gasp!*" That sight alone was enough for her to be fully awaken. "Wha-Wha-Wha..." She looked around nervously and agitatedly, "Wh-Wh-Where am I!? Where is..." She turned to her left- Sharp-! "Komari Kamikita," An eerie voice called out her name. "Huh?" Komari heard it, and she seems to be the only one who can hear it. "Your life is mine... Your soul... is mine-! GROOOOAAAARRR-!" "Gyah...!" Komari felt even more agitated and she immediately looked at her right side-and what she saw was- -a large monster... coming out of the alley... It has multiple arms that are carrying blades and it"s also carrying a mask. "*gasp*! Wah... Waa..." Komari was terrified at the sight of that monster. And she can"t help but-"Gyaaaaahhh-!" Her scream echoed throughout the neighborhood. ... ...From afar... "Ah!" "Wah!" "Huh?" "What...!?" The group-Rin, A-chan, Kengo and Kanata, heard that scream. "Wha-What was that!?" A-chan asked, agitated. "That sounded like... Someone is in trouble!" Kengo said, alarmed. "Tch," Kanata picked her cellphone from her pocket and she called-"Kurugaya-san! Is there someone else within the vicinity!?" ... ...At the command room... "We just heard someone"s scream nearby. Is someone else in here!?" Kanata asked. "I"m looking on it." Kurugaya is operating the console. "Hey, Inohara, can you check up on the boy for me? We have to make sure he"s safe." "A-Alright! He"s at the second floor, right?" "Naturally. He"s a guy, after all. Now hurry! I have to track down Natsume"s signal. And it seems there"s someone else-Huh?" Just then, Kurugaya detected a signal that is moving. It would seem that someone is running very fast within the vicinity. "What the... Another signal?" "What"s wrong, Kurugaya?" Kanata asked. "I... I don"t know. I"m detecting a signal. It"s-" ... ...Back to Komari... "GROOOAAARR-!" The Shadow is approaching her. "Gyaaaahh-! S-Someone...!" She"s backing away slowly from this monster. "Kamikita-san...!"Someone"s voice is heard. "Huh?" Komari was surprised upon hearing that voice, she turned around to see... ... ...tap, tap, tap, tap... ...tap, tap, tap, tap... ...tap, tap, tap, tap-! "Kamikita-saaan!" It"s Riki running at full speed! "Y-You..." Komari remembered him from last time. Where he saved her from those punks just this morning. "What are you-" "GROOOAAARR-!" The Shadow approached Komari-to the point that it"s about to launch an attack on her-! "Ah," Komari turned her attention back to the Shadow and she immediately realized she"s in trouble. The Shadow raised one blade-then it swung it towards Komari-! "GROOOOAAAAARRR-!" "Gyaaaaaahhh-!" Komari covere herself in terror with her eyes closed. "Gr, don"t you dare to even TOUCH HER-!" Riki said as he ran in-between Komari and the Shadow, he said that last part with the combination of his and his Shadow"s voice, by the way. Flaash-! Flaash-! Riki summoned two cards on his palms. "GROOOOAAARR-!" The Shadow is about to hit its target-! "Fusion Spell: Infinity!" Riki exclaimed- FLAASH-! A barrier formed around Komari. "GROOOOAAAARRR-!" BLOOOOCCCKK-! The Shadow"s attack couldn"t reach Riki or Komari due to the impregnable barrier. The sound of the screeching blade annoyed Riki since it"s so damn loud. "Gr, why you..." Riki covered his ears since the screeching is so loud. "GROOOAAARR-!" Bloocck! Blooock! Block! Block! Block! Block-! The Shadow didn"t stop attacking and it"s trying to pierce the barrier with its blades. "Hm?" Komari opened her eyes and she found herself to be safe and sound. "Eh?" She stopped covering herself and In front of her, Riki is covering his ears due to the sounds of metal being very deafening. "You..." "Gr, would you stop that already! Try as many as you like and the result will always be the same!" Riki said to the Shadow as he removed his hands from his ears, then- Flash-! He summoned his persona card in front of him- FLASH-! He crushed it with his right hand- BLAASST-! "GROOOAAAARR-!" Seth is summoned. It hovered and it turned its attention to the Shadow in front. "Groooaarr!" *Myriad Arrows* Tsing, tsing, tsing... tsing, tsing, tsing, TSIING-! "GROOOOAAAARRR-!" A wave of piercing forces destroyed some of the Shadow"s arms and they exploded in the process, the Shadow is also wounded on its middle. "GROOOAAARR-!" -Riki extended his arm forcefully. "Finish him off, Seth!" He commanded of his persona. "GROOOOOAAAARRR-!" *Megidolaon* Three massive lights gathered above, then they slowly descended towards the Shadow while condensing altogether- "Ah..." Komari is watching in awe, this is all so unbelievable and... ...awesome. Riki is awesome... She"s watching him from behind. She"s watching Riki perform- "What is-" *BOOOOOOOOMMM-!* "GROOOOAAAARRR-!" The Shadow was completely blown away by that attack-All of its remains turned into black mists and they disappeared. The battle is over. ... ...From afar... "Huh!?" Kyosuke heard that explosion from afar. ...Somewhere else... "Huh!?" "Wha-!?" "Ah!" "Guah!" Rin, Kanata, Kengo and A-chan heard that explosion as well. "Wh-What was that!?" Rin asked. ... ...Back to Riki and Komari... "huff, huff, huff. Ah." Riki is catching is breath. "Groooaar," Seth disappeared from above. "Ah..." Komari is completely in awe. The monster is gone... Riki defeated it. "That was... ... ... Ah..." She smiled brightly like the Sun. "Th-THAT WAS AMAZING!" She exclaimed happily and cheerfully. ... ...Later... "Augh," Riki knelt on the ground. He"s still exhausted from all that excursion, sort of speaking. "You"re safe now." He told Komari who is behind him. "You," Komari went in front of him and she knelt down as well, they"re facing each other. "What was that? There was that dragon and-and-and-" "Ah, it"s... complicated." Riki said slightly looking down. "I"ll explain... later..." "Hm, you can tell about it all you want. Either way, this is now the second time huh?" "Eh?" Riki slightly raised his head. "A second... time?" "Hm," Komari nodded. "This is now the second time that you rescued me. From those bullies and now... from that monster." "Oh, I... see." He said with his eyes looking slightly downward on the left side. "Hm, well," He tried to raise his body- "Gurk!" But he couldn"t. "Ah! You better be careful." Komari said as she placed her hands on his shoulders to support him. "Ah, I"m tired..." "Hm, yeah, I can tell that by looking at you. Say... Do you think I should give you a reward for rescuing me this second time...?" "Eh?" Riki looked at Komari. "Hm, you don"t have to do that." "No, not thanking is a crime! I should give you something as reward!" Komari insisted. "Ah..." Riki sheepishly looked down at his left side, it seems Komari is pretty adamant about giving him something in return for saving her this second time. "Well, you can do as you wish, I guess." He said not looking at her. "Alright! Well then..." She said as she put an index finger on her chin. "How about..." ...She placed her hands on Riki"s cheek, grabbing his face. "Eh?" He is forced to look at her. Then... She leaned closer... closer... ... ...chu. "...!" ...He got kissed! On the lips. "Hmm, hmm," "Hmm, hmm...!" Riki couldn"t process immediately what"s going on, but the taste of her lips is like orange, and he feels... tired, even more tired than before. "Hmm, hmm, hmmm~" "Hmm... hm..." Riki"s eyes are becoming heavy now... ...chu... Komari broke the kiss. She let go of Riki"s cheeks. "Hehe," She sheepishly laughed with her own cheeks blushing red. "Ah..." Riki is slightly looking down, he can"t look at her like this. "I... am... ah..." Then he started to lose all of his energy all at once-He fell unconcious. "Ah! H-Hey! A-Are you okay!? H-Hey, whoever you are, I don"t know your name yet, but..." Komari shook his body. "Hey, come on, answer me!" ...tap, tap, tap, tap! ...tap, tap, tap, tap! ...tap, tap,tap, tap! "Hey, what"s going on-Huh?" The group, Rin, A-chan, Kanata and Kengo, arrived at the scene. A-chan is the first to speak up. "Huh?" Kanata saw Riki unconcious with Komari shaking him. "Ah." "Wha..." The next ones to react are Rin and Kengo. "N-Naoe!" "Naoe!" "..." Riki could hear the voices of everyone from afar... Then... There was only... ...darkness, afterwards... End of Chapter 3 Note: If you must know, the scenes with Komari are reflecting the scenes in Persona 3 where Minato saved Yukari from the Magician Shadow. I"ll stop here for now and see if I will get any reviews at all. I might get motivated to continue this if I receive some. Well, I hope you have enjoyed this. Farewell. ...Inside Riki"s Psyche... "Agh... Ah..." Riki slowly opened his eyes, he found himself in a gray colored place where there is nothing but gray color everywhere... Then that gray color turned dark, but it"s not completely dark here... ...shaaaadddeeee... ...shaaadddeee... ...Then a lot of rectangular shaped mirrors appeared hovering about. They appeared out of nowhere as if they"ve been here from the start and that they were invisible for the whole time. "Huh?" Riki looked about at his surrounding, "This place is..." "So you"re finally awake." A hollowed sounding of Riki"s voice is heard. "Huh?" -Then all of the sudden, Shadow Riki is being shown in all of those rectangular shaped mirrors. "Other... me?" "Can you heed my voice clearly? You became unconcious after you have used the Fusion Spell for the second time. Hmph, but I suppose it is nothing to worry about. So simply calm yourself..." Shadow Riki crossed his arms together. "By the way..." "Hm?" "How long do you plan to lie still there?" "Huh? Oh, r-right." Riki stood up straight and dusted himself off. Then he turned to the mirrors about, "What happened after... after..." He remembered defeating that huge Shadow and saving Komari... "Things have improved ever since you defeated that abomination. But the time for our conversation is short, so I"ll be clear... Don"t overdo your own body, and act on your own volition. That is all." Shadow Riki disappeared from the mirrors, they"re all blank again. ...shaaaaaaaaddddddeeee... Then it became very dark in this place, only Riki can be seen now...

"I-Ichika-san." Now this... is... a touching scene... if it weren"t... whoosh. "Huh?" "Hm?" They both turn to see that the plane is crashing... down to the airport below! "Waah! I"m loosing control!" Chelsea, who is in the pilot seat, cannot control it since it"s been rigged to go to Moscow, but with the controls going haywire, it"s out of charts, it"s going to crash into the city below. "What did you do?" The pilot snaps. "I... I don"t know, I just pushed the button here and there and..." "You don"t guess the controls here!" "Chelsea, what"s going on!" The other maid asked. "I-I..." "We"re going to crash, everyone, brace yourself!" The pilot said to the passengers. "Gyaah!" Everyone ducks in panic. whoosh, whoosh. Two personal IS fly towards the plane. "Chelsea!" Cecilia, who is carrying Ichika, flies towards it, he has run out of stamina because... "I... Hm," He has used too much effort in his Zero mode, he"s worn out, it"ll probably take about a lot of rest before he could regain back most of his energy, the two of them managed to get on the plane with Ichika following slowly to the pilot"s seat. "Chelsea, what"s going on?" "Ojou-sama, t-the controls..." "They"re ruined, we can"t use them now!" The pilot said. The meter is showing maximum velocity and the angle won"t get straight, it"s venting a lot of gasses pretty fast, it"s approaching the city below! "Here, install this on the cd part. Guh." Ichika tries to use the last of his strength to request them to install a data cd that he prepared just in case something like this would happen. "Hm? What is that?" Chelsea asked as Cecilia grabs it. "A cd? Wha...?" "Insert it... on... the... cock... pit, and... think only... of... landing... the... air... plane. Guh."He falls into unconcious state due to exerting a lot of effort in his Zero mode, which have subsided now. "Guh..." "I-Ichika-san!" "Hey!" "Let"s do what he says, we have no choice." The pilot suggested. "O-Okay, then, Chelsea, insert..." "No, I"ll do that, your maid can"t be trusted with the controls." "Hey, I know where to insert this!" Despite her protest, the pilot inserted the data cd. "There, it"s all yours." "Okay." Cecilia sits on the pilot seat. Then all sort of data are gathered, the letter Z.E.R.O. is on the screen. "Zero?" Then the visual interface is gone, only... "Huh? Hey, why can"t we see anything? We can"t land at this rate." "Yeah, we"ll..." "No, it"s quite alright." Cecilia assures both the pilot and Chelsea. "Huh?" "Leave this to me." Then Cecilia remembers Ichika"s words before he passed off. Think only of landing he said, Cecilia touches the radar like machine and begun to think just that. "Ichika-san, watch over me." She said in her mind, then the interface begun to calculate all possible courses to take, Cecilia guides it to make a safety landing, and it did. "Huh? Hey, the plane is moving." "Yeah, is the machine... moving it?" The pilot is i disbelief, right now, the plane is on auto-pilot mode, but not loosely, it"s being controlled by the program Z.E.R.O. and it"s moving according to Cecilia"s guidance. "Hm, hm." She"s getting a hang of it. ...At the airport... Slice, shoock, boom! "That should be the last of it." Mission complete, class 1 has dispatched all enemies, and the men from Russia are all capture by the authorities of IS academy. "Good job everyone, but... you all disobeyed orders, I"m expecting you to... huh?" Chifuyu berates all of them, but then a sight of a plane landing... "Uwa, that"s..." "Flight 3.12, it"s coming back but..." "Ichika." Houki removes the helmet like apparatus, it started to stop functioning almost just before all enemies were annihilated, she concluded that something must have happened to Ichika so that the system is shut off, since it was connected to the Byakushiki after all. "Ichika!" At this moment, the plane cannot land without a beacon, so... "Alright, Orimura-kun needs to see where to land, let"s light a beacon." "Hai, class 1, here we go!" There they go again, being hyperactive as always. "H-Hey, everyone!" Yamada called them out. "sigh, let them be Yamada. I got a full cover up on what do with the regarding their punishment." Chifuyu said. "Huh?" "These kids are special, perhaps, with them..." "Ichika, over here!" Houki and the other grab each one of the landing signals, those that can light out a path for a plane to land. "Yo, Orimu, over here!" "Yeah, over here!" Each of them are carrying something that the attendants carry in order to guide a landing. "Uh..." "See? I told you they"re special, hm." Chifuyu smirks at these kids, they"re really are something. Inside the pilot... the cockpit. "Ojou-sama, there, the students are beaconing us." Chelsea said. "I know. Hm." The Z.E.R.O. system continues to function, Cecilia focuses her mind in following the light beacons that is being signalled by her comrades in class 1. "Yosh, here we... go." With the landing wheels active, it"s now time to decrease velocity... the Z.E.R.O. programming did that. "Whoa," "Sugoi." Both the pilot and Chelsea are amazed at such fast technology outcome. "Sugoi, how does it...?" The plane slowly begun to decrease velocity... then it lands on the ground, the wheels are stirring and... done, it"s safe. "Yahoo!" "Yeah!" "We did it!" "Yeah!" "Orimura! Orimura! Orimura!" Inside the plane... "Yosh, we did it!" "Yeah!" The pilot and Chelsea cheered, then she goes to the passenger cabin. "Everyone, we made it, we"re now safe and sound, yahoo!" "Yay!" "Yeah, we"re safe!" "Darling, we safe!" Everyone celebrated the victory over this terrorism. "Sigh," Cecilia stops touching the machine, the Z.E.R.O. program signed off, given the purpose already done, and the c.d. being ejected. "Oh, I must study this." The pilot said grabbing the c.d. which is a modified version of the Z.E.R.O. program that Ichika asked to be developed by his classmates before they set out here, using the Hysteria Zero Syndrome, he was able to do so. "What is that?" Chelsea asked. "I don"t know, but it"s look..." "Sigh," Cecilia lies down on the seat, feeling relaxed, today has been very prominent for her... it"s a day of salvation, now she won"t have to be alone anymore... staring at the sleeping Ichika on the floor... "Ichika-san, he, arigatou, you showed me... the light, I am forever... in your... care. Orimura Ichika." End of Chapter 4 Midnight Stars of Giving Wish Chapter 5: Reunion with Destiny... Again ...at the field... Everyone is ready for some IS manuever lessons, everyone is dressed up in their respective attire, meaning all of them wear the same fitting suit which is like a one-piece swimsuit, Cecila has one but hers is that of almost blue color, Ichika is the only one dressed in a different attire given he"s the one who"s the only of the opposite gender, oh, and Chifuyu and Yamada are dressed in jogging suits, as proper attire for instructors. "Then, let us begin the IS manuever class." Chifuyu said, last night was... Flashback whickmp! "Gmn!" Everyone is being scolded in a line-up position. "Idiots, who give you permission to enter into this battle!" Chifuyu is holding a whip that is used for disciplining undisciplined disciple, sort to speak, she does not hit the student of course, but... "Who the heck gave you permission to enter, is it this idiot?" She points at the sleeping Ichika who has been deprived of all his energy, Chifuyu grabs him but he still remains unconcious. "Did he gave you specific instructions to follow?" "Um... hai." They all said unison. "Hmph, should have figured, I"ll-" "I"ll take full responsibility." Cecilia stepped forward. "Eh?" Everyone turns to her. "It"s because of me that they came, they wouldn"t just leave a comrade in arm." "Comrade in arm huh, and... who gave this code of moral?" "Um..." Everyone stares at the sleeping Ichika who is being hold on to Chifuyu"s grasp. "Let me guess, him?" They all nod. "Huh, I should have known." He got let go of her. "Well, since you guys were successful in dismantling the commotion here, I suppose I should drop all offense in this matter," Everyone is relieved at this, "But, If I hear any of you involved with something like this again..." Here it comes, everyone swallows their saliva to prepare for the grand... "I"ll make sure that you guys are informed." "Eh?" Everyone is surprised at that. Did they hear that right? They"ll be informed should a comrade in arm is in danger again? "O-Orimura-sensei?" Even Yamada is in shock. "You guys did well in your tactical plan, how did you do that?" "Uh well..." They all turn to Houki. "Well, I..." End of flashback "Z.E.R.O. programming huh." Right after Ichika used that program on Byakushiki, he has inputed it through imagination, IS are said to be manuevered through the use of the user"s imagination, as such, even though the machine is just an equipment, the user themselves feel all the things that one IS can touch, bisected with and all forms of senses it may manifested through the user, so it"s like bonding as the way of personal IS users tend to bond with their IS more than anything else as they are willing to put their well-being into them like they are both sides of a same coin. In Ichika"s case, the Z.E.R.O. programming was "inserted" through by his Hysteria Zero Syndrome, in which his mentality was being reflected on, as such, he has a good imagination during at this state, through this imagination in his Hysteria Zero syndrome, he has managed to "input" the system on Byakushiki, though he can"t say the same if he"s not in this mode, in fact, the other night, it took about at least four hours after six in the morning to rest up, and even that seems not enough, he has exerted a lot using that syndrome, as such, during class, he received two at least hit from Chifuyu for being lazy as she said, though he claims he"s not in any condition to pay attention due to the lack energy to which Chifuyu dismissed that he just overslept but this clearly proven wrong right after the nurse in the clinic confirmed that he is indeed lacking of energy, Chifuyu asked for why but it was just concluded that he has exerted a lot of force during the day, specifically, when Ichika was using the Z.E.R.O. programming, his mentality was being pushed to the edge, his only focus that time was to guide the system so that it may not overload his mind, the humand mind can be complexed as evident of how he was able to come up with that kind of tactical system that he has managed to "input" into the Byakushiki interface through the use of imagination, that"s how IS works as mentioned, they are operated through the mind of the user and right now, it"s been almost about seven days after Ichika was really exhausted, Cecilia, Houki and the rest of class 1 would visit him from time to time, right now, he"s not yet fully recuperated so he still lack some energy, in fact, he can barely keep an eye out for the lessons this morning, he can just lift his head after it was drowning out and then pretend he was listening, but in the end, it proved to be a failure, as Chifuyu just allowed him to rest at the nurse"s office for a while, not that he has a sick or fever but that he won"t be able to learn anything at his rate and the students are quite getting distracted as his distraught face which is like a helpless man that is drowning out in the middle of the sea, well, in a manner of allegory. "Orimura, are you in any condition to fly on your own?" "Eh?" He didn"t noticed it because of his groggy state, but he was being called out by Chifuyu. "Oh uh..." "I said you and Alcott would demonstrate what to do in aerial manuevers, can you do that?" "Uh..." To be honest, he can"t, but he"s been skipping some learning sessions so he"ll have to try his best. "Uh no, I think I can..." "Yosh, ja, hurry up and deployed your IS." "Hai." Raising the gauntlet... nothing happens. "Eh? Huh?" "Hurry up and do it, simply use your imagination." "..." Closing his eyes... flash! Success. "Too slow, an average user would have been able to do that within 0.01 second." "Hai..." What to expect actually? He"s not in his top condition and on top of that, the Hysteria Zero Syndrome seems to be working but it"s not taking over, it"s too exhausted right now, only partial of the blood is rising up at the sight of some of the girls here in swimsuits, well, almost like swimsuits attire, but Ichika seems to have developed an habit to stop it from arising by using his own will to do it, it"s quite simply actually, simply with the right emotion and sense that he can do it, now he"s getting a hang of it. "Ja, Alcott, look after him." "Hai, sa, Ichika-san, let"s go." "Hai." Whoosh! Cecilia is the first to take off, followed by... Whoos- "Wa, w-whooa!" Since he"s in his groggy state still, he cannot seem to work out his mind to manuever the IS, it requires a sharp mind to dodge one single attack, a mental retarded guy would probably have a hard time accelerating at this state, so when piloting an IS, it requires the individual to be fully open-minded, but Ichika manages to fly regardless, in a slow way though. "You"re slow, even average IS users can do better than that." Even though he"s used to Chifuyu"s harsh, cold words, he wouldn"t mind being given a break due to all the mental burden he has right now, one; his Hysteria Zero Syndrome is dropped out, meaning it won"t be activated for some time, and second; he ponders about what happened that night, as far as he can recall, all of class 1 suffered because of his actions though according to the class, they gladly suffer it, and there were no punishments done to them anyway, courtesy of their actions that night that saved both Cecilia and the Alcott inheritence, which leads also to... "Sigh, average IS huh, hm, does this mean I"m lower than... gr," "Use imagination." Cecilia said. "Eh?" They can hear each other clearly through interface, even there is a slight distance between them, it does work very cleary and distinctly. "The IS armaments can be deployed through a quick thinking and durable combat manuevers can be done by simply thinking of a way you can relax your mind." "Relax my mind huh..." During his state in using the Z.E.R.O. programming, his mentality was being pushed so hard that he didn"t have time to react, he didn"t have to anyway, before a decision is make, the system takes care of that, not even the slightest machine can beat it as that seem to be very durable that it requires no decision-making process time just before an action is initiated. That and the unstoppable urges would help but sadly, in his state, he cannot "insert" the program to the interfece right now. "Come on Ichika-san, you should be able to imagine how durable your movements are when you are flying." "Even if you say that, I can"t say I"m actually flying, the advance thrusters are too..." Too complex for one"s brain it seems, the human brain cannot process all the data together all at once, that would be like processing a number symbols of numerals which is similar to a calculator doing all sort of mathematics and the user will have to suffer... what can say? Perhaps one"s brain might get damaged from thinking too much, Ichika certainly been that way, given all the logical thinking process that he"s enduring whenever he"s in Zero"s mode, his brain can certainly take a break for a while from such baseless... well, not exactly baseless but he"s been wondering about that eccentric guy who planted this type of blood on his vibes and he cannot help but wonder that maybe this guy... no, thinking of such paranormal things will only exhaust his mentality as it is, he hasn"t been feeling well for the couple days, his guess is probably because he exerted a lot of force during his confrontation with the unmanned drones and russian spies that night at the airport, through the next courses of days, he was instructed and guided by Cecilia on how to operate Byakushiki, he remembers his promise to her while in Zero mode... and as a gentleman, he has no choice but to carry it out, or at least, that"s part of his moral code and those who break it are no longer classified chivalrous person so best not broke it, or less... less he suffer the spartan way of Chifuyu, who has strictly made him devoted to this moral no matter what the situation is. "Ma, I guess I"ll just deal with it." "Oh Ichika-san, that"s no good, and I was offering you good lesson, hoho." "Hm?" And there she was again, ever since she transferred here, she seems to be lacking any smile on her british accent face, until recently when she is rescued by her comrades of class 1. Ichika has just noticed that she keeps adding "-san" as suffix for him in pronouncing his name, his first name too instead of Orimura like what most everybody would call him, with a suffix "-kun" on it as well, though normally... nah, cute guys are often referred as that, though Ichika would not certainly mind with simply Ichika without any something like that because... "Ichika! How long do you keep planning to fly up there!" A loud voice echoed throughout the field, her voice is loudened by the communicator that she took from Yamada, it"s Houki. "S-Shinonono-san, please give me back my intercom..." She said in a stuttering tone. "Houki..." "Well, Ichika-san, let us go back now." Cecilia is the first to manuever a falling landing way to the ground, it"s simply by imagining she said, perhaps one can imagine being blown by the wind and then fly downward. "Land huh... yosh." Ichika does that kind of thinking but... "Hm?" To his dismay... he is flying to the current of the wind to which... to which there is no stop! "A-Ahh!" Bluuncchttz! A large hole is inflicted on the ground, there is an indicating that an IS fell from the sky... that much is obvious. "Gyah!" Everyone is blown away a bit. "O-Orimura-kun!" "Yare, yare... idiot, who gave you order to make a hole on the ground?" The instructors tend to the damage. "Practice more of your manuever and you"ll get a hang out of it." "Guh, even if you say that..." Ichika rubs his head that is on the ground, filled with dirt. "You"re pathetic Ichika, I thought I told you... Guah." "Ichika-san, are you alright?" "Uh yeah, I"m fine, just a little... dirty, and... yaawn, tired." "Ua, you"re still lacking energy are you? You shouldn"t have tried that out if you"re tired." "Idiot, you could have just told me that you"re still lacking of energy, and I wouldn"t have called you." Perhaps there is still some reasoning into Chifuyu. Cecilia stepped in as Houki was about to berate Ichika for his weakness, well, not like everyone has the same strength and weaknesses, and too much expectation will lead to heartbreak, or is it mental retardation? "Hai, hai, yaaawn, anyway, can I have some rest?" "Ah, sure, but make sure you are free for some extra training this afternoon, if you got the strength." "Sure, yaawn, ja, ja ne." "Ah wait, Ichika-san, you need escorting right? I"ll esc-" "I"ll do that, I"m the one who trains Ichika so buzz off." Houki interjected to Cecilia"s proposal of escort. "Ara, Shinonono-san, can you teach personal IS manuevers? Or can you simply use lowdown methods to teach?" A mockery of sort. "Compare to a british accent girl, I can do just fine." The two share a glare. "What are they glaring for?" Ichika is bewildered though. ...Lunchtime, at the hall "Sigh, it"s been seven days and I still haven"t recovered all of my strength." Ichika said in his mind as he wanders on the hall, thinking of what he"ll eat, some girls are murmuring about him being able to save Cecilia that night as he passes by, and of course, his newfound popularity rose up as well, making him the most at least, one of the popular people in the school, if not the most, in this world, it seems those who tend to cherish their bonds of others are those who will prevail in the end, most of which are of course tending to cast aside their own problems and situation and would just rely on solving others" problem for the sake of spending their time on Earth. ...Outside the main lobby building... "This is the place huh?" A certain foreigner comes across the main lobby building, her twintails are one of her attractive posture, the other is her petite body and... well, to speak plainly, she"s of the Chinese nationality and she has come here to visit a childhood friend who she misses so much, so much that she would leave her own country behind in order to be with that person, yes, childhood acquiantances are probably the most well-known individual to those who know them around. "Sa te, I better go in," Despite how Japanese she may look, she is indeed of the Chinese nationality, her name is Lingyin Huang, the representative candidate of China and the childhood friend of... "Wonder where he is, if he"s going to be here, the least he could do is show himself." One of Ling, for short, habits is that she is sometimes too boastful of her abilities and she"s quite... energetic to the point that the rain of cheefulness and energized atmosphere could roam the entire hall at any minute that people might become too bossy as well, or at least, that"s what that certain childhood friend would say or think. "Well then, first things first is... the reception hall is..." Looking around, there are a lot facilities here that the map around won"t be able to help anyone who is being pinpointed in various direction, so best just rely on one"s own intellect. "Guah, this place is huge, how am I supposed to..."

"Negi-kun!" "Aniki!" "Hiyaa!" "Grooaar?" The monster turns to Negi only to... Slice! "Grooaarr!" ...only to be cut in half. It falls to the ground then dissolve. "Negi-kun!" "Negi-chan!" Makie and the Narutaki twins said with tears on their eyes. They seem to have escaped the monsters in the temple for some time now. They may perhaps have been able to do this due to their training as rangers in the academy that involves when one is on a "hot spot" situation or in what others may say, a "getting out of the frying pan" situation. They basically means the same thing since it means getting out of in a situation where in when one is outnumbered by their enemies. "Negi-chan~!" They all cling on the boy. "Ah! O-Ora, come on, it"s safe now." He said trying to brush them off but they are stucked onto him like they"ve been sticked together by a tremendous, effective, glue branchise. "Ora..." "Negi-chan~ You save us..." The Narutaki twins said clinging onto him. "Negi-kun." Makie felt like she has been granted a messiah by God. That messiah is of course Negi. Though that is only a matter of speaking but in Makie"s perspective, she has been saved so that makes Negi a messiah or a savior. "Hey, you guys okay?" Haruna walks up to them follow by Nodoka and Yue. "Y-Yeah, we"re okay but..." "But what?" "There are monsters following us. They"re gonna be here at any second!" Bonk! Bonk! ...! Something is banging up against the wall! "Wh-what was that?" Yue asked. "I think that"s..." Haruna said. And then... Crash! Crash! "Grooaarr!" ...! Two cerberus looking monsters came crashing down from the ceiling! "Gyaah!" The girls screamed. "That"s not exactly what we are looking for! We"re looking for our friends!" Haruna said jokingly to which no one"s amusement. "This is no time for jokes Haruna-san!" Nodoka said. "Yeah! We have to get out of here!" Fuka said. "Grooaarr!" The monsters charge at them! "Aniki!" Chamo implores Negi to protect the girls. "Hm. Okay, here goes! Hiyaa!" Blast! He crushed his persona card then...! Slice! Slice! "Negi!" "Negi-kun!" Slice! Negi succesfully dispatched the two monsters but then... Crash! "Grooaarr!" A huge one emerged from the ceiling in front of them! "Whoa!" Haruna exclaimed. "What is that!" Makie exclaimed. "Ah...!" The monster has the appearance of gigantic worm with a large circular mouth with sharp teeths all over it. Negi has to make sure that it doesn"t get near the girls since it is apparent that it can burrow through the ground and emerge out of nowhere without anyone"s expectation which is something to be dreaded of since it can mean their deaths will be in an instant should they get attacked by it. "What should we do, Chamo-kun?" "Hm... If only Aniki-judas is here. Hm, I guess we"ll just have to rely on you for now Aniki. You can do it! Get that hideous worm!" "Hm, okay!" Negi prepares himself then... Crash! ...! "Grooaarr!" A debris then came falling down on the monster, making it unable to move. On top of the debris is... "Negi-chan!" ...Ayaka, Kaede and Kufei. "Yukihiro-san!" "Inchou!" "Ku fei!" Haruna said. "Kaede-nee-chan!" The Narutaki twins said. "Yo! Thought we could drop in." Kaede said. "Hello, everyone! Hee hee!" Ku fei said waving at them. "Negi-chan! Gyah!" Ayaka is about to run up to Negi but then the debris is shaked off by the monster. "Grooaarr!" It tries to remove the debris that is preventing it from getting out of its predicament. "Gyah! You... You dare try to stop me from loving my Negi-chan! You will pay a thousand fold!" Flames of anger ignite behind Ayaka. "Whoa!" Making Kaede and Ku fei back away from her a little. "Ah, inchou!" Fumika said frightened by the class rep"s burning fury. "Gah, and this is why you must not get in inchou"s way." Haruna said. "Hmhm. Yeah huh?" Fuka said frightened as well. "Ge..." Even though ichou is trying to help her beloved Negi, he himself is frightened by her. Ah, the irony. "Stay down you beast!" Stomp! "Grooaarr!" The monster is crushed by the debris that Ayaka is stepping on to increase the weight, making it agonize in pain. "Grooaarrr!" Splat! It is squashed on the ground. Its blood has been spilled on the group(Negi"s group). "Eww!" Haruna, Makie and the Narutaki twins said. The monster"s blood is all over their ranger attires. "Gross!" "Yuck!" The Narutaki twins said. "Gah, now I"m gonna be washing this uniform for a week." Haruna said. "At least the monster is vanquished." Yue said. "Yeah huh?" Nodoka said. "Hey, not that I"m not grateful to inchou and all, but she didn"t have to shower with blood." Haruna said. "Negi-chan!" Ayaka jumps off the debris and embraces her beloved Negi. "Gah, Y-Yukihiro-san." "Daijobou? You"re not hurt are you?" "Ah, no. I"m fine. Ora, you don"t have to..." "Guh... Can"t... breathe..." Chamo, who is being squashed by her hug, said trying to get off Negi"s shoulder. "Hm. Daijobou, I"m here now." Inchou said treating the young boy like he is her younger brother. Kaede and Ku fei jump off from the debris, with the monster below it, as well. "Ja, are you guys okay?" Kaede asked. "Hm! We"re fine Kaede-nee-chan!" The Narutaki twins said. "But we still haven"t found the others. We need to regroup with them." Haruna said. "Hm. I see. Ja-" "Everyone!" ...! Hayate"s voice is heard. Keplunk. "Ah, there you guys are! Ah, Springfield!" Hayate and the other members of their group came out of the pathway that is above Negi"s group. "Ayasaki-san!" "Guys!" Nodoka said relief that the others are alright. "You came." Yue said. "Hey, you guys are alright!" Risa said as the groups rejoin. "Yosh, now all we have to find are Suirenji, Kagurazaka, Konoe-san, and Sakurazaki-san." "Don"t forget about Hina as well." Miki reminded. "Oh, right. Where is she by the way?" "Ahh!" ...! That was Hinagiku"s voice. "Huh?" Everyone turns above then... "Ahhh!" Hinagiku is falling down! "Hina!" "Hina-chan!" "Katsura-san!" "Hinagiku-san!" "Ahhh!" "Hinagiku-san!" Flash! Hayate uses the Hero Spell that was provided by Judas, giving him angel wings then... Whoosh! Catch! "Hinagiku-san!" He caught Hinagiku in mid-air. "Hayate-kun..." "Hinagiku, what happened?" "Uh... well..." She said trying to avert her eyes on him. Their situation right now gives a flashback of the romantic moment in the Sanzenin building the other day. "It is because..." "Wohohoho!" ...! That hollow voice... Crash! ...! "Wh-What the!" Risa exclaimed. Hayate goes back to them with Hinagiku on his arms. He"s holding her in bridal style. The thing that just fell is... "Wohohoho! I caught you again!" "You again!" Haruna said. It is the golem earlier. "How did you get down here?" Risa asked. "Wohoho! This labyrinth has a lot of paths. One can always lead to the same path of the other people are walking. Wohohoho!" "Gee..." "We don"t have time to play games with you! Quick, guys! Into that way!" Hayate said. Everyone does as he say and they all run to the pathway where Makie and the Narutaki twins came from. "Catch up with us if you can!" He said following the others. Hinagiku is still on his arms. "Wohoho! You won"t escape me!" Tap, tap, tap! Everyone runs forward towards the end of the pathway. "Where are we going?" Negi asked while running. "We need find Suirenji-san and the others. Judas-san went to find them." Hayate said. "Eh? Where is he?" "Still searching I guess." "Judas?" Hinagiku heard their conversation. "Eh? Oh uh it"s... it"s nothing!" "Y-Yeah! We"re just mumbling Katsura-san!" Negi said adding Hayate"s defense. "Hm." Hinagiku is not convinced however. Meanwhile... Judas flies through a lot of walls as he searches for the other four. "Tch. Where in the world are they? Hm?" He then spotted Luca, followed by Asuna, Konoka and Setsuna, running on the pathway where he is currently in. "Ah, there they are. Good, now, I need to inform Ayasaki of their location." He is about to leave but then... Crash! ...! "Grooaarr!" A cerberus looking monster came crashing down. It"s no harm to him however as it cannot see or sense him for that matter. Crash! Crash! More monsters came crashing down. "...This could get messy." He realizes that Luca and the others are heading straight to them based on the layout of the temple that he has come to memorize due to him being able to roam free without having to worry about being harmed by the monsters of this place. "I better hurry up." Back to Hayate and the group... Tap, tap! "Huff! huff! Ah." They have come across an intersection. Hayate, who is still carrying Hinagiku, and Negi are the ones leading them. "Did we lose him?" Nagi asked. "I think so." Maria said. "I don"t think he followed us." Risa said. The golem seem to have not intended to chase them. It could be because that his size is not suitable for the pathway as he is large to enter the door from the very long stairway that they came from. "What should we-" Crack! "Guh!" ...! The ground is suddenly destroyed! "Gyaah!" Everyone manage to hang on to the sides except... "Maria!" Nagi exclaimed. Maria has fallen to the darkness below! "Maria-san!" Whoosh! Hayate jumps into the darkness as well to rescue her! "Hayate-kun!" Hinagiku exclaimed. "Ahhh!" "Hn!" Whoosh! Hayate spreads his white angel wings to quicken his pace! "Ayasaki-san!" Negi exclaimed. "Hayata-kun!" Izumi exclaimed. "Hey." Judas comes through the ceiling above them. "Judas-sa-" Negi covers his mouth, forgetting that they could see Judas. "Hey, how"s the situation? Where"s Ayasaki?" "Uh... well..." He stares down. "Down there?" "Maria-san fell and..." "...? ...Oh, I see. Ja, I"ll see what aid I can give." He follows Hayate to the darkness. "Judas-san!" Negi said in a whispering tone. "Now what do we do?" Nagi asked. "I don"t know. We better worry about ourselves first though. It"s not gonna do us any good if we fall there as well." Risa said. They all climb up from the edge of the hole. At Maria... "Ahh!" She continues to fall down. Her thoughts are, "Ah, am I going to die here...? ...Is this it? This is the end for me? ...' A wave of regrets came to her as she continues to fall down. From her perspective, everything is moving slowly. The rubbles that fell down along with her are falling in a slow pace and she herself, is falling in a slow pace. She gives off a sad expression as her sight becomes gray as if the world as lost its colors. "Sigh... " She closes her eyes as tears pour out of her eyes. "This is it huh... ...I always knew that my life would end in a tragic way... That has been my fate ever since I graduated from highschool. I"m not like all teenagers. Most of them are going on dates, having fun with friends and all I ever did was do my student council duties in the clocktower of Hakou Academy(Note: She is the previous president of the student council in Hayate no gotoku. This is mirroring that past of hers.).I wasn"t able to enjoy my highschool days... ...I didn"t even know what my family name is. But... None of that matters now." She is about to come in contact with the floor below... "I"m..." Whoosh...! '...doomed.' More tears pour out of her eyes at the thought of certain doom. ...That"s just what she thinks however as... Whooosh... Whoosh! "Maria-saaan!" A certain young man who will guide her to the Truth comes to her rescue! "Ah!" She opens her eyes, the world has regain its color, everything returns to normal pace and above her is... "Ahh!" Hayate reaches out his hand to hers. "Hayate...kun..." Then Judas comes flying down with his gaze focuses on her. "Give out your hand please." He said with only her can hear his voice. "..." She does so then... "Ah!" As Hayate reaches out for her hand... Flaash!... "...A"re? This place is...?" She finds herself in very bright place. There are small lights flying everywhere. This place is like Heaven. "How did I...?" "It seems that traumatic experience of yours has snapped out of your delusions." "...!" She turns around to see Judas who comes flying down. "You are...?" "I"m a friend sort to speak. So, are you ready to live in Truth?" "Truth?" "Ah, you have been living in a delusional world for some time now. It cannot last. All delusions eventually come to an end and in its place, the light of the Truth will rise up and vanish all of the fog for the brand new days that will come to you." "Brand new... days?" "Ah. That being said, you need someone to cling to." "Someone?" "Ah, someone who will guide you to those beautiful days. Someone like..." Judas points on a certain direction. An image of Hayate reaching out to her appear. "Someone like him." "Hayate-kun... But... He"s... younger than I and..." "Your age matters not. All love are permittable. Just as teenagers can love ten year old children(he"s referring to Negi and the Negima girls), someone like you is capable of loving someone as him." "I... I can love... Hayate-kun...? Be his... girlfriend?" "Ah. So, how about it?" "..." She looks at the image of Hayate. Her thoughts are, "Is this love? Love at first sight? I read in a story book that love-at-first sights are experiences that a lot of people experience and that this is a sign for them that they have found the one they are destined to love. Is this... have I found the one I am destined to love? Hayate-kun...'. She turns to Judas, who simply gives her a nod. "Hm." And she gives a nod of her own. Then she smiles with tears pouring out of her brown eyes. "So da ne... I thought when I first met this beautiful person... This Hayate-kun... I felt a feeling of hope. A hope that I will yet find happiness in my life. I may not have been able to enjoy my highschool days but I can now start enjoying my life. Together with Nagi... With her friends and... ...and Hayate-kun..." Flaash! "Ah." She finds herself falling again. Hayate is about to reach her hand. "Ahhh!" Catch! He successfully caught her before she could reach the floor. "Maria-san." "Ah." Hayate then flies back upward. Maria enjoyed watching him as they fly back to the top where everyone is waiting. For her, the path they are flying up to is a portal that leads to the brand new days that Judas spoke of. The past has come and gone and now, new beautiful days awaits her. She will be with her Nagi and her friends... Negi and the other rangers and... ...and Hayate. "Hmph." Judas gives off a delighten smile as he flies back up as well. "Ah, Judas-san." "Hm." He gives a thumbs up for rescuing Maria, not just from saving her from the fall, but also, for being her morning star(this is the same as shooting star) to the Truth. "Hm." He gives him a thumbs up as well, much to Maria"s confusion. She turns to his direction and finds no one since she cannot see Judas. But she figures that it might be him. "Hm. Arigatou." That thanks was meant for Judas. She then turns to her savior. "Arigatou. Hayate-kun" That was meant for Hayate. She touches both of his shoulders and rest her head on the right. "Maria-san?" "..." No response. She seems to have fallen asleep from the comfort she received earlier. "Hm." Hayate smiles at this. Whoosh! He quickens his pace to the top. Back at Nagi and the others... All of them are waiting for Hayate and Maria. "Hm?" Negi then spots a white thing below. "That is..." "Hm? What is it?" Nagi asked. "That"s..." He points at the white thing. "Everyone!" It"s Hayate with Maria on his arms. "Ayasaki-san!" "Hayate!" "Hayate-kun!" "Ayasaki-kun!" "Hayata-kun!" Whoosh! Hayate reached the top and he gently lies Maria on the ground. "Sorry it took so long." Everyone gathers around him. "Ayasaki-san." Negi said. "Ha ha. I"m fine Springfield. "Hm." Both of them put their arms together as a sign of their friendship. "Is she okay?" Haruna asked. "She"s fine. She"s just sleeping." Hayate said. "Hm. I guess she fainted huh?" Risa said. "I think anyone would faint from that experience." Miki said. "Yeah huh?" "But at least she"s fine!" Izumi said. "Ah." "Hm. That"s right." Nagi said. She looks at Maria. Then she turns to Hayate. "Arigatou, Hayate." "Ha ha. It"s nothing. I only did what normal people would have done." "Ha ha. You always say that." Negi looks at Maria, who is sleeping with a smile. "I guess Ayasaki-san has shown her the Truth. Hm, that"s good. With more people living in Truth, the world can become a much more bright place to live." Judas comes flying down beside him. "Hey, how"s everyone?" "Ah, Judas-san. Everyone"s fine. No monsters came and attack us." "Hm. I see. Ja, I better lead you guys to the other four." He of course refers to Luca and the other three. "Ah, Ja, everyone, should we get going?" "Ah." Hayate carries Maria to his back. "I"ll carry Maria-san. Let"s go." "Hm!" Everyone nods and they set off. Back Luca, Asuna, Konoka and Setsuna... Tap, tap! The four of them continues running towards the end of the pathway then... Crash! "Grooaarr!" "Ah!" They stop when a cerberus looking monster came crashing through the right wall. Crash! Crash! Then two more came crashing down through the other wall and ceiling. "Grooaarr!" "Oh great. More fighting." Asuna said. "Leave it to me!" Setsuna said stepping forward. "I"ll back you up!" Luca said preparing to cast a supporting spell for Setsuna but then... Crash! "Huh!" The right wall is suddenly destroyed. Amidst the smoke is... "Kagurazaka-san!" "Suirenji-san!" Hayate, Negi and the group. "Ah!" "Everyone!" "You"re okay!" "It"s about time you guys got here. What kept you?" Setsuna asked as Hinagiku draws out her sword and join her. "We could ask you the same question. Falling for a trap earlier, we could have made our way through without having to dealing with these monsters if you guys hadn"t been fallen for those traps earlier, Sakurazaki-san." She said. "Hmph, enough of this. Let"s get these abominations!" "Yeah!" Both enter into a fighting stance. "Grooaarr!" The monsters attack! "Grooaarr!" All of them are aiming for the two girls! "Here, this should help!" Flash! Luca summons her persona and casted Masukuja on the two. "Huh?" Hayate and Negi are surprised by this since they did not know that Luca is a persona-user. "Suirenji-san, you...?" "Hm. As I expected." Judas said as if he has expected this. "Huh?" "Ancients were the first ones to discover about the personas so it"s no surprise that she can summon hers since she has Ancient blood within her." "Huh. Suirenji-san..." "Ah!" *Masukuja* Flash! Pink light has enveloped Hinagiku and Setsuna, giving them strength. "Ah..." Both girls prepare themselves then... "Hiyaa!" They charge at the monsters! Slash! Slash! "Grooaarr!" Bonk! They succeeded in pushing back the monsters. But... "Grooaarr!" They did not kill them however. They seem to have become more aggravated than before. They must have been empowered by the temple itself as it is the one producing them in order to protect the one that is being kept on the bottom floor of the temple. The temple must be feeling threaten for it to do this. Perhaps it sees the group as a threat as they intend to go to the deepest part of the temple with the intent of stopping the real threat... Sera. Meanwhile, at the deepest part... "..." Sera is sitting on the ground with his back resting on the wall. "...They are here. Huh. Ikusa"s younger brother... Ayasaki Hayate. Hmph. It may fate that I have come to meet him in person. Just as it was my fate to discover about my origin..." Shock! A lightning bolt struck as he said that. It seems to be raining outside. Outside the temple... "Hm. It started raining. I hope ojou-sama is okay." Klause is looking through the window in the cockpit of the plane. "Mmgh." With him is the white tiger. He seems to be whining for some reason. "Daijobou. They"ll be fine. Anyway, you must be hungry. Come, I"ll give you something to eat." "Argh!" He becomes excited. Back to Sera... "Those two Ancients will soon arrive here. They intend to retrieve the jewel." His Shadow is replaced by Jehovah"s shadow. "My son. You know what you must do yes?" "Hai, Mother. I"ll let those two take what they have come for. And then... ha ha ha... And then I will ultimately send them all to the Promised Land. HA HA HA!" Shock! shock! The sound of the lightning bolts echoed along with Sera"s insane laugh around the temple. Somewhere else... "Hm?" Athena was able to hear it but is uncertain of where the source of the voice came from. "What"s the matter?" Her younger sister, Evangeline, asked. "Is it an enemy? Where? Where is it?" Machina asked being overprotective of his two mistress. "Shut up, Machina! Chachamaru, restraint him. Don"t let him go unless we say otherwise." "Hm. Understood, master." Their other servant does so. "H-Hey!" Machina is restraint by her. "As master"s command, I shall not let you go until she has given me the order to do so." "Aw, c"mon!" "Shut up! What is it, onee-chan?" Evangeline asked. "Hm. Probably nothing. Let"s go. The jewel is just up ahead." They continue onward. Back to Hayate and the group... "Hiya!" Slash! Slash! Hinagiku and Setsuna continue battling the monsters while Hayate and Negi are making sure that they don"t reach the girls. "Are we just gonna stand here and watch?" Haruna asked. "Yeah, is there something we can do or anything?" Risa asked. "Well..." Hayate said followed by the thought, "Right now, we have to protect everyone. Me and Springfield have personas so only us and... Suirenji-san... Can she fight? Judas-san told me that her persona is not battle oriented and that it is only capable of giving support in battle. Right now I guess all we can do is protect everyone.'.

The two cards merged. Fusion Spell: Infinity! Flaaashh-! A barrier formed around Riki. "Infinity." He said looking up still, then he turned to the Shadows in front. "Groooaaarr!" "Groooaaarr!" "Groooaaarrr!" They all lunged towards him-! Block, Block, Block-! The Shadows found themselves unable to reach Riki due to the invisible barrier around him. "It worked. Hm," Riki readied himself. "Alright..." -Flash-! He summoned his persona card, it"s floating and rotatin in front of him. Then he reached it out with his right hand- Flaash-! -And he crushed it. BLAASSTT-! Blue mists burst out of the ground. "Persona...!" Riki said. BLAAST-! "GROOOOOAAAARR-!" Seth is summoned. It hovered above, "Hm," Then Riki extended his arm forward. "Destroy them." He spoke in a combination of his and his Shadow"s voices. "GROOOOAAAAARR-!" Seth obliged to that command. *Maragidyne* "GROOOAAAARR-!" *ABLAAAAZZEEE-!* *ABLAAAAAAAAZZEE-!* "Groooaaaarrr-!" The Shadows were burned to ashes by the wave of flames that Seth summoned. "..." Riki watched as the flames dispersed, "Grooaarr," Then Seth disappeared as well. "Shadows... Hm, I guess my other me wasn"t lying about them. But where do I-" Sharp-! "I will take this girl..." ...Riki recognized this voice... It"s that same wicked and malevolent voice that heard earlier at his room. "Komari Kamikita, your soul is mine!" Sharp-! "Grk!" Riki touched his forehead in pain as he could no longer hear that voice. "Gr," Then he opened his eyes, "Kamikita... Komari..." He removed his hand from his forehead- Tap, tap,tap, tap-! -Then he started running at the left direction. "I have to get to her... Before that monster does! Kamikita-saaan!" He said running at full speed! ...Meanwhile, at the other side of the Riverbank... -Tap, tap, tap, tap-! "Dammit, dammit, dammit...!" Kyosuke is running away from something huge... TAP, TAP, TAP, TAP-! This freak of nature, a large Shadow, is using its multiple arms to walk-or run as he is chasing Kyosuke-and he"s wielding multiples blades at the same time. -tap, tap, tap, tap-! "Dammit, what have I ever done to you!?" Kyosuke is already running out of breath as far as he could tell. He can"t keep running forever. "Dammit, grr!" He took a detour and he ran at the alley way that is narrow in which the Shadow cannot follow him. "GROOOAAAARRR-!" The Shadow was enraged by that fact as it just stood outside the alley, giving a loud roar. "Tch, see you later, loser!" Kyosuke mocked the Shadow as he continued running throught he narrow alley way. Riiing, riiing, riing-! -His cellphone rang. He answered it. "Hello?" "Hey, where are you!? We can"t find your signal anywhere!" It sounded like Rin"s voice. Kyosuke cannot mistake it for someone else. "I"m at the Riverbank, at the southern side. Anyway, I"m still running, but... Gr, I gotta stop, I"m pretty tired." He stopped running and he put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. "huff, huff, huff, ah. huff, huff..." "Hey, are you all right?" He answered, "Yeah, I"m fine. Sorry, but I gotta rest here for a while. I"ll send you a strong signal so you can detect me, if anything else-" "GROOOAAAARRR-!" The Shadow is heard from afar. "Hey! What was that!?" It seems Rin is agitated when she heard that roar of the Shadow. "That was the Shadow. I"ll be waiting for you guys here, hurry!" "Huh? But-" Before Rin could say anything further, Kyosuke hung up. "huff, that damn bastard... What the hell is he doing now...?" He"s catching his breath still. "I only hope he can"t follow me here in this alley..." ... ...At the middle of the street, at the Southern Riverbank side... One coffin is standing on the middle of the road... -Shaade-! -It transformed into a person-Komari. "Hm," Her eyes are closed. Then she slowly opened them, the first thing she saw is a greenish environment with coffins on the street-there are two of them. Komari blinked twice. "Eh?" Her facial expression is groggy, she looked around and she saw more coffins. The river"s color is that of a sea of blood. "Ah... *gasp!*" That sight alone was enough for her to be fully awaken. "Wha-Wha-Wha..." She looked around nervously and agitatedly, "Wh-Wh-Where am I!? Where is..." She turned to her left- Sharp-! "Komari Kamikita," An eerie voice called out her name. "Huh?" Komari heard it, and she seems to be the only one who can hear it. "Your life is mine... Your soul... is mine-! GROOOOAAAARRR-!" "Gyah...!" Komari felt even more agitated and she immediately looked at her right side-and what she saw was- -a large monster... coming out of the alley... It has multiple arms that are carrying blades and it"s also carrying a mask. "*gasp*! Wah... Waa..." Komari was terrified at the sight of that monster. And she can"t help but-"Gyaaaaahhh-!" Her scream echoed throughout the neighborhood. ... ...From afar... "Ah!" "Wah!" "Huh?" "What...!?" The group-Rin, A-chan, Kengo and Kanata, heard that scream. "Wha-What was that!?" A-chan asked, agitated. "That sounded like... Someone is in trouble!" Kengo said, alarmed. "Tch," Kanata picked her cellphone from her pocket and she called-"Kurugaya-san! Is there someone else within the vicinity!?" ... ...At the command room... "We just heard someone"s scream nearby. Is someone else in here!?" Kanata asked. "I"m looking on it." Kurugaya is operating the console. "Hey, Inohara, can you check up on the boy for me? We have to make sure he"s safe." "A-Alright! He"s at the second floor, right?" "Naturally. He"s a guy, after all. Now hurry! I have to track down Natsume"s signal. And it seems there"s someone else-Huh?" Just then, Kurugaya detected a signal that is moving. It would seem that someone is running very fast within the vicinity. "What the... Another signal?" "What"s wrong, Kurugaya?" Kanata asked. "I... I don"t know. I"m detecting a signal. It"s-" ... ...Back to Komari... "GROOOAAARR-!" The Shadow is approaching her. "Gyaaaahh-! S-Someone...!" She"s backing away slowly from this monster. "Kamikita-san...!"Someone"s voice is heard. "Huh?" Komari was surprised upon hearing that voice, she turned around to see... ... ...tap, tap, tap, tap... ...tap, tap, tap, tap... ...tap, tap, tap, tap-! "Kamikita-saaan!" It"s Riki running at full speed! "Y-You..." Komari remembered him from last time. Where he saved her from those punks just this morning. "What are you-" "GROOOAAARR-!" The Shadow approached Komari-to the point that it"s about to launch an attack on her-! "Ah," Komari turned her attention back to the Shadow and she immediately realized she"s in trouble. The Shadow raised one blade-then it swung it towards Komari-! "GROOOOAAAAARRR-!" "Gyaaaaaahhh-!" Komari covere herself in terror with her eyes closed. "Gr, don"t you dare to even TOUCH HER-!" Riki said as he ran in-between Komari and the Shadow, he said that last part with the combination of his and his Shadow"s voice, by the way. Flaash-! Flaash-! Riki summoned two cards on his palms. "GROOOOAAARR-!" The Shadow is about to hit its target-! "Fusion Spell: Infinity!" Riki exclaimed- FLAASH-! A barrier formed around Komari. "GROOOOAAAARRR-!" BLOOOOCCCKK-! The Shadow"s attack couldn"t reach Riki or Komari due to the impregnable barrier. The sound of the screeching blade annoyed Riki since it"s so damn loud. "Gr, why you..." Riki covered his ears since the screeching is so loud. "GROOOAAARR-!" Bloocck! Blooock! Block! Block! Block! Block-! The Shadow didn"t stop attacking and it"s trying to pierce the barrier with its blades. "Hm?" Komari opened her eyes and she found herself to be safe and sound. "Eh?" She stopped covering herself and In front of her, Riki is covering his ears due to the sounds of metal being very deafening. "You..." "Gr, would you stop that already! Try as many as you like and the result will always be the same!" Riki said to the Shadow as he removed his hands from his ears, then- Flash-! He summoned his persona card in front of him- FLASH-! He crushed it with his right hand- BLAASST-! "GROOOAAAARR-!" Seth is summoned. It hovered and it turned its attention to the Shadow in front. "Groooaarr!" *Myriad Arrows* Tsing, tsing, tsing... tsing, tsing, tsing, TSIING-! "GROOOOAAAARRR-!" A wave of piercing forces destroyed some of the Shadow"s arms and they exploded in the process, the Shadow is also wounded on its middle. "GROOOAAARR-!" -Riki extended his arm forcefully. "Finish him off, Seth!" He commanded of his persona. "GROOOOOAAAARRR-!" *Megidolaon* Three massive lights gathered above, then they slowly descended towards the Shadow while condensing altogether- "Ah..." Komari is watching in awe, this is all so unbelievable and... ...awesome. Riki is awesome... She"s watching him from behind. She"s watching Riki perform- "What is-" *BOOOOOOOOMMM-!* "GROOOOAAAARRR-!" The Shadow was completely blown away by that attack-All of its remains turned into black mists and they disappeared. The battle is over. ... ...From afar... "Huh!?" Kyosuke heard that explosion from afar. ...Somewhere else... "Huh!?" "Wha-!?" "Ah!" "Guah!" Rin, Kanata, Kengo and A-chan heard that explosion as well. "Wh-What was that!?" Rin asked. ... ...Back to Riki and Komari... "huff, huff, huff. Ah." Riki is catching is breath. "Groooaar," Seth disappeared from above. "Ah..." Komari is completely in awe. The monster is gone... Riki defeated it. "That was... ... ... Ah..." She smiled brightly like the Sun. "Th-THAT WAS AMAZING!" She exclaimed happily and cheerfully. ... ...Later... "Augh," Riki knelt on the ground. He"s still exhausted from all that excursion, sort of speaking. "You"re safe now." He told Komari who is behind him. "You," Komari went in front of him and she knelt down as well, they"re facing each other. "What was that? There was that dragon and-and-and-" "Ah, it"s... complicated." Riki said slightly looking down. "I"ll explain... later..." "Hm, you can tell about it all you want. Either way, this is now the second time huh?" "Eh?" Riki slightly raised his head. "A second... time?" "Hm," Komari nodded. "This is now the second time that you rescued me. From those bullies and now... from that monster." "Oh, I... see." He said with his eyes looking slightly downward on the left side. "Hm, well," He tried to raise his body- "Gurk!" But he couldn"t. "Ah! You better be careful." Komari said as she placed her hands on his shoulders to support him. "Ah, I"m tired..." "Hm, yeah, I can tell that by looking at you. Say... Do you think I should give you a reward for rescuing me this second time...?" "Eh?" Riki looked at Komari. "Hm, you don"t have to do that." "No, not thanking is a crime! I should give you something as reward!" Komari insisted. "Ah..." Riki sheepishly looked down at his left side, it seems Komari is pretty adamant about giving him something in return for saving her this second time. "Well, you can do as you wish, I guess." He said not looking at her. "Alright! Well then..." She said as she put an index finger on her chin. "How about..." ...She placed her hands on Riki"s cheek, grabbing his face. "Eh?" He is forced to look at her. Then... She leaned closer... closer... ... ...chu. "...!" ...He got kissed! On the lips. "Hmm, hmm," "Hmm, hmm...!" Riki couldn"t process immediately what"s going on, but the taste of her lips is like orange, and he feels... tired, even more tired than before. "Hmm, hmm, hmmm~" "Hmm... hm..." Riki"s eyes are becoming heavy now... ...chu... Komari broke the kiss. She let go of Riki"s cheeks. "Hehe," She sheepishly laughed with her own cheeks blushing red. "Ah..." Riki is slightly looking down, he can"t look at her like this. "I... am... ah..." Then he started to lose all of his energy all at once-He fell unconcious. "Ah! H-Hey! A-Are you okay!? H-Hey, whoever you are, I don"t know your name yet, but..." Komari shook his body. "Hey, come on, answer me!" ...tap, tap, tap, tap! ...tap, tap, tap, tap! ...tap, tap,tap, tap! "Hey, what"s going on-Huh?" The group, Rin, A-chan, Kanata and Kengo, arrived at the scene. A-chan is the first to speak up. "Huh?" Kanata saw Riki unconcious with Komari shaking him. "Ah." "Wha..." The next ones to react are Rin and Kengo. "N-Naoe!" "Naoe!" "..." Riki could hear the voices of everyone from afar... Then... There was only... ...darkness, afterwards... End of Chapter 3 Note: If you must know, the scenes with Komari are reflecting the scenes in Persona 3 where Minato saved Yukari from the Magician Shadow. I"ll stop here for now and see if I will get any reviews at all. I might get motivated to continue this if I receive some. Well, I hope you have enjoyed this. Farewell. ...Inside Riki"s Psyche... "Agh... Ah..." Riki slowly opened his eyes, he found himself in a gray colored place where there is nothing but gray color everywhere... Then that gray color turned dark, but it"s not completely dark here... ...shaaaadddeeee... ...shaaadddeee... ...Then a lot of rectangular shaped mirrors appeared hovering about. They appeared out of nowhere as if they"ve been here from the start and that they were invisible for the whole time. "Huh?" Riki looked about at his surrounding, "This place is..." "So you"re finally awake." A hollowed sounding of Riki"s voice is heard. "Huh?" -Then all of the sudden, Shadow Riki is being shown in all of those rectangular shaped mirrors. "Other... me?" "Can you heed my voice clearly? You became unconcious after you have used the Fusion Spell for the second time. Hmph, but I suppose it is nothing to worry about. So simply calm yourself..." Shadow Riki crossed his arms together. "By the way..." "Hm?" "How long do you plan to lie still there?" "Huh? Oh, r-right." Riki stood up straight and dusted himself off. Then he turned to the mirrors about, "What happened after... after..." He remembered defeating that huge Shadow and saving Komari... "Things have improved ever since you defeated that abomination. But the time for our conversation is short, so I"ll be clear... Don"t overdo your own body, and act on your own volition. That is all." Shadow Riki disappeared from the mirrors, they"re all blank again. ...shaaaaaaaaddddddeeee... Then it became very dark in this place, only Riki can be seen now... "I... What?" Then he himself is engulfed by the darkness... "I... feel... sleepy..." ...Those were his last words before silence took over... ... ... ...At the command room... "Hng, ah..." Riki once again opened his eyes slowly, the first thing he saw is the ceiling of a room that he"s not familiar with. "Ah... Ah." His expression tells that he"s fully awake, and he found himself lying on a sofa. He raised his body up, "This place is..." He said looking around. The one thing that caught his interest greatly is the huge monitor in front. "Hm? A... computer?" -The door opened, it seems Kanata has brought a tray of food. "Hm? Ah, Naoe-kun!" "Hm? Futaki...-san?" Kanata approached Riki and put the tray down on the table in front of Riki. "Are you feeling better?" She asked, placing a hand on his forehead and then placing a hand on her own forehead. "Huh? Uh, y-yeah." "Hm, I see." She removed her hands from their foreheads. "It doesn"t seem like your temperature is high or that it"s something that cannot be compared to my own temperature, so I suppose I could assume you are well." "A... Ah. Where... Where am I?" He asked, looking about at this room that he"s not familiar with. "Ah... This place is..." -The door opened, Rin is at the door, she didn"t came in, but she is taking a peek from there without opening the door widely... "Futaki-san, is he-Huh?" Then she saw Riki to be awake. "Ah! Y-You"re awake!" "Hm? Oh, R-Rin-san." "Rin-san, please call the others. We will begin our meeting in this very room." Kanata turned to Riki as she said that, "We will explain everything we can for you, Naoe-kun." She then bowed in an apologetic manner. "I apologize for not telling you about this much earlier, but we will disclose everything to you now." "Huh?" Riki blinked, "Disclose...?" ... ...Later... ...A long table has been presented on the middle, Kanata is sitting at the middle end with Riki sitting at the opposite side across her. "Um, what exactly... are you going to tell me?" Riki asked. "Hm, we will explain everything as soon as-" -The door opened, a lot of people came in. "Hm? Oh, Riki!" Kyosuke exclaimed joyously at the sight of Riki. "Naoe!" "Oh, it"s that one guy!" A-chan and Masato exclaimed joyously. "Everyone..." Riki is eyeing everyone on the door. "Hm, I see you have awakened, boy." Kurugaya said. "Hello, Naoe Riki." Mio said without much emotion. "Huh?" Riki remembered her from the school assembly at the auditorium. "You are..." "Hm?" Kurugaya turned to Mio, then to Riki once more. "Ara? Have you met before?" "Oh, well... Y-Yeah, I suppose so." "Hm," Mio nodded. "At the school assembly. He picked up my handkerchief by chance and returned it to me." "Oh, a gentleman, I see." Kengo said eyeing Riki. "You"re an honorable, decent person, I see." "Eh?" ... ...Everyone is seated at the seats provided on the sides of the table. "Very well. We will now begin our meeting regarding our case with Naoe Riki-kun." Kanata said, commencing the meeting in-session. Upon saying that, everyone turned to Riki. "Before we proceed, however," Kanata picked her cellphone from her pocket and dialed someone. She waited for the other line to pick up, and when they answered-"Hello? It"s me. I would like of you to bring Kamikita Komari to the command room. We have something to discuss with her." "Kamikita-san?' Riki thought. "Hm, it"s that cute girl that the boy rescued from that huge Shadow, yes?" Kurugaya asked. Rin nodded. "Yeah. She was escorted by Futaki-san and Nishizono-san after that fight..." "We took her somewhere safe. Then we planned to explain everything to her once Naoe-san has recovered." Mio explained passively. "Hm, I see." Kurugaya said. She then turned to Riki. "You are brave, boy. To risk your life for that girl... Hm, you may be more than I thought." She said giving a somewhat michievous expression. Riki sweat dropped at that. "Uh, I... I guess?" "Well anyway, it"s good to see you awake, Riki. We were surprised when we found out that you went outside during the dark hour and then you saved that girl from harm." Kyosuke said. "Eh? The... dark hour?" Upon Riki asking that, Kanata has finished her phone call and she put her cellphone away, "We will explain that now. Now then..." She placed both of her hands on the table. "Naoe-kun, to begin with, would you believe me if I told you that day consists of more than 24 hours?" "..." Riki was indeed confused by that question. "Excuse me?" "Haha, I"m not surprised by your reaction." A-chan said, chuckling. "But you already experienced this twice now, you know." "That"s right, boy. You must have noticed the signs during your first day here. Futaki mentioned that you arrived prior to the end of the dark hour during your first day." Kurugaya said. "Ah," Riki remembered the greenish environment and all of those coffins about. "You mean..." "Surely you"ve already seen those coffins on the street, there was nothing working-no electric devices or equipment functioning and the surrounding was green in color, right?" Kyosuke said. "Coffins... Nothing was working..." Riki said recalling his first day, and then the time when he rescued Komari... "What was... going on?" "That was the dark hour. A time period hidden from one day and the next." Kanata said. "Hidden?" "Hm," She nodded. "I suppose you can think of it as something that no ordinary person is aware of. But the dark hour is very real, it occurs each night-at midnight. It will happen tonight and every night to come." "Ah." Now that surprised Riki. "I know it"s all of a sudden, but it"s true. Heh, I was scared too when I first learned of it." Masato said being understanding of Riki"s position. "Hmhm," Kengo nodded. "Fear not, though. You have comrades who will guide you in the right way." "Hey, don"t give him more hard time than it is." Rin said to the two guys who spoke up. "Uh no, it is all right." Riki said. He slightly looked down on the table, "So you mean to tell me that... Those previous nights that I experienced... are... supernatural phenomenon?" "Yup, you got it." Kyosuke said. "Well, I wouldn"t worry about it too much if I were you." "Kyosuke! He just learned of it! Don"t say it like it"s a natural thing for those who are new to it." Rin said. "Hm," Kurugaya nodded, then she turned to Riki. "Are you shocked? Are you afraid?" Riki slightly raised his head. "No, it"s just... Well..." "Well, I wouldn"t expect you to collect all of your thoughts together just yet. But be assured that we will offer you our protection and our guidance in this entire ordeal." Kanata assured. She turned to everyone around her, "Are we all in agreement to this?" """Yeah!""" "Sure thing." "No problem." "Okay." Everyone said while nodding. Then they all turned to Riki. "Well, Riki, we"ll give you enough time to think about this." Kyosuke said. "But for now..." He formed a serious expression. "Let us discuss about those monsters that you defeated." "Eh?" Riki recalled those "Shadows" that he fought and defeated. "Monsters?" Everyone nodded. "Yeah. Those nasty things that appear only during the dark hour." Masato said. "Normal people don"t realize the dark hour exists, but there is also another factor that they are oblivious at aside from that." Kengo said. "You"ve seen them, yes? Those creatures that you defeated... We call them "Shadows". They only appear during the time period when the dark hour occurs and they attack anyone who is not among those who have transmogrified into a coffin."

"An helmet?" "No, it"s a tactical deploy armament, it"s used for giving commands for the units on a field." End of flashback. Houki equipped the helmet(Similar helmet with the modified Epyon system that was used by Dorothy in Gundam wing) that is connected through Ichika"s IS, which reflects that of the programming on it, Z.E.R.O., it will probably function in the same way as the programming of Byakushiki does, which means... this is will be mastermind battle, so... "Yosh," With Houki providing tactical movements, everyone boarded their practice IS as more unmanned drones enter the field. "Orimura-sensei, look, more unmanned drones." "And those brats, gr, what are they doing here? I bet it"s Orimura"s fault why they are here." "Uh..." Speaking of Orimura... "Houki, everyone, I"m counting on you guys, remember, one for all..." He gives a trademark to which... "All for one! Yeah!" Houki and the rest followed up with thumbs up. "Go, O-ri-mu-ra!" Some of them cheered as Ichika flew into the sky, into the borders of Japan. "Yosh," Houki prepares to give command to all. "Shinonono, we"re counting on you." "Yeah, give us the right command." "Class 1, here we go!" Everyone cheered as they charge into battle. "Ichika, this is..." Remembering Ichika"s words... Flashback. "What? Me?" Houki is assigned to give commands to everyone during the battle. "Hm, you"ll be good for the job, simply think of it as assigning rows in your kendo manuever." "Th-That"s different! It"s..." "Daijobou, I"ll guide you through it." Ichika entrusted the helmet apparatus to Houki. "Eh?" "Daijobou, I"ll make it easier for you, Houki." He said that while winking. "I... Ichika... Hm, okay." End of flashback "Okay, for you Ichika, I"ll..." The helmet begins to glow in the same color as Byakushiki, golden. Ichika, from afar, typed the exact letters he typed on the Byakushiki, it"s connected through Houki"s helmet by a connector that is similar to sending messages through the internet, so... the letters Z.E.R.O. appeared on Houki"s helmet, signifying the activation of it. "Yosh, good, this will do it." Houki feels more confident as the reaction time on her brain waves has decreased drastically, and all sort of information are flowing through, there are connectors that are attached to her head which can send motion waves that can put her in state where she can think logically and calmly, with two goals in mind, one, is to provide tactical command to the rest, second, keep up with Ichika"s promise that they"ll all return safely so... the only left thing to do is... "Yosh, sa, head for the flank, group 1! Group 2, head for the rear, and three, head for the aerial manuevers!" All sort of future movements come, Houki knows when and how the enemies would react due to the down reaction and future outcomes are being transmitted as she guides the Z.E.R.O program to help the others and keep up with Ichika"s words, she"s bonded with the helmet sort to speak, as she can feel sort of becoming one, in a way, with it. "Yosh!" "Understood!" And so they went to formation. blast, blast! "Target: confirmed." Some unmanned drones have changed targets to the members of class 1. "Get those girls, we"ll get them instead!" "Hai!" The men assigned all the drones to attack them, and they went to formation. "Yosh!" The members of class 1 then split up according to Houki"s guidance. "Tho- E-Everyone!" Yamada exclaimed. "Those idiots, what are they- Huh?" Just as when Chifuyu was about to berate them for their recklessness, she then took notice that they"re rather acting in... a very devious manner. "What the...?" They"re tactical movement is perfect, in this way... blast, blast, shoock, boom! "Yeah!" "Got one!" Nohohon-san and her other two friends destroyed a couple of unmanne drones by blasting them on the torso, where the core is. slice, slice, shoock, boom! "Yeah!" "Alright!" Then the kendo club sliced off those in the rear. boom, boom, boom, shoock, boom! "Alright!" "Good analytical movement!" Then those who are for aerial bound fired in ranged, it"s perfect aim. "Yosh, now, go to..." Houki continues to provide analytical, tactical movements of attack. The helmet is showing all the possible courses to take, all she have to think about is giving them command. "S-Sugoi." "How do they..." The two instructors from class 1 are speechless, how do they... since when did they... did they get taught by some instructor during their absence, or... ...Above in the sky... Whoosh, Ichika flies overhead, detecting the flight carrier 3.12. "There it is, hm?" He sees some fighting, that"s... bhew, bhew! boom, boom! bhew, bhew! The IS, personal IS, blue tears, is deployed. Its weapon pods, to which where it"s given a name, are firing at the unmanned drones that are deployed and are circling the plane where she escaped from earlier. Flashback... srck, srcht, srcht! "Guh!" Through sheer thinking, Cecilia managed to break off the chains holding her in her chair, then... "Hiya!" Thuck, thud! "Guah! Argh." "B-Boss, the Alcott daughter is-" thud! "Guh!" A bunch of body guards got kicked on their abdomen, their chin, and their cheek. "You damn spoiled... forget it, attack!" bang, bang, bang! They all fire at her, alarming the passengers to get down so that they may not get shot. "Mmrngh." "mmrgh." They all duck from where they are sitting. "Hold your fire, we need the hostages alive!" The boss commanded, Cecilia partially deployed the arm of her personal IS to block the bullets then, "You bastards, you think I didn"t come prepare for this? I"ll teach you the pride of the Alcott! Ahh!" Flash! She deployed her IS as she opens the door to the passenger cabin then jumped out. "H-Hey, bitch, program the unmanned drones to fire at her, hurry!" "Hai!" End of flashback bhew, bhew, boom, boom! "Gr," bhew, bhew, boom! Cecilia spreaded the blue like tear pods everywhere, exposing some of the unmanned drones weakness to which they can be fired just about anywhere as the pods speed are very quick to the point they can decimate one enemy from all direction. "You bastards, I won"t go down easily!" Whoosh! She flies abit upward to avoid the attack of the unmanned drone. blast, blast. "Target: confirmed." blast, blast! Whoosh, whoosh! Cecilia dexterously dodged the shot, she"s not an England representative for nothing, she"s very agile, as well as reflexive, to be fired at by those amateurs, "Hiya!" bhew, bhew! boom, boom! Two more down. Two approaches from behind. blast, blast. "Gr," She turns around, only to... blast, boom! "Guh!" One fired from behind, leaving her vulnerable, her reaction time isn"t enough since the height of this place, as well as the passengers being in danger, is still alarmed in her mind, she cannot forget that they must be protected or else she won"t be a noble at all. "Gurk,gr." "She"s vulnerable boss!" "Yeah, kill her now! We"ll take the inheritence ourself without her approval or her supported marriage." The unmanned drones close in. About to fire, but... slice, slice! The guns are sliced. A white thing came passing by. whoosh, whoosh , slice, boom, boom! Then it ran them through, destroying them. "Huh?" Cecilia ponders on what it is. "Wha-?" "What is that?" "Another IS?" "Hm?" The boss of these russian guys, as well as the passengers look outside. "You..." Cecilia recognized this person. "Yo, you"ve done pretty well for yourself." Ichika, in Byakushiki, performed a manuever that quickly dispatched the unmanned drones. "You, what are you doing here?" "I could ask you the same question, why are you not inside the plane? Your servants were worried about you." "Geh, Chelsea..." "Ojou-sama!" "Huh?" Turning around, she sees a propeller plane approaching with two maids piloting it, Chelsea and another maid. "C-Chelsea?" "Ojou-sama, we"re coming!" "Chelsea, no, stay back!" The unmanned drones detected the plane. "Ah, Chelsea, we"re in trouble!" "Gr," She realized that but it"s too late. "Guh!" One unmanned drone detected them and- blast! "Guah!" "Ah!" "Chelsea, no!" "Hm," Ichika saw fit to intervene, there are only ten minutes left before the Hysteria Zero Syndrome passes off, so he best used the make up time. He relie on the Z.E.R.O. program. "Let"s do it, Byakushiki." "Hm, I agree, let"s go, white knight." A voice that is like female said. "Hm," Whoosh! Ichika dashes off, the Z.E.R.O. programming giving all the advanced data and the reaction time is decreasing for the pilot, then, Ichika focuses on two things: Saving Chelsea and the other maid, then... help Cecilia along... then the passengers... analytical data... absorbed, now, resolving. Byakushiki glows golden light, as well as Ichika"s eyes. "Yosh, let"s go!" With Yukihira type 2 ignited, whoosh! he dashes off at incredible speed. That is because of the ignition boost of Byakushiki. "Target: Con-" Slice, boom! Slice, boom! "System error, does not-" boom! Two unmanned drones that are targetting the plane are dispatched. "Ah, Chelsea, we"re safe." "Ah, it"s thanks to..." Staring at the Byakushiki... "You... a boy? Orimura..." "Ichika?" Whoosh! Then like a shooting star, Ichika dashes off to the plane of flight 3.12, it"s guarded by unmanned drones, the Z.E.R.O. programming formulated a plan, then it takes it back directly back to the pilot, giving him... slice, slice, slice! ...absolute victory. boom, boom, boom! All unmanned drones are destroyed before they could react. "Sugoi." Cecilia is amazed at that, how one can predict one"s movement before even the enemy itself knows what to do? "I..." Feeling helpless, she remembers the time where it was about time her parents would make up for not being with each other for awhile, but... "No, I cannot... I cannot be helpless, I..." "Target: confirmed." While being absorbed in thought, unmanned drones have input their target on her. "Huh?" Before she could react however... blast, blast, boom, boom! "G-Guah!" She isn"t hit, just got blown away by the impact of the explosion that came from... "You"re too prickle, you shouldn"t just staw off a distance." Ichika, who was already informed by the Z.E.R.O. program that unmanned drones would try to hit her, blocked the attack for her. "Gr, you." Now she"s even more irritate for being helpless. "You, don"t look down on me!" She yelled outloud. "Ojou-sama." "Not now, we gotta save those passengers inside, let"s go." Chelsea managed to fly near the passenger door of flight 3.12. Then she jumps in. "H-Hey, Chelsea, wait- Gyaah!" Her skirt, the maid that is, the other one, got blown away a bit, which distracted her for a while, but then she managed to jump in as well. "Whew, that was dangerous." "Alright, freeze you russian scum!" Chelsea aims a gun at them. "What the-? How did you-?" bang! "Guh!" A stun bullet to the forehead, it won"t kill him. "B-Boss, you-!" Bang! "Guh! Argh... argh... uh. zzz... zz..." The other was a tranquilizer. "Yosh, free the passengers, I"ll handle the pilot upahead." "Yosh, okay." Chelsea runs up-front to confront the pilot, he"s not the mastermind though. slide. "Alright, everyone, stay calm." "Freeze!" "Guh! Guah! W-Wait, I"m not one of them, I... they jammed the controls, I can"t control it, we"re gonna crashed!" The pilot said in a panic while his hands are tied up. "What?" Meanwhile, outside... shoock, boom! The last of the unmanned drone is destroyed, the Z.E.R.O. programming is turned off, Byakushiki is at its normal rate again. "Whew," "Why did you saved me?" Cecilia asked in a melancholic manner. "Hm? It"s only natural right? We"re classmate and-" "Your chivalrous actions are hurting me!" "What?" There"s only five minutes left before the Hysteria Zero Syndrome would pass off so... "Ever since... ever since... ever since my parents died, I swore that I would become stronger and reliable, wherein... wherein... sob, sob. So that the perfect man I envisioned of, would be... would be... someone... the very opposite of my father, he was troubled, and mother... and mother..." Tears... a shooting star passes by... "...Perfect man you say, hm." Ichika flies closer to her. "That"s right, the man I have envisioned, I always thought, that I could run the family by myself, but no, I couldn"t, I can"t do it alone, I... cannot... not even... not even..." "Ja, if you were to marry someone, what would you do?" She didn"t noticed that Ichika is just probably just about inches away from her face, which... "Of course I"ll be able to- Huh? Hmmrngh." A kiss, that is... "Hmrngh." Shock, shock! It started raining, but it"s not uncomfortable, it"s rather serene and... beautiful. shock! "Hmmnrgh," She begins to feel relax. Ichika broke the kiss. "Ja, I"ll be that man, I"ll treat you well, my princess." "Uh..." Now this is new, perhaps he"s the one? "Y-You, why are you..." "You say you needed someone to watch over you right? Well, I"m offerring to be your man." "Huh? What are you...?" "I"m not gonna let you deal with these problems by yourself, even if the world is your enemy, I"ll be your knight, through and through, until the end of the world is upon us, I"ll gladly serve you, my princess!" He kneels down while in mid-air, though the balance of the IS is keeping him from this position. "..." She is speechless, then with another shooting star falling, perhaps it"s by fate that something like a string of red fate bought the princess a chance to meet the white knight she"s been expecting for, this knight is a shooting star that would grant one wish, and that is... "I... will..." happiness... "So my princess, I have to ask you..." While taking her hand... "Wh-What?" "Will you... will you take me as your groom?" "..." Petals of cherry blossom falling... wedding bells echoing... and the sound of cheering people.. including... her deceased parents. "Congratulations, Cecilia." They all exclaimed with the voices of parents being the most loudest in her hearing. "I..." Then... with the shooting star granting the wish... she... "I... I..." Tears of... not sadness, but happiness... rolls down... and... "Yes! I do! I certainly do!" She hug the knight, her white knight. "I certainly will... Ichika... -san." "Hm, I"m glad, you provided me with the happiness that I have yearned for." Chivalrous words. "I-Ichika-san." Now this... is... a touching scene... if it weren"t... whoosh. "Huh?" "Hm?" They both turn to see that the plane is crashing... down to the airport below! "Waah! I"m loosing control!" Chelsea, who is in the pilot seat, cannot control it since it"s been rigged to go to Moscow, but with the controls going haywire, it"s out of charts, it"s going to crash into the city below. "What did you do?" The pilot snaps. "I... I don"t know, I just pushed the button here and there and..." "You don"t guess the controls here!" "Chelsea, what"s going on!" The other maid asked. "I-I..." "We"re going to crash, everyone, brace yourself!" The pilot said to the passengers. "Gyaah!" Everyone ducks in panic. whoosh, whoosh. Two personal IS fly towards the plane. "Chelsea!" Cecilia, who is carrying Ichika, flies towards it, he has run out of stamina because... "I... Hm," He has used too much effort in his Zero mode, he"s worn out, it"ll probably take about a lot of rest before he could regain back most of his energy, the two of them managed to get on the plane with Ichika following slowly to the pilot"s seat. "Chelsea, what"s going on?" "Ojou-sama, t-the controls..." "They"re ruined, we can"t use them now!" The pilot said. The meter is showing maximum velocity and the angle won"t get straight, it"s venting a lot of gasses pretty fast, it"s approaching the city below! "Here, install this on the cd part. Guh." Ichika tries to use the last of his strength to request them to install a data cd that he prepared just in case something like this would happen. "Hm? What is that?" Chelsea asked as Cecilia grabs it. "A cd? Wha...?" "Insert it... on... the... cock... pit, and... think only... of... landing... the... air... plane. Guh."He falls into unconcious state due to exerting a lot of effort in his Zero mode, which have subsided now. "Guh..." "I-Ichika-san!" "Hey!" "Let"s do what he says, we have no choice." The pilot suggested. "O-Okay, then, Chelsea, insert..." "No, I"ll do that, your maid can"t be trusted with the controls." "Hey, I know where to insert this!" Despite her protest, the pilot inserted the data cd. "There, it"s all yours." "Okay." Cecilia sits on the pilot seat. Then all sort of data are gathered, the letter Z.E.R.O. is on the screen. "Zero?" Then the visual interface is gone, only... "Huh? Hey, why can"t we see anything? We can"t land at this rate." "Yeah, we"ll..." "No, it"s quite alright." Cecilia assures both the pilot and Chelsea. "Huh?" "Leave this to me." Then Cecilia remembers Ichika"s words before he passed off. Think only of landing he said, Cecilia touches the radar like machine and begun to think just that. "Ichika-san, watch over me." She said in her mind, then the interface begun to calculate all possible courses to take, Cecilia guides it to make a safety landing, and it did. "Huh? Hey, the plane is moving." "Yeah, is the machine... moving it?" The pilot is i disbelief, right now, the plane is on auto-pilot mode, but not loosely, it"s being controlled by the program Z.E.R.O. and it"s moving according to Cecilia"s guidance. "Hm, hm." She"s getting a hang of it. ...At the airport... Slice, shoock, boom! "That should be the last of it." Mission complete, class 1 has dispatched all enemies, and the men from Russia are all capture by the authorities of IS academy. "Good job everyone, but... you all disobeyed orders, I"m expecting you to... huh?" Chifuyu berates all of them, but then a sight of a plane landing... "Uwa, that"s..." "Flight 3.12, it"s coming back but..." "Ichika." Houki removes the helmet like apparatus, it started to stop functioning almost just before all enemies were annihilated, she concluded that something must have happened to Ichika so that the system is shut off, since it was connected to the Byakushiki after all. "Ichika!" At this moment, the plane cannot land without a beacon, so... "Alright, Orimura-kun needs to see where to land, let"s light a beacon." "Hai, class 1, here we go!" There they go again, being hyperactive as always. "H-Hey, everyone!" Yamada called them out. "sigh, let them be Yamada. I got a full cover up on what do with the regarding their punishment." Chifuyu said. "Huh?" "These kids are special, perhaps, with them..." "Ichika, over here!" Houki and the other grab each one of the landing signals, those that can light out a path for a plane to land. "Yo, Orimu, over here!" "Yeah, over here!" Each of them are carrying something that the attendants carry in order to guide a landing. "Uh..." "See? I told you they"re special, hm." Chifuyu smirks at these kids, they"re really are something. Inside the pilot... the cockpit. "Ojou-sama, there, the students are beaconing us." Chelsea said. "I know. Hm." The Z.E.R.O. system continues to function, Cecilia focuses her mind in following the light beacons that is being signalled by her comrades in class 1. "Yosh, here we... go." With the landing wheels active, it"s now time to decrease velocity... the Z.E.R.O. programming did that. "Whoa," "Sugoi." Both the pilot and Chelsea are amazed at such fast technology outcome. "Sugoi, how does it...?" The plane slowly begun to decrease velocity... then it lands on the ground, the wheels are stirring and... done, it"s safe. "Yahoo!" "Yeah!" "We did it!" "Yeah!" "Orimura! Orimura! Orimura!" Inside the plane... "Yosh, we did it!" "Yeah!" The pilot and Chelsea cheered, then she goes to the passenger cabin. "Everyone, we made it, we"re now safe and sound, yahoo!" "Yay!" "Yeah, we"re safe!" "Darling, we safe!" Everyone celebrated the victory over this terrorism. "Sigh," Cecilia stops touching the machine, the Z.E.R.O. program signed off, given the purpose already done, and the c.d. being ejected. "Oh, I must study this." The pilot said grabbing the c.d. which is a modified version of the Z.E.R.O. program that Ichika asked to be developed by his classmates before they set out here, using the Hysteria Zero Syndrome, he was able to do so. "What is that?" Chelsea asked. "I don"t know, but it"s look..." "Sigh," Cecilia lies down on the seat, feeling relaxed, today has been very prominent for her... it"s a day of salvation, now she won"t have to be alone anymore... staring at the sleeping Ichika on the floor... "Ichika-san, he, arigatou, you showed me... the light, I am forever... in your... care. Orimura Ichika." End of Chapter 4 Midnight Stars of Giving Wish Chapter 5: Reunion with Destiny... Again ...at the field... Everyone is ready for some IS manuever lessons, everyone is dressed up in their respective attire, meaning all of them wear the same fitting suit which is like a one-piece swimsuit, Cecila has one but hers is that of almost blue color, Ichika is the only one dressed in a different attire given he"s the one who"s the only of the opposite gender, oh, and Chifuyu and Yamada are dressed in jogging suits, as proper attire for instructors. "Then, let us begin the IS manuever class." Chifuyu said, last night was... Flashback whickmp! "Gmn!" Everyone is being scolded in a line-up position.

...Later that night, at the command room... -The door opened, everyone came in and they took their respective seats. Kanata sat at her usual seat, which is the same seat as before, and Riki"s seat became that of the one across her at the opposite side. He sat there. "Thank you for coming. Please, make yourselves comfortable." Everyone nodded and they sat in a comfortable position. "For a long time, our group consists only of me, A-chan, Kyosuke and the other members of Little Busters. That makes us six in total until recently, Kurugaya Yuiko joined us after we discovered her potential. The same can be said about Nishizono Mio-kun. Then our latest new members are, of course, Naoe Riki and Kamikita Komari." Everyone turned to those latest new members. Komari giggled sweetly as she waved hi at the others. Riki simply waved at them with a friendly expression. "Hm," Kanata nodded, then they all turned their attention back to the matter in hand. "Therefore, starting tonight and every other night to come, I would like for us to commence our exploration of Tartarus." ""Hm?"" Both Riki and Komari were confused at that. "Tar... tarus?" Komari asked. "Oh right, sorry we didn"t tell you." Kyosuke apologized. "Tartarus, you see, is... Hm, perhaps you can think of it as a Shadow nest. It"s where a lot of them can be found." "Shadow... nest?" "You mean... it"s where they"re coming from?" Riki asked. "Beats me. It"s something that we"ll have to find out ourselves." "Hm," Kanata nodded. "Then, as we are to agree on what to do, we shall go there before midnight tonight." ... ... ...Later, before midnight, at the school gate... Everyone has arrived here. "Well,we"re here." Masato stated. "It"s almost time..." Kengo said. Kanata checked the time on her cellphone, "Just wait a few seconds... It"s almost midnight..." ...tick... tock... tick... tock... tick-Sharp! ...Shhhaaaaaaaaaaadddddddeeeee... ...The environment became greenish in color, the water near the sidewalk became red as blood... "So... this is the dark hour." Riki said staring at the sky. "Hm," Komari is staring at him. Then she herself turned her gaze at the green sky. "That"s not something you should look at. Take a look. At our school." Kyosuke said, looking at the school campus along with the others. ""Hm?"" Both Riki and Komari turned their gazes to the school campus. ..... ... ...Reeeeeeedddddddgggghhhcccctttt-! Suddenly, the entire campus is covered with red fog(Note: a reference of the red fog in Persona 4: Arena Ultimax) and it became much more thicker afterwards. "Ah!" Komari exclaimed at the development in front, she covered her mouth with both hands in shock and surprise. "Ah." Riki is staring at what is transpiring in front of him with his mouth slightly opened. "It begins." Kyosuke said in a serious tone. "Hm," Rin, who is beside Kyosuke, nodded. -The school is completely engulfed by the red fog. But you can hear some condensing and colliding sounds coming from within the fog. ...Reeeeeeeddddddddggggghhhcctt-! -Soon after, the fog cleared and the school campus is no longer present. Replacing it is some sort of spiral-like portal that is very huge, that is the size of the campus itself, and it"s mesmerizing in its appearance. It"s on the ground and it"s largely wide. ""Ah!"" Both Riki and Komari exclaimed. "This is Tartarus. A path-a portal-that leads to a long series of stairways once you enter it. What lies beyond there is something we will have to discover ourselves." Kanata stated. Riki turned to Kanata, "A long series of... stairways?" "Hm," She nodded. "Well, you"ll see for yourself once we enter." Kyosuke said. "Come on, let"s get a move on." """Ah.""" The others said. They all moved forward- "Come on, Naoe." Masato said, gently pushing Riki forward. "Y-Yeah." "Come on, Kamikita-san." Kengo did the same to Komari. "H-Hm," She nodded as she is gently pushed forward. ...Since the two of them are new at this kind of thing, both Kengo and Masato are assigned to watch over them-give them a gentle push if necessary. ...Everyone entered this very wide portal that leads to- ... ...Tartarus, first block... -As everyone entered, they found themselves in a place that is dark and a long series of stairways lie before them, just like what Kanata stated. "This is it. This is only the first block. We have already explored some of the depths of this block before you two came along." Kanata said to Riki and Komari without looking at them as she is staring forward. Kyosuke stepped forward, "Well, we just came here to take a peek. This will be our first time exploring it, too. Hm," He smirked, "Kinda exciting huh? Going into the unknown, exploring the depths of this hellhole, and we can all come out laughing like youthfull people." ""Yeah!"" Both A-chan and Masato cheered with raised fists upward. "Yeah, we can all have fun here!" A-chan said without putting down her fist. "Yeah," Masato punched his palm, feeling excited. "well, should we get going?" "This isn"t a game, so don"t treat this lightly." Kanata reminded them, she turned around to face the others. "As much as you would like to participate in this activity, Natsume, you won"t be joining us for tonight." "Huh!?" Kyosuke was surprised at that. "Why not?" "You just got hurt the other night." "Yeah, that huge Shadow managed to hurt your elbow. Don"t overdo it, Kyosuke." Rin said. "Tch," Kyosuke grunted, turning his gaze to his left with a downcast gaze. "Fine, fine." He then turned to Riki. "Sorry Riki, but I won"t be able to guide you in the expedition." "Hm. Ah." That"s Riki"s only respond. "I will handle that. Kamikita-san, you would have to come as well. You must be familiarized with our activities here." Kanata said. "Hm," Komari nodded. "I understand." "Hm," Kanata nodded in return, she turned to A-chan. "A-chan, set up our equipment. Go ahead and inspect the perimeter and report if anything has changed." "Roger that~" She said as she gave a playful salute. Kanata went to the corner and everyone else started moving about- "Alright, gather up, guys." Kyosuke said, giving off some kind of aura that makes people follow his command, much as his charisma to lead. The others gathered around him- "Since I won"t be tagging along for the fun, we"re gonna have to appoint someone as leader." He said inspecting everyone and trying to judge their standings- "Hm? Leader? One of us? But Kyosuke, you"re our only-" "Yeah. You"re the only one capable of leading us." Kengo cut off Masato as he said that. "Hey, I was going to say that!" "Huh, didn"t I told you guys already that you guys will have to stand on your own two feet every once in a while?" Kyosuke said, raising an eyebrow which silenced both Kengo and Masato. "Okay, now... Who wants to be leader?" -Everyone looked at each other. "Leader, huh.' Riki thought. Sharp-! "Hmngh," He felt a sharp sensation on his head which caused a slight pain, "You will lead your subjects to their enlightenment. Go forth and spread the gentle touch of darkness, other me." Shadow Riki"s voice is heard in Riki"s mind. Sharp-! "Hmngh," Riki touched his forehead due to the stinging pain he"s feeling. "Hm?" Mio noticed him grimacing, "Are you well?" "Hngh, a-ah." He nodded as he removed his hand from his forehead. "I"ll be fine." He assured. "..." Mio simply nodded. "I"ll be happy to take leadership if none of you are willing." Kurugaya said volunteering for leadership. "No, I think I know someone who could lead you all and could make this team of ours become more stronger." Kyosuke said with a mystifying aura emanating around him. He then gave a piercing gaze towards Riki. "Hm?" Riki became curious of that stare. Kyosuke gestured towards Riki, "Riki, you"re in charge." "Ah." Riki was caught off-guard and was very surprised at that. """Huh!?""" The others themselves were greatly surprised by Kyosuke"s declaration. "Kyosuke, you"re saying..." Masato said in disbelief while not averting his eyes from Riki. "Ah," Kyosuke nodded. "I"m assigning the leadership of Little Busters to Riki, it will only be temporarily. But who knows..." He said that last part in a murmuring tone as he observed Riki, "Maybe he"ll take my place now...' "..." Riki himself seems to be a little fazed by Kyosuke"s declaration. Then... ...shaaaaaaaddddeee... "..." He found himself inside his own psyche-it"s all dark here and his shadow reflection is colored red. Then that colored red shadow began to form into something... different. It doesn"t reflect Riki"s own shape and appearance anymore, but- "Naoe Riki, you should take the leadership role. You will find it to be quite very pleasing should you accept, and fear not, for you will have the dominion over the darkness about you." Shadow Riki"s voice said as the shadow reflection of Riki became very large and it"s... draconic from the way it has shaped itself... is this Seth? "Huh?" Riki looked at his shadow reflection on his left side- "This is..." "You are darkness, Naoe Riki. And the darkness... is you. Gentleness of Darkness, hahahahaha." The shadow reflection became smaller and smaller... then it seems to have merged with Riki. ...shaaaaaadddddeeee... "..." Riki found his focus to be back on the real world. "Well? Are you fine with this, Riki?" Kyosuke asked for Riki"s answer regarding Riki himself being declared as leader. Mio slightly raised her hand, "If I may have a say in this, I would say..." She lowered her hand. "He"s not suited to be one." "Hm," Kurugaya nodded. "I agree with her. This may be more than you can handle, boy." "Ah, ah. Sorry, Naoe, but I don"t you can handle it." Masato himself seems to agree with the two girls. "Ah." Kengo nodded as well. "You shouldn"t take burdens that you cannot handle." "..." Rin is looking at Riki, feeling uncertain. "You know... It"s not like we"re looking down on you, we just-Huh?" Riki raised his hands to give the gesture of assurance-"You don"t have to mince words into this, Rin-san." He has a very serious expression on his face, he lowered his hands. "I don"t expect you all to believe that I can handle this, but..." He took some steps forward-"That"s a good thing." He stopped after saying that. """Hm?""" The others looked at him curiously. "Hm," Kyosuke smirked, he seems to know where this is going. "Well, what will you do then, Riki?" "..." Riki turned to Kyosuke with his very serious expression still there, then he turned to the others. "I don"t want you all to believe in me if you don"t want to, but..." He raised one index finger forward... "I like it if we don"t expect anything from each other. That will only be getting in the way," He forms a somewhat darker expression now. "Ah." Mio took one step backward, as if feeling some kind of aura around him. "..." "Hm," Riki formed a bit more darker expression as he put down his hand. "We"re going to go there, with you guys doing whatever you wish." He said as he went for the stairways. Kanata is also there, it seems she has been waiting for the group to finish their discussion. Riki approached her. "Are you firm enough to take the leadership role, Naoe-kun?" Riki eyed her with those dark, serious expression. "Of course." "...Hm," She nodded in approval and she picked up a rapier from the equipment box that is on the ground. She handed it to Riki, "This is your weapon. Rapiers have been known to be carried by those who lead others. This will be the sign of your leadership, Natsume has also wielded this, and so am I, and now, you will also wield this." "..." Riki took the blade with one hand. He sized it up before lowering it. -The others watched him, then Kyosuke turned around to face the others. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and grab your weapons. We"re not gonna be here all night. Remember, the dark hour might end soon and we won"t want to be here when that happens, right?" ...Everyone turned to each other, then they turned back to Kyosuke and nodded. ... ...Soon enough, everyone was geared up. Rin"s choice of weapon is a naginata. (Note: A reference of FemProtagonist of P3, I suppose.) Komari is using a knife. Kurugaya wields a katana. Mio is wielding a gun, in which she seems to know how to use it. Masato is wielding two knuckles on his fists. Kengo wields a long sword. "Hm," Kanata nodded in approval as she saw everyone to be ready. "Very well, commence." She ordered. ... ...Later, at the stairways... ...tap, tap, tap, tap... ...tap, tap, tap, tap... ...tap, tap, tap, tap... ...Everyone is climbing down the stairways before them. ...It"s very deep below, one can wonder just how far these spiral stairways go. "..." Riki is being followed by everyone else, so far, nothing has happened. "Can you hear me? It"s Futaki Kanata." "Ah, Futaki-san. Anything to report?" Kurugaya asked as they continued walking. "Yes... You will soon encounter some Shadows. I am not certain of their numbers, so be cautious." "Hm, roger that." "Leave the strong ones to us, we have dealt with the Shadows before you two entered our group." Mio said to Komari before turning to Riki. "No way." Riki responded simply. "..." Mio felt a bit overwhelmed by that respond. "Boy, Mio-kun and I have dealt with the Shadows before and we have more experience in this than you are. You don"t have to prove yourself to our eyes." Kurugaya said. -Riki stopped on his pace. "Stop." He ordered of everyone. """Hm?""" Everyone stopped as he ordered, but they all have curious expressions on their face. "What"s up? Why are you-" Before Masato could continue- "Groooaaarrr!" "Groooaaarr!" "Groooaaaarrr!" Multiple Shadows ahead! They"re the same ones that Riki encountered during that night when he saved Komari. They"re smaller ones. "Kyah!" Komari shrieked upon seeing them, she covered her mouth with her left hand. "These are... Shadows?" "Ah, leave them to us!" Kurugaya said, ready for battle. "Gr, we"re fighting, too!" Rin said holding her naginata tightly. "Yeah, let"s do this." Masato said with his fists ready. "Hm, here we go." Kengo said holding his sword steadily in front. "Groooaaarr!" "Groooaaarr!" Two Shadows charged towards Riki- Bang-! Bang-! Two bullets stopped them on their advance, it seems Mio opened fire at them. "Hiya!" Sliice-! Kurugaya stepped forward and sliced the first one in half- "Aarrghh...!" Then she pointed her Evoker to the left side of her forehead- Bang-! BLAAST-! -Blue mists burst out of the ground and Leanan Sidhe is summoned. "Ahh..." She let out a breath of ice- *Mabufula* -Freeeze, freeze-! Two Shadows were frozen solid. Komari watched how this transpired, "Wow." "Don"t let your guard down." Rin told her. "I want to help, too." Rin said as she pointed her Evoker to the right side of her forehead, "Persona!" Bang-! BLAAST-! "Nya! Nya!" Nekomata is summoned. *Maragi* -Ablaaaazeee, Ablaaaaazee! Two more Shadows were defeated by Rin. "Heh, too easy. I"ll go for it, too!" Masato said getting pumped up. "I"ll go, too." Kengo said calmly. Masato pointed his Evoker to the right side of his forehead-"Persona! Let"s go, Oumitsunu!" Bang-! BLAAST-! The statue-like guardian, Oumitsunu, is summoned. "Huargh!" "Crush them all!" Masato exclaimed with one fist extended forward-! "I"ll join you." Kengo went into action, he pointed his Evoker to the left side of his forehead-"Persona! Come forth, Jikokuten!" Bang-! BLAAST-! Jikokuten, the protector, is summoned. "Let"s go, Kengo!" "Hm," Kengo nodded. ""Persona!"" Both Masato and Kengo exclaimed. -Oumitsunu and Jikokuten stood together- "Huargh!" "Huwooh!" *Deathbound* *Hassohappa* *POW-!* *Pow, pow, pow-!* *BAAM-!* "Groooaaarr!" "Groooaaarr!" "Groooaaarr!" Five Shadows were defeated by that combined attack. "Wow." Komari is amazed by what her friends can do. "Kamikita, don"t just stand there. You should attack, too." Rin told Komari. "Hm, okay." "Groooaar!" "Grooaaarr!" Two Shadows remain. "Ahh..." Komari took a deep breath, "Ahh..." Then she exhaled it, and she pointed her Evoker to her forehead. "Grooaaarr!" "Grooaaarr!" The two remaining Shadows charged towards her-! "Komari!" "Komari-chan!" Mio and Kurugaya exclaimed. Bang-! BLAAST-! "Weehee!" A Pixie is summoned by Komari. "Greeezzzccht-!" It yelled out something... *Mazio* *-Elec**Elec-**-Shoock, Shooock-**boom!* The Shadows were defeated before they could reach Komari. "Ah." Komari smiled, realizing that she has defeated them. She removed her Evoker from her forehead. "I... I did it!" "Hm," Kurugaya smiled. "Good job, that was your firsthand experience in fighting Shadows. But you did all right." "Yeah!" "Alright!" "Good job!" The others praised and cheered Komari. "Haha," She giggled heartily. "Thank you, everyone." "Hm," Kurugaya is still smiling as she eyed Komari. "How cute.' She seems to be captivated by her cuteness. "Hm?" Rin turned to Riki who has not said a word ever since the attack-and even now, he"s just standing still there, not seem to be interested in joining the others in their cheering. "..." "He didn"t help us at the attack. Maybe he got scared...?' Thinking of that, Rin approached Riki. "Hey, are you all right? You didn"t got hurt, right?" "..." Riki shook his head without even turning to Rin. "I see..." "..." Aside from Rin, Mio has been looking at Riki ever since Rin turned her eyes on him, it would seem they turned their attention to him at the same time earlier. "..." She approached him as well. "You didn"t participate in the battle. Perhaps you are not qualified to be a leader, after all." That may have sounded rude or mean, but she is actually expressing concern. """Huh?""" Everyone who has been praising and cheering for a while turned to the three people, Rin, Mio and Riki. "Hey, what"s wrong, guys?" Masato asked. "Ah." Kengo eyed Riki, it seems he managed to read the atmosphere surrounding the three people. Concerned that Masato might ruin the atmosphere, he placed a hand on Masato"s left shoulder. "Masato, don"t." He said shaking his head. "Eh?" Masato is very confused, he turned back to the three people."But..." "Shh, quiet." "... ...What are you guys standing about for?" Riki asked without turning to them, "They"re coming." """Huh?""" Everyone was confused by what he said. "What do you mean, Naoe? We just defeated all the-" Before Masato could continue- "Be careful! A lot of Shadows are approaching your way! There is one strong Shadow among them!" Kanata"s voice alarmed them of danger. """Huh?""" Everyone, with the exception of Riki who is looking at the path ahead, is alarmed by what she said, they"re all looking above where Kanata"s voice sounded. "What do you mean, Futaki-san?" Kurugaya asked. "I detected them a while ago. Here they come! Prepare for battle!" -At Kanata"s warning, a swarm of Shadows are coming from the path ahead and there is one large Shadow among them, Rampage Drive, a metallic-looking Shadow that is bigger than the other Shadows that are marching and it"s more taller than an average human. """Guaah!""" "Ahh!" The girls and Masato screamed at the sight of them. "Y-You gotta be kidding!" Masato exclaimed. "There"s too many of them!" Kengo said. "W-We better go back!" Rin said in a panic. "We can"t. We could find an access point further to go back faster, but..." Kurugaya said looking at the mass of Shadows that are approaching. "Gr," Mio grunted a bit, "We have no choice. We may have to fight our way through." """Huh!?""" Everyone was in disbelief of what Mio told them. "Fight... All of them? But... W-We can"t beat them all!" Rin said in a panic. "We don"t have to. We just need to get past the weaker ones, then we can find the access point further to go back." "Access point? What is that?" Komari asked while she herself is in a state of panic. "It"s a device that we can use to teleport back to the entrance. But at this rate..." Rin said. "Tch, we have no choice. Mio-kun, you and I will protect the others. We"re the strongest in our team, the others will have to fight right behind us." Kurugaya said to Mio. Mio turned to her, "Hm," she nodded. "Very well." They both turned to the mass of Shadows. "Everyone, stay right behind us." Kurugaya said preparing herself for a long battle. The others turned to each other and they nodded in agreement to follow Kurugaya"s instruction. They rallied behind Kurugaya and Mio with the exception of... "Hm?" Kurugaya saw Riki to be standing still at the spot where he"s been standing for a while. "..." He"s eyeing the Shadows that are approaching. "Do it, my other me." Shadow Riki"s voice is heard inside his mind. '...Okay.' Riki seems to have decided on what to do. "Hey, boy! What are you doing over there!? Get behind us!" Kurugaya shouted at him. "..." But he didn"t move from his position still. "Tch," Mio was a bit annoyed by Riki as she held her gun with both hands, ready to fire at the Shadows. She ran in front of Riki. "I"ll cover him. Kurugaya, protect the others!" "Huh? But..." "I"ll be fine. I"ll take care of him." Mio said to Kurugaya with her holding her gun with both hands and her attention is focused on the Shadows that are marching their way. "..." Kurugaya eyed Riki, "Why"s he being stubborn? Did Mio-kun offended him in some way?' As she thought that, she turned her attention to the marching Shadows. "Hm, well, anyway... Hm, all right. Mio-kun, he"s in your care."

Finally standing upright on his own two feet he looked at her. Reaching out to touch her face his heart broke as she pulled away from him like she never wanted him to touch her again. And that was something he could not face life without. "Please let me explain?" She quickly dried her tears and looked at him. "You have nothing to explain. I get it. As much as this hurts... I get it. I"m not angry which I probably have the right to be. I am just sad. " She stopped for a minute to wipe the fresh batch of tears from her face. She looked up at his face. He looked so different. Sad, unsure. Scared Maybe he was sad because he actually realized that he hurt someone with his choices. Maybe he was unsure because he was questioning his decision. And maybe he was scared because he got caught before he wanted to. Looking at him she sighed. He was still beautiful no matter much he hurt her. His hair was perfect even though it was covered in hairspray and sweat laced from dancing. His baby blue eyes made her melt but we"re laced with a sense of lost and a sense of longing all rolled into one. "You are Link Larkin. The boy... who could light up a room with just his smile. The boy who makes my heart skip a beat. The boy who ..." She couldn"t finish her words. " is Amber"s. There is no way I could ever compete with her. I thought I had a chance but it"s okay. You should go back there and be with her. You don"t have to worry about me. Like I said I will be fine. " she gave him a sad soft smiling. "Goodbye Link. " She turned and started walking away. She was just brushing him off and that completely scared the living shit out of him. He grabbed her arm pulling her to face him. "Compete with her Trace! "You never have to compete with her. And if you ever did you would win. It would never be a competition. Please you have to listen to me. " he looked at her. "Really. I said I am fine. Just go back there. " she shook her head sadly the water works reproducing rather quickly as she pulled her arm out of his grip. She honestly wasn"t sure how much more she could take before she would break down. "You"re not fine. Trace you are crying. " he walked closer and wiped the tears that were streaming down her face which in turn only made her cry more. Little did they know the cameras were still rolling live TV capturing every moment of two people who truly loved each other but the cruel and unfair world was getting in the way. "Why won"t you just let me wrap my arms around you? Why won"t you let me make this better? Let me make this right?" "I"ll be fine Link. You don"t have to pretend anymore. I heard Amber talking about it. You and her. I was hiding in the bushes when you came out looking for me and Amber followed. The bet. The joke. Whatever you want to call it. She told them how you took me home and called her laughing and joking about how you pulled the wool over my eyes. " she sadly repeated. "I get that it was helping you career but why would it be okay to do stuff with me just to get a laugh out of it? I have feelings too." He looked at her with a look of shock and almost panic in his eyes. He didn"t hear anything before she said about him doing stuff with her. "What do you mean Trace? Doing what stuff?" He grabbed her hands looking into her eyes. "Amber was talking to the guys outside. She said what a story it would be if you got to 2nd or 3rd base with me. Good old Link Larkin could tell the whole world that he copped a feel of the whale. What a great story that would be." Amber might not have came out and said it that way but that is how she made her feel. And it was exactly what she meant. She lowered her chin feeling a saddening twinge inside her heart Link was truly appauled by the lengths that Amber had gone. A large wave of anger flustering over his body as his clinched his fist tightly. He noticed how her face had fallen. "Darlin" look at me?" He instinctively tilted her chin up "Trace none of that is true. I swear to you it isn"t. I"m not like that. I have never been like that. I don"t just try getting girls to do stuff with me in order to further my career. I wouldn"t do that to you. Especially not you." He felt like he had to explain what she seen. "Amber she came over to me and she said she just wanted to talk. I didn"t even want to talk to her. Trace I didn"t even realize that we were in the corner. I tried to get away from her and then she kissed me. She knew exactly what she was doing. She knew it." He knew that was her plan all along. She knew the bell was about to ring. She knew that Tracy would be in that class. She knew what this would do to her. " And she did it to cause all of this. I would never hurt you like that. I lo..." he stopped what he was about to say. Tracy shook her head. "Don"t you get it Link. I am not her. I will never be her. I"m not thin. And I am not some super model. And I can"t keep pretending that if I close my eyes I will be. . I don"t want to be her and it"s not even because I am jealous. I"m not. I just thought." She started to get herself all tongue tied. "Nevermind. You should get back in the I am sure she is waiting for you." She slowly turned away. Before she could get all the way around he grabbed her arm gently. It sent shivers down her spine. "Tracy god you are so beautiful." Please don"t walk away from me.." "Please don"t. " was all she could manage to say softly as she slowly pulled her arm away. The look in his eyes was breaking her heart. Could this have been all a misunderstand? She wanted to believe that but she had heard so much and she seen them kiss. He felt his heart break as she pulled her hand away. His voice was laced with frustration even though he didn"t mean it to come off that way. "Damn it Tracy. Don"t what? Hold my girlfriends hand. Don"t touch her. Don"t want to be around her. Don"t want to kiss her. Don"t want to be with her so much that it hurts my heart to wall away. Don"t you get it Trace. It"s you. God it"s been you. I"ve just been too stupid to realize it. I have never wanted or needed anyone the way that I want and need to be with you. I dont want you to be her. I want you to be you. I want you." As declared as a low growl came from the depths of his stomach. Amber isn"t . " before he could finish she interupted him. "A whale. I get it. You don"t have to tell me something that I"ve heard a thousand times before. Believe me you get used to it after a while." The tears streamed from her face even though she prayed they wouldn"t. "I am sure she is waiting to hear the story." She hung her head down low and turned away from him. "You don"t get to say to..." he stopped minute sentence his mind jumbled and his thoughts completely confused. "God damn it Tracy Turnblad you don"t get to say that shit about the girl I love." Something in him snapped. Not in a bad way just in a hurt way. He was fucking Link Larkin. Mr cool. He didn"t get to feel this way but he couldn"t help it. The thought of her walking away from him. Walking away from them was just truly unimaginable. Tears were now streaming down his face like a dam that just busted. This was a first to Link. He tried to stop it but he couldn"t. For the first time, in his life, he wasn"t in control of something and the most important person in his life was slipping away. Because of lies. And he had no idea how to handle it. No one ever, especially not a skirt, made him feel like this. And maybe that was the whole problem. She wasn"t just a skirt. She was so much more yet she didn"t realize it. She was his heart and his everything. Come hell or high water he was going to make her realize. There was no way he was going to lose her. Not now. Not ever. She was turned towards him and was about to say something but he quickly stopped her. " No. You got to say what you needed to. Now it is my turn. Do you have any idea what you mean to me? I would never. Hurt you. I would never do anything like that. You know what I did last night. I didn"t talk to Amber. I went home and thought about you. Thought about us. I couldn"t sleep because all I wanted to do was see you.. Trace you aren"t like any other person I have ever met in my life. You are amazing and beautiful and whether or not you want to believe this I want to be with you. More than I could ever say. This is tearing me apart. I don"t get this way ever. I don"t care what anyone says. I love you. I love you so damn much that this is killing me. " he finally spit it out. He meant it with every fiber of his being. This emotion rocked him to his core. "I love you too Link. " She said quietly. "No. I"m not done. " he continued not hearing what she said. "You can"t make me stop loving you. No matter how much you push me away. You can"t Trace. You are in my soul.." he stopped in his tracks. "What did you say?" "I said I love you too Link. " She repeated. Walking closer to her he took her into his arms and kissed her deeply. "Live television. There is nothing like it." Corny spoke into the camera as the world just watched the love story of Link and Tracy begin. The council kids all clapped (I could even see Maddie and Garrett (who undoubtedly were amazing in the live version). I haven"t written in a long time so please bear with me. And please feel free to review with any comments. Concerns or anything of that stuff. Finally catching up with everyone Amber looked in horror as she saw what was before her. "You have got to be kidding me?" She screamed outloud. "I made up all these lies, start all this trouble, made it look like you kissed me and for what. To watch you and that whale make out. This is not how it is supposed to be. I am Amber Von Tussle and she is Tracy Tugboat. A few people gasped at her declaration. "Oh please don"t act like you are shocked. You all know me. You all know how I am." Amber growled out. Tracy and Link both looked at her. Link knew that how devious she could be but he never thought she would go this far. Even for Amber"s standards that was bad. Link watched her his arm protectively around Tracy. He wasn"t sure what Amber might do but if something was to happen he would be there to stop it. He would be there to protect his girl. Yes, his girl and there was nothing that could be done about it. Link looked at her and seemed as though he was about to speak "Amber," Corny interrupted before anyone could say anything. He shook his head and looked over at her.. "Your actions are absolutely appauling. They can not be condoned. Amber we have a code of standards on the show. Your actions have proved to be demeaning to a fellow council member. You are suspended indefinitely." "WHAT? Corny no, this show is my life. This show is my everything. It"s my show." Amber cried out. Corny looked at her. "You heard me. You are suspended indefinitely. You should have thought about how much this show meant to you before you set out to hurt someone. Someone who tried to be friends with you." "But Corny I..." She sighed and stopped what she was going to say. She looked over and glared at Tracy, her eyes filled with anger. "Tracy, this is all your fault. You ruined everything for me. You took my show, you took my crown, and you took Link. You took it all. You couldn"t just stay out of everyone"s lives. " she looked at the girl once more glared and stormed off. A few hours had passed since the incident at the show. Things had finally calmed sat on the lawn chair outside of the house looking at the sky. Her mind wandered off in a million different direction. In the last few days her life had completely changed. She went from agreeing to a march, almost losing Link in the process, she was accused of bludgeoned a police officer, escaped, snuck into the TV station, helped integrated the show, danced on TV, was pardoned, kissed Link on TV. Watched Amber kiss him. Almost lost him again and told him she loved him. She looked at the world in an entirely different view. She risked losing everything to help people she cared about and they finally changed things. Finally did the right thing. She closed her eyes leaning back in the chair. School would be ending soon and then she would have the lazy days of summer to just sit and do this. Link slowly made his way to Tracy"s house. Once he knocked Edna directed him to the backyard. She looked so peaceful sitting there. As he watched her he wondered how he could be so lucky. He walked over and smiled down looking at her. She looked like she was dozed off like she did in history class. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. He smiled at her as she opened her eyes. "Hey beautiful." "Hey there yourself handsome." She smiled moving so that he could sit down. Smiling at her he took a strand of her hair that was in front of her face and slid it behind her ear. "Pretty interesting day today huh?" "You can say that again." She spoke softly. "Pretty interesting day today huh?" He repeated and winked his voice getting serious as he took her hands. "Trace, when I thought I was going to lose you. I was scared. Something in me just... I don"t know. I panicked. and I couldn"t get through to you. I was so lost and I was so afraid. When I said I love you. I meant it. More than I could ever say. And I hope that you know that." She smiled at him. "I love you too. " She took a deep breath. "I was so mad and so hurt that I didn"t even think to put things together. I just.. I"m sorry. I just. " She takes another long deep breath. "Girls like me, don"t get guys like you." "Girls like you make guys like me better. Girls like you make guys happy. Girls like you believe in the good in the world. When you think that something is wrong you fix it and you make it right. You give your entire heart to everything and you ask nothing in return. You make me happy. Trace you are so special and so important to me." He smiled at her as she leaned up and kissed him. "I am so thankful that you are in my life. He smiled deepening the kiss, leaning her back a little on the chair and his hand moving over her side resting there as he kissed her. Edna slowly came out. "Link it is getting late. I think it is time for you to get home and Tracy you need to get yourself to bed. It is not summer yet. " Tracy and Link pulled away from the kiss both a little breathless. Tracy was so caught up in the kiss that she wasn"t aying attention to her mother talking. But Link sure was. He didn"t want Tracy to get in trouble. "Yes maam." He smiled as he got up from the chair. Tracy slowly got up from the chair taking his hand. "Ma I am going to walk Link out. " Edna nodded at her daughter. "Don"t take too long." Walking out to the car Tracy and Link"s hands were locked. "So I will see you tomorrow. " Tracy smiled at him. "Bright and Early. " he leaned in, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again. There was something about holding her that filled him with joy. Pulling away he smiled at her. "I will see you tomorrow Trace. " he could hear the bells She watched as he got into his car and walked back into the house and smiled touching her lips. She could hear the bells. Summer days had come and Link and Tracy were happier than ever. Sometimes she still had a hard time believing that he wanted to be with her but he never once made her feel he thought otherwise. He made her feel like she was the center of his universe, his entire world. When he smiled at her you could tell that it was genuine. Anything that Tracy ever imagined could nothing compared to being with Link was like. He was her best friend. He was her soul mate. He was everything she could have ever wanted. He made her smiled when she was sad. He made her laugh when she was down. He was the best thing that could have ever happened to were happy as they could be. Life was better than Tracy could have ever imagined. Walking into the studio Tracy smiled at Noreen and Doreen who were sitting at their tables. Sitting down at her own mirror she started working on her make up. Ever since Ms Von Tussle had left things around the studio were so much more relaxed. The kids were definitely not on edge as much and Corny seemed so much happier. Slowly starting to put on her make up she smiled as a pair of arms wrapped around her neck, kissing her head. "Hi Link." "Hey darling." He smiled resting against her. "How was your day?" "You just seem me twenty minutes ago Link. You know how my day went." She laughed slightly. "But I can say it was good. I got to spend it with this really great guy. He made me laugh a lot. I think I might have a little bit of a crush on him." Sitting down next to her he took her hands. "Oh really? Should I be jealous? Do I have to take care of this." "Hmmmmm. Maybe you should be." She laughed a bit. "I mean he has the most beautiful eyes and when he smiles at me. It just melt my heart. I just can"t explain it Link." He pressed his finger to his lips. "Well then I guess I should meet this guy. I mean any guy that is trying to take my girl from me needs a talking to." He smiled as he leaned in kissing her. "Dinner when we are done here?" "Well I don"t know. I might have plans after this with that guy." She kissed him again. "But since you asked me first and you asked me so nicely with that kiss, yeah I think that we can do that." She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck deepening the kiss. Slowly pulling her closer to him he moved his fingers into her hair. He groaned in the kiss pulling her up to meet him. He wrapped his arm around her rubbing her back as he continued the kiss. "Earth to Link and Tracy. Hellooooooo. Hello you guys. Tracy... Link.. " Corny called out to the two of them as they completely ignored him. "LINK LARKIN. TRACY TURNBLAD." He yelled louder as she watched the two of them snap out of the kiss. "I have been calling the two of you for five minutes. Jeez. I know that you guys are in love and stuff and it"s cute but we have a lot of work to do before we go on the air." "Sorry Corny, it won"t happen again." Tracy spoke up as she wiped the lip stick from Link"s lips. Corny shook his head and laughed a bit. "Don"t make promises you can"t keep. Believe me I was your age once so I know how it feels but for right now. Let"s get some work done." They both nodded and watched him walk away. "See you are already getting me in trouble." Tracy laughed as she smiled at him. Link did his famous wink and smiled at her. "I didn"t do anything. Your lips were just there asking to be kiss. I had to do it. It was calling me. What did you want me to do? Ignore it?" Tracy shook her head at him and walked to the stage getting into position. Rehearsal had finally started and they were getting into the swing of things. Inez was dancing with Link, Tracy was dancing with Brad. They had gone over the steps repeatedly making sure that everyone was comfortable with the steps. That was one thing that Corny always stressed. You didn"t always have to be perfect. As long as you were having fun, you were doing your best and you were comfortable with your dance moves then that was all that he could ask for. He knew the kids knew what they were doing they just had to have confidence in themselves. And that was honestly his main concern. Once they were done with rehearsal"s it was almost time for the show to start. They were given a short break and then quickly ushered into change their wardrobe. Once he had all the kids together he looked at them. "Don"t go anywhere after the show. I have an announcement. Nothing bad just something I have to let everyone know about." He looked at all of them. "Wonder what"s going on." Link said as he wrapped his arm around Tracy. She shrugged her shoulders and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Who knows?" She said softly as they were told that they had ninety seconds until they would be on the air. The show had started and the kids were having a great time. The integrated Corny Collins show was more popular than ever. Everyone wanted to watch it. The ratings were through the roof and ultra clutch sales were soaring. The kids were truly having a great time and the fans loved it. Link and Tracy got to share a dance together from a telegram. So did a few other. Amber was even back on the show and she seemed like she was honestly happy about being back. Gone were the days of her trying to get in the way of Link and Tracy. She just came to the show and did what she had to do. It made life so much easier on everyone. They finished up the show and gathered around Corny. "I wanted to thank all of you for all the hard work and dedication to the show over the last couple of weeks. Everything is finally starting to come together and I am so proud of what we have accomplished. You kids go out there and give it your all every time you are out there. And I wanted to tell you thank you. Also I wanted to let everyone know that we are getting a new council member. I would like to introduce you to Bobby." Walking over to the group a blonde haired, blue eyed boy smiled at them. His eyes focused on Tracy as his smile seemed like it was only directed towards her. "Hi. I"m Bobby. Nice to meet you all. Especially you Tracy. I am a huge fan." He spoke up his voice deep and crooning.

Victor Cassadine nodded as he watched Robin. "Good, everything is falling into place. Julian"s men should be taking care of the situation right as we speak." "You are going to have to assure me that Sabrina and her baby will be okay right? That neither of them will get hurt. I need you to promise me that." Robin paced a bit back and forth. "I just need to know that she will not be hurt, and neither will the baby. Because no matter what, this is still Patrick"s baby." He looked at her watching for a moment. "I told you that nothing is going to happen to them. They will be fine. It is not Sabrina that they are going after. Nothing bad will happen. And think about it this way. Since she is gone and everyone thinks that she is leaving with Carlos, then you and Patrick will have your family time together. Everything is finally going to work out for you and your family. After all the things that you went through, you have do whatever it takes to keep your family together and you know that if Patrick knows about the baby he will want something to do with Sabrina and everything. It will bring all these feelings back and everything that you have worked so hard for might just go up in smoke. Sabrina will be a part of your life forever. And I really don"t think that you want to deal with that day in and day out." "No I would like to keep her out of my life as much as possible and as long as I know that she will be okay. That"s all I want, and as per our agreement." She reached her hand in her pocket. "Here is what I promised you, the cure." She placed the vial in his hand. "Thank you." She said softly. Robin would have never done all this stuff but after everything that she went through, she changed, her entire life perspective changed about things. She spent so much time from her family and there was nothing or no one that was going to change that. She knew that Patrick loved her and no one else. She just didn"t care how she had to do it. "Everything is taken care of so I am going to go find my husband, who decided to take a half day of work, and see if he wants to take a little vacation with Emma." She looked out the door and both of them left. Robin opted to take the steps inside of using the elevator were Patrick was waiting to get on. Emma slowly came out from the house and made her way out of the door and ran to look for her father. "Daddy." Emma called out as she seen him getting into the elevator. "Hi Princess. How is my little girl doing" Patrick picked Emma up as the elevator doors close. She had a very sad look in her eyes. "What"s wrong.?" Looking at her father Emma started to cry. She let it all go. Letting her father know about Robin and how someone was going after Sabrina and she did not know who they were. And how Robin knew and she was helping the guy. Once they got off the elevator Patrick saw Anna, he quickly asked her to take Emma, because there was something he needed to take care of. Patrick ran to his car and quickly got in pulling away. Anna looked at Emma. "I didn"t get to tell daddy he is not going to know." Emma sighed softly wiping the tears from her eyes. "What didn"t you tell daddy baby?" Anna questioned her unsure why he was taking off so fast. "Gramma I am not sure if I should tell you." Mommy always said that I should not tell secrets. "Emma you know that you can tell me anything baby, anything at all." Anna answered to her. "Sabrina is going to have a baby, and mommy told her to lie to daddy and not to tell him that he was the daddy." It seems like an eternity Patrick finally made his way to Sabrina"s place. He started saying things over and over in his head trying to figure out the exact words to say to her. He was not sure how he was going to tell her, or why Robin decided to do this. All he knew is he had to get there and he had to tell Sabrina. As he reached the door something was wrong. The door was open a crack as though it was kicked open. Something definitely was not right. Patrick quickly started to panic as he opened the door. The place was trashed. Things were throw around and it showed signs of a struggle. Patrick quickly started to freak out. He picked up the phone and called the police as he looked around. Walking through the bedroom he cringed with the sight. There was a blood stain on the bed. His fear started raising rather quickly. "Listen she is pregnant. I am not even sure.. but there is blood, and a lot of it. If something happened to her. I have no idea what I am going to do. Oh god, please come quick you have to help her. I don"t know where she is. She is my whole life. Please." Patrick rambled on. He was starting to panick a lot worse that he though he would. There was blood. The person tried to calm him down but it was no use. He hung up the phone waiting for someone to come over as he paced around the room looking for any clue. He knew that could not touch anything but maybe there was something there that can tell him where they took her. Just as he was about to walk into the bathroom, a hand reached around and grabbed his foot. Nearly jumping out of his skin he looked down to see Carlos holding onto his leg groaning. "The blood is mine." He spoke up his deep accent. "They took her. I tried to stop them but they took her." He slowly started to get up. "I tried to stop them. I did." "Carlos Where did they take her?" Patrick asked him. "I don"t know, I swear. They didn"t say anything about where they were taking them. There was three of them. I tried. I did." Carlos got up slowly. "Patrick there is something you..." Before he could finish the police made their way in. "Anna is on her way." One of the officers told him. Patrick looked at him. "You have to find her, she is pregnant. I don"t know what happened to her." He paced back and forth waiting for some answer. As the cops looked around the house and talked to Carlos; Patrick started to freak out even more. "Listen I am not standing around here all day. The women that I lo... Sabrina is out there. She is pregnant and someone has her. I am going to find her. Or I am going to find someone that knows where she is." "Dr. Drake, you need to stay here. Just for a couple moments. There is a few questions that I need to ask you." The officer responded to him. Patrick huffed in exasperation. "You are kidding me right. SHE IS NOT HERE. Look at this place. What if they do something to her. Or something to the baby. The longer to take to ask all these stupid questions the further away they are going to get with her." "We have the police at all interstates, airports, train stations and everywhere else we can think of.. We are going to make sure that nothing will happen to them. You are the father of this baby am I correct about that?" The officer asked. What did that have to do with anything? Patrick thought to himself. He looked over at Carlos, his blood boiling. "No, he is." He point over to the man with the ice on his head. Carlos look at him. "I have been trying to tell you something. There is something that you need to know." Before he finished a voice called out. "No Patrick, the baby is yours." Anna DeVaine spoke up as she walked in the room. Anna explained everything that Emma had told her. From the baby being his to Robin knowing and telling Sabrina that he didn"t want her or the baby, to having someone named Victor kidnap Sabrina. She even told her about Robin going to see Sabrina and telling her to let go of Patrick because he wanted to be a family with her and not with Sabrina. Patrick took a seat for a moment. It was so hard but he knew he had to take it all in. He thought that the baby was his but she told him it wasn"t. But deep down in his heart he knew that wasn"t the truth. Sabrina was always honestly and did things to help other people even when it would hurt herself. That was just the type of person that she was was. Looking back he remembered the first day he met her, the first time he told her he loved her, the first time they made love, when he asked her to marry him and how she looked on the day of their wedding, walking down that aisle. He loved her then and he loved her now. It just took him too long to realize it. And now this happens. She was missing and no one knew where she was, except for Robin. This was all Robin"s fault and without a doubt he was going to find out what was going on. "Anna, where is Robin?" Patrick said simply. If there was any way he was going to find out where Sabrina was he needed to find Robin and he needed to find her now. Anna looked over at him. "The last time I seen her she was still at the hospital. She has been under a lot of stress with what she went through. I am not making excuses for what she has done but I think things are understandable." "Understandable." He looked at her with a pit of fire in his eyes. "Understandable is making a few mistakes here or there. Understandable is forgetting to wash the dishes, or losing your key, or not making a phone call. Understandable is not putting some one else life in danger. And why because she was afraid of losing me. I picked her Anna. I left this amazing women who was by my side, the entire time that Robin was gone. She loved me, with no questions and what did I do? I left her at the alter. Alone crying. And here to find out, she couldn"t tell me about our baby. MY baby because she didn"t want to me or Emma. And the whole time Robin was going to her and putting stuff in her head. Why? Because she was scared of losing me? My god Anna, she put the life of the women I love, and my baby is danger because she thought she was going to lose me. When she already had me. How do you call that understandable.? How do you easily justify the things that she has done. Trust me I get that she was gone for a long time but that is no reason, no excuse for her to go after someone all because of me." He paused for a moment. "You don"t even have to answer that. I am going to go find Robin and I am going to find Sabrina." He stormed out the door. Getting to his car he drove towards General Hospital, he picked up the phone and dialed Robin. When the machine picked up he left a voicemail. "Robin it is me." He tried his best to keep as calm as possible. "I am on my way back to General Hospital, If you are there don"t leave. I need you to stay there. We need to talk. " He pulled into the hospital and quickly stormed out. Seeing a few people he asked where he could find Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake. They all pointed them in the same direction. Tenth floor nurses station. Patrick nearly ran to the elevator pressing the button. "Go faster." He growled out as he waited for the doors to open. Running down the hall he pushed the door open. "I got your message baby." Robin looked at him. "It sounded important so I just figured out I would stay here." She smiled a sweet smile at him until she noticed that he was out of breath. "Baby what"s wrong? You look like you ran here." She placed her arm against his making sure that he was okay. Patrick"s eyes filled up with a rage as she grabbed his arm. "Don"t touch me." Robin couldn"t figure out what was going on with him. She reached her hand out once more to touch his face "Baby, what is goin..." Before she could say another word Patrick pulled his entire body away from her. "I told you don"t touch me. I know everything Robin." '"What are you talking about?" She questioned. "Don"t try and give me that crap. I know that you have been lying and deceiving and doing everything you could to hurt Sabrina. Emma overheard you talking to Victor. I don"t know who the hell Victor is but they took Sabrina. They took her away. And I need to know where she is. And you are going to tell me." "Patrick I have no idea what you are talking about. I think that Emma might have heard something wrong and came to you with it. I didn"t do anything to Sabrina. What reason would I have to hurt her? No reason at all." She looked at him. "So now you are calling our daughter a liar. You need to stop lying. You know why you told her. You knew that she was carrying my baby. But you did not want that. You just wanted to get her out of my life. You went after her numerous times and maybe you did not hurt her but you went after her. You have to tell me where she is. She might be hurt. They broke into her house Robin. They beat the crap out of Carlos What makes you think they are not going to hurt Sabrina or my child? Robin looked at him. "He said he would not hurt her." She quickly stopped after saying it "I knew it. I knew you had something to with it. How could you do this to her? How could you be so damn selfish Robin? How? You need to tell me where she is and you need to tell me now." Patrick responded. "Please Patrick you have to believe, I did this for us. He told me that nothing was going to happen to her. She will be okay. I just, we just need a break from all of this. We need to get back to us without anyone bothering us. We need to just get back to where we were before all of this happened. She will be fine, just let her go." Robin pleaded to him. Patrick glared at her. "You seriously want me to forget about my baby. Forget about the women that I love. Yes I said it. Robin I love her with all my heart. I thought that I was doing the right thing when I got back with you but, things changed. I changed. My life has changed and she changed me. I am sorry but that is the truth." "So what you are going to leave me? You are going to let go of everything we have everything we shared. I went through hell and back to be with you and now you are just going to leave me for some women who got pregnant by you. A women that might possibly be lying about the fact that the baby is yours. Come on Patrick how well do you even know her? Maybe she is just another Britt." She interrupted. "Excuse me? Another Britt? Don"t you dare ever speak that way about Sabrina. And she not just a women that got pregnant by me. He started to flip out by slowly gain some sort of composure. "She didn"t get pregnant by me. We were in love and we made love and she is having my baby. She lied to protect me from getting hurt She gave up everything for us to be happy together and you threw it in her face. She is probably so scared. Robin please tell me where she is. This is my baby she is carrying and if anything happens to her or the baby I don"t know what I am going to do. So where is she?" "I don"t know." She said simply. Patrick"s face turned red. "ROBIN WHERE IS SHE?" "I said I don"t know. She will be fine baby." She reached out her arm to touch him. "Let"s just go home and all this will blow down. Sabrina will be fine with Carlos and he will take care of her." "Damn it Robin. Carlos got knocked out. She is not with him, she will never be with him. And if you aren"t going to tell me where she is then I am going to go find her myself. And I am telling you right now Robin, if something happened to either of them. It will be the last thing you ever do." He looked at her for a minute before pulling the wedding band off his finger. "This means so much to you. So much that you would hurt someone that never did anything to you." He took the ring and threw it at her. "It"s over. We are through." Patrick stormed off. "Patrick Wait..." Robin screamed after but it was too late he was already gone. "Hello. " Sabrina called out as she sat in the semi lighted room. "Hello. Is anyone out there?" She called out hoping and praying that someone answered. The last thing she knew she was at her apartment. She had no idea where she was and what was going on. "Please someone." She cried out rubbing her swollen stomach. She stood up walking around the room trying to find anything or any way to get out of the predicament that she was in. "Hey baby. You okay in there? I promise that no matter what it takes I am going to get us both out of here.. Wherever here is." She sighed softly again. How was she going to get herself out of this mess? She had to figure out where she was first. Speeding down the road Patrick drove like a maniac. He honestly had no idea where he was going but he hoped to god that something did not happen to her. "Anna I need every person to back me up that you can get. They took her and I am not sure where they took her to. She is pregnant. I can"t let something happen to her." He went off trying to figure how he didn"t see this coming. " I don"t care who you have to call, what favors you have to do. You have to help me find her." Hanging up the phone he sped around the city thinking of every place they might have taken her. The Door slammed shut and someone walked in. He wore a mask and Sabrina tightened up as he moved closer. "You will only be here a little bit longer. Back to Puerto Rico you will go." The person stood next to her. "I have my orders. I won"t hurt you but you will no longer be able to interfere in peoples lives. " "I"m... please you have to let me go. I won"t tell anyone.. I just neeed. I am..." Sabrina cried. The person looked at her. "I know you are pregnant. Drake"s baby." The gloved hamd moved down touching her belly. "I have my orders. I won"t hurt a hair on your head. But you have to do what we tell you and this will all be over." He nodded as he carassed the baby bump laughing as she pulled away. "Fiesty one we have. No wonder Drake had fun making that kid. You seem like you would be a fun roll in the sheets He laughed again before walking out and slamming the door behind him. Sabrina was disqusted but listened to the very few details that the person, whoever it was, had given to her. Interferring in peoples lives. She took a long deep breath and realize that this had everything to do with Patrick and Robin... Robin. She was behind this. Why though? She agreed to stay away from Patrick and Emma so that Robin could have her family. Patrick didn"t want anything to do with her because he thought the baby was Carlos. So why. Sabrina didn"t even know why she was asking herself that. She knew exactly what this was about. Robin wouldn"t be happy until she got rid of Sabrina for good. Patrick stopped for a moment on the side of the street finally taking a deep breath. Tears streaming down his hot face. He had no idea what he was going to do. He didn"t know where to start and asking Robin was like pulling teeth. She did this all to keep him. When she had him already. She was willing to hurt someone who had nothing to do with anything all for her own selfish purpose. Yes, he knew she had her problems but there was no reason for this. No reason at all. Picking up the phone Anna called him. "I think we might have something." Patrick scribbled down everything that she told him. He only hoped that he could be there in time before anything else happened. He knew that Sabrina was one of the strongest women that he had known but he also knew that this was probably taking a toll on the poor girl. And he had no one but himself to blame. Why did he have to walk out on her? Why did he run right back into Robin"s arms? He had put their lives at risk and if something happened to her he would never be able to forgive him. He parked the car down the road and slowly made his way to the warehouse. The door did not open but he found a window that had a seemingly large enough crack for him to fit into. Wiggling his way into the window he landed safely on the floor, it was dark and he had no idea where he was going. "Sabrina." He said quietly hoping that maybe just maybe she would say something. "Sabrina." This was no use. He had no idea if she was there and here he was calling into the dark. She had just started to doze off when she heard a voice in the distance. It sounds so familiar as though it was calling out her name. Was she in the middle of a dream or could there be someone out there? She heard the voice call out again. This time she knew she heard it. "Hello." She yelled. "Hello.. I am in here." "Sabrina." He heard her yell out. "It"s me Patrick. Where are you?" She knew that he was there. Banging on the door. "Patrick. I am here. Patrick." She heard footsteps getting closer as the door opened and he was standing there. She ran over to him wrapping his arms tightly around her. "Oh god. I found you." He held her so tight that he didn"t want to let her go. "The police are on their way. I am here.. You will be okay. I am never going to let you go." Sighing softly in his arms she felt a wave of relief finally come over her. She had never been so scared in her life but he was there and he saved them. "They were going to take me away. Back to Puerto Rico. I couldn"t figure it out. But then.." She was stopped by Patrick. "Robin did this. Emma overheard her saying something to someone. She heard a lot more than she needed to hear. She heard Robin telling this man that I was the father of the baby. I knew.. I knew you didn"t, you couldn"t lie to me. I am so sorry Sabrina., so sorry. If I would have known..." He sighed. "You couldn"t." Sabrina clinged to him. "You just couldn"t. You are here now, you know the truth and I am okay. Everything will be okay."

Sam made her way through the crowd to find Tilly who was in the middle of the rest of the girls dancing away to another poppy song. Tilly smiled as she saw Sam heading towards her. "Where are those drinks you promised?" She yelled over the music as she saw Sam was empty handed "I"m dancing up a right thirst here". "Tilly" Sam shouted back "Jen was here." Tilly stop dancing "what? Where.. Where is she?" Her heart was racing Jen was really here! "WAS Tilly... Was here, she just left a few moments a..." Sam didn"t have a chance to finish her words as Tilly dashed passed her and head for the door. The cold air instantly hit Tilly as she found herself of the busy street, her eyes scanning the immediate area in front of her for Jen. Nothing. She looked to her left and down the street, looking for the familiar shape she knew so well, nothing. She looked to her right realising this was her last option and then she saw her just as she turned the corner and went out if view. Tilly started running down the street, dodging the crowds, going as fast as she can. Her mind racing as fasts as her legs. This had to be a sign surely. To have gone all these years never seeing each other, and now twice in the space of a few weeks...and on her hen do of all nights! Tilly reached the corner and turned, her eyes scanning the road to locate Jen, and then she saw her. Tilly thought she looked super hot in her leather jacket and black jeans, but wait... No Tilly thought.. No don"t get on the bus! It was too late. Tilly watched from afar as the Jen stepped on the bus and then the bus drive away. "Shiiiiiiit" Tilly said out loud as she leant over catching her breathing, reeling from the disappointment she was feeling. Tilly slowly made her way back to bar. She needed a drink! As she got into the bar she saw a couple of her friends at the bar, they called her over and ordered her a large rum and coke. Tilly asked where Sam was and the friends pointed over to the seating area where Tilly could see she was sat talking to a guy she didn"t recognise. Tilly made her way over to Sam feeling so confused. If it WAS a sign seeing Jen tonight, what the heck did it mean seeing her get on a bus and vanish again? "Tils" Sam said as she saw her friend approach the seating area "did you catch her? Did you catch Jen?" Tilly shook her head "nope she jumped on a bus... No idea where she was going." She answered despondently. "I think I might be able to help you there..." The guy sitting next to Sam said with a smile. Tilly was confused, who was this guy? Sam saw the confusion and explained "Tils this is James... James owns Pink Photos with Jen. He... He has something you might want to hear" After Tilly had raced out of the bar after Jen, Sam had walked over to the guy she had seen Jen talking to. Sam didn"t believe Jen for one minute and given Tillys reaction to the news that Jen was in the bar, she knew she couldn"t let this drop. Knew that they were both hiding their true feelings. Sam had always prided herself on being a good judge of character and didn"t take against people very often, but there had just been something about Kate she didn"t like.She had to try one more time to make Tilly see that she wasn"t right for her. If it failed then she would accept it and accept Kate. "Errr hi!" She had said as she stood over James who looked up to identify the voice "you umm don"t know me... but I THINK I might know why your friend left."James looked up at Sam in surprise. "Are you Tilly?" He asked surprised and hopeful."Nope, I"m Sam... Her friend. Tilly has just run out the bar after Jen!" James laughed. "Oh god... What are those two like! They seriously need their heads banging together.""Tell me about it" Sam said "but Jen I take it isn"t interested in Tilly...I"m mean that"s what she just said to me a few moments ago at the bar""You are kidding right?" James replied before adding "she"s crazy about Tilly. Did you hear that she fainted when she saw Tilly? She broke up with her girlfriend right after she heard the message from Tilly on her answer machine""What?" Sam said confused as she took this information in "I mean I knew about the fainting and their chance encounter in the photo studio, but I don"t get it... If she is crazy about Tilly then why didn"t she respond and get in touch with Tilly when Tilly called her? Why didn"t she want to meet her?" "Oh my god! " James said in surprise "you seriously don"t know do you?""Know what?" Sam asked confused"Jen DID reply to Tilly and arranged a meeting a couple of weeks ago...only It wasn"t Tilly that turned up...it was the fiancée!""KATE?" Sam asked in shock."Yeah that"s it... She totally set Jen up.""Fucccccck!""I know!" James said in agreement. "Anyway Jen promised to stay away, which I personally think was a massive mistake, but I guess she has her reasons." "Tilly has no idea that all of this has happened. She just thinks that Jen never replied to her message... That she didn"t feel the same!""No way!" James replied " I"ve know Jen for a long time now and she has seriously never really gotten over Tilly. She just needs to find the guts to go for it.""Or.." Sam said thinking out loud "Tilly goes for it! Either way, they have to know the truth." At that point they were interrupted by a forlorn looking Tilly who had walked over from the bar having failed to catch up with Jen, drink in hand. Tilly looked at James and Sam and slowly sunk into a seat, taking a big swig of her drink "ok guys...so what"s going on and how are you going to help me find Jen?" Sam looked at Tilly and excited shouted "she still loves you Tilly. Jen... She still loves you.""Yeah of course she does! That"s why she didn"t return my call, and just literally ran out of the bar. Sounds like she"s totally in love me... Head over fucking heels!" Tilly responded sarcastically. James cleared his throat and backed Sam up "it"s True Tilly. Jen does still have feelings for you... She just feels what with the wedding and everything it"s best if she keeps those feelings ... Well ...to herself."Tilly looked over at James and absorbed his words. She felt anger at Jen for taking that decision... But at the same time, she could understand.. After all she was supposed to be getting married.""Oh god this is all such a fucking mess" Tilly flopped her head in her hands as Sam put a supportive arm around her and pulled her in for a hug."Tilly - just follow your heart. What is your heart telling you right now?" Sam asked. Tilly paused and thought for a moment before answering "It"s telling me that I want...NEED to see her..but I don"t know where she went."James coughed and Tilly looked up "as I said earlier... I think I can help you there."He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys and held them out in Tilly"s direction much to Tilly"s confusion.James smiled before adding "She"s staying at mine. Here take the keys and I"ll write down my address." Tilly stared at him "seriously?""Sure. You have a lot to talk about. " Tilly took the keys off and smiled her appreciation. "Thanks" Tilly took the details with the address and gave James a hug "I really appreciate this." "It"s OK. I care about Jen and I want her to be happy."Tilly turned to Sam and gave her a hug "will you say goodbye to everyone for me?""Of course babes." Sam smiled at her "oh and Tills, ask Jen about your voicemail. She responded you know!""What? I didn"t get a reply." Tilly said confused.Not wanting to bring up Kate, Sam just replied "Just ask Jen OK." Sam gave Tilly another hug and then watched as she left to bar. Tilly jumped in the first cab she saw and gave the driver James"s address. "How long will that take please" she asked nervously."Depends on the traffic love, but shouldn"t be longer than 15 minutes.""Great thanks - if you can do it in under 10 mins I"ll give you and extra £10."The driver laughed "in a hurry I take it!""Yeah just a bit""Well I"ll see what I can do OK" and the driver pulled out into traffic and heading in the direction of where Tilly had watched the bus head. As she say back and watched the streets pass by, Tilly tried to compose herself and work out exactly what she was going to say to Jen. She took a couple of deep breaths as she realised her heart was beating so fast. This was it. This was crunch time - did she risk it all, risk everything she knew, everything she had with Kate for a feeling, a feeling and an emotion for someone from her past? For Jen Gilmore who had caused her so much pain over the years. Was it worth the risk? Meanwhile Jen stood in James"s kitchen and poured herself a large glass of wine. She had been totally looking forward to a night out with James and the two of them had planned a sleep over and everything, but she hadn"t expected on bumping into Tilly. Jen had been mesmerised by her on the dance floor, how beautiful she had looked, how happy, how carefree. She couldn"t stand the fact that Tilly looked so happy, when deep down she herself was feeling pretty miserable. She had been putting on a brave face as much as she could, and the night out with James had been planned to help take Jens mind off Tilly, and yet there she was, just feet away from her, dancing and laughing, oblivious to Jen. Jen was feeling peckish and so had popped some bread in the toaster for a snack and stood there drinking her wine as she wanted for the bread to toast. Just then she heard the front door close downstairs. She was surprised that James had decided to head home, when she had headed over with the drinks and explained that she needed to leave as Tilly was at the bar, he has tried his hardest to make her stay. To make her take the opportunity to speak to Tilly. Either that or just get stupidly drunk with him and cop off with someone else to take her mind off Tilly. Neither of those suggestions had appealed to Jen and so she had apologised and left him in the bar, knowing that James would have no trouble attracting some hot guy to keep home company. Yet here he was home already. Ping the toaster popped up the toast and As Jen buttered the toast on her plate she called out to James "I know... I know..." Jen shouted out as she heard footsteps on the stairs "...I"m a bloody coward for running away!" She continued "...please don"t go on at me J... I just couldn"t see her looking so happy" Jen shoved a slice on the toast in her mouth, making her final words sound somewhat muffled as she spoke with her mouth full "...when I"m feeling so..." Tilly had reached the top of the stairs and stood watching as Jen, who was leaning into the fridge replacing the butter, unaware of Tilly"s presence. "... Feeling so what?" Tilly asked at the exact point that Jen had pushed shut the fridge door and grabbed her wine off the counter and was now facing Tilly. sorry for the delay in posting this update. Thanks to those of you who are still reading this story. It"s only a little chapter to keep things ticking along... Will hopefully be able to write the next chapter. Jen felt the glass slip from her grasp, but it was too late. Smash went the wine glass, shards of glass splintering across the floor, wine spilling everywhere. Jen still had the slice of toast in her mouth, but as she opened her mouth to speak this too fell onto the floor. "Shit!" She yelled as she bent down at the mess on the floor and started picking up the glass. Tilly rushed over to where Jen was crouching and bent down opposite her and started picking up the glass."I"m sorry... I didn"t mean to scare you!" Tilly said gently as she caught and held Jens gaze. The two of them stopping what they had been doing momentarily.Jen smiled, her face lighting up as she did so "well at least I didn"t pass out this time!"Tilly smiled and playfully bit her bottom lip before adding"hmmm... I guess I must be losing my touch!"Jen noticed the naughtiness in Tilly"s voice and the lip bite and felt her knees give way slightly. Luckily she was able to put a hand out to steady herself this time.Jen looked at Tilly directly and gently replied "trust me... You haven"t lost anything!"Tilly instantly felt a wave of desire flood through her. It was incredible, the way her body was reacting to being near Jen again, the effect Jens words had just had on her. Her mouth felt dry, her heart was racing and she wanted nothing more than for Jen to touch her. Right there and then. Tilly eventually broke the silence as she finally found her voice "Jen, I ... We.. We need to talk."Jen smiled softly and agreed "yeah, yeah we do." She looked down at the glass and wine on the floor and then looked back at Tilly. "Listen are you hungry? We could order a pizza if you like?""Pizza would be good" Tilly responded."Ok. Listen why don"t you order us a pizza whilst I clean this mess up. My laptop is over there by the sofa. Order whatever you like... Just no...""Olives for you right?" Tilly interrupted. Jen smiled over at her, touched that she had remembered after all this time."You remembered!" Jen said happily."Of course!" Tilly replied proudly "now what"s your password to login to this fancy looking laptop"Shit Jen thought to herself, she had forgotten she had set a password."It"s umm Crosby beach, all one word." She said embarrassinglyTilly turned round from the sofa area to look at Jen who was she noticed blushing slightly. Tilly felt an ache inside her. An ache at how cute it was that Jen had named her password after the place where they had shared their first kiss. The place where they had spent the day falling in love with each other.Jen looked back over at Tilly who was smiling at her, and tried to style it out "what?" She asked, not waiting for a reply "it just happens to be my favourite beach that"s all!" She winked at Tilly and then returned to the task of cleaning up the mess. Once Jen had finished she poured two glasses of wine and headed over to join Tilly on the sofa. Jen felt as nervous as a school girl.She handed Tilly her glass and then an awkward silence descended.After a few moments, Tilly held her glass up "well Cheers then" she said smiling at Jen."Cheers" Jen smiled back as she moved her glass towards Tilly"s and they clinked. All the time Tilly had been staring directly at Jen."It"s good to see you Tilly" Jen nervously admitted."Is it?" Tilly replied in surprise "is that why you ran away?" She was still smiling to indicate she was teasing slightly.Jen finally broke their gaze as she looked down at her glass embarrassed at her reaction to seeing Tilly in the club."Ahhhh" Jen started looking back up at Tilly "now I know what I shouted out earlier when I thought you were James, but you see... Well the truth is I thought I had left my straighteners on!" Jen tried to keep a straight face."Bollocks!" Tilly yelled "since when have you ever needed straighteners? Your hair always looks perfect, even straight out of bed."Jen blushed slightly as Tilly referred to their time together.Tilly wasn"t giving up "no Jen Gilmore... That is truly rubbish. When did you get so bad at lying?" Tilly replying with mock outrage in her voice, as she started giggling. Jen joined in the laughter "I honestly don"t know!" Jen held her hands up in surrender "ok, ok" she laughed "you"ve got me!" As the laughter died down Tilly leant over towards Jen and gently took her hand in hers. "Have I?" Tilly asked shocked by the contact and Tilly"s words, Jen looked her in the eyes and saw that she had all of a sudden gone very serious. "Have I ...got you?" Tilly asked again. Jen opened her mouth to speak Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. They both jumped at the noise of the intercom indicating the pizza had arrived. "I...I"d better get that!" Jen said rising to her feet and heading to the door. Tilly breathed out a huge sigh. A mixture of relief and also frustration. She needed to know how Jen felt. It would have to wait a little while longer. Been thinking about this chapter for a long time...how it would start..Tilly has been the one in this story pushing this, but would Jen confess how she was feeling. And then what should happen... I personally don"t believe in cheating. If you meet someone you like more than the person you are with and you care about them, then you deserve them to respect to end the relationship first before starting the next...but in this story Jen and Tilly have so much back history...I"m trying to imagine what I would do if I was in this situation. Let me know what you would prefer for the next chapter - Tilly and Jen to kiss or not to kiss? As Tilly sat there gathering herself, she suddenly felt a wave of nausea hit her and she shot to her feet she went out of the living room into the hallway where Jen was speaking to the pizza delivery man via the intercom.Jen turned and smiled at Tilly who mouthed the word "bathroom", Jen pointed towards one of the doors and Tilly quickly rushed in and locked the door behind her. She turned the cold water tap on and leant over the sink, taking deep breaths as she splashed the icy water her face. As Tilly stood and looked at the reflection in the mirror the enormity of what was happening hit her. She had spent the last three years with Kate, they lived together had a good life together. They were due to get married in a few days time for god sake. And yet here she was... with Jen. Her first love. First love that had ended so badly... had taken Tilly a good few years to truly get over. Or so she had thought. But maybe she had never really forgotten Jen. She had just pushed all thoughts of her deep deep down inside her. Deep down where they would stay forever... Or at least that had been the plan... But this plan was not working out how it was supposed to. And why was that? Because of Jen!Tilly grabbed the hand towel and patted her face dry and took a deep breath before opening the door. She couldn"t wait any longer...she had to know how Jen felt about her right now. It was driving her crazy. She needed to know how Jen really felt about her. Tilly walked into the open planned living room and saw Jen in the kitchen area reaching for some plates. "Hey" she said as she heard Tilly enter the room. "How hungry are you feeling?"Tilly walked slowly towards Jen and asked the million dollar question. "Jen...I... I need to know how you feel. How you feel about me?" Jen put down the plates on the work counter and turned to face Tilly who looked white as a ghost. Jen walked towards Tilly and reached down to her hands, taken both of them in her hands she could feel Tilly shaking. Jen closed her eyes for a few moments as she tussled with her inner thoughts and what she she do for the best. She had kept her promise to Kate and kept away from Tilly, but their paths had crossed once again and now with Tilly standing there in front of her, in all her beauty Jen realised she couldn"t lie. They were meant to be together. "Tilly.." Jens voice was cracking with emotion "I know I shouldn"t be saying this... And I have tried SO hard to forget that I ever saw you again... And I know you are with someone else and getting married... But... Oh god... Fuck it... I seriously have not been able to stop thinking about you ever since that day at the studio."Tilly looked Jen straight in the eyes and with slight suspicion or maybe resentment asked "then why didn"t you call me back?" Jen"s heart ached as she saw the vulnerability in Tilllys face... Heard it in her words. Jen shook her head "I did Tilly. I...I couldn"t believe it when I played your voicemail. I honestly thought after you left the hospital that I... I would never see you again.""I"m sorry I left you there alone" Tilly interrupted " I called. The hospital to check how you were."Tilly added in guilt. "It"s ok" Jen said weakly "I know why you left..I wasn"t your responsibility." Jen paused, took a deep breath and then continued "Tilly you"re wrong to think I never called back... I sent you a message the minute I heard your message. I said to meet me at the south bank centre" Tilly looked confused she had never had such a message. Was Jen telling the truth? "Jen I never..."!Jen interrupted "...I know you never got the message right? That"s because Kate saw it and came instead""What!" Tilly shouted in surprise "what...I don"t understand." Tilly wasn"t stupid, but she was seriously having trouble getting her head around what Jen was telling her."Kate read my text message and came along to basically find out who I was and warn me the fuck away.""Shiiiiiit" was all that Tilly could manage. Kate had met Jen. She couldn"t believe that they had met. "You ummm never spoke about me then?" Jen asked a clearly shocked Tilly.Tilly shook her head "no. No one knew until I told my friend Sam... The night I called you.""Were you embarrassed about us" Jen said, hurt by the fact the Tilly had erased their time together from her history."A bit if I"m honest. I..I was embarrassed at how it had ended...and it was easier to forget about you if I pretended if it had never happened.""I..I understand...you wanted to forget me."Tilly could see her words were hurting Jen, but it was the truth."What did you say to Kate?" Tilly asked, still shock that she had gone to meet Jen and then not motioned a word about it."I told her we were just friends...that I had been your teacher and we had developed feelings, but that nothing had happened.""Did she believe you?""No...funnily enough I don"t think she did." Jen replied. "I can"t believe she didn"t say anything to you about it.""No...me neither" Tilly said thoughtfully as she tried to think back at Kate"s behaviour. Had there been signs that she had missed? She then realised why Kate had all of a sudden been more interested in who Tilly was texting, or speaking to on the phone, but given that Tilly wasn"t doing anything wrong, she hadn"t really thought much of it until now.

"Oh fuuck..." I groaned as she flicked her tongue and sucked me hard. My hips moved up to meet her mouth as if they had a mind of their own. I felt my breathing getting faster as my orgasm started taking hold. "Fuuuuck..." I groaned out loud as she made me come so hard. And then it happened "woah" I said as I opened my eyes, but instead of seeing Reagan it was Karma.Fuck! I snapped open my eyes for real and couldn"t believe what had just happened. As I stood there in the middle of the road watching the headlights from Liam"s car disappear out of sight, I felt a sense of clarity come over me. He was right. I didn"t want Amy to move on. I didn"t want her to be in love with anyone else, especially the uber cool Reagan. I didn"t want her kissing anyone else...because I wanted her to only do that with me. Fuck. Liam had made me realise my own feelings before I had. I wasn"t just jealous at the thought of losing my best friend. I was crazy jealous of losing Amy false stop. Of her never looking at me with those beautiful eyes. Of never feelings those perfectly formed lips on mine. She truly was my soulmate and it had taken her finding someone else for me to realise. What a ducking idiot I had been. I had thought it was Liam I wanted. Liam who would make me happy, when all the tube it had been Amy. I guess that"s why I hadn"t told my parents about Liam, because I knew they would ultimately be sad. My mum and dad were soulmates, and they saw that in me and Amy. Jeez I"m such a donut...seems like everyone could see it apart from me, and now I had blown it. Amy had moved on with Reagan. DJ Reagan with her blue dipped hair and her retro truck and her sexy drawl. How could I compete with that. I had seen it in Amy"s face in the car park. Heard it in her voice when she had told me to go. To leave her alone..fuck! I"m such a idiot. Images of Amy flashed through my mind. The way I had reacted at the threesome. How I had definitely felt something when we had kissed. Something different to the previous kisses. And then the jealousy when Liam had started kissing her. I had thought the jealousy had been over Liam, but now as I thought about it...I realised it had been for Amy. She had looked so fucking hot that night. So beautiful. She always looked beautiful. She looked beautiful without even trying. "Fuck!" I said out loud as the truth started sinking in. I WAS in love with Amy in the same way she was with me. Correction - HAD been with me. Fresh tears formed in my eyes as it hit home the realisation that she had told me she had moved on. That she wasn"t in love with me anymore. Was it true? Or was she just angry? She had only been seeing Reagan for a couple of weeks. Was she really over her feelings for me? Only one way to find out Ashcroft and I started walking away from home in the direction of Amy"s house. On the short walk to Amy"s house I tried to compose what I would say to her when I saw her. How I would make her see that we were soulmates that belonged together. That whatever she had with DJ girl wouldn"t last. Not like us. As I approached the house I was relieved to see that Reagan"s truck wasn"t outside, and that there was a light on in Amy"s bedroom. I knocked on the front door and Amy"s mum opened it up and greeted me with a warm hug."Karma dear. How lovely. I haven"t seen much of you lately. Why what a pretty dress." She turned her attention back towards the TV. "Go on up sweet. Amy came home about 15 minutes ago.""Thanks Mrs Raudenfeld" I smiled as I headed towards the stairs. It was only when I got to the top of the landing and headed towards Amy"s closed bedroom that I heard them. Heard Amy "Reagan...please..fuck!" I stopped dead in my tracks and felt the sickness start to form in my stomach. I grabbed the wall to steady myself. I was too late! I turned and quickly, and as quietly as I could made my way downstairs."Amy"s asleep" I lied to her mum as she looked surprised to see me back down so soon. "I"ll umm catch up with her tomorrow. Bye" I made it to the roadside before I threw up. Tears streaming down my face. I had finally woken up to how I was feeling, but Amy had moved on and I was too late. Thanks to those of you who have liked/followed this story. If you have any comments on how it"s going, let me know. I like watching Amy and Reagan on the show, but deep down I know she would go running back to Karma if Karma felt more than just friends...as bad as that would feel for Reagan. I blinked hard in order to banish Karma from my thoughts. When I opened my eyes I saw that Reagan was watching me."Are you OK?" She asked with concern. "Did ..did I do something wrong?" I shook my head and realised she was being studied "what?" I replied brightly "god...no..of course not...it was umm educational and umm...totally fucking hot and you...I mean that thing...you did... with your tongue.." I smiled at Reagan who was now smiled back and finished my sentence "...well it was just like WOW!" Reagan leant into me for a kiss. As I kissed Reagan I tried to forget about Karma about the fact that at the point of my first orgasm with someone else (Liam didn"t really hit the spot) I had pictured Karma. Shit! That wasn"t suppose to happen. I couldn"t enjoy kissing her when I was still trying to get over what had just happened. I had just fantasied that I was in bed with Karma instead of Reagan. What the fuck was wrong with me? I broke away from the Reagan"s lips and smiled "I...I"m sorry.." I pulled away and mumbled "... I really need a drink. All this kissing is thirsty work." It was a crap excuse but I didn"t give her a chance to question it as I started moving to the edge of the bed "stay right there OK!" I told Reagan positively who was now looking more than a little confused and disappointed. "I will be RIGHT back" I promised as I reached into the cupboard and pulled on some sweats and a t-shirt. "Is water OK for you? Or umm would you prefer something else?" I asked as I went to open the door.Reagan was sat in the bed naked with the bed sheets wrapped up around her, the concerned looked back on her face. "Umm..actually..I"m fine." She said the disappointment clearly noticeable on her face and in her voice."OK" I said brightly trying to not make a bigger thing than this was. I quickly opened the door and slid out carefully, closing the door behind me. Once outside and alone I slumped against the wall and closed my eyes. Damn you Karma Ashcroft! I thought to myself as I told myself it would be OK. That it wouldn"t happen again. That I would climb back into bed and make love to Reagan and everything would be great. It WAS great..well it was up until that last minute. I knew I couldn"t be long so I quickly ran downstairs."Hey mum" I called out"Hey you!" My mum said chirpily "you"re awake!"Walking over to the kitchen I looked over at her not sure what she meant. I opened my mouth to ask, but my mum got their first."You missed Karma" she said matter of factly.I stopped on the spot. And in my mind I screamed WHAT?"Ummm...what do you mean.." I asked. I could feel the embarrassment in my cheeks and on my neck.My mum replied oblivious to what had just happened upstairs "Karma...she popped by to see you...she went up to your room, but said you were asleep." She said. My heart stopped beating. Shit Karma had been here. Had been right outside my bedroom door whilst Reagan was making me moan. Shit. Shit. Shit."Amy" my mums voice broke my thoughts. "Umm yeah?" I replied still trying to comprehend what had just happened. "I...umm must have nodded off" I lied. "I...I"ve just come to get some water".I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a glass. Why had Karma come here? Hadn"t I made it clear enough at the restaurant that she wasn"t helping things. Then why come here...even after that. Even after I was so mean to her. My head was buzzing with the possible scenarios as I reached in the fridge for a bottle of water. The coolness from the fridge felt great on my flushed skin. I grabbed the glass and filled it up with ice and then made my way back up to my bedroom. Back up to Reagan who was waiting naked in my bed...why exactly was I thinking about Karma again? I opened the door to the bedroom to find an open window and an empty room. Reagan had left. Climbed out the window the way she had come in. I couldn"t believe it. There was a note on the bed. "Call me once you know what you really want shrimp girl.' Fuck! I had screwed things up well and good. I grabbed my phone to call Reagan and then I saw it. The message from Karma that sat clearly on my screen.It"s killing me knowing that you are not in love with me anymore... Because I am with you. K Karma"s POV I read the message again that I had typed on my phone "It"s killing me knowing that you are not in love me with anymore...because I am with you. K"I took a deep breath. It was scary admitting it. Seeing it typed out in words, but I had to let Amy know. I had to let her know that I felt the same way...well as she had previously felt...before Reagan. I had to, in the hope she would realise, deep down, that she hadn"t moved on...that she still love me. I felt a new wave of nausea rush over me. I took a deep breath and then pressed the send button. I walked back to my house with my phone in my hand. Waiting, hoping for a response from Amy. I got back home and headed straight upstairs to my bed and flopped down face first letting out a loud groan as I did so. I stared at my screen willing it to ring. Willing Amy"s picture to pop up on it. I opened the photo album on my phone and scrolled through the zillion of pictures I had of us both. I stopped when I got to my favourite one. I had taken it one day when she hadn"t realised and it seriously took my breath away. She was sitting outside on the grass and her head was thrown back, mid laugh. The sun was perfect on her blonde hair and she looked stunning without even trying. Fuck...she was perfect. Why had it taken me so long to realise this? I checked the time, it had been 20 minutes now since I had sent the text to Amy. There was every chance that Amy hadn"t even seen it. I had a flash back to Amy"s house. How I had felt when I was standing outside Amy"s bedroom door...when I had heard her moan. It turned me on. Hearing Amy like that...but I wanted it to be in Reagan making her make those sounds. I closed my eyes and pictured Amy on top of me. Pictured her perfect naked body. I felt a wave of excitement rush through me at the thought. I slid my had down the front of my jeans and down my underwear. I was totally wet and turned on. I closed my eyes tighter as I kept the image Amy in my mind. Kept the image of her touching me, as I touched myself. I was deep in my dirty thoughts, so turned on, when I heard a knock on the door. Reagan"s POVI drove home angrily. I was so angry with myself. Why did I always do it? Pick the wrong girls? What was it with me?As I stopped at a red I pictured how amazing Amy had looked naked in my arms. How amazing she had felt. How turned on I had been making her come. But then I saw it in her eyes straight after. There was the awkwardness.The look of regret. The excuse and then the fucking text message from bloody Karma. Once back in my flat I headed to the kitchen and reached in the fridge for a beer."Hey Rea" I heard Courtney, my flatmate call out from the living room "how did it go?""Shit!" I called back "wanna beer with me?" I asked before adding "I feel like getting drunk"."Sure" Court said as she appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, a concerned look on her face "can"t have you getting drunk on you own now can we"I smiled at her as I passed her a beer and we clinked bottles."Soooo..what happened?" She asked as she pulled herself up to sit in the work top."We had sex" I replied"woaaaah...that"s good right...unless it wasn"t?" Courtney took a sip of her beer "was it bad first time sex?" She asked "god I remember what it had been liked...all that fumbling!"I let out a little laugh "no...it wasn"t that...in fact it was pretty fucking hot sex...it was her first time, so you know...I wanted to make it something she wouldn"t remember..." I added truthfully."So what happened?""As soon as she had come, she just had this look on her face...like she"d made a mistake, or like she was disappointed...like I wasn"t good enough..."Courtney took a sip of a her beer and then with a glint in her eye added "well unless you"re losing your touch Rea...I don"t see how anyone could think you were a disappointment!" I shot her of look that meant don"t go there! Courtney and I had a bad habit of occasionally hooking up. We were what you might say friends with benefits, but whenever one of us was interested in someone else, it was never a problem. Court knew I liked Amy and I knew she wasn"t out to cause any trouble.She smiled at my look and laughed "just saying!" She paused before adding "listen babe. I saw the way she was looking at you at the other night at the bowling alley. She is TOTALLY into you...there is NO way she wouldn"t have thought that. It"s your bloody insecurities kicking in again." I took a sip of beer and thought about what Court had said. Was she right? Had I misunderstood the look? Had I over reacted to Amy"s reaction. The need for water sounded like such a shit excuse. And then In remembered the text message."It"s more complicated that you know. It turns out Amy had fake lesbian relationship with her best friend.""What?" Court interrupted "what do mean a FAKE lesbian relationship? Why?"I knew this sounded crazy. It sounded crazy when I had heard it myself earlier in that night."I know...it"s fucking crazy right!" I filled Courtney in on what had happened at the Restaurant and how Karma had turned up and it had turned into the crazy competition over Amy, but that Amy had chased after me and told me she wanted a future with me.Courtney listened carefully as I told her how I hadn"t planned on taking things as far as they had gone tonight, but that Amy had seemed so sure...how I had been so turned on, it had been too hard not too!I walked over to the fridge and opened two more beers for us."So this Karma is a nightmare all evening, playing the jealous best friend...which I thought we had got sorted, but then she sent a text message to Amy whilst I"m lying naked in her bed telling her that she"s in love with her after all!""woah!""I know...it"s all totally fucked up Court and I can"t believe I"ve got myself tangled up in it all.""So what did Amy say?" She asked"I...I kinda didn"t wait to find out?" I admitted"What?"I drank some more beer. It felt good. "well she basically ran out of the bedroom as soon as she had come and so I was lying there naked in her bed, feeling really confused and then her phone beeps. I reached over to check who it was, and there it is..Karma"s message."I took another sip of beer and I remember how I had felt my stomach drop when I had read the message."I reacted in the only way I know how...I ran." I looked over to my friend for comfort "I pulled on my clothes and climbed out of the bedroom window and here I am."Courtney jumped down from the counter and walked over to where I was standing and pulled me into her for a hug."Reagan...just because this Carmen sends a text...it doesn"t mean Amy feels the same way!" "Karma" I corrected Courtney"Her stupid name is Karma." "Carmen...Karma...whatever...it sounds like she totally wants what she doesn"t have, but Amy wants you man." She pulled away and looked me in the face "you are such a dumb arse sometimes!" Courtney always told me it like it was. She didn"t try and sugarcoat things. That"s why we worked as friends. "Rea... you need to stop putting barriers up so quickly. You shouldn"t have left without talking to Amy." As she spoke, I knew she was right. "Amy likes you. So what if Carmen.."I smiled knowing she had deliberately said the wrong name "...all of a sudden wants a piece of the action...fact is she"s too late. Amy"s into you now...and by looking at your face, it"s clear you"re totally into her too." I nodded my answer. What WAS I doing? Maybe it was all too much! The age gap, the fact that she was still coming to terms with her sexuality. Sure she was sexy as hell, but could I really be bothered with all the hassle. The sneaking it, the jealous ex friend? Ex pretend girlfriend...or whatever it was. "I am Court...I am into her..." I paused, finished the beer that was in my bottle in one gulp and added "...but I don"t need all the extra crap that goes with it. It just seems like too drama!"Courtney drank her beer as she listened. "Hmmmm sounds like we need to do The Like List!"The Like List was something we came up with one night when she was seeing someone and she didn"t know whether it was going to become something else. The process was we sat down with some booze and wrote out all the things that I like and then scored the girl in questions points as to how many likes she had."I think you might be right" I smiled as I headed to to fridge to get some more beers "woah...Houston..we have a problem. No more beers!" I cried out in disappointment."Oh man!" Courtney replied "pub?" She suggested as an alternative."Sure" I replied "let me just get my things." I was in my bedroom pulling on my shoes when I heard the doorbell go."I"ll get it..." I yelled. OK so audience participation is required now. Tell me which door you want Amy to be at and I"ll write the last chapter based on your answers.Do you want her to be at Karma"s bedroom door? Or at Reagans?Let me know. Amy"s POV I slumped on the bed. Reagan"s note in one hand, my phone in the other. How the hell did I get myself in this position. I looked at Karma"s text message and I felt the tears start to form in my eyes. Oh Karma! Why now? Why did you have to wait until now. A few weeks ago these words were all I ever wanted to hear. I would have done anything to hear that Karma felt the same way. That she realised what she felt for me was more than just friends. But she hadn"t. She had broken my heart. It had hurt so much, but I had started to accept that just because I felt that way about her, didn"t automatically mean she felt the same way about me. I had accepted that Karma liked boys...not girls...where as I had realised that I liked girls. I had liked Karma...and I liked Reagan. Really liked Reagan...but I had messed it up with her. Why had I messed it up?The sex had been A-MAZ-ING, she was soooo fucking sexy, but why did I have a fantasy about Karma? Was it when she was outside the door?I felt embarrassed at the thought of Karma hearing the way Reagan was turning me on, making me moan. Was that what had made Karma send that text message? Had she been jealous? I sat there weighing things up in my mind. I loved Karma with all my heart, but I couldn"t deny the feelings I had developed for Reagan...I didn"t want to deny them. They felt too good. With Karma everything was so easy. We knew each other inside out. With Reagan it was all so new and a little bit scary. I closed my eyes and flopped back on the bed and listened to what my heart was telling me. I needed help. I grabbed my phone and called Shane.He listened silently as I explained what had happened and then he told me not to be so stupid."Ams...this is a no brainer. You know and I know it. Get your arse round there now."I smiled as I knew he was right. "But what do I do about..." I started to ask"Amy don"t worry about that right now. Go get what you want!"I smiled as I knew he was right. I had to go now."Thanks Shane...what would I do without you?""I dread to think!" He repliedI quickly changed into something sexier and then ran down the stairs.Her mum was still watching the TV, she turned round at the sound of Amy running down the stairs."Where you off to all dressed up?" She asked "I"ve ummm got a second wind so heading out with some friends. I"ll probably stay over, so don"t worry.""Ok well let me know where you are sleeping?" My mum asked as I pulled the front door behind me."Will do" I smiled as I said under my breath, although I don"t intend on getting much sleep. I headed off down the street. I stood outside the door nervously waiting for it to be answered. I heard voices and laughter behind the door. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath as the door began to open and there she was... Reagan. "Amy!" She said as her mouth dropped open in surprise. "Hi." I said with a smile "we need to talk!" I said assertively. She turned round to look back at her flat mate Courtney who was standing in the hallway, coat half pulled on. They must have been going out somewhere. I had for here just in time. I watched as Courtney smiled and nodded at Reagan and took her coat off, heading into the living room. I saw the hesitation in Reagan. Who still hadn"t invited me in. I needed to convince her. I reached up with one hand and placed it on her cheek "I choose YOU" I said softly as I leant in and kissed her lips. Thanks everyone who responded to the last chapter...the result was fairly unanimous...

He glanced at the door, as if they were being over heard. "He"s not here." She said. "Where is he?" She shrugged, shook her head. "No idea." "He"s gone?" He looked genuinely worried. "He"s walking off writer"s block. He"s trying to figure out why we all haven"t upped and moved to Dublin where it"s happening." Peter swallowed. "I should go to bed." "Because running off has worked so well for us in the past." "What do you want me to say?" He snapped. She was surprised, almost satisfied to have gotten past the veneer, but she couldn"t answer his question. "You want me to be fine with this? Well I"m trying my very best, Assumpta, but I can only fake it for so many hours of the day. I"m sorry if that"s inconvenient for you." She swallowed back tears, recognising the agony he was in - and at her hand. "I thought it would be easier." She stepped toward him. "I thought, if there was a definite line we couldn"t cross, then we could go back to what we were - before." "Good friends." She couldn"t look at him. "I"m sorry." "Yeah." She should leave, get out of arm"s reach, and fast. But she couldn"t quite summon the strength to move. "Look, I"ll find some other place to stay." He said, then stepped around her. "Maybe you"re right. Maybe one day." He was behind her now, he couldn"t see the tears spilling onto her cheeks so she let them spill. "You could work at the bar." Assumpta climbed the sty ahead of Peter. He shook his head, walking on ahead. "People would see us together. It might help them get used to the idea." She caught up and took his hand, "And we would stop being so self-conscious of any and every potentially overheard conversation." "I don"t know." "If it wasn"t a bar?" "If I wasn"t making the decision based entirely-too-much on the fact that I"m going quietly mad keeping my distance like this." She laughed, "Not just me then." He tugged her hand, pulled her closer. At least here there was no audience. She freed her hand from his grasp and put her arm around him. "What would you do if money and time and location were no object?" He thought for a while, as they crossed a muddy field, his hand snug around her warm waist. "I do enjoy the bar. I know I"m on the wrong side of it to make an educated guess here, but I like working with you." "How do you know that?" "Well I have done it once or twice - and plenty more times not at the bar. Sheep rustling and what not." She laughed. "It seems a waste." "Maybe the next priest will let me help with the youth club." They headed up a gradual incline, into the woods. "The council put on youth events." He nodded, sighed. "What?" "No one"s going to want to touch me with a ten foot pole until I"m amicably released from the church. And fair enough. The church has long arms. This is a hard place to be on the wrong side of it." He met her gaze, "I"m preaching to the choir." "I"ll touch ye, no ten foot pole required." She let her hand drop from his waist, holding low on his hip instead. "So you won"t work for me now, but in the long term, sure?" "Something like that." He stopped walking and took her hand from his hip. "Long term seems a long way away, but it"s not really." She nodded, put her hand to his cheek and kissed him, inhaling as if she was about to hold her breath for a while and had better take in as much as she could in that moment. He held her close even as she released his lips, lifting her nearly off the ground. This would get out of control fast. Peter let Assumpta down. She stayed close, relishing the proximity, the silence. "You really think it might help if they see me behind the bar?" She nodded. "It"ll drive a handful of people up the wall but for the rest, yeah." "Father Mac won"t like it." "Perks." He sucked a breath in between his teeth. "Until I"m released we might be better to put off that particular perk." She nodded. "You don"t ask much." "Just everything." "Ah, well I already agreed to that." He kissed her, lips barely parted, but it made him dizzy. "We should have stayed in." She murmured then reached up for more. "We can always go back." He lifted her up again, firm against him. "And be as bad as they all say?" She ran her hands up his neck and then spoke into his mouth, "I can"t decide if I want to prove them right or prove them wrong." She closed her eyes and he kissed her lips, one hand fast descending. She lifted her knee up the side of his leg. He was holding her up anyway, she might as well take advantage, but every inch of further contact only wound them tighter. He lifted her higher, hands beneath her thighs, she held fast to his shoulders, moving her lips to his neck. "I can"t keep this up." He said, voice hoarse. She slid down, wondering how they might get back to the bar unseen and remain undisturbed for some time, but sliding down eliminated the possibility of that kind of delay. He was looking around for a solution but she saw it first and guided him to sit on a tree stump. He winced and she reached out to help relieve the pressure but he took her hands, pulling her to straddle him. She met his mouth as he pulled her body in, hard against him. Every maddening stroke was bliss. She reached for his belt as he pushed up her skirt. This was not enough. She wrapped her hand around him, guided him in, a moan undeniable on her lips. He kissed her, snatching at her mouth, suddenly aware that they might not be entirely alone. "What is it?" She said then her eyes fell closed and the thrill of her pleasure expelled every concern from his mind. He hooked his thumbs around the ridges of her hips, spread his fingers low across her back and drove deep. Her hand between them held clothes out of the way while her every breath tickled his neck. He tried to rise to meet her. She arched, expression exquisite, pinning him there for a long tantalising minute. When she lifted herself again all the air went from his lungs. She smiled and reached down between them, her fingernails grazing against his charged flesh. He rose then, regardless of any resistance, holding her fiercely and crying out before she managed to stop him. She released their clothes, ran her hands up through his hair, kissed his eye lids, his cheeks, finally his mouth. He responded with such passion, as if they were still building up to something. He lifted his hands into her hair but slowed then stopped. "I think I could kiss you - just kiss you - for a very long time." She kissed him again, a wordless accord, "So long as you"re already sated." One final controlled kiss and he let her shift off of him, realising as she did so that they hadn"t thought of protection. "Oh." She said, with the same thought, then met his gaze. "Oops." She adjusted her skirt but kept looking right at him. "We"re a little dangerous." He nodded, stood and fixed his clothes. "It"s a week between drinks," he shook his head, "not even a week. We"d better get married." "Gosh darn it." She stepped up to him, happily getting in the way of his shirt-tucking-in. "Hm," he smiled, "what a shame." Assumpta went upstairs to put her coat away, leaving Peter to make the coffee. Niamh came in before Assumpta got back. "Oh, I wasn"t expecting - " She hesitated but then continued to the bar, "So, she"s put you to work then?" "No, I"m just making a coffee. Do you want one?" "Sure, why not?" Assumpta heard the last of that as she came down the stairs. "You"re not afraid to catch something then?" Niamh closed her eyes. Peter looked from one to the other, longing to escape. Assumpta sighed, "Go on." "Me?" Peter was far too eager to be sent packing. "Unless you want to make us our drinks before you leave." "No, no." He nearly smiled, gave Niamh a goofy wave and took off. Assumpta set to doing the coffees. "So." "So, this is it." Niamh answered or asked, it was hard to be sure. Assumpta turned. For all Niamh"s faults she"d like to remain friends. "I didn"t plan this. We neither of us intended - " Assumpta watched Niamh, willing her to understand, "He was a friend. At the beginning, I loved him the same way you loved him. I didn"t set out to ruin his life." Peter returned in time to hear the end of that. "You have not ruined my life." He gritted his teeth and faced Niamh. "If you have to blame someone, blame me. I had vows to break." "So did I." Assumpta was about to step in but he went on, "Not at the beginning." He took another step forward, "We"re not perfect. We"ve made mistakes, fine, but falling in love was not one of them. I know this is a big adjustment, but it"s time to make it." Niamh lowered her gaze. "It takes time for people to - " "Don"t talk about people. You two are close friends. You have to support one another - now, when it counts. When it"s hard, that"s when it matters." Niamh turned to Assumpta, who had her arms crossed but watched, waited, lips tensed, hopeful. Peter shook his head, "I forgot my jacket." He grabbed it from a barstool then turned to Assumpta and mouthed an apology. She shook her head. He certainly needn"t apologise. Assumpta heard him come in. On his, "Heya!" she trod on a pot handle. "Can you take her, please!" "Coming!" He swooped in and plucked Eleanor from the floor with one hand, the other lifting a steamer back to its shelf. "Sorry." He looked at the remaining pots scattered about the kitchen floor. "Need the loo." "It"s fine. Just take her." She went on chopping potatoes into chips. "I"m almost set." "I got her." He carried the toddler off on his shoulders. "Daddy will just wee then we can read all the new books I got you." "Peter!" Assumpta closed her eyes, stilled the knife. "Picture books are exorbitant." "They"r from the library." He called from the loo. Chips ready to go and pots and pans returned to their rightful places, she found Eleanor asleep on Peter"s arm in their upstairs lounge. He was reading an out of date magazine but looked up when he felt Assumpta watching. He whispered. "Not a great book, apparently." "Time magazine? Not really pitched at your average eighteen month old." He pretended to cover Eleanor"s ears, not touching her for fear of waking her. "Average?" He whispered, all false alarm. Assumpta smiled and walked over, perching on the arm of the sofa beside him. "Hi." She leaned down and kissed him. "Hi." He grinned. "We all set for the evening?" "Sure," she looked at Eleanor then sighed. "Shouldn"t let her nap long now or she"ll be up all hours." He nodded but didn"t move to wake her. "I"m not ready." She said "Huh?" "To do it all again - the sleepless nights, the birth, even the pregnancy bit is hard work." "Oh." Assumpta rushed on, "I know, it"d be nice if they were close in age but I"m barely managing with one." "What? You"re a wonderful mum." She shook her head. "I"m always fobbing her off." "So she"s not the centre of the universe. It"s good for her." "Peter - " "No, I"m serious. But, that said, there"s no hurry." She sighed. "You know you are allowed to have a say in these things, to argue your side." "You want me to fight you on this?" "No, but it"s been over a year - well over a year - I"m no longer your boss. I know you think you"re being generous and," she made a face, "submitting to one another, but I can"t shoulder these decisions every time." His eyes widened. He inched out from beneath Eleanor and left the room. Already, she regretted her words. She meant what she"d said, but there were other ways she might have said it. ""Sumpta." Peter hissed a whisper from the hall. She turned and he beckoned, expression fraught. She followed him into their bedroom and stood like a naughty child waiting on a lecture while he closed the door behind her. "Do I?" He said, eyes pleading, "Do I shirk responsibility - put things on you and claim some great act of sacrifice?" "Not like that - I know you don"t mean it like that." "Then what? I"m only weak by accident?" "No." She stepped forward. "It"s just that you give in. You give me what I want, because you remember. I know. I see it and I understand, I do. It"s just a way of not taking what we have for granted. You don"t want to fight over the little things because we nearly missed out on every one of them. You say your piece and let me decide. You never insist. And I get it, I do." "So what"s the problem?" "You care about this. About this, maybe, you should insist." "But that"s just why I shouldn"t. This is too big." "I"m not ready now. But these things take nine months, at least. Maybe, by then - " "How about I insist on which brand of crisps we get?" She couldn"t help but smile, though her frustration was far from abated. "A second child." He said, "I insist we try, at some point. You know what I want. And I know you"d stop at one if I didn"t." "Do you?" He watched her, not so sure now. "I don"t know what I"d choose, if it were only up to me, but fortunately it"s not. You want two and I"m not opposed." "So it"s settled," he sat on the bed, "You want to wait a bit and I"m not opposed." She looked at him a moment, remembering, like she"d just described him doing. Remembering a time when his mere presence in this room would have been noteworthy, scandalous even. "Winning an argument with you used to be more satisfying." He smiled, laced his fingers through hers, tugging her closer. "It"s satisfaction you"re wanting?" She shook her head but he pulled her onto his lap anyway. "Winning an argument with you," he began, "gosh, I wouldn"t know." She tried to slug him but he kissed her and took all the force out of her fist. A little later, she pulled back, "Do you need to study tonight?" "I"ll read a bit while she"s settling then come down." "You don"t need to, if it"s not busy." "I know, but I - " She interrupted, "You get more done with a lager in your hand?" He shook his head and kissed her again. They had a window of time now and he clearly intended to make the most of it, but then Eleanor fussed and Assumpta remembered how she was propped up on the sofa, probably about to launch herself off of it. She was awake. Their window of opportunity was closed. "I"ll do her dinner if you want a few minutes to yourself." Peter said, watching Assumpta kiss the chubby cheek of their little girl. Assumpta nodded and handed the kid over, making sure to kiss Peter"s cheek for several seconds longer than necessary. She sat at the water"s edge and threw stones into the current, took long deep breaths and watched the sky shift and change and threaten. It didn"t rain but she started to long for their warm kitchen, the noise and dirt and chaos of it all. The kitchen chaos was louder than expected. She poked her head around the corner. "I thought I said we should wait on number two." Kiaran was perched on a bar stool, in lieu of a high chair, and seemed to be tied in place with two or three twisted tea towels. "Niamh had to go." "Sudden need of a cocktail? Should"ve told her to come find me." "No, ah - " he cocked his head toward the bar and she followed him through. Out of hearing of the kids he whispered, "Ambrose has been in some kind of accident." "What?" "That"s all I know, but Superintendent Foley came to get her." "Oh, God." Peter shrugged. "We don"t know." Eleanor shrieked then laughed. "My turn." Assumpta patted his arm and headed for the kitchen. The news reached them in the blank faces of Liam and Donal. They"d been working with Brian when he"d heard. "What"s happened?" Brendan asked from his end of the bar. "I don"t know if we should say." Liam said. Donal shook his head. Assumpta turned and went into the kitchen. Peter was in there with the kids. He nodded toward Eleanor and carried Kiaran off to bed. The kid could have one more night"s rest, not knowing. Assumpta gritted her teeth and nodded, swallowing hard. Peter returned to the bar and stepped up close behind her. "Soon as she"s settled you should go." "Where?" He shrugged. "Find Niamh. Stay with her." Assumpta nodded. "You might be better qualified." "Doesn"t matter." He put his hand to her shoulder and she moved away from the touch, afraid it"d undo her. "I don"t know what I"d do." She spoke in the dark after a long sleep-less silence. "I"d run." He said. "I couldn"t stay here if anything - " he didn"t finish the sentence but rolled over and wrapped his arms around her. She rubbed his face with her hands, kissed his eyelids. "At least you"d have somewhere else to go. I wouldn"t know where to start." "Well, bar work is, at least, a less high-risk kind of gig." He said. "We"ll be too old to be any use to each other before either of us goes anywhere." "Is that right?" "Sounds right to me." "Shut up, Peter." He nodded and let her touch transport him far away from the hard reality of what Kiaran would be waking up to tomorrow. Well, it wouldn"t be true to ballykissangel without a bittersweet finale. So, there "tis. The End. Her words worked a track in his head. She"d gotten married just to put a "definite line" between them? There was no way - surely she couldn"t have meant it like that. She must have spoken without thinking. She couldn"t care for him. Not like that. He needed for her to feel nothing for him. That was the only way he could go on. That was the only way he could give her up. In theory he"d already given her up, but his retreat had turned into a joke in the face of the news he returned to. What she was asking for - a return to the friendship they"d had before - was just what he"d wanted, just what he"d hoped for, on leaving the retreat centre, full of determination, inspiration, resolve... And now? He couldn"t sleep. He lay awake, in her home, and heard Leo come in. He waited for the muffled sound of distant conversation and dreaded more. He heard nothing. An hour later he got up. Silence and hunger assured him it wasn"t a terrible idea. A piece of fruit, a slice of bread, a cup of tea perhaps. Something to banish the grumble in his belly and draw the blood away from his head. It might work. He opened the fridge. Assumpta lifted her head - she"d been there all along, asleep, slumped over the kitchen table. "Oh." He said. "Sorry." She rubbed her eyes and stood, unsteady. "No. Excuse me." "I was hungry is all." He let the fridge fall shut. "The problem with being awake at three in the morning." She nodded, still holding onto the chair back. "I thought you"d gone up." Peter said. "Why face your problems when you can run from them?" She passed him an apple. "Because you believe in something." "Oh, so now you know what you believe in?" He bit into the apple, his hunger raging at the prospect of satisfaction. "I believe in marriage." "Ah, you"re all theory, no practise." He stopped chewing, swallowed. "Sometimes you make me so-" She stepped up to him, "Angry?" He looked her in the eye. "I"m doing you a favour. If you hate me you can"t-" She stopped, realising what she"d been about to say. But he held her gaze, confirming that it was true, even though she hadn"t said it. Was there a state of anger that could eclipse how he loved her? He averted his eyes, giving up the fight. He"d run out of the stuff he needed to play this out, to hope, to believe. He"d have to leave Ballykissangel. And not on retreat. She lifted her hand to his cheek, turning his face so he"d look at her. His eyes switched, terrified, then that gave way and he leaned into the little touch. She kissed his lips, but the surprise of it froze them both. The slightest shift of his weight, and he leaned into her, breathing her in, prompting her mouth open. She met him there, hands on his neck, eyes falling shut, intoxicated. A foot fall on the stairs, closely followed by another, broke through the haze. Peter pulled back, let go. Assumpta turned from his fleeing form and had a full two seconds to compose herself before Leo came in. She picked up Peter"s bitten apple from the table. "Sorry, did I wake you? I was hungry." Leo shook his head. "No, it"s fine. Everything okay?" "I fell asleep in here -" she laughed but it was all nerves. "I"m fine." He nodded. "I"m going to head off early tomorrow. But I"ll be back in time for the evening shift - don"t worry." She shook her head. "I won"t." "Well, goodnight." He turned and ascended the stairs. Assumpta sat against the edge of the table, staring at the bite in the fruit. Then she stood, stepped through to the bar, searching for Peter. But he was gone. She realised, in that moment, that he would go. He would leave Ballykay. She"d ruined everything, kissing him. But he had kissed her back. Of course he"d kissed her back. She was outside his door before she knew what she was doing. She knocked. No answer. She tried the door, it wasn"t locked but it only budged an inch. "What are you doing?" He asked as the door shifted. She stepped in and closed it. He was sitting on the floor and leaned back on the door. He looked utterly defeated. What was she doing? "I have no idea." She knelt, hesitated for a beat, a breath, then kissed him again. At that angle her weight pressed all into his lips. He rolled forward onto his knees, to relieve some pressure, but met her body and felt his own come to life. He gasped and she stopped kissing him, looked into his eyes, her own honest and bare. He couldn"t send her away, and if he must leave it would not be before - he scooped her up, hands fast ascending her body, then held her firm, leaning over till she lay beneath him on the rough carpet.

him, to speak candidly, to have no reason to check herself, or hold back. He handed her up into the carriage, following her closely and taking her hand again. They waved goodbye to their family and friends, the carriage pulling away toward their new home. Frederick turned to her and smiled a smile that almost laughed. Anne squeezed his hand and he exhaled, staring at her in wonder. "You are so beautiful." He stroked her cheek, resting his forehead on hers. She loosed her fingers from his, running them up his arm till they rested against his neck. Tilting her head she met his lips with her own, her breathing heavy. He felt the warmth of it on his skin between kisses. Her hands explored his chest, his arms, enjoying the strength she found there. He held her tentatively at first, unsure how to proceed with his new freedom, but her touch, her kisses were heady and he could not be so controlled for long. His hands traced the lines of her body, pulling her closer, his mouth exploring hers. As the carriage slowed their lips parted. They breathed heavily, laughing at themselves, or perhaps their joy simply would not be expressed in a simple smile. Anne let her fingers dance over the contours of his forehead, his jaw, his lips. She smiled at the liberty she had and its evident effects on the man before her. "I love you." He looked at her with adoration, taking her hand in his own, holding it to his chest. "I have been used to the gratification of believing myself to earn every blessing that I enjoyed. I have valued myself on honourable toils and just rewards." He sighed, "But in you I have much more than I can ever deserve." Anne kissed the hand that held hers so tight, moving closer to him again. "I know you too well to try and dissuade you of it." Frederick had taken a house for them near Bath. They would not remain there for more than a few months, but had agreed it would be best, for now, to not be traveling. Their journey from the church was brief, therefore, and within the hour Frederick Wentworth helped his bride from the carriage and led her into their first home. It was not large and there were few servants, but that is just what Anne wanted and, though he wanted to give her so much more, it was all they needed. Their bags were taken to their rooms and a small supper served there. Frederick dismissed the servants and stoked the fire then moved his chair much closer to Anne"s before he sat down. She was watching him, wondering how to allay his nerves. He took a generous sip of his wine. "Is everything alright?" She lay her hand on his leg. He looked at her hand and covered it with his own. "I don"t want to hurt you." She stroked his cheek and he met her eyes. "I love you and a few moments of pain are... nothing." She stood and he followed suit. They stood close, face to face. He resolved not to be swept away by all he felt and wanted, trying to find the self-control he would require to be gentle. Anne began to pull the pins from her hair, letting strands fall around her shoulders. Once it was all loose she ran her fingers through and pushed it behind her shoulders. His fingers followed, beginning at the back of her neck, moving up her scalp and then down, twisting through the curls. His breath was heavy on her cheek. Restless, her hands found the buttons of his coat and slipped each one free, pushing her open palms and spread fingers from his stomach up to his shoulders and letting the garment fall to the floor. He knelt down, removing her shoes and stockings, then his own. Frederick turned her, his hands lightly on her shoulders, and began unlacing the back of her dress, covering each newly discovered patch of skin with kisses as he went. "My God, you are beautiful." He breathed against her neck, slipping the sleeves from her shoulders. She stepped from the dress, her corset and petticoats still covering her, but much less than she"d been covered in his presence before. Her shoulders were bare and his hands lingered there tracing every curve adoringly. She arched back against him, savouring every moment. He kissed her neck and continued unlacing, this time her corset. His fingers fumbled and he pulled back to look at what he was doing. Smiling at his efforts, she began on his shirt collar, her hands loosening the fastenings, their warmth delighting his skin, her nails scratching lightly at the dark hairs at the base of his neck. He shivered, giving up on the half-undone laces and pulling the bodice open. His fingers slid beneath, finding her warm skin smooth and soft. His shirt was open and her hands slipped inside, around to his back, up to his shoulders, pulling him close and kissing his chest. He moaned her name, his hands dancing at her hips, feeling bold as his fingers slipped beneath the bodice, tracing a line of hot, soft skin around to the back. He found another lace, much more simply undone. Her petticoat fell to the floor and she gasped. He pulled his hands back. "Sorry." She shook her head a smile on her lips, but shyer than before. "Lift your arms," his voice was breathy and soft. He lifted the bodice over her head, laying it on the chair behind him. She slipped his shirt from strong shoulders, running her fingers across the muscles of his back, finding the belt of his trousers and slipping her fingers beneath. "How does this...?" she looked up at him. "Here, let me." He opened the clasps and let them fall to the ground. "Oh." She blushed, her hands falling away but he caught them in his own. She looked up at him, her confidence waning. He let her hands go and cupped her cheeks. "There"s no hurry Anne." Her hands gingerly worked their way from his chest down. Tilting her head he kissed her lips, a soft open invitation. She opened her mouth to his, letting her hands roam freely. He lost his ability to exercise restraint, lifting her up, still kissing her, fortunately close to their bed. He lay her down, stopping for a moment just to look at her, amazed to see her looking back at him with the same wonder and adoration. He pulled the covers back and lay beside her. His hands began to follow his eyes, tracing her breasts, her waist, her arms and thighs. His touch was heady, intoxicating, warming her. She rolled onto her side to face him. His hands stopped, his eyes glued to hers. She leaned toward him, kissed his eyes, cheeks, lips. Her hands were shaking as she reached out to him, steadying herself against him. As much as he was enjoying lying there while she adored him, he could hold back no longer. He rolled over, gently pushing her onto her back, leaning over, his body brushing against hers. He knelt over her, kissed her lips, pressing his mouth hard against hers. "I love you, Anne." She smiled up at him. "I trust you." She whispered, pulling him down onto her. "Oh," she cried out inadvertently, in more pain than she expected. He pulled back in guilt at experiencing pleasure but causing her pain. She breathed heavily but smiled to reassure him and lifted herself to kiss him. "Are you sure?" She nodded and he tried again. She held back the cry in her throat, clenching her jaw and closing her eyes. She arched against him, trying to enjoy it. Everything else she"d enjoyed but oh, my word! Why must this be so difficult? He groaned in pleasure as she lifted her hips. This could not last much longer, but considering the look on Anne"s face, perhaps that was best. She lifted her hips again and it was his turn to cry out. She opened her eyes, the pressure finally easing, mixing with an unexpected pleasure. She lifted her hips again and again until he pinned her down, his breathing erratic. He lowered himself onto his elbows, his lips brushing haphazardly against hers. She kissed him, her happiness overflowing in breathy laughter, glad to give him such pleasure, and that the pain had eased. "Are you well?" His words were barely intelligible. "Yes." She kissed his lips, chin, jaw, neck and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him down so all his weight rested on her. She"d never felt so full and safe. "Should we stop?" She lifted her hips again, eliciting another moan from his lips. "Perhaps, for now." He nodded, pulling back, rolling onto his side, still pressed against her. He rested his head on the pillow, his breathing slowing. She turned to face him and he was delighted to see her look so happy. "I love you." She stroked his face. "I love you," he leaned his forehead against hers, slid his hands behind her and pulled her close, "so much." Sunlight peaked around the curtains, streaking the sheets. Anne inched, half awake, toward the warmth beside her and finding her companion opened her eyes. The sunlight behind him, his face peaceful, his shoulders and chest bare, legs brushing against hers, she nestled closer, waking him just enough that he would wrap his arms around her. She kissed his neck then closed her eyes, dozing pleasantly, savouring the touch of his warm skin against hers, how it brushed hers as he breathed. Her hands sleepily explored him, gently tantalizing him as he woke. "Can I be greeted with this every morning?" He did not yet open his eyes, but sought her lips with her hands and kissed her, his hands running over her body. "If I wake up first..." The first sight he had was her smile and his heart sped up at the sight of her, hair strewn around the pillows, bare neck and shoulders, breasts against his chest, her legs intertwining with his. "You are..." "What?" "The words escape me." He smiled and kissed her head, pulling her closer, still barely awake but wanting her no less. Her leg slipped over his, wrapping around him, pulling him closer. He pressed against her, amazed at her passion, knowing it would probably still hurt her. "Anne, if there"s any way not to hurt you..." She met his eyes, rolling on top of him, pressing down slowly. Her breathing was rough. It did hurt, but it faded into pleasure. He tried to focus on pleasing her, but seeing her like that... there was no way he could resist the rush of feeling, begging for release. "Is this right?" Anne murmured breathily. "Right? This is... you are wonderful -" his hands wandered over his view, his hips rising faster, fingers sinking into her skin, pulling her hard against him. She loved to see him so unrestrained, expressing every feeling fully and freely. She pressed harder, needing him more with every movement. Seeing what she was feeling he kept going. His hands explored her until she collapsed against him, half laughs on her lips between heavy breaths. "Heavens." She whispered feverishly against his temple. "Heavenly." He pulled her close, tight. She was so much more than he"d dared hope. He smiled, squeezing her tight before releasing her. She lay beside him, smiling at him, stroked his face, down his neck, leaving her hand resting over his heart as she drifted into a blissful doze. He covered that hand with his own. Wide awake now, he watched her, letting his mind wander back. Edward asked why his brother was so distraught and was told in as few words as possible. He asked why but Frederick could not tell him. He had another month before his ship left, but he fled Kellynch the following day. Only once had he almost returned. His first post had taken him away for two years and he had written a letter on his return, addressing her boldly, begging her to reconsider. He hoped that if she were unchanged the mode of his address would only help his cause. Why hadn"t he sent it? Why indeed? He looked on her perfect face, sleeping beside him. Occasionally she nestled closer, or ran her fingers in circles and lines around his chest and stomach. He"d been angry; that was why. Two years had not cooled his anger enough to send such a humbling, pathetic letter. In eight years he"d given up trying to forgive and had only willed himself to forget. Occasionally, for a few days, a week, he would forget. But then, one night in port, while his companions chased after easy women he could only lift his glass to his lips and wonder if she were still there, still the same wonderful Anne, visiting the village, so generous and kind, walking through that valley. Would she stop under that tree? Or had she forgotten him as he so desperately tried to forget her. When the war finished he had convinced himself he"d forgotten her. He must have - heavens! - eight years was no short time. She must be married - no he should not think of that. But it should mean nothing to him. The entirety of their connection fitted within a few weeks. How dare it"s effects reach into almost a decade? It was not possible. He simply must marry. There must be others, many others as young and beautiful, free, kind, intelligent... but he should not compare them to Anne. If he could only fall in love once more Anne would forever be out of his head. Then he"d seen her. The anger, ignored for many years, returned in a confusing kind of resentment. He needed distraction and Louisa Musgrove served well as that. When he realised that Louisa was nothing to Anne, that every woman he"d known in eight years had been measured against Anne, that he still loved her, if anything, loved her more; when he realised that it was too late. Louisa"s family expected their union - even Anne expected it. It was only the miraculous turn of events following that could possibly free him. Louisa"s engagement to Benwick left Frederick with the frightening option of trying to win Anne Elliot. Everything would be risked, or nothing. If he tried and failed, if she turned him down, or worse, accepted him and was convinced otherwise, he could not remain... he could not bare to think what might happen if she did not want him. But if he did not try what else did he live for? He"d achieved more than ever expected in his profession but he"d been right when he"d first proposed - it was all nothing without her. By some miracle she lay before him now, entirely his. He kissed those lips, finally his to kiss, and woke her. She smiled and told him she loved him and that she was hungry. He wrapped her tightly in his arms. "What would you like for breakfast, my love?" "Anne Wentworth", she signed the letter and blotted the page, leaving it on the desk to fold and seal later. Pink light peaked through the small windows in their quarters and the only place to be at theis hour was on deck. She snuffed the candle and pulled the shawl around her shoulders before ascending the steps into the open air, the breeze immediately refreshing her with a lungful of fresh air. She scanned the deck as the dinner bell rang. Men nodded to her as they passed, the deck clearing as they finished their tasks. She spotted Frederick as he nodded to a sailor. "Mrs Wentworth," that same sailor handed her to the upper deck and Frederick tuned on hearing her name. "Thank you," she nodded to him and then went to Frederick"s side, looking out to the sunset as he sidled closer. She could feel his warmth, looked around and found them alone. As she smiled up at him he took her hand and placed on on his arm, pulling her closer, her chest against his arm. "Who would have thought this view could be improved?" She laughed, "Then I"ve recovered from the seasickness. Without a glass it"s hard to say, but I imagine I was quite pale thismorning." He smiled and touched her cheek. "Yes, I"m glad to see you better. And only two days, perhaps three, till we reach port. Thank god you have not suffered the entire journey." "So the weather changes, a few days sickness is not nearly enough reason to say in England while you are away." He smiled, "Oh, Anne." Squeezing her to his side he looked around the deck then swung her around and kissed her. She reached up, taking his hat from his head and running her fingers through his hair. "Let"s have dinner in our room." How had she spent her whole life in England? And in a small part of England nonetheless! Anne wandered leisurely, perusing the wares in shop windows. She saw her reflection in a darker shop and stopped, pretending to look at the hats behind. She was surprised at her appearance; the colour in her cheeks, her hair so healthy, a bit tanned, but that was to be expected, though her father would be less forgiving. She smiled at the thought. That was it - she looked beautiful and happy. She felt beautiful and happy. Her favourite dress, and a new shawl, undoubtedly helped. "Which one would you like?" Frederick stood behind her. "Oh," She turned to him, "I didn"t..." "Good, I think the other you admired at Benson"s was much more beautiful than any of them." "What?" "The blue one, creamy yellow," he pointed to his head, "um..." She laughed at his attempt to describe a bonnet. "How did you know?" He grinned. "Would you like it? I think it would look beautiful on you." "I don"t need another bonnet." "Let me..." "I like it, I do, but we share one room and another hat box is one less place for knick knacks from... where are we going next?" "You could store things inside a bonnet surely, it is thin, flexible, hollow..." "And if there is a beautiful bonnet at the next port?" "You can wear this one until we get there. Walk with me." Anne took his arm, her smile immovable from her lips. "You don"t need to buy me presents everywhere we stop." "If I needed to they wouldn"t be presents. I love you and I"m the happy man who gets to spoil you. Plus... We"ve been three weeks at sea and soon another three weeks... I know there isn"t much for you on the ship." She stopped walking. "If there"s anything that would make your time more enjoyable, name it and it"s yours." "Frederick," she put three fingertips against his lips then pulled them back remembering they were close to the docks and any of his men might be near. "I need nothing. Whatever made you think I might be unhappy?" "Not unhappy. I just want to do everything I can to make sure you never regret..." She shook her head decidedly. "I will never regret coming with you. I will join you again and again as long as it is in my power to do so. I remember too clearly what it is like to live without you." He smiled and pulled her alongside him, continuing their walk. "Perhaps, too, I am particularly enjoying having you along. At sea there is always something to do, somewhere to be and people to be with. I would loathed the days, sometimes weeks spent on land because my peers happily found company, even if not the reputable kind and I would not..." He led her up a walkway, "I want to show you a sight," he indicated where to walk. "So you stayed in your quarters and..." She found it hard to believe. "No, not usually. I would join them for a drink or two, but never... And not because I"m particularly noble and moral and all those wonderful attributes you are imagining. I was more than willing to forget you and in attempt to do so, on more than one occasion, overindulged in - I"m ashamed to think of my behaviour. I don"t want to shock you but the types of company sailors often find can be very..." he coughed, not sure why he was explaining this to her. She smiled at his discomfort. "Remember how we were that week, when I first proposed, talking and planning, affectionate... much like we are now. Well all those touches, those ways of speaking and sitting and walking and being... My only experience of any of that was with you, who I loved. Then, in some foreign port, surrounded by sailors, who have a reputation for a reason, I hate to say; we are approached by all kinds of women and at an inn, and, need I say it, liquor... anyway, every one recalled to my mind a moment with you and how to have that again would taint that moment with you. And then I got tired of being reminded so I stopped going along. Coming in to port was lonely and insipid. Till now," he grinned and squeezed her hands against his side. She smiled up at him. "You amaze me. I mean, I always hoped, but eight years is a long time and I simply assumed that you must have..." "There are other reasons too, illnesses, not to mention that my conscience would never let me be. But I was never so glad, thinking it was my own weakness rather than wisdom, though it sounded wise, until I realised I still had a chance with you. I realised that if you really did love me still then such an act would always, in my mind, be unfaithful, almost adulterous; and probably hurt you. Though I must admit that is precisely what I wanted to do when I first returned. God, I was such a fool. What do you see in me?" They reached the summit but she didn"t look out at the view, the sun getting lower across the ocean, lighting up the sky and sea in molten gold, bleeding into each other. She turned to him. "You did hurt me then. But then I more than deserved it, and feeling that hurt certainly reminded me that what I felt for you had not dissipated - which perhaps hurt more than any comment or flirtation of yours". I see in you a strong and gentle man, kind and honest, intelligent," she removed his hat, "generous and passionate. You are my future." He slipped an arm around her, squeezing her to his side and turning her to see the view. She smiled and watched for a moment, awestruck into silence. "You see all the good." "I see the man I love, and want to share everything with. I think of all the wonderful things we have to look forward to. Travels and adventures, having children and watching you play with

"Goodnight Frederick." She backed toward the steps as he backed away and turned. Turning toward the house, she touched her lips in wonder, in disbelief and joy. She was exhausted and her heart so full, her emotions dangerously close to the surface. Inside she only entered the drawing room to make her excuses and bid them goodnight. Tears choked her, spilled from her eyes and yet she wore an immovable smile. The events of the day must be expressed. Too much had happened to hold in, to be polite and reserved. She sat down on the end of her bed and played every moment over again in her mind. How he"d spoken to her, accidentally using only her christian name, sharing his fears, his struggles so honestly, how he"d been so vulnerable, how he"d looked at her with hope and despair at once, with adoration, with trust. How he"d touched her hands, her face, how he"d held her carefully, tenderly, and then desperately, even roughly. She undressed, wondering at what was to come, at what it would be like to share her room with him. What would it be like to do all this with him? She blew out the candles, stoked the fire and slipped between the cold sheets. It would be wonderful to have him beside her. Not to mention warmer. She rolled onto her side, imagining him there, on his side, facing her, his shirt collar open. Reaching out she laughed; in only a few weeks it would be real. All the dreams, all her dangerous and disappointed imaginings, would be realised. Her body was heavy with relief that it could finally rest, but her mind was buzzing. How could she sleep when there were such delights to think about? After years of wondering what might have been and refusing to let her mind wander down those delightful paths, she could finally wonder only at what would be, and her mind was free to wander. Frederick was similarly engaged. He thought of all the things he wished to say to her. Tomorrow he could begin. And in only a few weeks she would be there beside him perhaps - or he could take a house for them here in Bath, or perhaps somewhere else entirely. Lyme? Or someplace fresh and untouched. He would ask her tomorrow. The life he looked forward to had brightened considerably and all the possibilities played in his mind. With her he would be happy to share everything, even the close quarters of shipboard life - the closer the better in fact. But he would have to ask her about that too. She could have little idea about the details. Perhaps Sophie might describe... Surely Anne would choose to join him. She"d been so interested this evening and she"d clearly spoken to Sophie about it before. Leaving her would be unbearable. Of that he was certain. The memories had tortured him but everything was finally mended. She took him up on the offer to help on her next visit to the village. They took bags of apples to each family, the harvest having been especially good. He carried two full baskets, she took one, moving it from one hand to the other as her arms wearied. "One moment," she lowered the basket to the ground and shook her arms. He put his baskets down, removed his coat and laid it on the ground. "Please," he indicated to her to sit, "rest awhile." "Thank you," she sat on the edge of his coat and looked at the space beside her. "Will you not join me?" He sat gingerly, trying not to touch her. Of course he wanted to, but did not wish her to be uncomfortable. "An apple?" she took one from the basket and gave it to him, then took one for herself. They ate in companionable silence, leaning back on the tree. She threw her core into the trees, startling a hidden doe who trotted away. Anne laughed, surprised, then sighed. He thought it was a sad sigh and asked if she was well. "How could I not be? How could this be more perfect?" "I have no idea." He watched her face as she looked around them, and eventually at him, catching him staring. She smiled, "Shall we continue?" On their way back, baskets empty, Anne stopped walking at that same place. The sun was setting, the valley darkening. "I think I will always remember this day." He turned to her, watched her face. "You are not sad?" She met his eyes. "Only that you must go." He stepped closer, looking into her eyes. "Other than that..." she tried to jest. He reached out, touching her face so lightly. She inhaled sharply and he pulled back, apologising. She shook her head and he reached out again. Her eyes closed briefly as he touched her. Her skin was soft and warm. She turned her face, pressing against his hand. "I have to go, but I..." She looked up at him. "If there was any way... I have no desire to leave you." She smiled, giving him the courage to go on. "I have little to offer you, but I will work hard, I"ll do everything I must and I"ll be successful, I have no doubt. This moment, however, I have nothing. No matter my success it will mean nothing without - without you. Would you, even though at this moment I can offer you nothing but myself, would you marry me?" She was looking up at him, an amazing smile on her lips, filling her eyes with joy. "Yes," she laughed, "yourself is not nothing - you are everything I want." He laughed and took her face tenderly between his hands, kissed her lips, timidly, awkwardly. She slipped her arms around his shoulder and he happily embraced her, picking her up off the ground, laughing and spinning her around. When he put her down she was grinning, her face full of colour and joy. "You are so beautiful." He walked her home and returned to his brother"s home. Edward asked him about the ridiculous grin on her face and he spilled the entirety. The following day he applied to her father and was, reluctantly, accepted. Several days of blissful hoping and planning, long walks and delicious kisses, followed. But then he had to go into town for a few days. He returned to a different Anne. He found her, on his arrival, in the conservatory at Kellynch. He kissed her softly in greeting, told her how he"d missed her, and was interrupted by Lady Russell"s entrance. Anne was reserved, as if ashamed of their attachment. She was constantly in the company of Lady Russell and it was five days before he found her alone again. She was sitting beneath the tree where they"d eaten apples, at the place where she"d told him he was everything she wanted, where he"d kissed her, spinning her in his arms, their joy overflowing in laughter. "Anne," he stopped standing off a way still. "Frederick," she stood but did not walk toward him. He could not stay away. "I know something is the matter, something has happened." She shook her head. "Anne, please. Tell me." "I think I..." She looked away, "Perhaps we were too hasty." "Too hasty? Too hasty to what?" "To become engaged." She met his eyes again. "I love you Anne, what more should I wait for. Unless you do not... unless you do not love me." She tore her eyes away, unable to say what she had decided to say and look at him at the same time. "I only mean that... I simply cannot..." She turned her back to him. He noticed she was shaking and put his hands on her shoulders, every fiber of his being demanding that he comfort her. "Please Anne, only tell me. Do you love me?" She sobbed, her "yes" barely audible. "Will you marry me?" When she did not reply he moved to face her, holding her there forcibly. "I cannot." "Why?" "It is unwise. Perhaps in a year or two, but these feelings may not..." "You cannot believe that." "I do." He kissed her, expressing his desperation and passion, hoping he could rekindle the feelings she"d expressed in kind, only a week earlier. She opened her mouth to him, but only for a moment before she tore herself free. He did not want to hurt her and let her go, even though he could feel everything he"d dreamed of crashing and sinking into the mud. "Please Frederick, don"t do this." "I am not the one doing this." She was crying and he was only a step away. He pulled her into his arms, holding her there against her efforts to escape. She gave up quickly, shaking with tears, letting him hold her to his chest. He kissed her hair and stroked her back. "Don"t do this, Anne, I love you." She lifted her head, met his eyes, looked as if she would give in, but only so briefly that he later suspected he"d imagined it. "I have to. I can"t explain. I just can"t... can"t marry you." She backed away. He was broken. She turned and ran back toward Kellynch, disappearing into the trees. The memory, not surprisingly, was not helping him sleep. Tonight this had all been vindicated. He played her touch, her kiss, every smile that was just for him, he played it all over in his mind and that did not seem to aid his sleep either. He must try to rest. Tomorrow he could speak with her. At last there was no doubt of that. After a restless breakfast Anne set off, once again on a walk, but this morning with no pretense - her entire purpose was to chance upon Frederick. Lost in her thoughts, in anticipation and excitement, she did not see her friend until she was greeted. "Good morning Anne." "Oh, Lady Russell, I"m sorry, I did not see you." Lady Russell smiled, "You are well?" "Oh yes, very well, just a little distracted." "I can see that. Is there news? Has Mr Elliot...?" Anne took her friends arm and asked if they might walk a little. "Of course, but Anne you must not leave me waiting, what is the news?" "I"m not sure... that is, what I have to tell you may not be what you expect." Anne took a breath, prepared for the worst. But at least this time she was prepared. "I have for some time known that I could not marry Mr Elliot. I never felt I could trust him and I have since seen things, heard things, to confirm that suspicion. No- none of it is concrete, but that is not why I cannot marry him. Believe me, I am fully aware of my family"s - not only my family"s expectations. I have been guided by them before but now... " she stopped walking. They were in a small park, away from people. This was the perfect opportunity but the words would not come easy. "Lady Russell, I value your friendship so highly and your opinion has always been very important to me but... in this I will not be persuaded. Fre- Captain Wentworth has proposed and I have accepted him." "Oh." Lady Russell turned away to absorb this information. "His circumstances are very different now..." "That is true." She turned back to face Anne, "But more importantly - I have never stopped loving him. And somehow, though I find it hard to believe even now, and heaven knows what I"ve done to deserve it, he still loves me." Lady Russell looked at her friend"s face. She was glowing - happier than she"d seen her in a long time. And clearly resolute. "Then I am happy for you." She took her hands but found her self enveloped in an embrace. "Oh I"m so glad. I thought - oh it doesn"t matter what I thought." "I only wish I knew him better Anne. I only ever wanted what was best for you." "I know and I do not blame you or anyone but myself for my decision then. It is done and gone. We have wasted too much time to spend these happy days in regrets. You will love him when you know him." Lady Russell could not help but be effected by Anne"s joy. "I"m sure I will. When will you announce?" "Within the week, I suppose, we have not discussed it. Father gave his consent last night and nothing else has been done." "That"s a good start. I will help with the preparations - that is, if you want me to." "Of course I want you." Anne hugged her again. "And Captain Wentworth - will he not have some objection to my..." Anne shook her head, "Once you know each other, I have no doubt, you will be good friends. Oh, but I interrupted your walk. I should not keep you long." "Yes, I must go. But Anne, I am happy for you." She squeezed her hands. Anne watched her walk away, relieved and happy. Her anticipation at meeting Frederick returned. But perhaps he would not be out walking. They had not actually planned to meet, but if he was anywhere near as restless as she the confines of a house would be unbearable before long. Anne continued her walk toward the Croft"s residence. If Frederick had the same idea they would cross paths. She turned the corner to their street and slowed her pace, turning her head to scan the vicinity only to see him disappear around another corner, in the general direction of her own residence. If she took her original route she would meet him but - oh, he"d stopped to speak with someone. She walked toward them. She had a glimpse of him, or rather of his naval hat, around the corner. His companions were out of sight. She had to keep from running. He was nodding to them, tipping his hat, bidding them farewell. Rounding the corner, she met his companions - the Musgroves. They greeted her with their usual enthusiasm, ensuring Frederick heard her name repeatedly and turned around, his face immediately lighting up. "Would you join us Anne? We were just on our way to the milliners to pick up Henrietta"s gown." "Yes, you must come. You have not seen it yet." "Oh please do Anne." She met Frederick"s eyes. "I"m sorry, I cannot this moment. But perhaps I may visit you later this morning." They accepted her reply and scurried away, completely unaware of Captain Wentworth"s continued presence. Anne did not move till they were out of earshot. "Good morning." He tipped his hat and stepped towards her. "Yes, it is rather." She smiled and met him, taking the arm he offered as they began walking, so naturally, as if they"d been doing that for years. "Best in some time, indeed," he met her eyes and smiled, halting their walk, "You look beautiful this morning, and somehow, heaven knows how, I am the man who gets to tell you so." He brushed the stray strands of hair off her face and it was all he could do not to kiss her. She smiled, "Thank you." "Did you rest well?" He started them walking again - a good distraction from her lips. "I"m not sure I did. Too many wonderful things to think about..." "Yes. For many years I have unwittingly wondered what a life with you might have been like, and then redirected my thoughts, refusing to let myself imagine... But now, there"s no reason not to." "Precisely. I had hoped I would sleep immediately, perchance to dream of you, and to hasten the night"s passing." His smile was brilliant, wrinkling his eyes and cheeks. "And did you... dream of..." "No, but not for lack of trying. Is it always the way with dreams that they come when you least want them and contain what you do not wish to see, until you do wish to dream, when they will not come at all." He laughed. "Do you know how wonderful you are?" He lifted her hand from his arm to his lips, replacing it promptly as a passer-by turned their head to watch. Oh, how he looked forward to having her to himself. "You will spoil me, Frederick, with all these compliments." "You would rather I did not speak my mind?" "No... but, well, so long as you do speak your mind - no more." "I do." "Well, then I am yours to adore, as you wish." She squeezed his arm against her side. He joined her to visit the Musgroves later in the morning. The morning of conversation had put to bed any concerns the Captain had about Anne"s wishing to join him aboard ship. They had also discussed how to best tell their friends of their engagement, considering how little notice had been taken of their recent behaviour. They entered the room together, without offering excuses for arriving together, alone, but after a minute it was forgotten in favour of wedding arrangements. They remained close to one another but no one paid attention. "Perhaps we could get right to it and just invite them to the wedding." Frederick whispered, an intimate smile on his lips, his hand wandering toward hers before he realised and pulled it back. Anne laughed, finally eliciting a response - a look from Mary as if to say, "what am I missing out on?' Anne smiled at her sister and asked after the wedding dress. She immediately regretted it as she was shepherded into the next room to view it. "You should not so monopolize Captain Wentworth," Mary whispered, not so quietly as she thought, the door closing behind them. Mrs Musgrove turned, at first dismissing the possibility as another of Mary"s imaginings. But come to think of it... well, now that would certainly be a surprise. Henrietta was oblivious, opening the closet and explaining every detail to her listeners. On their return, as usual, all the gentlemen stood. When the others sat down again Captain Wentworth remained standing. "I have some news." He smiled, his eyes meeting Anne"s. This should be interesting... "Is everything well?" Charles sat upright, ready for action. "Yes, very much so." Frederick placed his hand on the back of Anne"s chair. "Yesterday afternoon I asked Miss Anne to marry me and she has accepted." A confused combination of disbelief and happy enthusiasm followed. The Captain simply explained, "We were... attached many years ago but there was a... misunderstanding." This satisfied everyone present and they enthusiastically gave their congratulations and wished them joy. They all wondered how they"d never known a thing but fortunately did not require an answer. In fact the ladies kept the conversation going without needing any input from Anne. When Charles moved to look out the window, Frederick stood and, with a squeeze of Anne"s hand under the table, took the place beside him. They looked on the view briefly before Frederick spoke. "I want to apologise for any... confusion." "Oh no, no..." "Well it"s all set to rights now, but it could have been pretty bad and of my doing -" "Love makes fools..." "Something like that - but... I am sorry to have misled." "Enough." Charles held out his hand and they shook hands. "It is in the past. It is done. And undoubtedly we"ll have three weddings in the next few months. We"ll have to come up with a plan if we"re to avoid talk of muslins and laces for two hours together." The weeks that followed seemed as if they might take forever, but when it came to the day Anne was amazed at all that had happened. Between Lady Russell and Sophie Croft, the wedding was arranged and the couple still on speaking terms with each other and their families. Anne stepped from the carriage and took her father"s arm as he led her to the church door. There were whisperings and turning heads. Frederick turned to see her and she was glad the small church meant she could see his face at that moment. She was impatient to meet him, to take his hands - in every sense, to say all the things she was here to say, make every vow to him, and to leave, on his arm, to kiss him, to hold him. And for the first time in several days - to be alone with him, to speak candidly, to have no reason to check herself, or hold back. He handed her up into the carriage, following her closely and taking her hand again. They waved goodbye to their family and friends, the carriage pulling away toward their new home. Frederick turned to her and smiled a smile that almost laughed. Anne squeezed his hand and he exhaled, staring at her in wonder. "You are so beautiful." He stroked her cheek, resting his forehead on hers. She loosed her fingers from his, running them up his arm till they rested against his neck. Tilting her head she met his lips with her own, her breathing heavy. He felt the warmth of it on his skin between kisses. Her hands explored his chest, his arms, enjoying the strength she found there. He held her tentatively at first, unsure how to proceed with his new freedom, but her touch, her kisses were heady and he could not be so controlled for long. His hands traced the lines of her body, pulling her closer, his mouth exploring hers. As the carriage slowed their lips parted. They breathed heavily, laughing at themselves, or perhaps their joy simply would not be expressed in a simple smile. Anne let her fingers dance over the contours of his forehead, his jaw, his lips. She smiled at the liberty she had and its evident effects on the man before her. "I love you." He looked at her with adoration, taking her hand in his own, holding it to his chest. "I have been used to the gratification of believing myself to earn every blessing that I enjoyed. I have valued myself on honourable toils and just rewards." He sighed, "But in you I have much more than I can ever deserve." Anne kissed the hand that held hers so tight, moving closer to him again. "I know you too well to try and dissuade you of it." Frederick had taken a house for them near Bath. They would not remain there for more than a few months, but had agreed it would be best, for now, to not be traveling. Their journey from the church was brief, therefore, and within the hour Frederick Wentworth helped his bride from the carriage and led her into their first home. It was not large and there were few servants, but that is just what Anne wanted and, though he wanted to give her so much more, it was all they needed. Their bags were taken to their rooms and a small supper served there. Frederick dismissed the servants and stoked the fire then moved his chair much closer to Anne"s before he sat down. She was watching him, wondering how to allay his nerves. He took a generous sip of his wine. "Is everything alright?" She lay her hand on his leg. He looked at her hand and covered it with his own. "I don"t want to hurt you."

"My room mate and a few others from college." She wiped down the bench and tried not to watch him, talking instead. "You know how it is, you were so close once, it"s hard to imagine the distance that"s grown but then you get together and it"s glaringly obvious." He nodded. "Marian has a wine bar in London so you"d think we"d have loads in common." She dried off her hands and then regretted giving up an occupation for her restless fingers. "She wanted you to go in with her." Assumpta nodded and took the glass he offered. "Cheers." He drank, and watched her do the same. She felt his gaze as if it were touch, real and undeniable. A look, on the other hand, was entirely deniable. She grabbed the bottle. Turning the light off in the kitchen, she left Peter in the dark for a moment, leading him out to the lounge. The fire was low, the tree lights blinking but far from brilliant with all the room lights on. She knelt on the floor to stir up the fire. Peter took a seat far at the other end of the sofa, letting the world shrink away, leaving only this circle of light around the pair of them. Once the fire was back to life Assumpta leaned around behind the tree and adjusted the lights. They stopped blinking. "There." She sat back and turned to him. "I"d rather get a headache from this stuff, though it might be just good enough that we"ve nothing to worry about." "I feel quite spoiled." Peter held his glass up to the light. Assumpta considered the tree a moment then got up. She put the wine bottle on the end of the bar, away from the fire, then turned off the light for the lounge part of the room. The patch of shadow brought the tree to life. "There." She said. "So you do like Christmas?" He shielded his surprise, watching her all the while. "Bits of it. You?" "Sure." "Like many things, good in theory." Assumpta returned to sit on the floor beside the fire, where she"d left her wine glass. They sat like that in silence a while, watching the tree, the fire, occasionally, briefly each other. Eventually she spoke, "If they had shown up, I would probably have spent most of the evening feeling as if Ballykay is terrible shabby compared with the London lights, or worse I"d have started defending it, and then it"d be even less likely I could leave." The question came to him, terrified him, but he had to ask. "Do you want to go?" When she didn"t answer he went on, "I mean, you"re free to do as you please, after all. No one can send you off willy-nilly." "Maybe I should send myself off." She said, quiet enough that perhaps he wasn"t supposed to have heard. She kept her eyes fixed on the tree lights and voiced a suspicion. "You sent yourself off, when you came here, am I right?" "I didn"t choose Ballykay, but yeah, leaving Manchester, that was up to me." This was hardly revealing a thing. She"d known that ever since she"d taken Jenny"s key over in the rain. That was the last time he"d slept here. The only time he"d slept here. He watched Assumpta, framed by firelight, wine glass to her lips but not drinking. He wanted to know if this thing was eating at her like it was eating at him. If this thing would drive her from her home. "What have you got to run away from?" She turned and looked at him for a moment, then smiled, "Who"d go into business with someone who"d leave you high and dry on Christmas anyway?" He nodded. That had to hurt, from an old friend, from any friend. "Sorry." "You"ve nothing to apologise for." "Not this time maybe. But we all walk out on you, don"t we, all the time. Like the least grateful dinner party in the world." "It"s just business." "Not to you." She met his gaze again. This was too unfair but she was too far in to stop just now. There"d be an out soon, and she"d take it, but not yet. "Well, you didn"t walk out on me." She said. "I did once though." She"d rehashed their conversation of that other night, months ago now. She"d gone over it in her head too many times. "I probably deserved it, in that one instance." "Why?" "Asking you things like that, considering - well." She finished the last of her glass, "Maybe I should send myself off." How many glasses had she had tonight? Words just tumbling out like that. She could feel his eyes on her, couldn"t resist looking up. Where was that out? There was always an out. They"d had a thousand of these nearly-there conversations. One or other of them always ducked out. They gave one another exit-passes with every other jibe. She"d be as much frustrated as relieved, but they could go on as they did, the kind of friendship that came along once, maybe twice, in a lifetime and wasn"t worth the risk. Oh, the risk. He looked right at her. If she ran, she"d be running away from him. And now he knew it. She pulled her gaze away, no point denying it. "Not to worry. I"ll get past it. These things never last, they just ruin friendships." Somehow she was managing to hold her breath and speak at the same time. "It needn"t be the case." She looked at him again, for a moment. ""Nother glass?" She stood up, went to the bar for the bottle. A drink was the last thing she needed, probably, but imperative now. Her fingers slipped on the cork. He"d put it back in too far. He stepped up beside her and took the bottle. She couldn"t look at him. "You want to know what I was afraid of, back then?" "You don"t need to do this, Peter." "I was afraid that the thing I what I wanted was out of reach, that the trying for it - that in trying I"d risk everything, hurt everyone I care about," he huffed out a breath, bit down hard, then added, "and me." He shifted his jaw, the words difficult, no doubt. "I was, I am still, afraid to risk a friendship that means more to me than - " he tilted his head till she looked at him. "That means too much. But maybe the not trying, that might also -" he swallowed, struggling, "might be much worse." She couldn"t be hearing him right; hearing what she wanted to hear, misunderstanding him like she so often did. If only he"d say it straight up, no more wary, round-about ways. She wasn"t feeling brave enough to tell him the god"s honest truth and nothing but the truth, but she was bold enough to ask it of him, "What was it that you wanted?" He took a breath, held it, then exhaled, "I want you." She stopped, lips falling open. She held on to the bar, watching him, eyes wide. "What?" He looked almost sad. "I have tried to get past it but," her very words from his lips sounded so desperate, "I want you in my life, no matter what it takes. Just don"t run away from me." Baffled, she nearly smiled, but concern clouded it all. Her mind was spinning. This was not simple. This was not a good idea. "Peter," she was out of breath, beyond herself, "this is a huge step." "Maybe it"s time to take some huge steps." His confidence was contagious but a marvel in its own right. "You"re talking about - " she couldn"t say "leaving the priesthood", not before he did. "Yeah," he nodded, "I am." "You"re thinking about it or - " she couldn"t let him say it just yet, "You need to think about this. Consider all the - " she stepped back, eyes dropping to the open throat of his shirt. She"d thought about it, of course, knew it was a possibility, but faced with the reality, every self-doubt had grown to goliath proportions. "How can you be so sure?" Of me? she thought, but didn"t say. "When Niamh told me you might leave, I panicked. That"s not a normal reaction." "No, but don"t you need to, ah," she searched his expression for any hint of doubt. "Think it through? Pray about it? I have done. Of course I have. You don"t want this?" "No, it"s not that." "It"s okay." He turned away, leaning back on the bar. "It"s a lot of pressure, I know." She was almost reassured by his reticence. At least he was being honest now, realistic. "It"s all I want." He closed his eyes then dared look at her, almost pleading. "Don"t leave." She smiled. As if she could leave. "I know I"ve no right to ask you." He put the bottle back on the bar. "Ask me what?" "To wait - I don"t know how long it"ll take." She looked at the cork, well-stuck in place. "I"ll wait." She said. She"d already been waiting, though she"d barely acknowledged what had been going on. She looked at his hands on the wine bottle, pale, long fingers that were all-but-forbidden to touch her unless drawing a cross. They"d need a cork screw. She turned away from him and leaned over the bar, but couldn"t quite reach. He looked baffled, clearly not thinking about the wine. "It"s stuck." She pointed to the bottle and went around behind the bar. "Right." "I don"t know about you but I could do another glass." She popped the cork. He smiled finally, properly. She handed him the open bottle. "You pour. I"ll put another log on the fire." He brought their full glasses back into the lounge and sat on the floor beside her, stretching his legs out toward the Christmas tree. He crossed his ankles and the big toe of his foot knocked a low branch. Ornaments jingled, branches rustling, then stilled to silence. She turned to him and took the offered glass. "To us?" He said. With a hint of a hopeful smile she tapped her glass to his, "Worth a try." He didn"t drink right away, "Is this going to go down like a tonne of bricks?" "It won"t be quite as smooth as the vino." She held his gaze; the reassurance in his eyes. "Don"t suppose you"d conceal a recording device in your jacket when you tell Father Mac. Call it my Christmas present." He laughed, took a drink, thought a moment. "I nearly got you something. Thought I"d let on too much." "What was it?" "I hadn"t decided." "I got you something." "You did?" "Wasn"t sure I"d ever give it to you." She got up on her knees and pulled a tiny package from between the branches. "There." He scratched at the tape and pealed it away, savouring this one gift that wasn"t a box of obligation chocolates from a parishioner. It was a sheep. A christmas tree ornament sheep. He smiled, not sure if he should laugh. It was clearly old, maybe antique. Maybe an heirloom. But he didn"t understand why she"d give him this. "It"s wooden." They had once collaborated to steal one of Eamon"s wooden sheep, after all. "Made you think of me?" She laughed, "It"s part of a set." She pointed to the tree, "There"s an angel, a cow, a baby, the whole lot of it." "Well at least I didn"t get the cow." "The shepherd was broken when I pulled down the box of decorations. His staff snapped in half." "So that was what reminded you of me?" "I didn"t mean it like that." "It"s okay." He took her hand, his fingers burrowing into her palm, his thumb pressing against the peaks of her knuckles. "I don"t have a tree." She sat back down beside him. "Go on then." He hung it beside the other pieces of the nativity scene. "Eamon"s ones never were quite that detailed." She shook her head. He spoke again eventually. "No one had ever done anything like that for me." "Given you a christmas ornament?" "No, I mean that petition." "Oh." "You were always a friend to me. Even when I was a stranger - and English." He shook his head, "And a priest." "You got up Father Mac"s nose, what can I say? I was charmed." He laughed. "I may not believe in all that stuff, the smells and bells and all that." She lifted her glass to her lips; she didn"t believe in that bit either, come to think of it, but no need to rub his face in their differences. "I believed in you. Not from the word go, but it didn"t take long." "Waking you up in the middle of the night so I could perform a sacrament you don"t believe in?" "But you did; you believed. You still do." She bravely met his gaze. "In all that and in people. Most of all, maybe, in people. No matter what it cost you." She sighed, blowing out through pursed lips, "You still do." He wasn"t sure if it was a question, but answered anyway, "Yep." "Aren"t you going to regret this?" She asked, knowing what he"d say and knowing she"d struggle to believe it. Knowing he couldn"t possibly predict. He just shook his head, a gentle smiled on his wine-stained lips. "I love you." Giving in she smiled, closed her eyes a moment, shook her head then nodded. Resistance was impossible. "I love you." She said then looked him in the eye again. "Let"s hope that"s enough." He beamed, glanced at her mouth but resisted. "What else is there?" The wine was gone, the fire too warm, and they were both tired. It was Boxing day now, had been for an hour or two, technically. Assumpta switched off the lights in the pub, leaving their glasses on bar, and showed Peter up to a guest room. He hovered on the threshold while she went to the linen cupboard for towels. "If you want a bath it"s there." She pointed, "I"m there," the next door along, "if you need anything." He nodded and whispered. "Good night." She smiled bright. "Yeah, it was." She looked at her watch. "Not for much longer though. Sleep well." She put her hand to his chest for a moment, almost pushing off. She closed the door of her bedroom, sat on her bed, put both hands to her face and muttered, "Oh my god," into her fingers. Any moment she felt she must laugh or cry, or both, but she sat there shivering uncomfortably, her chest tight, mind spinning. She heard the loo flush, a tap running. He wouldn"t have anything with him. He hadn"t planned to stay. She went out into the hall as he opened the bathroom door. "I think I might have a spare toothbrush." She said. "Oh, great." He let her go past, into the bathroom. "There." She held it up and he stepped up to the vanity. "Thanks." "Help yourself to, you know." She laughed. She was far too nervous, too silly. He just nodded, put toothpaste on the brush and then passed her the tube. "Right." She nodded, then brushed her teeth, trying not to fall in rhythm with him. "Don"t worry." He said, between spitting and rinsing. "It"s just one night." "No, it"s not that." She ran the tap. "It"s just a lot to process, is all." He nearly laughed at the understatement, nodding. "What am I going to do?" "What?" "For a living." "Oh, well you can forget Pope for a start." He laughed, rubbing his hand to his tired eyes. She lifted her hand to his arm. "Don"t worry about that tonight." "Yeah, I know." There was barely a space between them as it was, in that small bathroom, but he took one baby step and it vanished. She reached her strong slender arms around his shoulders and hugged him tight. "You can always work here." She said into his collar. "You know how hard it is to find good staff." "Who says I"m any good?" "You think Father Mac would do you a written reference?" He laughed and released her. Meeting her gaze he stopped, lost. Or found, maybe, but definitely out of his depth. "Good night." On her nod he turned and went to his room, she to hers, and neither got much sleep despite the hour, the feast or the wine. She heard him get up in the morning and there was no returning to slumber after that. She"d never taken a faster shower, probably. Still, Peter was fully clothed if a little rumpled, and waiting on tea brewing when she stepped up to the kitchen door. She lingered at the entrance, savouring the picture of him pottering about in his socks as if he lived here. "Good morning." He jumped, "Oh, hey. Tea?" "Sure." She sat down at the table. If she"d ever been up this early, the day after a party, she must have been making an escape, hoping to avoid an awkward morning-after encounter. This was hardly the same thing, but maybe he"d better not get caught on his way out. "You were thinking of sneaking home, but not without a cup of tea first?" "I was thinking about it. But so long as I"m sneaking at all someone might think I"ve something to hide." "Ideally, if you"re sneaking, no one sees you." He nodded and poured the tea. "Boxing day. Even Kathleen Hendley might have her eyes closed." "No, you"re right. The streets of ballykay are never safe." He laughed and put her cup on the table. "Thanks." Drinks set, he took the opposite chair and looked at her for a good half a minute. "What?" "Nothing in particular." He smiled. "Wouldn"t want to take this for granted." She picked up her tea cup, a kind of toast in agreement. After drinking she spoke, "So you"ll walk out there, brave-faced and," she shook her head, "I"d sneak." "Even if no one sees me, Timmy knows." "And Father Mac won"t be far behind him." She put down the piping hot mug. "I suspect in this one instance Father Mac might be an ally. He won"t want a scandal in his parish, won"t want the reputation of the church sullied. He might even reign in one or two of the more prolific gossips." Assumpta smiled. No need for names there. "Is he already aware of any, ah, any of this?" Peter hesitated. "I doubt he"ll be entirely surprised. If I don"t mention your name, he"ll guess it in one." "He"ll try to talk you out of it." Peter nodded. She watched him, wary. She wouldn"t ask for promises, for assurance. The proof would be in the pudding. Her tea was cool enough to drink now. He shifted in his seat. "Will you open the pub today?" "Probably." "Would it be easier if I stayed away?" She shook her head without pausing to consider. He suspected it wasn"t true, but he had no desire to stay away, even if it was the wise thing to do. All he wanted was to be near her. He could be careful, guarded, even sneaky. But he wouldn"t be able to steer clear, not for long. If he"d had that ability they wouldn"t be in this mess. Although it seemed less of a mess than ever just now, in the pale light and silence. Their sock-clad feet were not quite touching on the chilly linoleum beneath the dining table. Assumpta leaned back in her chair, nursing her tea, and caught sight of his thin black socks, stretched over big feet. Her baggy blue bed socks should have been embarrassing but she reached across the final few centimeters till they touched. He jumped again, then smiled. "You"re jumpy in the morning." She said, her toes resting on his, but no longer moving. He nodded. "Used to living alone, I guess." So was she, in fact, but he"d signed up for it forever. She"d never understood how a man - or any person - came to such a decision. "Don"t you just long to - " she shook her head, to far in now to back out, though she realised the question was intrusive, "to be touched." "There are different types of touch, but yeah. Of course." He lifted his other foot and covered her toes, sandwiching them between his. "Never so much as I do now." She raised her eyebrows at yet another wave of realisation; this was going to be a major shift for Peter. For them both, yes, but for him in some remarkable and rather unique ways. Once again she nearly asked if he was sure. She finished her tea instead. Then shivered. "I might get a fire going. Are you sneaking or staying." He closed his eyes. "How am I supposed to leave?" "You always managed it in the past." She walked out of the kitchen. "Small miracle, that." "Is there such a thing as a boxing day miracle?" She called back to him He followed her through, tea in hand. "I don"t think there was such a thing as a boxing day, back in Bethlehem." "There wasn"t Christmas either." She pointed out. "Well, not until after the first one, or so the story goes, right?" She scrunched up newspaper and piled it up in the hearth. "Can I help?" "I"ve got it." He sat down. "I won"t stay long." "Cereal or toast? Breakfast usually comes with a room." "Oh, you don"t need to - " "It"s fine." She lay kindling over the paper then hunted through the wood basket for smaller logs. "You did the tea." "Made myself at home. I didn"t think you"d be up so early." "My reputation precedes me." "Well, you have to stay up late." She lit a match and watched the paper catch, one bundle, then another, then another. Once the kindling was alight she moved to sit beside Peter. Not quite brave enough to meet his eye, she looked at his knee, then sighed. "What?" "I can"t believe you"re really going to - " she still couldn"t say it. "Leave the priesthood." He tried out the words. She met his gaze. "Don"t worry. I"m not going to change my mind." Her breath caught. If only she could just not worry, by sheer force of will, as easy as that. He raised his hand to her face, thumb tracing the swell of her cheek. "There might be a few weeks of secrecy, and very little proof that this real, but we"ve waited and wondered for months." His eyes lingered far to long on her mouth. "It"s easier to wait for a bus you know"s coming." She laughed, turned her face a smidgen and pressed her cheek into his palm, her lips grazing the heel of his hand when she spoke. "Quite the bus." He leaned in, painfully slow, eyes fixed on hers and open until the moment their lips met. His breath was warm, lips dry, soft for a moment before capturing her bottom lip with a tentative tug. "Oh man." He muttered, a shaky exhale tickling her lip, teasing. She reached for more just as he did the same, mouths pressing together. They clung there, nearly still, then parted a fraction. He lifted his hands as if to cup her face but hesitated. "I love you." He put his arms around her. She slipped her hands up the sides of his body, burrowed her face into his neck, spread her fingers wide as they"d go across his back. This was so much, this little thing. "I love you." She feared he might not have heard, her voice this weak breathy thing she barely recognised. He squeezed her tighter. He"d heard.

spoke up. Corny cleared his throat. "Link..it isn"t what you think. Believe me." Link sent a look Corny"s way which made Corny shut up immediately. "Oh? So what is it then? She was choking on a piece of cheese? Come on Corny,I am not that stupid! Do you know how much trouble you guys can get into?!" Link raised his voice. Amber took a seat on the couch. "Look Link. Corny and I have discussed the possibility of getting into trouble many times but we can"t help how we feel." She said using the same words that he used on her when he broke up with her to go out with Tracy. "Oh don"t you patronize me with the same words I said to you when we broke up." He looked up at me. "Look Link,what else do you want me to say? I love Corny. And I can"t help that. You can"t change my mind about what I feel for him." Amber said sternly. Link stood up. "I don"t want to change your mind about any of this! I am trying to bring your head out of the clouds and realise how much trouble and damage you could cause!" He growled. Corny stepped closer to Amber and wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "Listen Link,we don"t want to get you into trouble so we would really appreciate it if you kept your mouth shut about all of this." Link sighed and turned his gaze to the side. "I don"t know if I can you guys..." He began to say. Amber placed her hands on his shoulders. They looked into one anothers eyes for a moment. "You know I don"t want to put you into a position but this is important." Amber whispered. Link nodded while keeping his focus on Amber"s eyes. "Alright fine. Ill do it but I won"t enjoy it!" Link sighed taking a seat back on the couch. Amber sighed as she stole a gaze from Corny who had a smile on his face. "Thank you so much Link." Corny spoke up. Link nodded. "Well I am going to leave and help out the others out there for the show." Link got off the couch and gave Amber a hug. Amber didn"t expect that from him but she gladly accepted him. He shook Corny"s and headed out of the room. Amber breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought we were dead there for a second." She wrapped her arms around Corny"s slender body. He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. "But you know that with what just happened we have to be extremely careful." She nodded and snuggled close to him. Over the next few weeks they continued to work on the final show. Amber was getting really stressed out by it because the Corny Collins Show was everything to her and it really upset her that it was in Corny"s contract that once the current batch of kids on the show graduate it"s time to find new ones. Which made sense because they had to go off and make a living,they couldn"t keep being one of the Nicest Kids In Town. Even though Amber wanted to do everything in her power. She thought long and hard if they would be willing to hire her for a job working on the Corny Collins show. Something like her mother did. She never did approach Corny or the other staff about it though. Amber thought it would be a waste of breath. She was looking at all her old dresses that she wore throughout the show. They kept every single dress which amazed Amber. The one the she loved the most was the one she wore for the Miss Teenage Hairspray Pagent. It was a lovely color and she loved the floral arrangement that came with it. She traced her fingertips over the material and sighed. She was so into what she was doing she didn"t hear Corny come up behind her. He stood there for a moment just taking her in and then he spoke. "Are you okay?" He spoke in a boastful tone which made Amber snap out of her dream state and into reality. "Jesus Corny! You scared the living daylights out of me." She placed her hand on top of her chest to calm her racing heart. "Well I hope I won"t knocking the night lights out of you." He walked in closer to her. He turned around to see if anyone was around so they wouldn"t be spotted. Corny then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in. They pulled away quickly even though they didn"t want to but knew it was for the best. Corny saw Tracy walking by so Corny cleared his throat. "So Miss Von Tussle is the work that I asked for you to do done yet?" Amber didn"t catch on. "You didn"t ask...me to do any work." She responded confused. Corny then coughed loudly and shook his head in the direction where Tracy was. Amber lifted her head and then smiled. "Ohhh you mean that work. Yes I got it all done. Anything else you would like me to do Mr Collins?" She asked in a polite manner. A smile crept on Corny"s face. "No. That will do Miss Von Tussle...just don"t get into trouble." He turned his back on her and walked away. Tracy then approached Amber and started talking to her. "He"s really working us hard eh?" She asked. Amber looked past Tracy as Corny was trying to get her attention. She couldn"t understand what he was trying to say but Amber tried her best to retain her focus on Tracy so she wouldn"t look behind her. Corny grabbed a piece of paper and a black marker and began to write on the paper. Amber turned her attention to Tracy who was talking about herself and Link. When Corny had finished writing on the piece of paper he raised the paper up for Amber to read. She had to squint to read what it said but she managed to read the message. "Meet me later in my office" it said. After talking to Tracy,Amber tried to find something to do before heading to Corny"s office. She began to look through all the clothes that were mandatory for the Nicest Kids In Town to wear for the final show. At the top of each rack had a name for each of them and that was their rack with their clothes. She saw Link"s name at the top of racks. She began to go through the clothes that were hanging up for him. Mostly blue and black suits. Those were his speciality. She knew that like she knew the back of her hand. She ran a fingertip down a seam of his suit when something startled her. "Are you coming or not?" Asked Corny. Considering they were in a dark part of the station she could still see his eyes twinkle. A comforting feeling overcame her. She extended her hand waiting for Corny to take it and lead her to where he wanted. He closed his office door and locked it,no intruders this time. He then closed the blnds and stared at Amber who was sitting on the couch looking at him. How he loved her innocence. He quickly joined Amber on the couch and began to kiss her passionately. WARNING!: This chapter contains graphic scenes. If you feel uncomfortable reading this chapter this is your chance to get out now. Don"t say I didn"t warn you! WARNINGWARNING FINAL WARNING! Chapter Sixteen Amber could feel her hairs stand up on end the way he touched her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he layed her softly on the couch. She opened her eyes and found his eyes looking back at her as he was laying on top of her. His breath tingling her lips. "I love you Amber." He whispered as he began to kiss her neck. She could feel her spine send chills through her body. Noone or nothing had ever made her feel like she did at that moment. "Ohh Corny. I love you so much" She whispered out in the heat of emotion. "Do you want me as much as I want you?" He asked as he continued to nuzzle her neck. Amber bite her bottom lip as she gripped tightly on Corny"s hair. He pulled away from her to stare into her beautiful eyes. "Do you want to do this?" He asked sincerely. Amber thought about it for a moment. This was the biggest moment in her life and she didn"t want to throw something like this away without thinking about it. "Are you sure you want it Corny? This is also big moment for you too." Corny sighed and ran his fingers along Amber"s jawline. "Amber I love you so much and I want to go to the next level to show more of my love for you..." Amber sighed. "I love you too Corny with all my heart I just don"t want us to rush into things and then everything gets screwed up." Amber sat upright on the couch and thought. What might happen was the most sacred thing to happen to her. It was her innocence she was going to lose. She loved Corny,there was no doubt about that. "What are your thoughts?" Corny broke the silence. Amber"s head lifted up to find Corny"s eyes staring at her. "I don"t know Corny. I really don"t know. I have so many thoughts going on in my head right now it"s driving me crazy." Corny took a seat beside Amber and rubbed her back with the tips of his fingers. They sat in silence for a moment and then Amber spoke up again. "My mother never taught about the meaning of the "birds and the bees". They way I learned about it is when I was younger I use to wait for my mom at the station for her to be done and when I went to go look for her I would hear noises coming from the back room. I would constantly ask my mother about what I heard. She was embarrassed to know that her own daughter caught her in the "act". As I got older I learned more and more about it in school. My mother"s famous catchphrase was "When you do that with another person you immediately fall in love.' HAH! Everytime she did that she was with a different guy!" Amber took a breath. "Well to be honest Amber that really doesn"t sound surprising considering it"s your mother." A slight chuckle escaped from Amber"s lips. "I don"t want you to think that I am making excuses not to do it with you Corny. I just thought I would explain this to you." Amber"s eyes met with Corny"s. He smiled. "I understand Amber. I don"t want to presure you into anything that you don"t want to do." Amber thought to herself how could she possibly end up with the greatest guy on the face of the earth. "What have I done to deserve someone like you..." Amber said smiling as she faced Corny. His eyes lit up when she spoke. He leaned in and kissed her lips gently. He laid her back down on the couch and continued kissing her with more force. He could hear her groaning against his lips as he teased her tongue with his. His heart beat was racing and felt like it was going to burst again his chest. "Ohhh I love you so much Amber." He grunted as his hot breath touched Amber"s lips. Amber realised she could feel Corny"s hands on her bare skin. She lifted her head to see that Corny was unbuttoning her dress. Her body was filled with desire. Corny ran his hands over Amber"s tender breasts. His touch was driving her insane. He removed her white lacy bra and he began to explore her body with his hands. "Ohhh Corny. Your touch...Mmmm." She heard him moan as he trailed his hands down her stomach and stopping at her hips. He slowly began to take off her underwear and exposing her. He was taken back by how beautiful she was. He slowly began to tease her in that one special area. She began to squirm with each touch. Corny then unbuckled his pants and before Amber could take a breath he entered her slow. Amber tried to gasp for a breath as he began to pick up a pace. "Ahhh...oohhh...Corrnnnyyy!" Amber began to moan. Moments later they both released themselves. Sweat was pouring off Corny"s body and he was panting loudly. Amber had never felt like she did that in that second. "Wow...Corny...that was...wow!" Amber exhaled. A smile was marked across Corny"s face. "I love you so much Amber...always remember that sweetie." Amber sighed. She ran her fingernails across Corny"s face gently. "I know babes. I love you too." Amber moved herself over on the couch so Corny would have more room beside her. "Please tell me I don"t have to go home now.." She whispered. He looked deep into her eyes. "You don"t have to go home. You can stay here with me...just let me go find a blanket for both of us. I will be right back." He got off the couch,got dressed and left the room to find a blanket. After searching and hunting for a stupid blanket he finally found one. He entered his office and closed the door. "You would think it would be easier to find a stupid blanket than what I had to do!" He said. No response came from Amber. "Amber?" He walked in front of the couch to find Amber sound asleep. A smile crept on his face as he gently put the blanket on her. He slowly got on the couch and snuggled up to Amber. Within minutes Corny was sound asleep. He couldn"t be any happier. Everytime he saw Amber smile his heart would skip a beat. He finally felt what love felt like and he never wanted to give that up. Not for a million dollars! Chapter SeventeenAmber felt a head on her waist. She lifted up the blanket and saw that she was naked. She slowly turned over to see Corny sound asleep. She immediately remember what had happened. A smile crept on her face. She knew that what just happened was the greatest thing that had ever happened to her. The event that just happened was the best way to show another person that you love them. She grabbed Corny"s hand and held it in hers. She closed her eyes again but they opened again. She looked all over the room in hopes to find a clock somewhere. "Shit." She whispered. She tried not to jump out of the couch to wake Corny but she was alarmed that it was the middle of the night and that her mother was on the lookout for her. She grabbed the blanket from the couch and realised that was the only blanket that they had which left Corny butt naked. She screamed quietly and placed it back over Corny so he wouldn"t wake up. "Shoot!" She said to herself again. Amber paced the room in hopes to find some sort of clock. She saw a watch on Corny"s desk. She tried to read what the time said in the dark but was having no luck. She turned on the desk light and turned back to Corny who was thankfully still sound asleep. The clock read 3:32am. Amber placed her hand on her head and continued pacing the room. She grabbed her dress which was laying on the floor and put it on. Corny began to stir awake. He opened his eyes and saw Amber standing in the middle of the room. "What"s wrong?" He asked as he sat up on the couch and stretched. "Corny! Do you know what time it is! My mom is going to kill me!" She said as she walked closer to Corny who draped the blanket more around him. "Since when did you care about your mother! It"s time that you start living your life without her...she wants to become apart of your life all of a sudden...why are you letting her?" He reached out and grabbed Amber"s hands and ran over them with his thumbs. "I don"t know but if she finds out what I have just done and with who...she will literally kill me!" Amber sighed loudly. Corny pulled Amber closer to him. She now stood in front of him while he was still sitting on the couch. "Corny. I am sorry I don"t mean to be like this but I really have to go." She tried to pull away but he pulled her back on the couch and began kissing her forcefully. She wrapped her arm around his neck and deepened the kiss. She really knew that she had to leave but she couldn"t. The way Corny held her and kissed her was just heaven in itself. He began to kiss down her neck and on her collarbone. That was the spot where she got shivers everytime he kissed it. "Corny...ohhh Corny...you know you are such a tease to me and I love you but I really have to go!" She said with all the willpower she had. Corny"s touch,his smell...his everything about him drove her wild. "I know baby but can"t you stay just a little while longer..?" He asked still kissing her neck making her heart skip a beat. "No Corny I can"t. If my mother is by chance out looking for me she might come here and see us and then what? I am dead!" Corny opened his eyes and stopped kissing her neck. A smile appeared on his face. "You are beautiful...did you know that?" He whispered as he began to nudge his nose under Amber"s chin. "I should know it because you tell me enough times but it never gets old!" Corny chuckled softly as he ran his fingertips along Amber"s soft cheek. She leaned in and kissed him tenderly on his lips. Corny wrapped his around her slender body and pulled her closer to him. "I love you so much" Amber whispered as she placed a hand on Corny"s face while still kissing him tenderly. They got so lost in one another they didn"t hear the door handle trying to open. All of sudden the door opened up with such a force that Corny and Amber stopped what they were doing and looked up. Amber had wished that she didn"t because the person who stood in between the door frame was none other than Velma Von Tussle. "AMBER!" She screamed. Amber could feel her heart beating so hard against her chest she thought it was going to burst out. She quickly grabbed the blanket that covered her and Corny and tried to cover as much as she could of her body. "Mother...what are you...doing here?" Amber tried to calm herself down but it wasn"t going to happen! "What do you mean what am I doing here?! Do you know what time it is!? What the hell do you think you are do-" Velma walked more into the room and found Corny. Velma"s mouth nearly dropped to the floor when she put the pieces of the puzzle together. "What the hell do you think you are doing my daughter Corny!" Velma shouted. She could feel the tears beginning to fall down her face. "Uhh I uum...well you see..." Corny began to talk. Amber placed two fingers upon his lips to stop him from talking. "Look mother. Since when did you care about? You are all of a sudden acting all motherly..." Amber got off the couch and fixed her dress. She walked toward her mother and stood infront of her. "This isn"t about me Amber! This is about you. Do you know what the hell you were doing! You were throwing everything that you are away! For god sakes Amber!' Velma placed her hand on her head and began to pace around the room. Corny was still on the couch not moving or saying a word. Chapter Eighteen"Mother. You can"t tell me what to do. I love him. Yes,love! Something that you claim that you have felt before but I doubt it!" Velma was getting really hot under the collar. She lashed her anger out at Amber by letting her hand come across her face in a loud smack. Amber could feel her cheek sting after it happened. She placed her hand on the cheek and looked back at her mother. "How dare you...you...COW!" She screamed at her. Corny got off the couch and placed his hands on Amber"s shoulders. "I"m the cow! Are you kidding me? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror Amber! Let"s be reasonable!" Velma placed her hands on her hips and gave a look toward Corny and Amber. "Get out...GET OUT NOW!" Amber screamed as tears began to run down her cheeks and burning her one cheek that was recently slapped by her own mother. "You can"t tell me what to do! I am your mother and what I say goes. And what I say right now is that you are coming home with me right now missy!" She reached out and grabbed Amber"s arm and started to drag her away. Amber reached her arm out toward Corny and he grabbed it and tried to pull her away from Velma as best as he could. He failed. Amber"s arm slipped out of grip with Corny and her mother dragged her out of the studio and into the car. Velma and Amber didn"t say a word to one another on the drive home. Velma kept muttering words as "slut" and "whore" Amber could hear them very well but didn"t want to say a thing. She looked out the window and a lonely tear fell down from her eyes. What have I gotten myself into,Amber thought. Velma parked the car in the driveway and exited out of the car. Amber continued to sit in the car for a few moments while her mother walked into the house and slammed the front door. Amber took a deep breath and opened the car door and entered the house. Velma was nowhere to be found at first. All of a sudden Amber could hear things being rummaged around in. Amber began to walk to her room and saw that her light was on. Her heart began to race as she approached her bedroom. Velma was throwing clothes around and trying to stuff a large amount into a travel bag. "What do you think you are doing?" Amber"s voice startled Velma as she stopped what she was doing and faced her daughter. "What! You didn"t think I would still let you live with me after what you did! Filthy sut!" Velma turned around and began to pull Amber"s clothes off the hooks and throwing them on the ground. "MOTHER STOP IT! STOP IT!" Amber rushed into the room and began to pick up the clothes off the floor as Velma tried to pull them out of her hands. "NO! You will no longer be living with me. I can"t have you in my house. I don"t care where you go. I don"t care if you go live with Corny but you won"t be living with me that"s for damn sure!" Velma grunted through her teeth. Velma grabbed the clothes out of Amber"s hands and threw them back on the ground and walked over top of them on purpose in front of Amber. Amber fell to the ground sobbing uncontrolbly. "You brought this up by yourself. You didn"t need any of my help to screw up your life!' Velma spat while she watched her daughter sob on the floor of her bedroom. "Mother. You can"t do this to me. Alright. You can"t just think that something like this won"t happen again! I friggen love him! You wouldn"t know what love was if it bite you on the ass!" Amber stood up on her feet and stared at her mother who placed her hands on her hips and scoffed at the sight of her daughter being in "love". "Don"t you dare speak to me like that you selfish little brat!"

than he did with Nancy. He loved he Morgan absolutely loved Giselle. Giselle"s innocence made him smile everytime he was near her. "...and then me and Edward rode off into the sunset on his horse Destiny."Giselle concluded her story. Morgan"s eyes grew heavy."Now you get some sleep and I will see you in the morning."Giselle leaned in and kissed Morgan"s cheek."Goodnight Giselle."She said as she yawned and fell into a heavy sleep. Giselle watched her for a moment and then got off the bed and headed toward the door. Robert moved out of the way of the doorway and stood beside it by the wall. Giselle closed the door quietly and saw Robert standing beside the door."This is becoming a habit of yours isn"t it?"She asked grabbing his hand and walking toward the living room. "Perhaps. I just love how you are with her,that"s all." Robert gazed into her eyes as they took a seat in the living room. She cuddled up to him while watching television."She"s great Robert. I love her very much.He grinned at her. She blushed."You are so beautiful."He whispered to her as he twirled her hair with his index finger."Stop it Robert."She playfully hit him. He chuckled."What?"He asked caressing her face with his fingers."I don"t know. I am just not use to having someone telling me all these nice things. I really do appreaciate them."She leaned in and kissed his lips gently. A smile appeared on his face. "Well I am glad you like them because they are true. You are really beautiful."Giselle cuddled closer to him and watched television. She truly was as happy as one person could be. She loved Robert with all her heart and Morgan was a delight to be with. She was glad that Robert came into her life because if he hadn"t she might have still been with Edward and not know the true meaning of love was. Robert taught her that. Giselle hadn"t seen Nancy and Edward since the King and Queens Ball about a month ago. She often caught herself wondering how they were doing in Andalasia. Robert had recently her how to use this tool called the Internet and email. She constantly questioned if she could email Edward and Nancy in Andalsia. Robert explained that if they were taught how to use a computer and email then she could but he highly doubt anyone heard of those such tools down there. After stroking Giselle"s hair for quite sometime Robert leaned over to see that Giselle"s eyes were shut. He carefully moved her so he could get off the couch. He placed her back on the couch with a pillow under her head. He watched her lying there all peaceful. A smile crept across his face. He walked over to his laptop and checked his emails. He was typing away and didn"t realise that Giselle woke up."What are you doing?"She asked startling him. He turned to face her on the couch and smiled. "Nothing. I was just checking my emails. I didn"t want to wake you. I"m sorry."He closed his laptop and walked back over to the couch."I must have dozed off while you were stroking my hair,which I might add was very relaxing."She smiled as she held Robert"s hand."Did you want to head to bed or did you want to watch some more television?"He asked gazing into her eyes. She began to stretch her arms into the air and a yawn became of her."I think I should go to bed,unless you want to watch more television."She said. Robert looked at the television and then back at her."Nah it"s fine. I am feeling a bit tired too. We have to get up early to get Morgan off to school. Let"s go."He got off the couch and extended his hand for Giselle to take. She gripped it softly He led her up the stairs and into the master bedroom. Giselle went to the bathroom to get changed into her pyjamas. She ran a brush through her soft light red hair."The bathroom is all yours."She said as she exited and sat on the bed. She pulled back the covers on the bed and got in. She was trying so hard to stay awake for Robert. She could feel her eyes getting heavier and heavier and before she knew it she was sound asleep. Robert got out of the bathroom but before he went into the bedroom he wanted to check on Morgan. He quietly opened the door and walked in. Morgan"s hair was all over the pillow in a messy sort of way. Robert knelt to the ground and ran his fingers on his daughter"s cheek."I love you sweetie."He whispered as he kissed her on the forehead. He got off the ground and walked out of her room. He slowly headed to the bedroom."You should see how cute Morgan is when sh-"He stopped talking when he saw Giselle sound asleep on the right side of the bed. He ran his hand through her hair and kissed her cheek before going to the other side of the bed. He pulled back the covers and fell right to sleep. Chapter TwoRobert woke up before Giselle did and stretched. Another morning. He slowly got out of bed trying not to disturb his sleeping beauty. He walked to Morgan"s bedroom and woke her up."Sweety,time to get up and get ready for school."He whispered in her ear. She began to stretch and moan at the same time. He gave a smile and left the room to head downstairs to make breakfast for his two lovely girls. Morgan finished up in the bathroom and headed to where Giselle was. She checked to see if she was awake or not. Giselle was sound asleep. Morgan climbed on the bed and began to shake Giselle awake."Giselle! It"s time to get up!"Giselle opened her eyes and turned on her other side to face Morgan."Well hello there beautiful girl."Giselle said. Morgan smiled."You go downstairs and tell your daddy that I will be down shortly."She nodded and got off the bed and rushed downstairs. Giselle yawned and stretched. She sat up in her bed and could smell what was going on downstairs. A smile appeared on her face. She put on her robe and headed downstairs. The delicious smell got stronger the more she got closer to the kitchen. She could see Robert cooking something in the frying pan and talking to Robert."Oh! You"re awake. You could have slept in you know?" He walked over and kissed her on the cheek."I know but Morgan woked me up and if she hadn"t then the smell would have and if the smell wouldn"t have then the thought that I would miss seeing you before you left for work would have."Giselle explained. A smile appeared on Robert"s face. He often thought about what he did in his life to deserve this woman to be apart of his life and be so kind to him. But he never got a direct answer."Aww. Well I would have woken you up before I went for work just to see your smiling face."He replied as he lead her to the kitchen table. He placed a plate in front of her and on it was bacon,egg and sausages."This looks delicious but you really didn"t have to make me breakfast."She said turning her head toward the kitchen."Well I usually make breakfast for Morgan. And you will like it. Ask Morgan!"Giselle looked at Morgan who was downing down her breakfast. A soft chuckle escaped Giselle"s lips."He makes the best bacon. You should try it!"Morgan insisted. Giselle picked up a piece of bacon and slipped it into her mouth. Giselle could feel all her little taste buds exploding as the taste of the bacon seeped into her mouth. She turned around to face Robert. "Oh my gosh. This is excellent."She said while the bacon was still dissolving in her mouth. Morgan and Robert began to laugh."I told you Giselle!"Morgan said taking a sip of her orange juice. Robert got his breakfast and sat at the kitchen table with his two girls eating."Daddy,do I have to go to school today?"Morgan asked finishing her last bite of her breakfast. Robert took a drink of his water and swallowed."Why don"t you want to go?"He asked looking at her seriously."I don"t know Daddy. I just want to stay home with you and Giselle."Robert chuckled softly. Giselle finished her breakfast. She got up,took her plate and then grabbed Morgans and put them in the sink."Honey,I am going to work today. And Giselle will be the only one home but she has to go out and do some errands. So there really isn"t a point for you to stay home." Morgan sighed and headed upstairs to get ready for school."Awww poor little girl. She will get over it as the day progresses."Giselle said washing her hands. She grabbed Robert"s plate from his hand and placed it into the sink along with the others."So are you nervous about today?"Robert asked placing his hands on her shoulders."I don"t know. I understand everything that you told me. I just don"t know how people will react to me."She sighed. Robert placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face up."You don"t know until you try,alright?"He leaned in and kissed her face. A smile appeared on her face. Robert walked by her and headed upstairs to see how Morgan was getting along. Giselle went to grab a yellow folder and looked inside at the contents. Inside were 15 resumes that she was planning to hand out when Robert and Morgan headed out for the day. Truth be told Giselle was nervous. But Robert talked her through what a job was and how to get one which is what she was going to be doing today. She took out one of the resumes that Robert helped her type up. He put himself as a reference saying that she worked at the Law Firm as a secretary for about 6 months so employers would see she has some experience. She put the resume back into the folder and continued to sit on the couch waiting for Robert and Morgan to come downstairs. A few moments later,Morgan and Robert came downstairs. Giselle got off the couch and saw that Morgan was wearing a jean skirt and a white lace blouse."You look so cute Morgan! I am so jealous of your style!"Morgan gave a smile."I have style?"She questioned. Giselle lowered herself to Morgan"s level and looked her in the eyes. "Of course you do. You look so pretty. All the girls should be jealous of you!"Giselle"s eyes lit up. A smile appeared on Robert"s face. He loved the way Giselle was around his daughter. She treated her like she was her own and never let a day go by without showing her some sort of love and affection."Alright well we got to get going so we don"t be late."Robert snapped out of his thoughts. He walked closer to Giselle and stared into her eyes for a moment."I will miss you. I love you."Giselle"s cheeks blushed as he kissed her cheek. Giselle leaned down to meet Morgan"s level. Morgan wrapped her arms around Giselle"s body and gave her a kiss. They said their goodbyes for the last time and closed the door. Giselle waited until she heard the car engine turn on and they drove out of the driveway. She sighed as she flopped herself on the couch. She was alone. She had a job to today and one she didn"t know how to do."Well at least Robert gave me the 411 about job search."She said to herself as she headed upstairs to get changed to head out into the real world to make an impression. Chapter ThreeWith a yellow envelope under her arm she locked the front door and headed into town in hopes that she would find what is called a job. She saw this one store that had really pretty outfits in the window. She admired from outside. Different fabrics and different colors. She opened the door to the store and heard chimes as the door opened. She was surrounded by different colors of the fabric."Can I help you?"Giselle was taken out of her dream world when she heard the woman spoke. She was a middle aged woman with a very good fashion sense,Giselle thought."Oh yes! I was wondering if I can hand in a ... a..."Giselle couldn"t remember what the papers that she was carrying around were called."A resume?"The woman spoke. Giselle"s eyes lit up."Yes! Can I hand one in?"The woman walked closer and smiled."Of course you may. Are you new to doing this sort of thing?"The woman asked as Giselle got out one of her many resumes she had in the folder."Yes. Yes I am unfortunately."The woman looked at Giselle and then back at her resume."So it seems that you don"t have any experience. Well right now we are only hiring people who have experience in this type of business. But what we can do is keep your resume on file,is that alright?"Giselle smiled and nodded."Alright thank you for your time."And with that Giselle left the store in hopes of the next store having something to offer for her. She must have went into every store on the street and now she was down to one last resume."My poor aching feet.."Giselle exclaimed as she took a seat on the bench for a moment. She took off her stumpy heels and began to rub her aching feet. She looked at the store that was in front of where she was sitting. In the windows were clothing of the casual sense. Giselle put back on her shoes and got up to look in the windows of the store."Hmmm...they have nice clothing."She stepped back to see what the name of this particular store was called. "Summertime Fashions" Giselle took a deep breath and entered the store. She walked around the stands full of merchandise. She picked up this floral shirt and held it up against her body and looked at herself in the mirror."Can I help you?"Giselle turned around to see a young man around Giselle"s age."Um yes. I was wondering if I could hand in a resume here?"She put the shirt that she was looking at back on the hanger."Of course you can pretty lady."He replied giving her a wink. Giselle all of a sudden felt very uncomfortable around this man."Oh umm..alright...just let me get one..out."She struggled with trying to get one out of the envelope. She finally got one out and handed it to the guy who kept a firm stare on her. Giselle tried so hard not to blush but she could feel her cheeks burning."Hmm well it seems that you have no experience in this type of industry."He spoke. Giselle nodded."Well I will look into your resume and I will call you if we get an opening."Giselle wanted to restrict herself from saying very much. She walked past the man and turned and spoke."Alright. Thanks."And she turned back quickly on her heel and left the store. She felt very uneasy with that man and she didn"t know why. Maybe it was his approach with her that made her stomach turn. She looked at her watch and realised it was almost time for Morgan and Robert to be due at home. She was lucky that she wasn"t that far away from home. She slowly ran home in her heels which were making her feet ache like crazy. She made a mental note to herself not to wear them if she was going places within walking distance. She dug out her keys that were buried in her big purse and opened the front door."Hello?"She called out to see if Morgan and Robert were home."Giselle?"A voice responded. It was Morgan. She rushed upstairs to see Morgan in her room playing with her Barbie dollhouse that Robert had bought for her on her birthday last year."Where"s your father?"She asked as she walked into the room."My take is that he is still at work. Don"t worry Giselle,I know the way home by heart. I didn"t get lost."She smiled up at Giselle."Well I can see that my dear! I had just gotten home too. I am very tired. And my feet hurt. Let me tell you something for future references:Don"t wear heels if you are walking for hours on end!"She sat down on the ground next to Morgan."Do you want to play dollhouse until daddy gets home?"She asked. Everytime this child spoke it made Giselle"s heart melt. She was the greatest thing that ever happened to her life and she loved Morgan with every piece of her heart. "Of course I do. Which dollie do I get?"She asked with a smile on her face. Chapter TwoRobert woke up before Giselle did and stretched. Another morning. He slowly got out of bed trying not to disturb his sleeping beauty. He walked to Morgan"s bedroom and woke her up."Sweety,time to get up and get ready for school."He whispered in her ear. She began to stretch and moan at the same time. He gave a smile and left the room to head downstairs to make breakfast for his two lovely girls. Morgan finished up in the bathroom and headed to where Giselle was. She checked to see if she was awake or not. Giselle was sound asleep. Morgan climbed on the bed and began to shake Giselle awake."Giselle! It"s time to get up!"Giselle opened her eyes and turned on her other side to face Morgan."Well hello there beautiful girl."Giselle said. Morgan smiled."You go downstairs and tell your daddy that I will be down shortly."She nodded and got off the bed and rushed downstairs. Giselle yawned and stretched. She sat up in her bed and could smell what was going on downstairs. A smile appeared on her face. She put on her robe and headed downstairs. The delicious smell got stronger the more she got closer to the kitchen. She could see Robert cooking something in the frying pan and talking to Robert."Oh! You"re awake. You could have slept in you know?"He walked over and kissed her on the cheek."I know but Morgan woked me up and if she hadn"t then the smell would have and if the smell wouldn"t have then the thought that I would miss seeing you before you left for work would have."Giselle explained. A smile appeared on Robert"s face. He often thought about what he did in his life to deserve this woman to be apart of his life and be so kind to him. But he never got a direct answer."Aww. Well I would have woken you up before I went for work just to see your smiling face."He replied as he lead her to the kitchen table. He placed a plate in front of her and on it was bacon,egg and sausages."This looks delicious but you really didn"t have to make me breakfast."She said turning her head toward the kitchen."Well I usually make breakfast for Morgan. And you will like it. Ask Morgan!"Giselle looked at Morgan who was downing down her breakfast. A soft chuckle escaped Giselle"s lips."He makes the best bacon. You should try it!"Morgan insisted. Giselle picked up a piece of bacon and slipped it into her mouth. Giselle could feel all her little taste buds exploding as the taste of the bacon seeped into her mouth. She turned around to face Robert. "Oh my gosh. This is excellent."She said while the bacon was still dissolving in her mouth. Morgan and Robert began to laugh."I told you Giselle!"Morgan said taking a sip of her orange juice. Robert got his breakfast and sat at the kitchen table with his two girls eating."Daddy,do I have to go to school today?"Morgan asked finishing her last bite of her breakfast. Robert took a drink of his water and swallowed."Why don"t you want to go?" He asked looking at her seriously."I don"t know Daddy. I just want to stay home with you and Giselle."Robert chuckled softly. Giselle finished her breakfast. She got up,took her plate and then grabbed Morgans and put them in the sink."Honey,I am going to work today. And Giselle will be the only one home but she has to go out and do some errands. So there really isn"t a point for you to stay home."Morgan sighed and headed upstairs to get ready for school."Awww poor little girl. She will get over it as the day progresses."Giselle said washing her hands. She grabbed Robert"s plate from his hand and placed it into the sink along with the others."So are you nervous about today?"Robert asked placing his hands on her shoulders."I don"t know. I understand everything that you told me. I just don"t know how people will react to me."She sighed. Robert placed a finger under her chin and lifted her face up."You don"t know until you try,alright?"He leaned in and kissed her face. A smile appeared on her face. Robert walked by her and headed upstairs to see how Morgan was getting along. Giselle went to grab a yellow folder and looked inside at the contents. Inside were 15 resumes that she was planning to hand out when Robert and Morgan headed out for the day. Truth be told Giselle was nervous. But Robert talked her through what a job was and how to get one which is what she was going to be doing today. She took out one of the resumes that Robert helped her type up. He put himself as a reference saying that she worked at the Law Firm as a secretary for about 6 months so employers would see she has some experience. She put the resume back into the folder and continued to sit on the couch waiting for Robert and Morgan to come downstairs. A few moments later,Morgan and Robert came downstairs. Giselle got off the couch and saw that Morgan was wearing a jean skirt and a white lace blouse."You look so cute Morgan! I am so jealous of your style!"Morgan gave a smile."I have style?"She questioned. Giselle lowered herself to Morgan"s level and looked her in the eyes. "Of course you do. You look so pretty. All the girls should be jealous of you!"Giselle"s eyes lit up. A smile appeared on Robert"s face. He loved the way Giselle was around his daughter. She treated her like she was her own and never let a day go by without showing her some sort of love and affection."Alright well we got to get going so we don"t be late."Robert snapped out of his thoughts. He walked closer to Giselle and stared into her eyes for a moment."I will miss you. I love you."Giselle"s cheeks blushed as he kissed her cheek. Giselle leaned down to meet Morgan"s level. Morgan wrapped her arms around Giselle"s body and gave her a kiss. They said their goodbyes for the last time and closed the door. Giselle waited until she heard the car engine turn on and they drove out of the driveway. She sighed as she flopped herself on the couch. She was alone. She had a job to today and one she didn"t know how to do."Well at least Robert gave me the 411 about job search."She said to herself as she headed upstairs to get changed to head out into the real world to make an impression.

"Couple years later, they recruited me for special ops and they were looking for a resource in Tehran. I thought of him, made contact, and ultimately brought him in," Top said. Sighing he added, "We started talking when waiting for command to devise an exit for us a couple times and suddenly we realized that we had become friends." Adam shifted, kicking at a pile of sand holding a small weed. "That explains why you trusted him that first mission he joined," Preach stated, thinking back on the operation so many years ago. Throwing Carter a glance and a small smile, Adam added, "Knew he was as trustworthy as any of you." Stilling, his voice was somber as he added, "And just as likely to die as the rest of us." At the sound of someone coming closer, Amir turned to meet McG as he approach. Watching his body language, he asked, "Everything okay?" When the medic had gotten near. Stopping, Joseph blew out a loud breath. "Yeah," he muttered, as he scrubbed at his face before dropping his hands to his waist. "She"s pretty beat up but nothing life threatening that I can tell." Looking out into the darkness, McG"s jaw clenched. "I just want to tear those sons of bitches to pieces with my bare hands right now." Grunting, Amir nodded. "Don"t think you are the only one," he breathed as his eyes went past McG toward the area he knew Top and Preach were at. "I wouldn"t mind going back for a little... chat." The comment and implied meaning seemed to settle McG as it let him know he was not the only one struggling. "Jaz took out the interrogator," McG said dryly after a few moments of silence. "He was the one we pulled from the van." Astonishment flashed across Amir"s face before he chuckled. "Why am I not surprised?" he quipped. "Always said I never wanted her really mad at me," McG answered, a grin pulling on his lips. "Now I"m sure of it." Leaving Adam, Preach tried to hide his concern for the younger man. He had no doubt that there was more he had not said swirling in his head. Seeing McG walk away from Jaz, he started for the truck. He hadn"t gotten very far before he quicken his steps to catch her before she fell. "Where are you going young lady?" Preach prodded, stabilizing her as she slid off the back of the truck. Swallowing hard as her ankle let her know it was not pleased with her move, Jaz flashed Preach a glare. "I just need to," she stopped, tipping her head toward the darkness. "Ah," Preach answered, shifting his position to help her walk. "Ready?" Grimacing for a moment, Jaz reluctantly nodded. She did not need to pee as she knew Preach was assuming. She just wanted a few minutes alone without being watched. Trouble was that getting there was going to take more time and be painful so she didn"t have much choice but to accept the help. Taking a few steps with her, Preach sensed the turmoil in her. Deciding now would not be the time to talk, he kept his comments to verifying what direction she wanted to go and if she was okay after she had stumbled. Easing his grip when they reached a place she had pointed at between two trees, Preach stepped back. "I"ll be over there," he said, tipping his head to show her the direction . "If you need help, just yell." "Thanks, Preach," Jaz breathed out, fatigue and pain taking their toll. Waiting until he moved away, she used the tree she was leaning against to move around to a pile of nearby rocks. Easing herself down, she sagged in relief at no longer having to keep up the facade that nothing was affecting her. Moving a respectable distance away, the big man glanced around for any signs of unusual movement. Noting that Jaz had immediately settled onto a nearby rock, he knew she had not answered the call of nature, but rather needed a few moments to herself. Experience told him that while a little time was okay, it was too soon for anyone that had experienced what she had to be given too much time to think. Still, it was also normal to let some reaction out too and their Jaz would do what ever she could to not let others see that. "Preach, you got Jaz?" Hearing the tension in Adam"s voice, Preach was quick to trigger his communication link. "Affirmative," he answered. "We"ll be back in a few," he added to deter him from coming to see what was happening. The sound of a sniffle reaching his ears told him that he had been correct on both accounts when it came to Jaz. Counting off time in his head, he let her have few minutes before he turned and moved closer to her. "Jaz?" Rubbing her cheek to try to hide the tears, she took a deep breath before she answered "yep", grimacing at the choked sound she made. Paying attention to how she was sitting and moving in preparation to get up, she kept her face averted. It almost worked to settle her until Ezekiel"s soft voice called her by her full name, offering comfort and affection, the two things that could do her in when she was vulnerable. A choked sob escaped before she could stop it. Hearing the emotional pain escape from the younger woman, he did not hesitate to scoop her up so he could sit, setting her on his lap and pressing her head into his chest. "It"s okay, Jasmine. You"re safe. Let it out," he whispered to her, embracing and cradling her against him. Watching Top stand beside the truck and stare into the darkness that Preach and Jaz had gone into, Amir winced at the tension he saw there. Top was wound as tight as he was when they had left the van to go into the hotel. Glancing at McG and raising an eyebrow, Amir got an answering nod from the medic noting his agreement of Amir"s assessment. "Top," the former CIA operator called. When the team leader indicated he had heard him, he continued. "Any word on Director Campbell?" "She was escorted out right after we crossed," Adam said over his shoulder. "Hannah is trying to find out where." "I can reach out when we are back on base too," he offered. "We may be able to do something to help her." Glancing at McG, he added, "Sorta feel like we owe her." Snorting, Adam shook his head slowly at the irony of Amir"s words. "For not ordering us out in the first place and then agreeing to go along with some half-baked, no way in hell this should have worked plan?" A humorless chuckle passed his lips. "We definitely owe her." "You should get some sleep," McG said softly, watching as Top focused back onto the darkness. "You"re pushing three days now." "I will," Adam said. "Just not right now," he said lowly. "Jaz"ll be okay," McG assured, knowing where Top"s focus was. "No, she"ll make us want to think she"s okay," Adam retorted sharply. "And so, what?" McG snapped back. "You driving yourself until you drop is going to change that? Come on Top, you know better than that." Adam spun to challenge the medic in his assumption and, if need be, pull rank before he caught the fatigue and worry on the other men"s postures. The realization that he was not alone in the turbulent emotions searing through him seemed to take the wind from him. Dropping his shoulders, he looked away a moment before turning back to them with a small gesture of conciliation pulling on his lips. "I appreciate the concern," he said, his voice soft and steady. "And I"ll rest as soon as we get back on the road and I know Jaz is settled," he added. Turning back, the others barely caught his final words, "It hasn"t hit her yet." Sitting on the rock, Ezekiel let his hand rub gentle circles until Jaz"s breath moved from gulps to shuddered draws to a slow even rise and fall. When she still made no effort to move, he turned his head to speak softly to her. "You know Top is going to come looking for us soon." "I know," she replied, but still made no move. After few more seconds she spoke again. "Do you believe in fate?" The question caught Preach off guard. "Fate?" "There was a book I read once that seemed to summed it up for me," she stated. "Fate knows all about you, it knows your fears and your weaknesses and your confidences and strengths, and it can be ready for all of them when it decides that the time is right. It can move you like a pawn in a terrible game of chess, sacrifice you for the good of others, drop you from a building you should never have been inside, give you a disease that no one has ever heard of. Luck and chance are impartial. Fate is active. It picks on people," she cited from memory. "Fate is the promise that life is not a random string of tragedy and comedy without meaning. Fate proclaims that our lives are in fact so meaningful, so necessary, that our stories are written by the gods and goddesses, by the heavens themselves. We may only glimpse our fate, hinted by the stars or the creases of our hands; but even this glimpse is evidence of our contract with the universe, that we are players in the great wheel of life and death and rebirth," Preach countered. "A little more positive than your"s," he added, tightening his grip slightly. A snort left Jaz. "Still says we are powerless." Chuckling, Preach encouraged her to sit up some. "Not powerless. We make choices every day that guide our paths." Looking down, Jaz toyed with the sleeve of Top"s shirt. "So you don"t think what happened was," looking away, a shiver passing through her. "Don"t pay attention to me," she finished, moving to get up. Tightening his grip, Preach held her on his lap. "What happened was a potential of what we do everyday. You"ve known that for a long time," he said evenly. Receiving a jerky nod that she knew what he was saying, he continued. "But no one is fated to be beat up or tortured." Starting at the darkness around them, she said flatly, "Then why does is keep happening?" Stiffening as if she just realized what had said, she shoved herself up. "We better get back." Releasing his grip, Preach frowned. "Jaz," he breathed, trying to find the right words. Wrapping her arms around herself, Jaz shook her head. "Ignore me," she laughed with no amusement. Taking a jerky step, she winced at the pain before she felt an arm wrap around her waist. "I"ve got ya," Preach said softly pulling her closer to take some of the weight. When she stumbled again, he bowed to slide his other arm under her legs and lifted, cradling her against him. "Preach," she objected. "It"ll be faster this way and you"re shivering so bad, you"re going to break something," he interjected, cutting her off. Moving towards the truck, he tried to figure out how to make her understand that she was not to blame for what happened to her. "She okay?" McG said, as he strode to meet them when they got close enough for him to realize Jaz was being carried. "I"m fine," Jaz retorted, exasperated. "He just got tired of waiting for me," she added, sliding back on the tail of the truck where Preach deposited her and barely settling before McG commandeered her wrist to check her pulse. "You"re cold," the medic stated before pulling the blanket back around her. "You"d be warmer up front," he added, moving to help her slide off. "No," Jaz came back sharply, tensing. As the others paused at the vehemence of her words, she forced herself to relax. "I just need to be outside right now." "Preach, Amir, you guys can take turns driving and keep each other awake," Top stated, appearing from the darkness beside the truck. Watching as Jaz"s body sagged in relief, he tipped his head at McG telling him to climb up. Following Joseph, Adam moved some crates around to create a small area shielded from most of the wind. In addition, it would allow those sitting in it a back rest. "Come in here," he said softly, helping Jaz maneuver. When she was settled, he turned toward McG, taking the energy bar and water from him. "Get some rest. I"ll sit with her awhile." Seeing a tip of McG"s head as if to ask him if he was sure, Top nodded once before shifting to sit down. "Here," Top said, taking the lid off the bottle. Nearby, McG was laying down pulling his coat closer to ward of the chill. "Apple? Energy bar?" Top asked, grabbing a nearby fruit and digging into his pocket for a knife. Opening it, he slit through the red skin easily cutting it into two half"s. Slicing off a portion he held it out to Jaz. "You need to eat something." Although she did not feel like eating, she knew that if she didn"t eat before McG got up he would start an IV or try to force some energy drink down her throat. Nibbling on the slice, she felt the rumble of the truck as it eased its way back onto the roadway. Unbidden her eyes slid back to the knife glowing softly in the moonlight. Feeling her movement stop, Adam glanced towards her only to find her eyes fixed on the KA-BAR in his hand. Refocusing, he continued to slice the apple. "Did they use something like this?" he asked, his tone conversational. Swallowing, Jaz shifted slightly. "Shinier, thinner," she breathed, remembering the sight of the metal on the instrument tray. "They didn"t say a word," she said after a few minutes. "Just took turns slowly inserting it in different parts and drawing it out. Think they were trying to get me to scream." Top paused in his movements to keep his own reaction under control as he could the feel of the shiver that passed through her against his shoulder. "More than one of them?" he asked, more to keep her talking than anything else. "Two who did the dirty work," she said, her eyes trailing to the darkness outside the truck. "And Arthur," she added. "He was the sick bastard that was leading it all. He wasn"t buying my French touristy thing," she joked shakily, giving up any pretense of eating. The mention of her cover pierced Adam"s resolve, causing him to swallow the knot that had formed in his throat. "I listened over and over again to you trying to give directions for as long as you could," he confessed softly, the sound of her murmured droite, tout droit, and la gauche still seared into his memory. Clearing his throat again, he added, "It helped us narrow down where they took you." "When I saw you in the garage, I was so sure you were going to do something stupid and try to save me." A battered sad smile pulled on her face. "But I knew you were too good of a commander to risk the team unnecessarily." "You"re worth every chance we took," Top quickly countered, his voice firm. "None of us were going to walk away without at least trying to get you back." "You would have been killed if they would have found you. We knew going in we would be disavowed. I was okay with dying as long as you guys were okay." A sharp intake of breath met her words. "It fucking killed me when they grabbed you and when I couldn"t get that damn truck started," Adam hissed out hoarsely, anger piercing his words. "I knew exactly what they were going to do to you and I was notokay with you dying so my pathetic worthless ass could keep living." The feel of her hand gripping his arm drew him back from the darkness that had nothing to do with the night. "I have too many lives on me now. I couldn"t live with yours too," he confessed softly, his hand settling over her"s. "Top wasn"t at the truck," Preach stated, glancing toward Amir. After a pause, Amir confirmed it. "He waited for a while but when you didn"t come right back, he told McG and I to stay there and let him know if he missed you." After checking the mirrors for any sign of being followed, he added, "He"s not easing up at all." Nodding slowly, Preach watched the road ahead of them. "He can"t. For Adam, he has to know that everyone will be okay physically and psychologically after the mission before he"ll let himself relax. He"s not sure about Jaz yet." "She"s strong," the younger man murmured thinking of his teammate. "But something like this can mess with you." A murmured agreement met the statement. "Haruki Murakami, a Japanese writer once put it like this: Once the storm is through, you won"t remember how you managed to survive. You won"t even be sure if the storm is really over. But the one thing is certain... when you come out of the storm, you won"t be the same person who walked in." After a few minutes, the larger man continued, eyeing his teammate. "You know that doesn"t just apply to Jaz, right?" A sigh escaped from Amir. "I know," he said, the simple statement and following silence saying more than words could. AN: Jaz"s quote on fate is from TIM LEBBON"s Face. Preach"s quote is from SY MONTGOMERY, Spell of the Tiger. No copyright infringement intended. You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. ― Sun Tzu Driving through the night, Amir couldn"t help but think about the woman in the back of the truck and what she was going through. He knew first hand the emotional, psychological, and physical toll torture and interrogation took on a body. Still, he couldn"t help but think he"d gladly trade places with her as this was worse. "Sorry?" Preach asked, coming out of his own self contemplation and glancing over at Raisani. "What"s worse?" Amir paused trying to figure out what Preach was talking about. Realizing he had voiced at least a part of his earlier thoughts, he swallowed. "I"ve been where Jaz is," he said, glancing over at his teammate. "Spent three days the guest," he voice dripped with sarcasm at the term, "of a small time wanna-be cell leader." Glancing at the rear view mirror, a visible shudder ran through him. Forcing his eyes forward, he continued. "It takes a while to convince yourself that it"s over. That it"s just not some world that you"ve escaped to in your mind." "I can only imagine," Preach said, he eyes drifting toward the younger man. "I"m betting you didn"t have anyone to help you when you got out," Ezekiel said, his rich tone comforting and understanding. Throwing a smirk his way, Amir agreed. "Let"s just say that I wasn"t exactly among friends." "So what"s worse?" Sobering, he replied. "This. Watching it happen to someone else and knowing there"s not a thing you can do to fix it." "Yeah," Preach sighed, turning to glance into the back of the truck. "I know what you mean." "What happens now?" The question was asked so softly that Top barely caught it in the sounds of the truck as it ran down the road. "Now?" he repeated, glancing at Jaz while contemplating what to say. "You"ll get checked out, stitched up, and maybe spend a day or two in the hospital. Then you"ll take it easy for awhile." A groan met his statement. "Top," Jaz countered, the whine in her voice bleeding through the fatigue. "You know I"m not any good at taking it easy." A smile tugged at Adam"s lips at the truth of her statement. "I"m sure I could get you furloughed early if you want." "No," she countered sharply, only releasing her breath when he nodded. After a few minutes, she pulled on the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. "I"d rather stay here." "Okay," he agreed, watching as her body slumped slightly at the word. "But you won"t be able to do anything until you"re cleared." "I know. I think I"ll heal faster here than if I go home." Looking upward, Jaz"s eyes trailed across the starlit sky. "I didn"t know they existed until I got to basic down in Georgia," she said softly. "You don"t see them in New York CIty." A noncommittal sound came from Top. Glancing at her, he watched her looking at the stars while her hand rubbed softly on her knee. "You okay?" he asked, gesturing toward her leg. "Oh, yeah," Jaz said self consciously, yanking her hand away. Knowing he deserved some sort of explanation she took a breath. "The scars," she said, gesturing toward her leg. She knew the team had likely seen them before, but no one had asked her about them. "He tried to use them, get me to tell him how they happened," she finally added, shaking her head. "Like he would treat me differently if I did." A snort left her. "I fell for that once before." "Your dad?" Adam asked, his hand gesturing to her leg again. When she nodded, he hissed. "I"m sorry," he murmured, her admission confirming what he had suspected: what was in her file was only the tip of what she had experienced growing up. Somehow, knowing that Adam now knew one of her most closely held secrets made her feel better. "When it got really bad, I"d sneak out of the apartment and go to the roof. I"d stay awake and wait. I knew that if I could make it long enough to see the sunrise, it meant I"d made it through whatever shit my old man decided to do to me that day. You know?" she asked shakily, glancing sidewise to see Adam watching her. As daring and fearless that Jaz wanted others to believe she was, he had always known there was vulnerability under the bravado. She had shown glimpses of it to him before, but never had it been on display as it was tonight. "Yeah, I know," he said softly, leaning so his arm pressed against her shoulder. "It meant he didn"t win," he murmured, his thoughts going back to his own childhood. Nodding slowly, Jaz agreed with his assessment. "Yeah." Silence descended for several miles, each lost in their thoughts and memories. It was finally broken when she shifted, a hushed curse indicating her discomfort. "You should lay down, get some rest," McG said with a yawn, rolling to a sitting position and slowly moving joints to loosen them. "Both of you," he added, draping his arms over his knees.

"For some reason, the system keeps coming up with a dead man as our bank robber," Williams said, frustration in her voice. "But that can"t be possible." "Who keeps coming up?" Bobby asked, peering down at the screen. "One Michael, aka Mickey, Farmer. Had an extensive rap sheet; everything from assault to robbery to attempted murder. Was killed during a bank robbery seven years ago." Glancing up, she realized that Jack had moved back across the room and had his back towards them. Confused, she looked around to find that D had also moved away and was staring hard at their team leader. "Tara, pull up the file on Daniel Farmer," D said evenly, his eyes not leaving Jack. "Okay. Daniel J. Farmer, older brother to Mickey. Was serving fifty to life for killing a bank teller in a robbery. Escaped two days ago from prison," Willliams cited, reading from the alert. "Thought to be headed to the DC area." "Why come back here?" Sue asked. "To er...," Tara paused, color leaving her face. Her eyes flashed to Jack and D. "We think he"s on the way back here to get revenge on the FBI agent who killed his brother," Dimitrius stated, finally looking back at the other agents. "Who"s the agent?" Myles asked. "Me," Hudson announced turning to face his colleagues. Seeing the shock on their faces, he explained. "Seven years ago, I was on task force looking for three men who had committed a string of bank robberies in the tri-state region. After almost two months, we finally caught a break and identified them, Daniel and Michael Farmer, and their cousin, James Dell. Dell was the driver, and the Farmers were the ones who did the actual stick ups." "We got an anonymous tip that they were going to rob a bank in Rockville so we staked it out. They showed up and it got," Jack paused as if looking for the right word, "hairy. Dell took off before the other two came out of the bank. They must have realized they were in trouble because they brought out a teller to use as a hostage. Cornered, no escape, I guess they thought they"d go out in a blaze of glory or something. Michael killed the hostage and then laughed at us, telling us we were useless. Then they opened fire on us." "Classic suicide by cop scenario," Bobby murmured. Nodding, Jack continued. "Needless to say, we had to fire back. Michael was killed and Daniel was injured. He survived and was eventually convicted." "Somehow, Daniel figured out that it was Jack"s shot that killed his brother," D said, picking up the story. "We were notified this morning that Farmer had escaped and was probably coming here. There was a file on Jack in his cell and his cellmates said that he told them there was no way he was going back to jail as long as Jack Hudson was alive." "And after this morning, it looks like he"s here," Bobby added, blowing out a breath. "Upstairs is going to want you out of harms way," D said, knowing that the younger man would fight him. "No way. We don"t even know for sure that it was Farmer this morning. And if it was, if I go to a safe house, he"s just going to lay low and wait for me to come out or if he is the one that committed the bank robbery this morning, keep doing it. I can help find this guy," Jack stated adamantly. Realizing he was being a little too invested, he took a breath and forced himself to relax. "Besides, I"ve got the best in the bureau watching my back right now," he added, gesturing toward the rest of his team. Pursing his lips, Dimitrius paused for a brief moment before relenting. "Okay, I"ll talk to the brass. But the minute this guy gets too close, your butt is on the next plane to Albuquerque. You got me?" Peering at his supervisor, Hudson did not acknowledge the implied order being given to him. There was no way he was going to run now. "What about Dell? What happened to him?" Sue asked. "Is it possible that Dell was one of the men this morning at the bank?" Shrugging, Hudson said, "Could be. We never found him. We suspected that he fled the country, but maybe not." "Or if he did, he came back," Leland added. "He certainly fits the description of the second bank robber this morning." "Anything from the car?" Lucy asked, hoping that there would be something to point out that it was someone else. "Not much," D replied, flipping through the file in his hand to pull out a sheet of paper. "A few fibers, smudged prints, nothing that could confirm it was or wasn"t Dell and Farmer. " "So, until we know otherwise, we"ve got to act under the assumption it could be anybody," Bobby said, not liking it but knowing that focusing on Dell and Farmer meant they could miss valuable clues to other potential suspects. "But," the big man added, standing up, "that doesn"t mean that you mate are off the hook. Even if Farmer didn"t hold up that bank, there"s a good chance he"s going to come gunning for you at some point." Holding up his hand, Jack said, "Which means that I might not be the best person to be around right now." Smiling tightly, Bobby shook his head. "Nice try, but if you leave this place, one of us is going to be with you. And that includes," Bobby added, sinking into his chair and pointing at Jack, "at night." "Right," Tara said. "I"ll make up a rotation." "Add me into it," D said before turning back to the larger matter at hand. "Anything else useful from the witness statements?" "Maybe," Tara said. "Metro canvassed the area where the car was ditched. A man walking his dog said he saw two men get out of the car and get into a black late model full size Ford pickup, no plates. He said he wouldn"t have paid much attention to them but they were arguing whether or not they had, and I quote, "scored enough for the hit.'" "Sounds like whoever these two jokers are, they have something else in mind," Myles murmured. "Did our witness say which way they headed?" "North, towards the interstate," Williams answered. "From there, they could have gone anywhere." Frowning, Jack shook off the bad news. "Tara, you said there was no tags on the truck. Check with the locals to see if anyone reported a truck matching that description being stolen. If we"re lucky, it was and they"ll be a GPS in it that we can track." "You got it." "Everybody else contact your informants for anything about the bank robbers or for our good friends Farmer and Dell. At this point, I"ll take either," D ordered. Author Note: It was pointed out (thank you!) that Ch 1 contained typos on the suspect name. He was introduced as Farther, but somehow, later, this switched to Farmer. The correct name is Farther and I"ve made sure it is correct in subsequent chapters. My apologies. Enjoy. Holding open the door for Bobby, Sue and Levi to precede him out of the restaurant, Jack instinctively scanned the streets for any sign of something out of place. Seeing nothing in the dim light, he dropped in beside Sue and Levi. "I"m stuffed," he moaned. "I should have never let you talk me into getting that king size steak." "Not my fault," Manning countered, holding up his hands in a defensive posture. "I can"t help it you were trying to show off for Sue here." "Oh no," Sue interjected. "Don"t try to drag me into your little testosterone game of who can eat more. I had nothing to do with it. If you ask me, you both should be miserable and I don"t feel sorry for either of you." "See how she is," Jack teased, pretending to talk like Sue wasn"t there. "No pity what so ever." A yip from Levi seemed to object to Jack"s characterization of his master. "You tell him boy," Sue said, leaning down to scratch the golden"s ears. "You know...." Her words turned into a yelp of surprise as Bobby shoved her into Jack and they both went to the ground. Once down, Jack scrambled to place himself between her and the street and at the same time pull Levi out of danger. "Shots fired," he mouthed, trying to give her some indication of what was going on. Trying to get a look at the vehicle speeding away, Bobby pulled his phone from his pocket hitting 911 as he put it to his face. "Special Agent Manning, shots fired at F.B.I. Agents, on 17th near K. Be advised the shooter left in a dark color pick up; no plates." Flipping the phone off, he turned to the others. "You two okay?" he asked, taking one of Sue"s arms to help her up while Jack took the other. "Yeah," she said, running a hand over Levi to make sure he was unharmed. "I think I scraped my elbow when I went down, that"s all." Looking over at Jack, she became alarmed. "You"re bleeding," she gasped, instinctively reaching for his neck. "It"s just a knick," Jack assured her, gingerly pressing his finders to the gash. "Piece of brick must have chipped off and caught me. It"s not bad," he assured her, looking at Bobby as he dialed his phone again. "Special Agent Manning again. Send a medic to this location also." Wincing as the medic applied pressure to the wound on the side of his neck, Hudson saw Dimitrius and Leland wind their way towards the back of the ambulance. "You okay?" D asked, leaning in to look at Jack"s neck. "Scratch," Jack assured him, waiving it off. "Sue"s arm lost more skin than I did," he said, thrusting his chin toward her as the medic applied a four by four dressing to her elbow. "Did you see anything?" Myles asked as Bobby joined them. "Nope. They must have been waiting for us to come out of the restaurant," Bobby said. "We walked down here towards the car, shots came from over there," pointing to the opposite side of the street. "Heard the first one hit the building, we went down. By the time I got my gun out, they took off." "I don"t suppose it was merely some random act of violence?" Myles offered. "Not likely," Jack breathed, nodding his thanks to the medic and helping Sue to stand up. "You okay there?" he asked, watching her flex her leg and grimace. "Just a cramp, that"s all," Sue said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Must have landed on it wrong." "Well, I don"t think there"s much doubt that one of you was the target," D said pensively. "My monies on Jack here," Bobby said. "You know what a poor tipper he is." "Ha, ha," Hudson replied. "If we"re done here, how about we get Sue home before something else happens." Taking her arm, he helped her to his car. "I"m putting a unit outside of Jack"s place tonight," D said softly to Bobby after they"d walked away. "Might not be a bad idea to put one on Thomas" also. As a precaution," Myles added in. "Whoever shot at him might still be watching and if he follows you to her place...." "Lovely thought," Bobby said tightly. "Call Tara?" he suggested. "Already on her way to Sue"s. Lucy"s expecting both of them and knows there"s been trouble," D said, a small smile pulling on his features. "Right. I"ll call you if anything else happens," Manning said before heading toward the car. Watching as Bobby, D, and Myles talked, Jack had very little doubt that he was the subject of their conversation. "Do I want to know?" he asked turning towards Sue. "Nothing that would surprise you. Units being posted at both of our places and Lucy and I will be getting another roommate," she told him. "Jack," she said glancing over at him, "Do you think it might be a good idea to leave town? Farther sounds like a bad guy, and he doesn"t seem to be wasting any time in coming after you. I hear that Santa Fe is nice this time of year." Smiling at her, Jack shook his head. "Like I said earlier, if I leave town, he"s just going to go underground to wait for me. Besides, I have no intention of spending an extended period of time in New Mexico or any place for that matter knowing that you and others will still be here in his line of sight." Seeing her about to object, he took her hand. "I"ll be careful," he assured her. "I"m more worried about putting you in danger by being around me," he added, looking at the bandage on her arm. "I"m tough," she assured him, squeezing his hand. "And besides, Levi would never forgive me if I let you go after this guy on your own." Hearing his name, the golden put his head over the seat and whimpered. Bobby opening the door forestalled any further conversation on the matter. "Okay Levi, you"ve gotta share the seat boy," he said, nudging the dog to one side of the car. "Home, James," Bobby quipped, shutting the door. "As you wish sir," Jack threw back sarcastically, donning an imaginary chauffeur hat. His action brought a chuckle from Sue. "It looks good on you." The banter lightened the mood for the trip to Sue"s. Reaching it, Jack shut off the ignition and reached for the door. He was stopped by Bobby"s hand on his shoulder. "Tara," Manning said into his phone. "We"re here. Right. Tara"s going to meet her at the door," he announced, disconnecting the call. Peering through the windshield, he spotted what he was looking for. "I"m going to see who"s sitting outside tonight," he added, getting out of the car. "Good night," he said to Sue before trotting across the street to a waiting sedan. Walking with Sue, Jack paused outside of the door. "Well, not exactly how I thought the evening would end," Jack threw out. Looking back, he ran his eyes over her features. "You going to be okay tonight?" Nodding, Sue reached out to squeeze his arm. "I"m just glad you"re okay." Silently, Jack signed, "The same for you." Movement behind Sue drew his attention and told her that Tara had arrived. "Tara," he acknowledged the female agent as she opened the door. "Jack," Williams acknowledged him looking between the two, unsure if she had interrupted something. "Well.... Good night," Jack said and signed, nodding to both women. Returning the sign, Sue turned and went into the building, glancing back to see Jack moving towards the car where Bobby was waiting for him. Starting the engine, Jack nodded toward the surveillance car. "Who"s babysitting?" "Peters and Martinez," Bobby said. "They"ve got both our numbers if something happens." Pulling out and heading to his place, Jack thought back to the events of the night. Silently he kicked himself for not seeing the pickup before the shots had been fired. Unconsciously he reached up and touched the bandage on his neck. "So," Bobby said, catching the movement. Pursing his lips, he decided he had better take the opportunity provided. "How long you going to stick by that story you told Sue?" The sound of Bobby"s voice startled him. "What story?" Jack asked flatly, glancing quickly at Manning and frowning. Pinning him with a stare, Bobby smirked knowingly. "I saw your neck, mate, and that," pointing to the bandage, "was not made by a piece of brick. You got lucky, and you know it." "Morning," Jack called out as Sue came across the bullpen. "Good morning," Sue answered back, sending him a smile to reinforce the greeting. Spotting the bandage, she sobered. "How"s your neck?" The ringing of the phone on his desk stopped any further verbal conversation on the topic. Signing that his neck was fine, he answered the phone. "Hudson." Watching Jack, Sue could tell that the news he was hearing was not good. Coming around her desk, she moved to stand beside him. When he looked at her, she could read the seriousness of the conversation in his brown eyes. "We"ll be there as soon as we can," Jack said, lowering the phone and deliberately setting it down. "Jack?" Blowing out a breath, Jack gave her a tight smile before turning his attention back to the room. "A convenience shop in Georgetown was held up two hours ago. The clerk and three customers were killed. Video feed from the store confirms that the shooter was Daniel Farther." The words caused the team to share concerned looks. At least now they were sure who they were after. The realization sent the team scrambling for their coats. Trailing back into the bullpen hours later, fatigue was evident in their bodies. Watching them, Dimitrius sighed. Their demeanor told them it had not been an easy crime scene. Moving over to Jack"s desk, he gave the man an encouraging smile. "Any luck?" he asked more out of formality than anything else. Rubbing the back of his neck, Jack shook his head. "Not much. We brought back copies of the store videotape. Maybe we can get lucky and Tara can pull something from the background or something." "You get any rest last night?" D asked, lowering his voice. Glancing up from his desk, Jack gave him a small, knowing smile. "You know," he shrugged. Acknowledging the truth of Jack"s statement, D added, "Upstairs is still rumbling about shipping you out." "D," Jack hissed, "no," he stressed. "I know," D countered, holding up his hand to stop Jack. "But I don"t know how long I can put it off. I"m just telling you." Realizing that D was on his side, Jack deflated. "I... appreciate it," he murmured. Pausing for a moment, he conceded. "Look, if Farther gets too close again, I"ll go, okay?" Raising an eyebrow, D grimaced. "Let"s just hope if that happens, you"re alive to go," he threw out before heading back towards his office. "D," Tara called to stop Dimitrius from leaving. "You might want to hear this." Catching Sue"s attention, she pointed towards the big screen. "Someone came to the door. It"s hard to see because of the glare, but Farther says something. Can you see what it is?" Moving closer to the screen, Sue concentrated on the man"s lips. "Did you get a hold of...." she cited, pausing. Shaking her head, she glanced back. "Tara?" "Got it," Tara called back, rewinding the video and focusing in tighter on the man"s face. "Here you go," she murmured pressing the play. "Morrow?" Sue said hesitantly, watching it again. "Good... Tell him we"ll meet him in an hour," she read. "By tomorrow, that... pig Hudson... will be mine," she finished, turning concerned eyes toward Jack. She watched as he tried unsuccessfully to assure her he wasn"t concerned by the news of the threat. "This drongo"s starting to get on my nerves," Bobby said, irritated by the audacity of the man"s claims. "Tara, any chance to get a look at who he was talking to?" D asked. "Maybe," Tara answered, her fingers already flying over the keyboard to manipulate the picture. "Myles, run the name Morrow and see if you find anyone who has any connection to Farther, or Dell for that matter," Jack ordered. "It"s not perfect," Tara called, "but, I"ve got it cleaned up enough, we might be able to run facial recognition on the second guy." Putting the image up, she nodded to the screen. "It"s Dell," Jack stated flatly, looking at the screen. "Well, that confirms both of them are in play," Dimitrius murmured. Turning towards the other side of the room, he called out. "Any luck?" "Three Morrows in the system from the tri-state area," Leland answered, not taking his eyes from the screen. "One serving a stint upstate for drug dealing; one in Tacoma Park; one in Fairfax," he read. "No obvious connections so far to either Farther or Dell but both have the same class of associates. I"ve sent them to the printer." Taking the papers from the machine, Jack moved quickly back to the center of the room. "Tara, keep checking. Bobby, Myles, you take Tacoma Park," he said handing over the sheet. "Sue and I"ll take Fairfax," he said nodding toward her before they moved simultaneously toward their coats. "Hold on," D ordered, causing everyone to halt their progress. "These guys are not playing around. If you sense anything off or see Dell or Farther, call for backup. Jack, don"t loose your tail." "You stay with Lucy, Levi," Sue ordered. "Can you take him home and feed him?" she asked her roommate as she passed. "Thank you," she threw back as she followed Jack out the door. "Darrell Morrow?" Myles asked as he and Bobby walked up to the middle-aged man pulling groceries from his car. "Yeah," Morrow said hesitantly, turning to face them warily. "FBI," Bobby said, flashing his badge. "Got a minute?" "I suppose," Darrell said, putting the bags of groceries on the truck of his car. "What can I do for you?" "We"re looking for a friend of yours, Daniel Farther. Thought you might be able to tell us where we might find him," Manning threw out, watching carefully for any reaction. "Farther?" Morrow shook his head. "I don"t know any Farther." "Sure you do," Leland countered briskly. "Mid-fifties, black hair, tall, scruffy, likes to randomly shoot people during robberies and kill them for the fun of it." "Whoa," Morrow shot back, holding up his hands defensively. "I never robbed anybody and I sure don"t hang around anybody who shoots other people for no reason. I"ve been clean for three years now." "Really?" Bobby asked skeptically. "Talk to my wife, my sponsor, hell, run me. I"ve been squeaky since I got out of rehab," the ex-con blurted out. Sharing a look with Myles, Bobby pressed a little more. "Where have you been the past hour or so?" Manning asked, pulling out his notebook. "Running errands," Darrell said. "Gas station, groceries, stuff like that." "Don"t suppose you can prove it?" Myles asked. "I got groceries," Morrow said, pointing to the bags. "And here"s," he added, digging into the bag and pulling out a ribbon of paper, "the receipt." "Mind if we keep this?" Manning asked, slipping the paper into the notebook so they could go to the store and verify how long he was in the store on the video camera. "Where"d you buy gas?"

"Sure sounds like Dell," Manning offered. "Has Sue been able to tell you anything?" D asked, looking towards the woman in question being tended to by the medical personnel a short distance away. "Not yet," Jack replied softly, his eyes following D"s. "Maybe once we get to the hospital and they get her patched up." Glancing back at him, he added, "She"s pretty shook up." "Understandable," Gans replied. "I"m just glad you two got her out of there in time." "Yeah, well, that was thanks to Bobby," Jack said seriously standing up to face his friend. "I appreciate it man." Bobby clenched the hand being held out to him and was pulled into a brief hug before being let go. The reality that all of them could have easily died was still too close for comfort. Stepping back he tried to brush off the magnitude of the moment. "Yeah well, I told her that I"d never hear the end of it from you if I didn"t." Jack"s and D"s grin and chuckle told him he"d managed to lighten the moment as he had intended. "Agent, we"re ready to go," the medic said, coming up to Jack. Glancing back, he realized that the gurney holding Sue had already been loaded into the ambulance. "Sure you don"t need to come too?" he asked Bobby. "I"m good. This is only the first time I"ve been banged up this week," he quipped back. "At the rate you"re going, they can just dedicate a room for you there at the hospital." "Ha, ha," Hudson said dryly. Turning to D he added, "Have funny man here pick me up after he finishes his routine, would ya?" Laughing, D said "Sure." He sobered as he watched the medic take Jack"s arm to help him to the ambulance. The slouched posture and slow movements told him that the adrenaline that had masked the pain was wearing off. Turning he caught a frown on Bobby"s face. "Didn"t say a word about being in that much pain, did he?" Gans hazarded. Manning glanced at him. "Did you expect him to? It wouldn"t have mattered if he"d been half dead. He"d made up his mind that nothing was going to keep him from finding that shiela." Opening the door to the hospital room, the nurse sighed in frustration. She had told Agent Hudson twice to return to his room but he was still here. Shaking her head, she resigned herself to the situation. Moving into the dimly lit room, she paused momentarily to greet the yellow Labrador that came to see her. "It"s okay boy," she said softly patting his head. "I just need to check on your friends here," she added, running her eyes over the woman asleep in the bed as she moved to the recliner to check on the other sleeping patient. Picking up his wrist, she took his pulse before pulling a blood pressure cup from her pocket. "Jack," the nurse called softly. Carefully avoiding the gun resting on he leg near his hand, she raised his arm and applied the cup. Looking into sleepy brown eyes, she smiled. "Just need to check your vitals," she assured him. Waiting for the machine to take the reading, she took his temperature. Nodding towards the gun, she asked, "Don"t you think the two agents in the hallway are enough? They seem to be pretty protective as to who gets in here." "Can"t be too careful," Jack said, clearing his throat and instinctively moving the gun to the other leg where it was more accessible. Getting the message, the nurse changed subjects. "You"d be more comfortable in a bed. I can come get you when she wakes up." "I"m fine here," Jack replied, trying to sound reassuring. Looking around the nurse, he watched Sue for a moment to see if she was awake. "She doesn"t like hospitals," he offered as an explanation. "No one really likes staying in one." Pulling off the blood pressure cup, she looked at him reading the pallor and fatigue reflected in his features. "Can you give me a pain rating?" "Two, three," Jack threw out, not meeting her eyes. "Uh huh," she acknowledged not quite believing him. "Do you want something?" "Maybe in a little bit," he said, trying to muster a small smile. "Thanks." Pausing as the door, the nurse looked back. "I have to change her bandage in a half hour. If you decide you need something before then, just use the call light." Waiting until the nurse had left the room, Jack grimaced as he eased himself upward. He wasn"t convinced the hospital bed was going to be any more comfortable than the chair he had been napping in. Besides, his room was too far away as far as he was concerned. Looking at his watch, he frowned when he realized it was only a little after midnight. At this rate, it was going to be a long night. His emotions were seconded in Levi"s sorrowful gaze as he rested his head on Jack"s leg. Reaching out, Jack laid a comforting hand on the dog. "She"ll be okay buddy. We"ll both make sure of that." Seeming to be satisfied by Jack"s assurances, Levi went back to this post beside the bed where he could keep a watchful eye on both of his people. Watching the placid canine, Jack was glad Lucy had thought to bring him to the hospital earlier. Although she had not gotten to see Sue personally, she had said it made her feel better knowing that Levi would be here when Sue woke up. Jack had promised to keep her posted on Sue"s progress. As it had been several hours, he thought he should send her a note to assure her that Sue was resting comfortably. Picking up his phone from the floor beside the chair, Jack scanned the messages. Reading one from Bobby, he punched in his number. "Bobby, what"d you find out?" "S.O.G"s still tailing Morrow. We"re hoping he"ll lead us to Dell," Manning relayed. "And if he doesn"t?" Jack pressed. "If nothing by morning, we"ll pick him up and have a little chat with Mr. Jeffrey Morrow," Bobby assured him. "I don"t want either of those guy slipping into oblivion," Hudson pressed, afraid Dell would elude capture has he had previously. Agreeing with Jack, but not needing to say it, Bobby changed subjects. "How"s Sue?" "Still sleeping. The doctor said she"d be out for hours, and he evidently meant it. They"ll have to change the packing in her leg again before too long so that will probably wake her up. As long as she doesn"t spike a fever, doctor thought she"d be okay." "And you?" "Sore," Jack admitted begrudgingly. "Are they going to let you go home tomorrow?" Bobby asked. "Suppose to," Jack said, not telling him that he wasn"t exactly being the most cooperative patient or that he had no intention of leaving until he was convinced Sue did not need him here. ""Kay. I"ll stop by in the morning and bring you some clean clothes," Manning said. "Appreciate it. And Bobby, call me if you find Dell," Jack pressed. "Night Jack," Bobby intoned, not promising anything before disconnecting. Unseeingly, Jack looked at the phone in his hand. He really didn"t know what he would do should Morrow and Dell escape capture. He wasn"t sure Sue would ever feel safe again as long as they were free. He knew he would be looking over his shoulder that was for sure. Sending Lucy a quick text, he decided to lie back down. Wincing as he moved, he began to wonder if he was being a fool to not take something for the discomfort. He was afraid if he did, it would knock him out to the point he would not hear Sue if she woke up. Blowing out a breath, Jack smiled at the liquid brown eyes standing immediately beside him. "I"m okay boy," he said softly. As the phrase seemed to answer Levi"s question, Jack watched as he again sank to the floor next to Sue"s bed. "You"re not getting much sleep either, are you?" Jack asked rhetorically. A thump of Levi"s tale responded to Jack"s question. Closing his eyes, Jack tried to focus on his breathing and ignore the throbbing of his side. He was close to succeeding when the sound of a strangled cry brought him upright. Across the room Sue sat up, panic and disorientation on her face. Moving as quickly as he could, Jack tried to get past the dog standing with his feet on the side of the bed and whining. "Sue," he called, trying to get into her line of vision. "You"re safe. I"ve got you," he said evenly, laying his hands on her upper arms and slowly rubbing them. "Jack?" Sue called hesitantly, her eyes scanning his face. "I"m right here," he said as he watched tears appear in her eyes. "Hey," he said trying to lighten his features. "It"s okay. You"re safe now." "I thought you were dead," she whispered huskily, reaching to touch his face. The anguish of her tone brought a lump to Jack"s throat. Pulling her close, he pressed his lips to her forehead before wrapping his arms around her as she pressed her face to his. He could feel her tears on his cheek as he slowly rubbed circles on her back until he felt her stop trembling. After a few minutes, the feel of Levi"s incessant pawing caused him to pull away. "Okay, boy. You get to greet her too," Jack said, shifting enough to allow Levi to again stand on his back feet to get to his mistress. "Levi," Sue called joyously, relishing the welcoming feel of his kisses on her face. An unbidden laugh erupted from her at the overwhelming love she felt from her furry companion. "I missed you too buddy." "Lucy brought him earlier," Jack said, pushing Levi back down. "She said he would feel better if he was with you." "And me with him," she added softly. Moving, she winced and instinctively gripped her leg. "Do you remember how your leg was hurt?" Jack asked, pushing gently on her shoulders to ease her back in the bed. "Was it in the crash?" The doctor had told him it appeared to be caused by jagged metal. "When they pulled me from the car I think," Sue said frowning. "I remember we were talking, then the truck," a shudder ran through her finishing the sentence. "I was dazed and then I looked over and I thought...." She paused to swallow back the tears that again appeared in her eyes. Jack picked up her hand and began to rub his thumb in comforting circles on it. "You were... unconscious and bleeding," she started again after a minute. "My head hurt and my eyes were burning from the airbags, and suddenly these hands grabbed me and pulled me out of the car. I remember a sharp pain in my leg as they did it." "You were bleeding pretty bad at the scene," he said looking down, a frown causing his brow to furrow. Looking back at her, he raised a fist to his chest and rubbed it in a tight circle. "I"m sorry.' Sitting back up, Sue shook her head. "It"s not your fault, Jack," she said, gripping his hand tighter. "There was nothing you could have done." Shaking his head slowly in disagreement, he looked at her with a pained expression. "I could have listened to you and left town when you asked. I could have left you at the office. I could have hold up in some hotel and sat on my hands until Tara, Bobby, D, and Myles caught those clowns. I could have told D to hand the case off to another team. I could have...." Jack said tightly before looking away, his jaw clenching. "It"s not your fault," she reiterated, stressing each word to try to make him hear. Silently she watched him wrestle with his guilt and her words. "Thank you for coming to rescue me," she said softly, after a few moments. Soberly, he turned to stare at her. "I don"t know what I would have done if I had lost you." Sue cupped his cheek, feeling him lean into her touch. "I"m right here," she said, mirroring his words from before. "It"s okay. I"m safe." Reaching up, Jack put his hand on the side of her head and pulled her closer. Leaning forward, he kissed her gently. Feeling her respond, he cherished the feel of her lips moving below his. Breaking the contact, he laid his forehead on hers, relishing her touch for a moment. Feeling a sudden change in her, Jack sat back. "What"s wrong?" "Why are you in hospital scrubs?" she asked, fingering the material of his smock. Looking at his arm, she realized he had an identification bracelet. "You"re a patient?" Shaking his head, Jack smiled softly to ease her worry. "Merely a precaution." "What"s wrong?" Sue asked, not convinced. "Various parts of me are shades of black, blue, green or purple," he said quickly, blowing out a breath and waiving off the significance of the statement. Not understanding exactly what he meant, Sue shook her head slightly to indicate her confusion. Debating for a moment, Jack sighed. There was no way, he was going to be able to keep it from her for very long as the doctor had already told him he was not going to be cleared for several days to return to work. Reaching for the bottom of his shirt, he lifted it partway up to expose the deep purple and greenish bruising covering half his body. "Jack," Sue gasped in horror, looking at the damage. Lowering his shirt to make her bring her eyes back to his, he signed, "I"m okay". Dryly, he added, "I don"t think I"ll be going shirtless for awhile," trying ease her worry. "Does it hurt?" she asked wincing. "A little," he admitted reluctantly. The sound of the door opening caused him to sign "door" before glancing back. "I"m sorry," the nurse said softly, coming into the room with a cart of supplies. "I need to check her vitals and change her bandage now." Nodding, Jack stood up. "I"ve got to step out but I"ll check on you in a little bit," he assured Sue, squeezing her hand. Sue gripped his hand to stop him from leaving. "Get some rest," Sue urged when he looked questioningly at her. "I"ll be okay and you need it." Smiling at the exchange, the nurse looked at Jack. "The lady knows what she"s talking about. Since you won"t listen to me," she trailed off, jerking her head expectantly toward Sue as if to ask if he was going to pay attention to her. Rolling his eyes at the nurse, Jack sighed. "Alright. I"m just down the hall, room three- two-six," he said and signed for her. "If you need me, have the nurse get me or send Levi. I"ll leave the door part way open." Glancing down at Sue"s silent sentry, he smiled softly. "You"ll find me, won"t ya boy?" Slapping the table in front of him, Bobby leaned forward to get into Jeffrey Morrow"s face. He was tired from being up for the better part of the past three days and he really had no patience for this yahoo. "You don"t seem to understand how much trouble you"re in here, do you?" "Accessory after the fact to multiple counts of murder, bank robbery, felon in possession," Myles intoned in Morrow"s ear, "and then we get to the really good stuff. Possession of explosives, kidnapping and attempted murder of not one but two FBI employees," he said, his tone becoming harsher as he finished. "And we won"t even talk about the state and local charges you"re facing." "Whoa," Morrow hissed, rubbing his hand over his face. "I didn"t do anything to any of your guys." "But your buddies Farther and Dell did," Manning snapped back. "And since you provided them with the truck and the dynamite, tsk, tsk." He paused for effect. "Your fingerprints were all over it. You"re in it up to your eyebrows." Sitting back, Bobby could tell that they were close to breaking this guy. "Whatta think Myles? Lethal injection?" "Oh, definitely," Leland intoned gleefully, leaning against the wall. "I know. We can flip a coin to see who gets to do it, Maryland or Virginia." "Okay, okay," Morrow snapped sitting up right. "What do you want?" "Dell," Manning intoned. "Where can we find him?" Nervously, Morrow licked his lips. "If I give you what I know, what"s in it for me?" Pursing his lips, Bobby pretended to think for a moment. "We"ll recommend to the A.U.S.A. life with the possibility of parole... ifwe get Dell," he stressed. "If you"re a good boy, you"ll be out in thirty." "Better than death," Myles stressed. Considering his options, Morrow blew out a loud breath. "I don"t know for sure where he is," he breathed quietly, relenting. "But I heard him talking to Farther that his old lady"s kid won some pitcher of the year award last fall. You can probably find him through that." "Where?" Leland snarled, leaning over Morrow. "Someplace in Virginia," Morrow ground out, leaning away from the glaring faces. Glancing backward, Manning nodded toward the two-way mirror. Striding into the bullpen a short time later, Bobby called out as soon as he hit the door. "Tara?" "Michael Browdon, seventeen, Junior League pitcher of the year," she called out, motioning towards the screen. "Lives with his mother and stepfather just outside of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Mother is a stay at home mom. Step-Dad is a mechanic at a local factory." Glancing at the waiting faces, she continued. "In trying to find out more about Mr. Tyler Dawgins, the step-dad, I discovered that the real Mr. Dawgins died nine years ago. However, a DMV record says that he registered a dark colored, late model Ford pick up last year." "Do tell," Myles murmured. "It"s a wonder what medicine can do these days isn"t. Do we have a picture of this miracle man Mr. Dawgins?" "We do, from a license. Gentlemen, on your left the recently reincarnated Tyler Dawgins. On your right, James Dell," Tara said, waiting for them to see what she saw. Bobby looked over at D and Myles to confirm they were seeing the same thing. It was Lucy however who stated the obvious. "They"re the same person." "Address?" D snapped. "Yep," Tara answered, holding up a slip of paper. "Good work Tara," Bobby called, moving to gather his coat. "Let Jack know I"m going to be late picking him up," he said, snatching the piece of paper with the address on it from Williams" hand as he passed. "Oh, and Tara," D said, pausing at the doorway. "Don"t tell him where we"ve gone." "Right," Tara said. It was only after they were gone did it occur to her. "So what do I tell him?" Turning from the window, Jack glanced at his watch. Three hours since Lucy had stopped by with a change of clothing for both he and Sue and the news that the others were following up on a lead on Dell. Sighing, he sank into the chair and looked over at Sue asleep in the bed. She was doing better than he could have hoped given all she had gone through. So far, she had been spared any more nightmares and the large cut on her leg was showing signs of closing. Thinking about the deep, ten-inch laceration, Jack mentally winced at the number of stitches it would have taken to close it if that had been a possibility. Unfortunately, since it had not been properly tended to after it happened, the wound would take much longer to heal. Debating on whether or not he should call Bobby for an update, Jack discarded the thought as Sue showed signs of waking. Standing beside the bed, he smiled. "Hey sleepyhead." "Hi," Sue murmured back, trying to clear the fog from her brain. "Any news on Bobby and the others?" she asked, clearing her throat and sitting more upright. "Not yet. How are you feeling?" Jack asked, watching her face. It still showed that she was tired, but there was less pain etched into it. "Better," Sue assured him with a smile. "You?" Shrugging it off, Jack smiled. "I don"t think I"m going to be back in ready-for-anything status for a few days yet." Sardonically, Sue smiled and nodded. She knew that feeling. Glancing up, her features transitioned to a welcoming smile when she saw the face peeking into the room. "Hey," she called out at the group entering. Following Sue"s gaze, Jack turned to greet his coworkers. Watching them as they stopped around the bed, he read the barely concealed glee in their features. "You got him," he surmised, half as a statement, half as a question. "Signed, sealed, and delivered," Bobby announced, breaking into a grin. "He give you any trouble?" Jack asked. Shaking his head, Myles retorted, "Meek as a lamb. Seems Mr. Dell promised the missus to keep all of his guns out of the home. And since he couldn"t get to his truck AND we weren"t beautiful women helplessly tied to a chair...," Myles trailed off holding up his hands, suggesting the rest was obvious. "Thank you Myles," Sue said and signed, smiling at the complement. "A.U.S.A. says there"s plenty of evidence to charge him for the old murders and robberies as well as his more current activities, including taking a shot at you the other night," D assured them. "He won"t be out in this lifetime." "Good," Sue said. "I don"t think I"d feel very safe knowing one day he could get out," she added shuddering at the thought. Jack sympathetically squeezed her hand, but before he could say anything Bobby broke in. "That"s not gonna happen. Besides, the rest of us talked and the next time somebody comes after Jack, he"s getting shoved on a plane and shipped to Alaska and you"re," Bobby pointed at Sue, "going to the Caribbean." "Sounds good to me," Lucy said half under her breath. Nudging Tara, she added, "Think we could go as her bodyguards?" Looking at his coworkers, he could see the truth of Bobby"s threats in their eyes. The past week had been hard on them also. He felt bad about that. "What? I get lousy cell service and bears, and she gets sandy beaches and Mai Tais?" Jack objected good-naturally. D shrugged as if it seemed obvious to him. "I don"t think you"d look very good in a bikini," causing all them to laugh at the mental image the statement caused. Holding up his hands in defeat, Jack sighed. "I can"t argue with that. Alaska, it is I guess. What you say Levi? Going with me or Sue?"

"Top," Amir called before his foot hit the truck bed. Better safe than sorry. Shoving himself toward the opening that appeared, Adam pulled himself up, his feet gaining purchase to help. Sitting on the side, he looked over at the younger man kneeling beside him. "You did what you could," he said softly, clamping a hand on Amir"s shoulder to let him know his words were for more than just driving the truck out of Iran. He knew the meaning was heard when Amir dropped his gaze and nodded once. "He was a good man," Amir said simply. With that, Adam had to avert his eyes too. "Yeah he was," he breathed out before clearing his throat. Seeing movement by his feet, he swung around to get on his knees. "Sit up and we"ll pull you out," he said into the hold. Reaching down, he slipped his arms under Jaz"s armpits as Amir held him so he would not overbalance. "Go," he threw over his shoulder, pulling her with him as he moved and Amir pulled them both back. Sitting her on the edge, he waited until he saw her give a nod she was ready for the next step before helping her spin to get her feet to the bed truck. Taking her hands, Amir squeezed them in hello. "Ready?" He offered. "As much as I"ll ever be," Jaz retorted, feeling the burn of muscles as she forced her body upward with Amir"s gentle tug. Coming to her feet, she leaned heavily against him for a moment before taking a limping step towards a crate on the other end. Easing her down, Amir looked back to make sure the others did not need assistance. As Preach climbed out and sat on the edge of the entry, he moved past Top to a crate stuffed in the back corner of the truck. Prying open the lid, he pulled a blanket and a bottle of water from it before moving back to drape the blanket over Jaz"s shoulders and open the bottle for her. "A little chilly tonight," he said, shrugging down into his own coat a little bit more. "You good for a minute?" McG asked dropping his med kit beside Jaz. See her nod, he patted Amir"s shoulder as he climb around him to jump off the truck. Hitting the ground he waited for Preach and Top to descend before he took a few steps away from the truck, motioning them to follow. "I need a little time to check her over," he said, keeping his voice low. "Maybe it would be best if you guys made yourselves a little scarce." Seeing Adam"s shoulders pull back as he braced for a comeback, he clarified his statement. "Not far, just enough for a little privacy." Glancing back to make sure Amir was still with her, he added, "She may be willing to talk a little more if we aren"t all there." "You think they hurt her more than she"s letting on?" Preach asked, sorrow in his voice as his eyes moved toward her. "I think," McG rushed out with a sigh, "that she"s hurting bad enough in some parts of her body that she may not even be aware she"s hurt someplace else." "How long?" Top asked quietly. "Give me fifteen," he answered, seeing Top"s head move slowly in agreement. "Going to make a pit stop first," McG added, moving away. "Didn"t think I"d see the moon and stars again," Jaz said softly as she looked up. Bringing her eyes back toward Amir, her voice was choked as she continued. "Hossein died, didn"t he?" When he looked down and squeezed her hand, she shook her head. "I"m not worth it." Amir"s eyes snapped up wishing it was lighter so he could see her eyes. "You were worth the risk to stay and get back. All of us were ready to die if it meant you could be saved," he countered back, his voice firm. "Hossein too," he added, his voice softer. "He was Top"s friend," she whispered, still shaking in denial her life was worth more than another. "So are you," Amir answered softly, dipping his head to match hers. "Hossein did what he felt he needed to do to protect all of us, Top especially. He accepted that he would die before he ever got out of the truck." Moving back toward the truck, Adam had to swallow hard when he overheard the conversation. Stopping at the tailgate, he nodded to Amir before moving his gaze to Jaz. Swallowing again at the wetness reflected in the moonlight, he shifted. Before he could say anything, Jaz spoke, her voice thick with emotion. "I"m so sorry." "You didn"t kill him," Adam said softly. "He would have done the same thing if we had been trying to get home without you." Pausing he looked away before he continued. "He was a stubborn son of a bitch that was tired of loosing those he cared about." Looking back, an apologetic grimace pulled on his lips. "I can"t say I wouldn"t have done the same thing if I"d been in his place." A choked sob escaped Jaz"s lips before her hand could stop it. McG"s hand on Top"s shoulder told him it was time to back off. Looking at Amir, he spoke his name lowly to tell him to come with him. Turning slightly, he waited until his teammates had switched positions before he added, "You"re not to blame Jaz," and walked away. Moving away from the truck, Adam explained to Amir what McG was doing before diverting his path. When he"d gotten a hundred or so yards away from the others, he stopped. Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand down his face as he let the quiet of the night seep into him. He startled when Noah"s voice called his name. "Yeah, I"m here," he replied. "What"s happening?" "They escorted the Director out about an hour ago," Noah relayed softly. "Hannah has been checking with her contacts, but no word yet as to where she was taken." "Probably FBI or Homeland Security offices," Top surmised, blowing out a breath out as the cost of the mission kept piling up. "It"ll be at least tomorrow before they decide what their next step is going to be. Little hard to come down on her when the mission was completed and we all got out alive." "She still broke the law," Noah countered flatly. "Yeah, well," Adam said, glancing back at the truck behind him. "Can"t say I"m sorry about that right now." "How she doing?" Morgenthau asked, his voice softening. "McGuire"s checking on her now." Nodding, Noah noted their position on the map. "Medical will be waiting for you at Incirlik. If you need it sooner, we can call in a helo for you." "Copy," Dalton said, turning back towards the empty desert around him. "Let"s not call any more attention to ourselves that we have to. We"re still a little close to the border for my comfort. If we need it, I"ll let you know. Keep me posted on what you find out on the Director. Dalton out." Dropping his hands from Jaz"s face, McG plucked the penlight from his mouth. "Don"t think your nose is broken, but you"re gonna have some shiners," he murmured, pushing her hair back to look at one ear than the other. "Your left ear has a little blood in it," he noted, smoothing her hair back down. "Gunshot next to it," she reported, flinching slightly at the memory. "Ah," Joseph answered, dabbing at her lip before shining the light onto her neck. Picking up the edge of the white shirt, he grimaced when he felt it pull back, telling him it had stuck to her wounds. "If I mess with that too much, you"re going to start bleeding again," he said softly, letting the edge go. "Is there anyplace else on you that I need to be worried about right now?" Grimacing, Jaz shifted on the crate. "They liked using my right kidney as a punching bag." Shrugging, she added, "It"s sore but they hit like girls," she retorted, trying to divert him from worrying too much. Chuckling, McG wasn"t taking the bait. "Yeah well," he said as he eased up her shirt and moved the light to her lower back. "If they hit like you, it had to hurt like a mother," he added, hissing at the large area that was beginning to bruise. Running his fingers over it lightly, he stopped when she jerked away. "You"re going to have to have that looked at when we get home," he cautioned, sitting back up. Tapping the water bottle in her hand, he motioned for her to drink it. "You need to hydrate. I can start an IV if you want." Swallowing, Jaz shook her head. "Only if it"s necessary," she said, taking another sip. Nodding, McG shifted his attention. "What"s going on here?" he asked picking up her foot. Moving the pant leg aside, he noted the chaffing from the restraints and dried blood on cuts. Putting one foot down, he picked up the other, murmuring a sorry when she hissed in pain. Running his fingers over the swollen joint, he watched her reaction to see where it pained her most. Hissing again and instinctively trying to pull her foot from him, she blew out a breath trying to get her body to ease its reaction. "Probably from when you guys stopped the truck. Had an opportunity and took it," she said, shifting the foot once he let go of it. "Wrapped the leg chains around his throat and pulled," she added, shrugging off the action. Sitting back, McG let his hand rest on his leg as he watched her shift. He absolutely hated what he was going to ask her next. "Did they rape you?" he asked as gently as he could. The thought made his gut knot and hurt like a knife had been buried in it. When she froze at the question, the knife turned sending pain into his chest. "Jaz?" Trying to still the nausea that erupted at the question, Jaz fought to flatten her affect. "They changed my clothes when I was knocked out the first time," she said flatly. "The second time," she paused, swallowing hard, "That sick bastard Arthur said he took the liberty of looking me over," she spit out, hatred burning in each word. When she didn"t continue, McGuire grimaced. "Arthur?" Shaking her head, she finally said, "Guy in the van. Lead the interrogation." Jaz"s eyes dropped to the floor. "I don"t know," she said softly. "I don"t think so, but..." she trailed off, her voice almost non-existent. Hatred for the man he had barely looked at before he had put two bullets into his head burned through McG. Fighting that back, he shifted to give himself a moment so that he would not do something that would make Jaz think the anger was directed at her. Finally he swallowed. "They"ll check you out at the base," he said. "If you don"t think he did anything, he probably didn"t," he added, trying to assure her. "But they"ll be able to tell you for sure." Nodding, Jaz glanced at him before turning her face back away in shame. "What"s going on in that head?" Preach"s warm rich baritone voice carried in the wind and surrounded Adam, causing him to come out of the reflection he had slipped into. Shifting, he shook his head before he murmured, "Nothing good." Huffing in response, the big man moved to stand beside Dalton and stared out at the shadows dancing in the moonlight. Allowing the silence to settle in again, he waited knowing that Adam would speak only when he was ready. "I knew Hossein longer than I"ve known you and McG," Adam finally said, his fingers tapping on the arm draped across his chest. "When I met him, he"d just lost his daughter and he was pissed at the world," he said, a humorless laugh escaping his lips. "He was going to take it out on anyone who may have even remotely had a hand in it." Shifting, Preach grunted. "I can understand feeling like that." Nodding slowly, Adam continued. "Me and five other guys were holed up in some bombed out building waiting for pick up. We had been sent in to canvass the area for IEDs. I was keeping an eye out for a group of Taliban fighters in the area and I saw this guy sneaking around. Me and a buddy headed out to see what he was up to." Snorting and shaking his head, a dry chuckle left him. "It was Hossein, armed to the teeth and looking for a fight." "So what happened?" "We had to hide as some extremists decided to show up. Took both of us to tackle him to keep him quiet," Adam stated dryly. "Finally convinced him we were the good guys and that nothing was going to be achieved by getting us all killed." "Live to fight another day," Preach tossed out, understanding the need for discretion in that situation. "Couple years later, they recruited me for special ops and they were looking for a resource in Tehran. I thought of him, made contact, and ultimately brought him in," Top said. Sighing he added, "We started talking when waiting for command to devise an exit for us a couple times and suddenly we realized that we had become friends." Adam shifted, kicking at a pile of sand holding a small weed. "That explains why you trusted him that first mission he joined," Preach stated, thinking back on the operation so many years ago. Throwing Carter a glance and a small smile, Adam added, "Knew he was as trustworthy as any of you." Stilling, his voice was somber as he added, "And just as likely to die as the rest of us." At the sound of someone coming closer, Amir turned to meet McG as he approach. Watching his body language, he asked, "Everything okay?" When the medic had gotten near. Stopping, Joseph blew out a loud breath. "Yeah," he muttered, as he scrubbed at his face before dropping his hands to his waist. "She"s pretty beat up but nothing life threatening that I can tell." Looking out into the darkness, McG"s jaw clenched. "I just want to tear those sons of bitches to pieces with my bare hands right now." Grunting, Amir nodded. "Don"t think you are the only one," he breathed as his eyes went past McG toward the area he knew Top and Preach were at. "I wouldn"t mind going back for a little... chat." The comment and implied meaning seemed to settle McG as it let him know he was not the only one struggling. "Jaz took out the interrogator," McG said dryly after a few moments of silence. "He was the one we pulled from the van." Astonishment flashed across Amir"s face before he chuckled. "Why am I not surprised?" he quipped. "Always said I never wanted her really mad at me," McG answered, a grin pulling on his lips. "Now I"m sure of it." Leaving Adam, Preach tried to hide his concern for the younger man. He had no doubt that there was more he had not said swirling in his head. Seeing McG walk away from Jaz, he started for the truck. He hadn"t gotten very far before he quicken his steps to catch her before she fell. "Where are you going young lady?" Preach prodded, stabilizing her as she slid off the back of the truck. Swallowing hard as her ankle let her know it was not pleased with her move, Jaz flashed Preach a glare. "I just need to," she stopped, tipping her head toward the darkness. "Ah," Preach answered, shifting his position to help her walk. "Ready?" Grimacing for a moment, Jaz reluctantly nodded. She did not need to pee as she knew Preach was assuming. She just wanted a few minutes alone without being watched. Trouble was that getting there was going to take more time and be painful so she didn"t have much choice but to accept the help. Taking a few steps with her, Preach sensed the turmoil in her. Deciding now would not be the time to talk, he kept his comments to verifying what direction she wanted to go and if she was okay after she had stumbled. Easing his grip when they reached a place she had pointed at between two trees, Preach stepped back. "I"ll be over there," he said, tipping his head to show her the direction . "If you need help, just yell." "Thanks, Preach," Jaz breathed out, fatigue and pain taking their toll. Waiting until he moved away, she used the tree she was leaning against to move around to a pile of nearby rocks. Easing herself down, she sagged in relief at no longer having to keep up the facade that nothing was affecting her. Moving a respectable distance away, the big man glanced around for any signs of unusual movement. Noting that Jaz had immediately settled onto a nearby rock, he knew she had not answered the call of nature, but rather needed a few moments to herself. Experience told him that while a little time was okay, it was too soon for anyone that had experienced what she had to be given too much time to think. Still, it was also normal to let some reaction out too and their Jaz would do what ever she could to not let others see that. "Preach, you got Jaz?" Hearing the tension in Adam"s voice, Preach was quick to trigger his communication link. "Affirmative," he answered. "We"ll be back in a few," he added to deter him from coming to see what was happening. The sound of a sniffle reaching his ears told him that he had been correct on both accounts when it came to Jaz. Counting off time in his head, he let her have few minutes before he turned and moved closer to her. "Jaz?" Rubbing her cheek to try to hide the tears, she took a deep breath before she answered "yep", grimacing at the choked sound she made. Paying attention to how she was sitting and moving in preparation to get up, she kept her face averted. It almost worked to settle her until Ezekiel"s soft voice called her by her full name, offering comfort and affection, the two things that could do her in when she was vulnerable. A choked sob escaped before she could stop it. Hearing the emotional pain escape from the younger woman, he did not hesitate to scoop her up so he could sit, setting her on his lap and pressing her head into his chest. "It"s okay, Jasmine. You"re safe. Let it out," he whispered to her, embracing and cradling her against him. Watching Top stand beside the truck and stare into the darkness that Preach and Jaz had gone into, Amir winced at the tension he saw there. Top was wound as tight as he was when they had left the van to go into the hotel. Glancing at McG and raising an eyebrow, Amir got an answering nod from the medic noting his agreement of Amir"s assessment. "Top," the former CIA operator called. When the team leader indicated he had heard him, he continued. "Any word on Director Campbell?" "She was escorted out right after we crossed," Adam said over his shoulder. "Hannah is trying to find out where." "I can reach out when we are back on base too," he offered. "We may be able to do something to help her." Glancing at McG, he added, "Sorta feel like we owe her." Snorting, Adam shook his head slowly at the irony of Amir"s words. "For not ordering us out in the first place and then agreeing to go along with some half-baked, no way in hell this should have worked plan?" A humorless chuckle passed his lips. "We definitely owe her." "You should get some sleep," McG said softly, watching as Top focused back onto the darkness. "You"re pushing three days now." "I will," Adam said. "Just not right now," he said lowly. "Jaz"ll be okay," McG assured, knowing where Top"s focus was. "No, she"ll make us want to think she"s okay," Adam retorted sharply. "And so, what?" McG snapped back. "You driving yourself until you drop is going to change that? Come on Top, you know better than that." Adam spun to challenge the medic in his assumption and, if need be, pull rank before he caught the fatigue and worry on the other men"s postures. The realization that he was not alone in the turbulent emotions searing through him seemed to take the wind from him. Dropping his shoulders, he looked away a moment before turning back to them with a small gesture of conciliation pulling on his lips. "I appreciate the concern," he said, his voice soft and steady. "And I"ll rest as soon as we get back on the road and I know Jaz is settled," he added. Turning back, the others barely caught his final words, "It hasn"t hit her yet." Sitting on the rock, Ezekiel let his hand rub gentle circles until Jaz"s breath moved from gulps to shuddered draws to a slow even rise and fall. When she still made no effort to move, he turned his head to speak softly to her. "You know Top is going to come looking for us soon." "I know," she replied, but still made no move. After few more seconds she spoke again. "Do you believe in fate?" The question caught Preach off guard. "Fate?" "There was a book I read once that seemed to summed it up for me," she stated. "Fate knows all about you, it knows your fears and your weaknesses and your confidences and strengths, and it can be ready for all of them when it decides that the time is right. It can move you like a pawn in a terrible game of chess, sacrifice you for the good of others, drop you from a building you should never have been inside, give you a disease that no one has ever heard of. Luck and chance are impartial. Fate is active. It picks on people," she cited from memory. "Fate is the promise that life is not a random string of tragedy and comedy without meaning. Fate proclaims that our lives are in fact so meaningful, so necessary, that our stories are written by the gods and goddesses, by the heavens themselves. We may only glimpse our fate, hinted by the stars or the creases of our hands; but even this glimpse is evidence of our contract with the universe, that we are players in the great wheel of life and death and rebirth," Preach countered. "A little more positive than your"s," he added, tightening his grip slightly. A snort left Jaz. "Still says we are powerless." Chuckling, Preach encouraged her to sit up some. "Not powerless. We make choices every day that guide our paths." Looking down, Jaz toyed with the sleeve of Top"s shirt. "So you don"t think what happened was," looking away, a shiver passing through her. "Don"t pay attention to me," she finished, moving to get up.

"Sure you do," Leland countered briskly. "Mid-fifties, black hair, tall, scruffy, likes to randomly shoot people during robberies and kill them for the fun of it." "Whoa," Morrow shot back, holding up his hands defensively. "I never robbed anybody and I sure don"t hang around anybody who shoots other people for no reason. I"ve been clean for three years now." "Really?" Bobby asked skeptically. "Talk to my wife, my sponsor, hell, run me. I"ve been squeaky since I got out of rehab," the ex-con blurted out. Sharing a look with Myles, Bobby pressed a little more. "Where have you been the past hour or so?" Manning asked, pulling out his notebook. "Running errands," Darrell said. "Gas station, groceries, stuff like that." "Don"t suppose you can prove it?" Myles asked. "I got groceries," Morrow said, pointing to the bags. "And here"s," he added, digging into the bag and pulling out a ribbon of paper, "the receipt." "Mind if we keep this?" Manning asked, slipping the paper into the notebook so they could go to the store and verify how long he was in the store on the video camera. "Where"d you buy gas?" "Station about half mile away," he said pointing down the street. "I paid cash." "Oh, one more thing. Do you own a cell phone?" Myles asked. "Yeah." "Mind if I see it?" "What for?" "Oh, you know," Leland replied, "last call received... made; that sort of thing." "I"ll have to get it from the house. It was dead so it"s been charging for the last several hours," Morrow said, starting to gather up his groceries. Reaching out to take a sack, Bobby smiled tightly. "Here, I"ll go with you." Having no luck in finding Jeffery Morrow, Jack had called S.O.G. to sit on the house until he came home. Now, heading back to the office, Sue watched as the familiar scenery moved past the window in the fading light. She hated that they had run into another dead end. She had no illusion that if they didn"t find out something very soon, they"d be handed another dead body. The thought drew a sigh from her. Turning her head, she looked over at Jack and immediately sat up straighter as she noticed the pensive furrow on his brow. Reaching out, she laid a hand on his arm. The tension that radiated from it caused her even more concern. "Jack?" Tearing his eyes off of the road for a moment, Jack glanced towards her. Seeing her questioning concern, he took his hand off the wheel and laid it on top of hers and gave her a weak smile. "I"m okay. Just thinking," he said. "About Farther?" she hazarded a guess. "About where he might be?" "Yeah," Jack breathed, forcing another brief smile to try to ease her concern before he sobered again. "And what he might do next." Squeezing her hand, he released it. She wasn"t going to like what he was about to say. "I"m going to move you to a hotel." "What?" Sue replied in disbelief shaking her head. "I"m not the one that Farther wants to hurt. You are. If anyone should be moving into a hotel, you should." "You"re right. Farther does want to hurt me, but I"m trained to handle him if he tries. You"re not," he countered, throwing her another look. Seeing another objection beginning to erupt from Sue, he carried on while stopping for a red light. "This is a game to him, one that I don"t intend for him to win. But in order to do that, I can"t be worried about him coming after someone I care about as a way to get to me." Jack reached out and gripped the clenched hands in her lap forcing his fingers into hers and pinning her with his gaze. "I can"t loose you." The raw emotions in Jack"s eyes caused a lump to form in Sue"s throat and her eyes to brighten with tears. Huskily, she forced the words out. "I can"t loose you either." Softening his features, Jack let go of her hand to brush his fingers across her cheek. "You couldn"t if you tried," he whispered, his own throat tightening at the concern and fear in her eyes. The blare of a horn told Jack that the light had turned green, forcing him to break the moment. Refocusing his attention back to driving, he took his foot off the brake and eased into the intersection. He barely glimpsed the grill of the truck bearing down on them before blackness over took him. Thank you for the reviews so far and I hope everyone is enjoying the story. We now join our story in progress... "Well it seems Darrell Morrow was telling the truth," Bobby called, standing up from peering over Tara"s shoulder. Waving his hand toward the screen, he said, "Got him coming in and leaving the grocery store. That, a dead cell phone, and the clerk putting him at the gas station means he couldn"t have talked to or met Farther and Dell." Nodding, D watched as Myles crossed his name off the board. "Sue and Jack back yet?" "Should be any minute," Bobby replied. "D, metro PD, line three," Lucy called, holding out the phone. "Gans," D snapped, picking up the phone on Jack"s desk. The sight of the blood leaving D"s face brought Bobby to his feet. "What?" "Where?" D asked, snatching up a paper and pen and scribbling furiously. "We"ll meet you at the hospital. Make sure the paramedics know that Agent Thomas is deaf, but can read lips." His words brought Lucy and Tara from across the room. Lucy"s concern grew, as D literally seemed to stagger from what he heard next. Disbelief and shock laced his next words. "Right. Put out an A.P.B. for her, the car, and Farther, Daniel J. and Dell, James. We"ll get their pedigrees to you as soon as possible." With those words, D slowly lowered the phone and turned stunned eyes towards his waiting coworkers. "D?" Bobby urged, gripping his arm. "A truck t-boned Jack"s car," D stuttered, trying to comprehend what he had just heard. "The truck driver and another man tried to get to Jack." "And?" Myles asked anxiously. "Something must have spooked them cause they left him there. Paramedics just got him out of the car and are taking him to Mercy." "What about Sue?" Lucy whispered huskily, followed by a whimper from Levi at the sound of his master"s name being said with so much emotion. "She"s gone. Witnesses said the driver of the truck that hit them drug her from the car shoved her into another vehicle and took off with the second man." Pulling up to the crash sight, Dimitrius swallowed hard at the sight of the mangled sedan trapped between the light pole and the large delivery truck. Looking at Myles, he saw the same shock mirrored in his face. Swallowing again, he nodding toward the vehicles. "See if the techs have found anything. I"ll talk to the locals," he said quietly, opening the car door. "Supervisory Agent Gans," D said, holding up his identification. "Find out anything more from the witnesses?" "Seems it may be your guy Hudson was the one they really wanted. One of the kidnappers was cussing up a blue streak cause the other one smashed into the car door and they couldn"t get to him. So, they pulled Thomas out of the car. The younger man was going to shoot your man but the older one said something about wanting him to be able to see it coming," the uniform officer said, glancing down at his notes. "They must have heard the other agents that had been following Hudson and Thomas coming and took off." "What about Thomas?" D pressed. "Did they say if she was hurt or conscious?" "From what they said, it seems like she was half out of it. And she was bleeding," the officer said, pointing to the trail of blood leading to the mangled federal car. "They heard her scream when the man pulled her through the window." Behind D, Leland walked slowly up to the vehicles, peering into the truck as he flashed his badge at the technicians combing through the wreckage. "Any prints?" he asked, taking the gloves being offered to him. "Steering wheel, door, gear shift," the crime scene technician said pointing to each. "If they"re the driver"s or someone else, don"t know yet. One things for sure, the guy wasn"t worried about us id"ing him. Didn"t try to wipe anything down." "Oh, there"s little doubt who did it," Myles murmured leaning in to move around several paper cups on the floor. "Hello," he said, picking up a receipt from the floorboard. Coming out of the vehicle, he held the paper up in the light to read the print. "A coffee and Danish from a gas station in Fredericksburg. No accounting for taste. Still," he added, slipping it into an evidence bag, "Bobby Manning, FBI. Jack Hudson was brought in a little bit ago. Car accident," Bobby said to the emergency room receptionist. "Yes sir, room two. The doctor is with him now. If you"d like to take a seat...." "No, I"m afraid I wouldn"t. Room two you say," Bobby retorted cutting her off. Moving through the swinging doors that led to the examination rooms and finding the curtain area marked two, Bobby paused and drew a deep breath, unsure of what he would find. Bracing himself, he pushed his way through the doorway only to find an empty room. Looking around he spotted bloody clothing that had been cut away and discarded on the floor. A wave of nausea passed through the tall man at the thought of what might have happened. "Excuse me," Bobby called, stopping a nurse passing by. "Jack Hudson? He was suppose to be in here," he asked, gesturing toward the empty exam room. "He"s in x-ray right now," the nurse assured him, running an assessing eye over his pale features. "Perhaps you"d like to sit down and wait for him?" she suggested, taking his arm and moving him towards the stool in Jack"s room. "Yeah, I"ll do that," Manning said, following meekly along. Sitting down, he absentmindedly muttered, "thanks." "Are you feeling okay?" the nurse asked gently. "Can I get you a glass of water or a wet cloth?" Shaking his head, Bobby swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat. "No," he croaked. Clearing his throat, he tried to smile at her and speak again. "I"m fine, but thank you." Relenting, the nurse nodded. "Family?" The word seared through Bobby"s soul causing his stomach to once again clench. He"d never had anyone who meant more to him, outside of his parents and siblings. The two of them had worked together early on in their careers and had been best friends ever since. "Yeah," he breathed. "About as close as you can get," he added softly. Patting the big man"s shoulder, she turned. "I"ll be down the hall if you need anything." Watching her leave, the sad smile he had summoned up for her drained from his features. Jack had to be okay. The thought of loosing his best mate was more than he could tolerate right now. And Sue would never.... Sue. Bobby closed his eyes at the thought of her. How was he going to tell Jack that she was gone? He knew that Jack would never forgive himself if something happened to her. It wouldn"t matter that there had been no way for him to predict or know that something like that was going to happen. Sighing, Bobby leaned forward and rested his arms on his thighs to wait. Staring out the window, Bobby unseeingly followed the movements of the passing cars in the darkness. Glancing down at his watch, he grimaced at the number telling him it was now oh-three-thirty. He knew he should be trying to sleep, that he would need his energy for whatever the next day would bring. But every time he tried, his mind would begin a chaotic spinning of thoughts and imaginings. Thoughts of what could have happened in that car; images of what might have happened since then. Neither was pleasant. Hearing the rustle of Jack shifting, Bobby turned away from the window to look at him. His friend had been awake several times, but he had been having trouble remembering what had happened. The first couple times, it had scared Bobby. The nurse and doctor had tried to assure him that it was normal given the trauma that Jack had sustained. They had told him that Jack would retain what he had been told as time passed. Bobby hoped so, because he didn"t know how many more times he could see the anguish caused by having to tell him each time that Sue was gone. "Bobby?" Forcing his features to calm, Manning stepped closer. "Yeah, mate. How you feeling?" Raising his arm, Jack waved his hand to indicated so-so. "Any news on Sue?" Jack asked, his voice rough from sleep. That was progress. Bobby"s momentary relief was countered by the reality of having to tell him nothing had changed. "Myles, Tara and D are still looking. They said they"ve had a few leads but nothing definite." Raising the bed slightly, a low groan escaped Jack"s lips as he reached out for a glass of water. "Let me," Manning said, jolting forward to hand over the glass. "Nurse should be coming to check your vitals soon. Since you"re more awake now, maybe they can give you something to make you more comfortable." Shaking his head, Jack eased himself back down. "Don"t want anything," he breathed out, trying to hide his discomfort. "I need to get out of here and find Sue." "You need," Bobby stressed, knowing that the more aware Jack became, the more of a handful he was going to be, "to rest and let your body heal. I don"t know how to break it to you, but you"re not indestructible, superman." "Nothing"s broken, I"ll be fine," Hudson said flatly. "Jack," Manning said, his voice reflecting his disbelief. "You were hit, literally, by a Mack truck. Bruised chest, ribs and shoulder, slight concussion, cuts, abrasions," he stopped seeing no give in his friend. Pursing his lips, Bobby pondered his next move. Stubbornly, Jack pushed the covers back and slowly began to roll his body to sit up. "Where"s my clothes?" he gritted out. "If you leave now, you"re going AMA and there"s no way anyone"s going let you work this case," Manning threatened. "It"s my fault. If I would have listened and gone out of town..." Jack broke off, his voice husky with emotion. "Sue"s going through God knows what because I...." Jack closed his eyes, the emotional pain overriding the physical. "It"s not your fault," Bobby said softly, moving over to put a comforting hand on Jack"s shoulder. Leaning down to catch Jack"s eyes, he silently sent his support and understanding. "Look, stay here "til morning, let the doctor release you, and then we"ll find her. D will let us know if something happens between now and then." Seeing a slight breach in Jack"s resolve, Bobby pushed the advantage. "Come on," he urged, lifting Jack"s legs to help him put them back on the bed. "Lay down and get some sleep. I"ll wake you if I hear anything." Walking slowly into the office later that morning, Jack tried to school his features to hide his discomfort. While his head was no longer pounding, the rest of his body was more than making up for the difference. The depth of the bruising meant that it would be weeks before he was back to normal. Taking time off to heal however was going to have to wait. "How ya doing"? D asked coming forward to shake Jack"s hand. "Been better. Anything new?" Jack replied, shaking hands with Myles and accepting gingerly hugs from Tara and Lucy. Leaning forward, he leaned down to greet Levi. "Hey boy," he said softly, scratching the Golden"s head. "Doctor wasn"t happy about him leaving," Bobby relayed, moving over to the coffee pot. "But, Jack here insisted, so he gave in." "I"m fine," Jack said, starting to move past D only to be stopped by a hand being held up in front of him. Looking up, Jack locked eyes with him. "Let"s just find Sue," he said softly, "then I"ll rest." Whatever D was going to say was cut off by Lucy. "Jack." Turning he looked questioningly at the young woman holding the phone. Tension radiated from her. "I think it"s him," Dotson hissed. "He said to tell Jack Hudson that he has someone he"s looking for." Sharing a look with Dimitrius, Jack moved to his desk, but did not pick up the phone. "Ready," Tara called from her space, her fingers flashing over the keyboard. "Try to keep him on for at least three minutes," she urged. Pushing the recorder and the speaker, Jack snatched up the receiver. "Hudson." "Hello pig," the caller growled. "Farther." Jack acknowledged, nodding to the others. "Long time. I hear there"s a whole bunch of people looking for you. How about you tell me where you are and I"ll let them know where they can meet up with you. We"ll even have a party for you." An un-amused laugh met the suggestion. "Oh, I don"t think so. I"m having too much with your little friend here." The words made Jack"s blood turn cold. "You don"t want to hurt her," Hudson declared, trying to keep his voice steady. "That wouldn"t be very smart." "She"s not hurt; at least not much by me... yet," Farther sneered. "Just to show you what kind of guy I am, I"ll even show you. Check your phone. I just sent you a link to a website." Jack"s cell phone chimed indicating a text had come in. Snatching his cell phone from his hip, he tossed it to Bobby who nodded that it was there as he headed over to Tara. Watching them as they put in the web address, Jack hissed at the image that popped up on the big screen. Moving closer, he ran assessing eyes over the woman tied in a chair. Even though the picture was grainy, he could see the dried blood on the side of her face, neck, arm, and clothing. The thing that drew his attention the most however was the dynamite that was surrounding her chest. Looking over at the explosive expert, he saw that Bobby was already peering intently at a computer screen trying to find out as much as he could. Turning back to the screen, he swallowed hard at the fear reflected in Sue"s eyes. "See, Hudson, she"s breathing," Farther quipped. "If you want to keep her that way, you"ll do exactly what I tell you to." "What do you want?" Jack asked, his voice hard and flat. "You, me, alone." D shook his head sharply. "Come on in. I"ll arrange for us to have some time in a nice little eight by ten cell," Hudson said. Panic began to build in his stomach as a hand appeared on the screen, wrapping itself around Sue"s throat. Jack could see the terror erupt on her face, as she was helpless to get away from the force restricting her air. "NO!" Jack screamed, lurching forward towards the screen. His cry was echoed by the others" similar calls and screams around him. "Where? Just tell me where," he shouted hoarsely, desperate for the scene before him to stop. Momentary relief flooded through him as the hand left Sue"s throat. He could see her coughing, gasping to get air into her lungs. But she was alive. "You"re going to come alone, right?" Farther said teasingly. "Otherwise..." he trailed off as a hand once again came into view and sent a vicious backhand across Sue"s face making her head snap sidewise. "Just tell me where," Jack ground out through clenched teeth, anger teeming from his body and voice. "Be at Calvert and Connecticut, one hour. I"ll find you. And Hudson, alone," Jackson snarled before hanging up. Almost immediately, Sue"s image faded out. The stunned quiet in the bullpen was broken by the sound of Jack slamming the receiver on the base. Turning, he viciously kicked his chair, sending it careening into the file cabinet nearby as he started around the desk toward the door. "Whoa, Jack," D started, moving to block the younger agent"s advancement. "You aren"t going out there." "What choice do I have?" Hudson said lowly. Haunted desperate eyes peered into his supervisor"s. "He"ll kill her." "And he could do that anyway," Dimitrius said harshly, trying to make Jack think. "You"re giving him exactly what he wants... an easy target. We"ll get SWAT out there on the roofs; he"ll never know they"re there." "Tara, any luck?" Myles asked softly, watching the silent struggle between Jack and D. "Got both of them," Tara announced. "Farther called from the Foggy Bottoms area. But the video on the website was coming from the Washington Harbor area. An abandoned warehouse." "Means Dell must have been at the warehouse," D surmised. "Bobby, Myles, Tara, get to Sue. She"s the priority. If you can get Dell, fine, but if there a choice, let him go. We"ll pick him up later. I"ll go after Farther," Jack ordered. "You let me know the minute she"s safe." "No way. I"m going with you mate," Bobby declared, blocking his path. "You"re in no shape to face off on this drongo yourself." "I won"t be alone," Jack assured his friend and partner getting a nod from Dimitrius. "I need you to get Sue out of there. You saw what was on her." Seeing the mixed emotions of being unable to help both of his friends in Bobby"s eyes, Jack reached out and squeezed his arm. "Please," he pleaded softly. "If you want to help me, make sure Sue"s safe." Locking eyes with Jack, Bobby swallowed hard at the emotions whirling within them. Reading the trust reflecting with the fear and desperation, the tall man nodded. "I"ll see you at the warehouse," Jack assured him, before moving toward the door. Behind him, Gans followed pulling his cell phone out as he moved. "Get me S.W.A.T.," he ordered into it as the pair disappeared from view. "Sam-Three-Nine in position," D said in the microphone hidden in his clothing. Pretending to dig through a sack of garbage, the seemingly homeless man scanned the street looking for any sign of Farther. "Nothing so far." "Sam-Three-Six, don"t worry. He"s close," Jack murmured, picking up the cup of coffee in front of him and taking a sip. Glancing upwards, he made sure there was no sign of the snipers covering him.

A murmured agreement met the statement. "Haruki Murakami, a Japanese writer once put it like this: Once the storm is through, you won"t remember how you managed to survive. You won"t even be sure if the storm is really over. But the one thing is certain... when you come out of the storm, you won"t be the same person who walked in." After a few minutes, the larger man continued, eyeing his teammate. "You know that doesn"t just apply to Jaz, right?" A sigh escaped from Amir. "I know," he said, the simple statement and following silence saying more than words could. AN: Jaz"s quote on fate is from TIM LEBBON"s Face. Preach"s quote is from SY MONTGOMERY, Spell of the Tiger. No copyright infringement intended. You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. ― Sun Tzu Driving through the night, Amir couldn"t help but think about the woman in the back of the truck and what she was going through. He knew first hand the emotional, psychological, and physical toll torture and interrogation took on a body. Still, he couldn"t help but think he"d gladly trade places with her as this was worse. "Sorry?" Preach asked, coming out of his own self contemplation and glancing over at Raisani. "What"s worse?" Amir paused trying to figure out what Preach was talking about. Realizing he had voiced at least a part of his earlier thoughts, he swallowed. "I"ve been where Jaz is," he said, glancing over at his teammate. "Spent three days the guest," he voice dripped with sarcasm at the term, "of a small time wanna-be cell leader." Glancing at the rear view mirror, a visible shudder ran through him. Forcing his eyes forward, he continued. "It takes a while to convince yourself that it"s over. That it"s just not some world that you"ve escaped to in your mind." "I can only imagine," Preach said, he eyes drifting toward the younger man. "I"m betting you didn"t have anyone to help you when you got out," Ezekiel said, his rich tone comforting and understanding. Throwing a smirk his way, Amir agreed. "Let"s just say that I wasn"t exactly among friends." "So what"s worse?" Sobering, he replied. "This. Watching it happen to someone else and knowing there"s not a thing you can do to fix it." "Yeah," Preach sighed, turning to glance into the back of the truck. "I know what you mean." "What happens now?" The question was asked so softly that Top barely caught it in the sounds of the truck as it ran down the road. "Now?" he repeated, glancing at Jaz while contemplating what to say. "You"ll get checked out, stitched up, and maybe spend a day or two in the hospital. Then you"ll take it easy for awhile." A groan met his statement. "Top," Jaz countered, the whine in her voice bleeding through the fatigue. "You know I"m not any good at taking it easy." A smile tugged at Adam"s lips at the truth of her statement. "I"m sure I could get you furloughed early if you want." "No," she countered sharply, only releasing her breath when he nodded. After a few minutes, she pulled on the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. "I"d rather stay here." "Okay," he agreed, watching as her body slumped slightly at the word. "But you won"t be able to do anything until you"re cleared." "I know. I think I"ll heal faster here than if I go home." Looking upward, Jaz"s eyes trailed across the starlit sky. "I didn"t know they existed until I got to basic down in Georgia," she said softly. "You don"t see them in New York CIty." A noncommittal sound came from Top. Glancing at her, he watched her looking at the stars while her hand rubbed softly on her knee. "You okay?" he asked, gesturing toward her leg. "Oh, yeah," Jaz said self consciously, yanking her hand away. Knowing he deserved some sort of explanation she took a breath. "The scars," she said, gesturing toward her leg. She knew the team had likely seen them before, but no one had asked her about them. "He tried to use them, get me to tell him how they happened," she finally added, shaking her head. "Like he would treat me differently if I did." A snort left her. "I fell for that once before." "Your dad?" Adam asked, his hand gesturing to her leg again. When she nodded, he hissed. "I"m sorry," he murmured, her admission confirming what he had suspected: what was in her file was only the tip of what she had experienced growing up. Somehow, knowing that Adam now knew one of her most closely held secrets made her feel better. "When it got really bad, I"d sneak out of the apartment and go to the roof. I"d stay awake and wait. I knew that if I could make it long enough to see the sunrise, it meant I"d made it through whatever shit my old man decided to do to me that day. You know?" she asked shakily, glancing sidewise to see Adam watching her. As daring and fearless that Jaz wanted others to believe she was, he had always known there was vulnerability under the bravado. She had shown glimpses of it to him before, but never had it been on display as it was tonight. "Yeah, I know," he said softly, leaning so his arm pressed against her shoulder. "It meant he didn"t win," he murmured, his thoughts going back to his own childhood. Nodding slowly, Jaz agreed with his assessment. "Yeah." Silence descended for several miles, each lost in their thoughts and memories. It was finally broken when she shifted, a hushed curse indicating her discomfort. "You should lay down, get some rest," McG said with a yawn, rolling to a sitting position and slowly moving joints to loosen them. "Both of you," he added, draping his arms over his knees. A grunt from Adam met his statement. Shifting gingerly, he agreed. "I"m sure my butt agrees with you. But," he paused, pulling himself, up. "I"m gonna see if I can make something more comfortable than the floor," he said, stepping over Jaz toward the crates on the side of the truck. Dragging them around, he piled them to form what appeared to be the shape of a recliner. "That should be better. Jaz?" he called, holding out his hand to help her stand. Letting him pull her up, she grabbed his arm to keep her feet in the moving truck. Seeing the first rays of light creeping into the distant night sky, she looked up at him. "I need to see the sunrise," she said, her voice husky. "Okay," Top breathed, lightly tightening his grip to let her know he understood the message. AN: I know this is short, but it seems to be where my muse wishes to leave it. If you get a chance to rewatch the episode, notice how much Jaz looks toward the sky anytime she gets outside after she is captured. It was the inspiration for this piece. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. PS. while I am marking this finished, I won"t guarantee my muse won"t knudge me to move it forward a bit more. There was another huge gap to play in - truck to next episode. :) AN: For all the kind words and requests to continue this a little bit more... Hope it doesn"t dissappoint you. Enjoy "McG," Top called as he eased Jaz down into Amir"s and Preach"s hands. "Stick with Jaz. We"ll be over as soon as we can." "Copy," the medic said, jumping down to follow the three meeting the waiting ambulance and medical personnel. "Command," Adam called, triggering the com link. "At home base." "Copy," Rivera replied, fatigue evident in her voice. "Good to hear." "Did you find out anything about the Director?" Adam asked, jumping from the truck. "Only that she is being held at the State Department." Top humphed at the news. "Okay, keep at it. I"ll have my report to you tomorrow. Make sure you get it over there." "I"ll walk it there myself if I have to," Hannah assured him. "Get some rest. You deserve it." "You too. Dalton out." Watching as the doors to the ambulance closed, Adam felt a wave of fatigue crash over him. Forcing it back, he moved over toward the two remaining team members. "Let"s get things squared away so we can head over to the hospital." A raised eyebrow met his words. "Don"t you think it"d be better to catch some zee"s?" Preach asked lowly. "McG"s got this." Nodding, Adam turned toward the waiting Humvee to take them to them toward the quonset hut. "Get back!" Jaz bit out, one hand held up as a barrier from anyone getting closer as the other gripped the IV pole tightly. Taking a step back, she felt her back jolt into the wall. Grimacing at the wild unfocused look in her eyes, McG threw a cautious look at the orderly on the floor, the nurse shuffling toward her and the Major with his hands resting on his hips. "Give her a little space," McGuire urged, trying to shift positions. "Stitch," he called, glancing over at the doctor. "Come on, man. She"s freaking out enough without that." "Sergeant Khan needs to put down the pole and get back on the bed," the doctor said. "Top," McG said softly into his collar. He wasn"t sure if Adam would still be geared up but it was worth a shot. "You there?" It was Preach"s voice that echoed in his ear. "He"s in the shower. What"s up?" "Top needs to get over here," he whispered. "Now." "What"s wrong?" Hearing the worry in the older man"s voice, Joe turned slightly. "Jaz is getting ready to take out a couple guys." "Copy," Zeke said, already heading toward the back of the quarters. As he passed the kitchen he caught Amir"s attention who halted while pulling a pan from the cupboard. "We need to go," he said before disappearing down the hall. A few minutes later he appeared with Adam behind him, struggling to get his T-shirt down his wet body. "He didn"t say," Preach said over his shoulder as he entered. "Just that it was about to get ugly." "Lovely," Adam said grabbing his identification and side arm from the desk as he passed it. Striding into the hospital, Top glanced down one direction before moving the way Preach gestured. Hearing the big man say room five, he had figured that out by the gallery of gawkers outside the door. Shoving his way through, he shared a look with Amir as they had to step back to allow an orderly to be assisted from the room. Pushing his way in, he grimaced as he saw McG"s face pressed against the wall by the MP that contained him. Nearby Jaz looked like she was ready to strike again at the remaining person in white attempting to get near her. "Jaz!" G called, his voice sounding off. "No!" he yelled as she prepared to strike out. "Jaz! Stand down. That"s an order," Dalton barked, coming around the bed. "Step back," he said lowly to the nurse frozen where she stood at the order. "Easy," he said evenly, refocusing his attention back to Jaz. "Threat is neutralized." "Top?" Jaz said, her voice mirroring the confusion evident on her face. "She"s not sure this is real," Amir said softly to Adam as he gently herded the nurse out of strike range. "They are wearing white," he said glancing around the room at the doctor and nurse wearing a white coat and top knowing Dalton would understand the larger implied meaning. Swallowing, he nodded. "You"re okay. We"re on base," he offered to Jaz. Seeing her arm begin to lower, he took a few steps closer. "You with me?" Holding out his hand, he nodded toward the medical equipment. "How about you give that to me?" "Is that necessary?" Preach said lowly to the military police officer continuing to press McGuire into the wall. When the officer allowed him to stand on his own, Zeke turned toward the doctor. "Doc?" He called tipping his head toward the pair beside him. "Let him go," the Major indicated, dismissing the officers. Turning back to Joe, he ran assessing eyes over him to make sure he wasn"t injured. "Want to tell me what happened?" Shaking his head, McG shrugged. "We were waiting for the doctor to come in and Jaz dozed off so I stepped out to get a cup of coffee," gesturing to the brown liquid on the floor and the styrofoam cup under the edge of the bed. "I was heading back when all hell broke loose in here." A huffed sigh escaped him. "I got in here and Jaz was acting like a samurai warrior" gesturing toward the corner where she and Top were, "one guy was down and this guy," he tipped his head at the MP near the door, "didn"t think I needed to get into it." "How bad is the orderly?" Preach asked, wondering how much fall out would be coming. "Not sure," McG murmured, rotating his arm to ease the sore muscles from being twisted behind him. "Think he just got his bell rung." "Top?" Jasmine said again lowly, her eyes darting around the room trying to figure out what just happened. "You evidently didn"t like the service," Adam said dryly, easing her onto the side of the bed. "Want to tell me what happened?" Easing herself back, Jaz shook her head. "We were waiting for the doctor," she said, hissing as Top moved her feet back on the bed. "I don"t know..." she trailed off, her face showing a hint of fear in the confusion. "I"m afraid it"s our fault," the doctor said apologetically, stepping forward. "And you are?" Top asked coldly, straightening up. "Major Bill "Stitch" Randolph," McG said, stepping up to the bed and making introductions. Gesturing to the nurse, he added, "Lieutenant Marsha Cummings." "My apologies Sergeant Kahn," the doctor said, focusing on Jaz. "I did not realize you were asleep when I told them to prep you so that I could assess your wounds." Turning his gaze back to the commander of the Delta team, he added, "I was also not informed that she had been tortured." Wincing, McG rubbed the back of his neck. "Another doc came in and I told them I wanted Stitch," he explained. "Evidently, something got lost in the transition." "Ya think?" Top said, his voice dry. Staring hard at the doctor, he ran his eyes over the other man"s face, letting his instincts read him. Taking a step closer, McG said lowly, "They"re who you want working on her." When Top looked his way, he tipped his head forward slightly to reinforce his words. Pursing his lips, Top looked hard again at the doctor for a few seconds before there was a subtle softening of his stance. "Captain Adam Dalton." "Captain," Bill acknowledged, locking eyes with bearded man across the bed from him. "I won"t make the same mistake again," he said softly, his words for one man only. A slight inclination of Dalton"s head warned him that he better not. Reaching in his pocket for a pair of gloves, he gestured toward the bed. "Now if you"ll excuse us, we have more pressing matters here." Nodding, Top glanced at the others telling them to head out. Looking back down at Jasmine, he saw her watching him. "You okay?" Swallowing, Jaz shifted nervously. "Yep." "We"ll be outside," he said assuring her. Pausing, to make sure she was okay, he threw out lightly, "No more re-enactments of Shogun," as he headed out. "I"m sorry Top," McG said, meeting his commander in the waiting room as he entered. "They weren"t listening and..." stopping at Adam"s wave. "It"s okay," Adam said, moving past him to the coffee pot. "That orderly gonna be okay?" "Haven"t had a chance to check. She clocked him pretty good but I don"t think there was any permanent damage besides his ego." "I take it you know them?" Amir asked, gesturing down the hall to indicate he was asking about the medical personnel working on Jaz. "Bill and I were in medical school together," McG said, dropping tiredly into a chair. "Got to know Mag"s a couple tours ago." Looking over at Top, he added quietly, "She"s specially trained to deal with victims of trauma and rape." The others froze at the words. "Was Jaz...," Adam asked lowly, his eyes focusing on the cup in his hand. "She wasn"t sure," the medic said softly. Running a hand over the his face, he added, "Better she find out for sure now, than to not know later." Shifting, Adam"s hand tightened on the cup as his eyes turned toward the hallway leading to Jaz"s room. "I"ll wait. You guys head back and crash," he said after a few minutes. Easing himself down, Preach announced, "I"m good here." Amir let a small telling smile cross his lips as he picked up a magazine and found a chair. Staring out the waiting area window, Adam mindlessly watched the daily operations of the base. Part of him knew that waiting in the hospital like this was pointless. He should just go back and crawl into this bunk and sleep for a hundred years. Another part knew he was tired in ways that sleep could not fix. That part of him knew it would be better for everyone if he simply headed over the hut, called up Patricia and told her she needed to find a new commander for the team because he was done - done making life and death decisions, done killing, done watching others be killed. And then there was the helplessness of knowing someone he cared about was being tortured. Had been tortured. The reality Jaz had experienced was likely as worse as he had imagined. The only difference really was that she had been alive when they finally got to her. The word "barely" echoed in his brain. Shifting at the uncomfortable truth of his last thought, Adam ran his hand over the back of his neck and rotated his head to stretch the too taunt muscles there. Dropping his head, he took a depth breath to calm the churning in his chest before forcing the emotion to seep through his body and to turn off the thoughts in his head. Stretched out in a chair as much as he could and still be considered sitting, McG covertly watched his commander and friend. He had no doubt that Adam blamed himself in some way for the events of the past two days. If nothing else, he did it because he was too tired to rationally think about it any other way. "McG?" The nurse"s gentle call of his name brought him upright. "Maggie?" Tipping her head toward the hallway, she threw a tight smile to the other men on their feet staring at her. Walking a short distance, she let out a breath. "She"s fighting us," Maggie said softly. "She"s refusing all pain medications and her blood pressure is at a dangerous level. Stitch thought it"d help if you talked to her." A knowing nod and grimace passed through McG before he headed to the room. Pausing a brief moment at the door, he collected himself and wiped all worry from his face. Entering the room, he mockingly held his hand over his eyes. "You decent, Kahn?" he threw out, knowing full well her dignity would be protected. Stopping beside the bed, he dropped his hand. "Here I thought I was the only one that you gave grief to when trying to fix you up," he teased, looking down at her. Running his eyes over her sweaty face, he say the pain and fear in her eyes. Softening, he slipped his hand into hers and locked eyes with hers. "What"s this I hear you"re trying to tough this out without any of the good stuff?" he said gently. "I"m good," she breathed, her voice trembling with the effort of trying to sound normal. Feeling her latch onto his hand like it was a lifeline pulling her from harm, McG ran his thumb across the back of his hand as he called her bluff. "Really?" He said skeptically. "Your blood pressure is telling me a different tale." "It lies," she bit out, wincing as a wash of pain moved over her. Leaning down to talk softer to her, McG allowed an exasperated sound to leave himself. "What"s going on, Jazzy?" he prodded gently. Swallowing, Jaz felt tears well in her eyes at the worry and tenderness in her friend"s eyes. "I"ll fall asleep," she whispered. "I"ll...," she trailed off, licking her lips in nervousness. "You"ll dream about it," Joe finished quietly, understanding what she was going to say. Squeezing her hand, he continued. "We can help that, if you"ll let us." A tear trickled down the side of her face as she nodded. "It"ll be okay. You"re safe here Jaz," McG assured her before standing up and stepping closer to talk lowly to the doctor. Relaying what was needed, he turned back to his teammate. "Maybe I"ll steal a little of what they"re going to give you and slip to Top," he teased dryly. "He thinks he"s the energizer bunny or something." Watching as a small smile pulled on Jaz"s lips, he matched her. He let his features settle to a comforting look as he saw the effect of the anesthetic they shot into her IV begin to take effect. "That"s it, Jaz. Don"t fight it," he breathed. "Good girl," he murmured as her face went slack. Standing upright, a tired sigh of relief escaped him. "How she doing otherwise?" he asked, running his eyes over the monitor at the lowering blood pressure and calming heart rhythm. "Most of the cuts will be okay with butterflies. Twelve or so, need stitching," the doctor assured him. "Her ankle is sprained, not broken. It won"t take long to finish this up now," he said, gesturing with the sutures in his hand. "Then we"ll finish examining her." Swallowing, Joe nodded. "Thanks for taking care of her," he said, looking back to soak in the sight of her features without pain being etched in them. "That"s what we do here," the Major tossed back, reminding Joe of a time long gone in his life of when they had worked together. A chuckle left the medic as he nodded. "Yeah, that"s what we do here." Moving back around the bed, he squeezed Maggie"s arm in thanks before slipping from the room. AN2: Okay, I am totally Jalton, but it didn"t feel right to have Top be the one that went into the room with Jaz. Hence, "big brother" had to go. Hope you enjoyed.

"Oh, there"s little doubt who did it," Myles murmured leaning in to move around several paper cups on the floor. "Hello," he said, picking up a receipt from the floorboard. Coming out of the vehicle, he held the paper up in the light to read the print. "A coffee and Danish from a gas station in Fredericksburg. No accounting for taste. Still," he added, slipping it into an evidence bag, "Bobby Manning, FBI. Jack Hudson was brought in a little bit ago. Car accident," Bobby said to the emergency room receptionist. "Yes sir, room two. The doctor is with him now. If you"d like to take a seat...." "No, I"m afraid I wouldn"t. Room two you say," Bobby retorted cutting her off. Moving through the swinging doors that led to the examination rooms and finding the curtain area marked two, Bobby paused and drew a deep breath, unsure of what he would find. Bracing himself, he pushed his way through the doorway only to find an empty room. Looking around he spotted bloody clothing that had been cut away and discarded on the floor. A wave of nausea passed through the tall man at the thought of what might have happened. "Excuse me," Bobby called, stopping a nurse passing by. "Jack Hudson? He was suppose to be in here," he asked, gesturing toward the empty exam room. "He"s in x-ray right now," the nurse assured him, running an assessing eye over his pale features. "Perhaps you"d like to sit down and wait for him?" she suggested, taking his arm and moving him towards the stool in Jack"s room. "Yeah, I"ll do that," Manning said, following meekly along. Sitting down, he absentmindedly muttered, "thanks." "Are you feeling okay?" the nurse asked gently. "Can I get you a glass of water or a wet cloth?" Shaking his head, Bobby swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat. "No," he croaked. Clearing his throat, he tried to smile at her and speak again. "I"m fine, but thank you." Relenting, the nurse nodded. "Family?" The word seared through Bobby"s soul causing his stomach to once again clench. He"d never had anyone who meant more to him, outside of his parents and siblings. The two of them had worked together early on in their careers and had been best friends ever since. "Yeah," he breathed. "About as close as you can get," he added softly. Patting the big man"s shoulder, she turned. "I"ll be down the hall if you need anything." Watching her leave, the sad smile he had summoned up for her drained from his features. Jack had to be okay. The thought of loosing his best mate was more than he could tolerate right now. And Sue would never.... Sue. Bobby closed his eyes at the thought of her. How was he going to tell Jack that she was gone? He knew that Jack would never forgive himself if something happened to her. It wouldn"t matter that there had been no way for him to predict or know that something like that was going to happen. Sighing, Bobby leaned forward and rested his arms on his thighs to wait. Staring out the window, Bobby unseeingly followed the movements of the passing cars in the darkness. Glancing down at his watch, he grimaced at the number telling him it was now oh-three-thirty. He knew he should be trying to sleep, that he would need his energy for whatever the next day would bring. But every time he tried, his mind would begin a chaotic spinning of thoughts and imaginings. Thoughts of what could have happened in that car; images of what might have happened since then. Neither was pleasant. Hearing the rustle of Jack shifting, Bobby turned away from the window to look at him. His friend had been awake several times, but he had been having trouble remembering what had happened. The first couple times, it had scared Bobby. The nurse and doctor had tried to assure him that it was normal given the trauma that Jack had sustained. They had told him that Jack would retain what he had been told as time passed. Bobby hoped so, because he didn"t know how many more times he could see the anguish caused by having to tell him each time that Sue was gone. "Bobby?" Forcing his features to calm, Manning stepped closer. "Yeah, mate. How you feeling?" Raising his arm, Jack waved his hand to indicated so-so. "Any news on Sue?" Jack asked, his voice rough from sleep. That was progress. Bobby"s momentary relief was countered by the reality of having to tell him nothing had changed. "Myles, Tara and D are still looking. They said they"ve had a few leads but nothing definite." Raising the bed slightly, a low groan escaped Jack"s lips as he reached out for a glass of water. "Let me," Manning said, jolting forward to hand over the glass. "Nurse should be coming to check your vitals soon. Since you"re more awake now, maybe they can give you something to make you more comfortable." Shaking his head, Jack eased himself back down. "Don"t want anything," he breathed out, trying to hide his discomfort. "I need to get out of here and find Sue." "You need," Bobby stressed, knowing that the more aware Jack became, the more of a handful he was going to be, "to rest and let your body heal. I don"t know how to break it to you, but you"re not indestructible, superman." "Nothing"s broken, I"ll be fine," Hudson said flatly. "Jack," Manning said, his voice reflecting his disbelief. "You were hit, literally, by a Mack truck. Bruised chest, ribs and shoulder, slight concussion, cuts, abrasions," he stopped seeing no give in his friend. Pursing his lips, Bobby pondered his next move. Stubbornly, Jack pushed the covers back and slowly began to roll his body to sit up. "Where"s my clothes?" he gritted out. "If you leave now, you"re going AMA and there"s no way anyone"s going let you work this case," Manning threatened. "It"s my fault. If I would have listened and gone out of town..." Jack broke off, his voice husky with emotion. "Sue"s going through God knows what because I...." Jack closed his eyes, the emotional pain overriding the physical. "It"s not your fault," Bobby said softly, moving over to put a comforting hand on Jack"s shoulder. Leaning down to catch Jack"s eyes, he silently sent his support and understanding. "Look, stay here "til morning, let the doctor release you, and then we"ll find her. D will let us know if something happens between now and then." Seeing a slight breach in Jack"s resolve, Bobby pushed the advantage. "Come on," he urged, lifting Jack"s legs to help him put them back on the bed. "Lay down and get some sleep. I"ll wake you if I hear anything." Walking slowly into the office later that morning, Jack tried to school his features to hide his discomfort. While his head was no longer pounding, the rest of his body was more than making up for the difference. The depth of the bruising meant that it would be weeks before he was back to normal. Taking time off to heal however was going to have to wait. "How ya doing"? D asked coming forward to shake Jack"s hand. "Been better. Anything new?" Jack replied, shaking hands with Myles and accepting gingerly hugs from Tara and Lucy. Leaning forward, he leaned down to greet Levi. "Hey boy," he said softly, scratching the Golden"s head. "Doctor wasn"t happy about him leaving," Bobby relayed, moving over to the coffee pot. "But, Jack here insisted, so he gave in." "I"m fine," Jack said, starting to move past D only to be stopped by a hand being held up in front of him. Looking up, Jack locked eyes with him. "Let"s just find Sue," he said softly, "then I"ll rest." Whatever D was going to say was cut off by Lucy. "Jack." Turning he looked questioningly at the young woman holding the phone. Tension radiated from her. "I think it"s him," Dotson hissed. "He said to tell Jack Hudson that he has someone he"s looking for." Sharing a look with Dimitrius, Jack moved to his desk, but did not pick up the phone. "Ready," Tara called from her space, her fingers flashing over the keyboard. "Try to keep him on for at least three minutes," she urged. Pushing the recorder and the speaker, Jack snatched up the receiver. "Hudson." "Hello pig," the caller growled. "Farther." Jack acknowledged, nodding to the others. "Long time. I hear there"s a whole bunch of people looking for you. How about you tell me where you are and I"ll let them know where they can meet up with you. We"ll even have a party for you." An un-amused laugh met the suggestion. "Oh, I don"t think so. I"m having too much with your little friend here." The words made Jack"s blood turn cold. "You don"t want to hurt her," Hudson declared, trying to keep his voice steady. "That wouldn"t be very smart." "She"s not hurt; at least not much by me... yet," Farther sneered. "Just to show you what kind of guy I am, I"ll even show you. Check your phone. I just sent you a link to a website." Jack"s cell phone chimed indicating a text had come in. Snatching his cell phone from his hip, he tossed it to Bobby who nodded that it was there as he headed over to Tara. Watching them as they put in the web address, Jack hissed at the image that popped up on the big screen. Moving closer, he ran assessing eyes over the woman tied in a chair. Even though the picture was grainy, he could see the dried blood on the side of her face, neck, arm, and clothing. The thing that drew his attention the most however was the dynamite that was surrounding her chest. Looking over at the explosive expert, he saw that Bobby was already peering intently at a computer screen trying to find out as much as he could. Turning back to the screen, he swallowed hard at the fear reflected in Sue"s eyes. "See, Hudson, she"s breathing," Farther quipped. "If you want to keep her that way, you"ll do exactly what I tell you to." "What do you want?" Jack asked, his voice hard and flat. "You, me, alone." D shook his head sharply. "Come on in. I"ll arrange for us to have some time in a nice little eight by ten cell," Hudson said. Panic began to build in his stomach as a hand appeared on the screen, wrapping itself around Sue"s throat. Jack could see the terror erupt on her face, as she was helpless to get away from the force restricting her air. "NO!" Jack screamed, lurching forward towards the screen. His cry was echoed by the others" similar calls and screams around him. "Where? Just tell me where," he shouted hoarsely, desperate for the scene before him to stop. Momentary relief flooded through him as the hand left Sue"s throat. He could see her coughing, gasping to get air into her lungs. But she was alive. "You"re going to come alone, right?" Farther said teasingly. "Otherwise..." he trailed off as a hand once again came into view and sent a vicious backhand across Sue"s face making her head snap sidewise. "Just tell me where," Jack ground out through clenched teeth, anger teeming from his body and voice. "Be at Calvert and Connecticut, one hour. I"ll find you. And Hudson, alone," Jackson snarled before hanging up. Almost immediately, Sue"s image faded out. The stunned quiet in the bullpen was broken by the sound of Jack slamming the receiver on the base. Turning, he viciously kicked his chair, sending it careening into the file cabinet nearby as he started around the desk toward the door. "Whoa, Jack," D started, moving to block the younger agent"s advancement. "You aren"t going out there." "What choice do I have?" Hudson said lowly. Haunted desperate eyes peered into his supervisor"s. "He"ll kill her." "And he could do that anyway," Dimitrius said harshly, trying to make Jack think. "You"re giving him exactly what he wants... an easy target. We"ll get SWAT out there on the roofs; he"ll never know they"re there." "Tara, any luck?" Myles asked softly, watching the silent struggle between Jack and D. "Got both of them," Tara announced. "Farther called from the Foggy Bottoms area. But the video on the website was coming from the Washington Harbor area. An abandoned warehouse." "Means Dell must have been at the warehouse," D surmised. "Bobby, Myles, Tara, get to Sue. She"s the priority. If you can get Dell, fine, but if there a choice, let him go. We"ll pick him up later. I"ll go after Farther," Jack ordered. "You let me know the minute she"s safe." "No way. I"m going with you mate," Bobby declared, blocking his path. "You"re in no shape to face off on this drongo yourself." "I won"t be alone," Jack assured his friend and partner getting a nod from Dimitrius. "I need you to get Sue out of there. You saw what was on her." Seeing the mixed emotions of being unable to help both of his friends in Bobby"s eyes, Jack reached out and squeezed his arm. "Please," he pleaded softly. "If you want to help me, make sure Sue"s safe." Locking eyes with Jack, Bobby swallowed hard at the emotions whirling within them. Reading the trust reflecting with the fear and desperation, the tall man nodded. "I"ll see you at the warehouse," Jack assured him, before moving toward the door. Behind him, Gans followed pulling his cell phone out as he moved. "Get me S.W.A.T.," he ordered into it as the pair disappeared from view. "Sam-Three-Nine in position," D said in the microphone hidden in his clothing. Pretending to dig through a sack of garbage, the seemingly homeless man scanned the street looking for any sign of Farther. "Nothing so far." "Sam-Three-Six, don"t worry. He"s close," Jack murmured, picking up the cup of coffee in front of him and taking a sip. Glancing upwards, he made sure there was no sign of the snipers covering him. "That"s what worries me," D murmured, scanning the area again. Although Jack was confident that Farther would not shoot him from afar, he had no such illusions. It would be simpler to just pick Hudson off from a distance and then escape. Turning to look behind his current position, Gans turned back around and lowered his head as he said, "Sam-Three-Nine. Suspect spotted. One block west, coming in on foot." Jack forced himself to not react to the warning. He watched as D seemed to blend into the wall to wait as Farther came into view. Schooling his features, he forced his mind to clear so he could focus on the task at hand. "Right on time," Jack said conversationally as the convict stopped beside the table. Sitting down, Farther faked friendliness. "I could say the same thing about you." "What"s this about Farther?" Hudson said flatly. "This," Farther sighed, pulling his hand from his pocket to point a gun at the agent, "is about you getting up real slow and coming with me." The corners of Jack"s mouth rose slightly "Now that wouldn"t be very smart of me, would it? Here, we"re in the open, lots of people around." "And I could just start shooting all of these people too," Farther sneered, glancing at the various sidewalk dining venues. "Maybe start with that woman over there and then...." The feel of a gun pressing into his neck interrupted Farther"s retort. "I don"t think so. If you so much as breath wrong, you"ll never know what happened," Dimitrius snarled. Behind him he could hear the sound of the other agents as they approached. Reading the momentary flicker of indecision in Farther"s face, Jack leaned forward and revealed a weapon in his own hand. "Give me an excuse." "It might be worth it," Farther breathed as the other agents descended on them. As the agents pulled the gun from Farther"s hand, D grabbed his shirt and pulled him upright so he could be cuffed. "Where"s Sue?" he pressed. Snickering, Farther grinned at Jack. "Don"t worry pig. Your girlfriend"s being taken care of," he said snickering suggestively. "So tell me Hudson, how long have you"ve been with that sweet little thing?" Lunging forward, D pulled Farther backward and intercepted Jack. Holding Jack back, he shook his head. "He"s not worth it." Glancing backward, he ordered, "Get him out of here." Refocusing on Jack, he squeezed his arms. "Come on. Let"s go get Sue." Author note: Whew! Breathe... that"s it... take a deep breath. We"re almost there. But, unfortunately time for another commercial break. A/N: Due to some computer problems, I am posting the remainder of this story so I am not leaving anyone hanging. I appreciate all the kind words and if you drop me a note on this section, please be patient for your response. Think the old computer is going to the shop for a few days. Thanks. "Tara?" Jack called climbing into the van serving as a command post outside of the warehouse where Sue was being held. "Myles and Bobby are heading up teams. So far, nothing," Williams reported, glancing back at Jack and D. "This is Sam-Three-Three. Second floor is clear. No sign of suspect or hostage. Heading to third floor," Myles reported, his voice coming through the speakers. "Roger, Sam-Three-Three," Tara acknowledged from the surveillance van. "Bobby"s team just headed to the same floor a few minutes ago," she added for her co-worker"s benefit. Triggering the microphone, she called, "Sam-Three-One, what is your status?" "Sam-Three-One, no sign of suspect, but I"ve located the hostage, third floor, southeast corner. Hostage is not clear. Repeat hostage is not clear. Tell the bomb squad we"ve got multiple explosives involved and move everyone back at least a block." Scanning the area with eyes and his weapon, Bobby heard Tara call for the others to evacuate as he slowly advanced towards Sue. Reaching up to pull his mask from his face, he called over to the woman anxiously watching him. "Is anyone else here?" he asked when he was close enough for her to see. "No," Sue answered back. "He"s gone. Bobby, you need to get out of here. It is going to blow up at any minute." "Not going to happen love," Bobby said distractedly, already kneeling and assessing the bomb mechanism strapped to his friend. "Jack would never forgive me if I left you here and saved my own neck," he added a tight smile on his face. "How is he?" Sue asked pensively. "Was he hurt bad?" "Nah, you know Jack," Bobby scoffed, coming up from looking under the chair. "Nothing keeps superman down." Sobering, he picked gently at the fabric sticking to a wide gash in her leg. "That looks sore," he said, gently probing the area. "Going to leave a scar I"m afraid. Sam-Three-One, Tara, have an ambulance standing by." "Roger Sam-Three-One. Be advised Sam-Three-Six is on his way." By the time Tara had finished, Bobby could hear the sound of Jack"s footsteps advancing quickly. "Jack!" Bobby yelled, scrambling to intercept him before he reached Sue. "JACK!" he yelled again grabbing him. "Listen to me!" When Jack stopped his forward motion, he continued. "She"s wired, at least three triggers, one of them a vibration trigger. Less than ten on the timer." Stepping back, he glanced back toward the woman in question. "She"s shaking so bad, she might blow us all up before I can even figure out how to disarm this thing." Knowing what he needed to do, Jack squeezed Bobby"s arm before advancing at a slower pace. "Sue," he called moving in, reaching for her. He could feel the tremors pass through her and her skin was cold to the touch. "Shhh, it"s okay," he murmured, laying a hand on the side of her face, careful to not touch the gash along her hairline. "You need to hold still until Bobby can work his magic." "She"s freezing," he threw over his shoulder at Manning. "Jack," Sue choked out. "You and Bobby need to get out of here." "In a minute, we"re all going get out of here," Jack soothed. "Are you hurt anywhere besides your head and leg?" he asked. Slipping his jacket around her shoulders, he could see a distinct hand print around her throat. Lifting her chin to get a better look, he winced. "No, I"m okay," Sue said, leaning into Jack"s touch. "Cold. Scared." "I know, I"m scared too," Jack said, moving to cut the bindings on Sue"s legs and arms. "Don"t move," he cautioned. "Bobby?" "It"s tricky. Best I can hope to do is delay it," Bobby said, making sure his features were not in Sue"s line of sight. "Not too late to get out of here. I"ll bring her out with me," he offered. The piercing look Jack threw at him told him that there was no way that was going to happen. "Right then," Bobby sighed, sitting further up so that Sue could see him. "You ready to get out of here?" he asked tightly, a forced smile on his face. Seeing a nod, he continued. "It"s going to be a rough," he warned. "When I give the word Jack"s going to pull that vest off of you and give it to me. Then he"s going to get you up and moving toward the door. And you"re going to need to be quick about it." "What about you?" Jack pressed. "I"m going to be about two steps behind you mate," Manning assured him, silently hoping that was going to be the case. Pausing, he pinned Jack with his eyes. "We"re only going to get a minute, minute and half tops from the second I cut this wire. You up for it?" "A minute and half to get a couple hundred yards to the stairs, down two flights, out of the building and find cover before this whole thing goes up. Sure. Not a problem," Jack said flatly, knowing the odds were not with them. "Minute and half tops," Bobby reminded him softly. "More likely we"re going to have less." Nodding, Jack glanced at Sue before looking back at Bobby. "But if we wait, it"s still going to go off." "Not much of a choice is it?" "Well, I don"t know about you, but I"ve never been good at waiting," Jack said with false bravado. "Let"s do it."

"Here," Top said, taking the lid off the bottle. Nearby, McG was laying down pulling his coat closer to ward of the chill. "Apple? Energy bar?" Top asked, grabbing a nearby fruit and digging into his pocket for a knife. Opening it, he slit through the red skin easily cutting it into two half"s. Slicing off a portion he held it out to Jaz. "You need to eat something." Although she did not feel like eating, she knew that if she didn"t eat before McG got up he would start an IV or try to force some energy drink down her throat. Nibbling on the slice, she felt the rumble of the truck as it eased its way back onto the roadway. Unbidden her eyes slid back to the knife glowing softly in the moonlight. Feeling her movement stop, Adam glanced towards her only to find her eyes fixed on the KA-BAR in his hand. Refocusing, he continued to slice the apple. "Did they use something like this?" he asked, his tone conversational. Swallowing, Jaz shifted slightly. "Shinier, thinner," she breathed, remembering the sight of the metal on the instrument tray. "They didn"t say a word," she said after a few minutes. "Just took turns slowly inserting it in different parts and drawing it out. Think they were trying to get me to scream." Top paused in his movements to keep his own reaction under control as he could the feel of the shiver that passed through her against his shoulder. "More than one of them?" he asked, more to keep her talking than anything else. "Two who did the dirty work," she said, her eyes trailing to the darkness outside the truck. "And Arthur," she added. "He was the sick bastard that was leading it all. He wasn"t buying my French touristy thing," she joked shakily, giving up any pretense of eating. The mention of her cover pierced Adam"s resolve, causing him to swallow the knot that had formed in his throat. "I listened over and over again to you trying to give directions for as long as you could," he confessed softly, the sound of her murmured droite, tout droit, and la gauche still seared into his memory. Clearing his throat again, he added, "It helped us narrow down where they took you." "When I saw you in the garage, I was so sure you were going to do something stupid and try to save me." A battered sad smile pulled on her face. "But I knew you were too good of a commander to risk the team unnecessarily." "You"re worth every chance we took," Top quickly countered, his voice firm. "None of us were going to walk away without at least trying to get you back." "You would have been killed if they would have found you. We knew going in we would be disavowed. I was okay with dying as long as you guys were okay." A sharp intake of breath met her words. "It fucking killed me when they grabbed you and when I couldn"t get that damn truck started," Adam hissed out hoarsely, anger piercing his words. "I knew exactly what they were going to do to you and I was notokay with you dying so my pathetic worthless ass could keep living." The feel of her hand gripping his arm drew him back from the darkness that had nothing to do with the night. "I have too many lives on me now. I couldn"t live with yours too," he confessed softly, his hand settling over her"s. "Top wasn"t at the truck," Preach stated, glancing toward Amir. After a pause, Amir confirmed it. "He waited for a while but when you didn"t come right back, he told McG and I to stay there and let him know if he missed you." After checking the mirrors for any sign of being followed, he added, "He"s not easing up at all." Nodding slowly, Preach watched the road ahead of them. "He can"t. For Adam, he has to know that everyone will be okay physically and psychologically after the mission before he"ll let himself relax. He"s not sure about Jaz yet." "She"s strong," the younger man murmured thinking of his teammate. "But something like this can mess with you." A murmured agreement met the statement. "Haruki Murakami, a Japanese writer once put it like this: Once the storm is through, you won"t remember how you managed to survive. You won"t even be sure if the storm is really over. But the one thing is certain... when you come out of the storm, you won"t be the same person who walked in." After a few minutes, the larger man continued, eyeing his teammate. "You know that doesn"t just apply to Jaz, right?" A sigh escaped from Amir. "I know," he said, the simple statement and following silence saying more than words could. AN: Jaz"s quote on fate is from TIM LEBBON"s Face. Preach"s quote is from SY MONTGOMERY, Spell of the Tiger. No copyright infringement intended. You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. ― Sun Tzu Driving through the night, Amir couldn"t help but think about the woman in the back of the truck and what she was going through. He knew first hand the emotional, psychological, and physical toll torture and interrogation took on a body. Still, he couldn"t help but think he"d gladly trade places with her as this was worse. "Sorry?" Preach asked, coming out of his own self contemplation and glancing over at Raisani. "What"s worse?" Amir paused trying to figure out what Preach was talking about. Realizing he had voiced at least a part of his earlier thoughts, he swallowed. "I"ve been where Jaz is," he said, glancing over at his teammate. "Spent three days the guest," he voice dripped with sarcasm at the term, "of a small time wanna-be cell leader." Glancing at the rear view mirror, a visible shudder ran through him. Forcing his eyes forward, he continued. "It takes a while to convince yourself that it"s over. That it"s just not some world that you"ve escaped to in your mind." "I can only imagine," Preach said, he eyes drifting toward the younger man. "I"m betting you didn"t have anyone to help you when you got out," Ezekiel said, his rich tone comforting and understanding. Throwing a smirk his way, Amir agreed. "Let"s just say that I wasn"t exactly among friends." "So what"s worse?" Sobering, he replied. "This. Watching it happen to someone else and knowing there"s not a thing you can do to fix it." "Yeah," Preach sighed, turning to glance into the back of the truck. "I know what you mean." "What happens now?" The question was asked so softly that Top barely caught it in the sounds of the truck as it ran down the road. "Now?" he repeated, glancing at Jaz while contemplating what to say. "You"ll get checked out, stitched up, and maybe spend a day or two in the hospital. Then you"ll take it easy for awhile." A groan met his statement. "Top," Jaz countered, the whine in her voice bleeding through the fatigue. "You know I"m not any good at taking it easy." A smile tugged at Adam"s lips at the truth of her statement. "I"m sure I could get you furloughed early if you want." "No," she countered sharply, only releasing her breath when he nodded. After a few minutes, she pulled on the sleeve of the shirt she was wearing. "I"d rather stay here." "Okay," he agreed, watching as her body slumped slightly at the word. "But you won"t be able to do anything until you"re cleared." "I know. I think I"ll heal faster here than if I go home." Looking upward, Jaz"s eyes trailed across the starlit sky. "I didn"t know they existed until I got to basic down in Georgia," she said softly. "You don"t see them in New York CIty." A noncommittal sound came from Top. Glancing at her, he watched her looking at the stars while her hand rubbed softly on her knee. "You okay?" he asked, gesturing toward her leg. "Oh, yeah," Jaz said self consciously, yanking her hand away. Knowing he deserved some sort of explanation she took a breath. "The scars," she said, gesturing toward her leg. She knew the team had likely seen them before, but no one had asked her about them. "He tried to use them, get me to tell him how they happened," she finally added, shaking her head. "Like he would treat me differently if I did." A snort left her. "I fell for that once before." "Your dad?" Adam asked, his hand gesturing to her leg again. When she nodded, he hissed. "I"m sorry," he murmured, her admission confirming what he had suspected: what was in her file was only the tip of what she had experienced growing up. Somehow, knowing that Adam now knew one of her most closely held secrets made her feel better. "When it got really bad, I"d sneak out of the apartment and go to the roof. I"d stay awake and wait. I knew that if I could make it long enough to see the sunrise, it meant I"d made it through whatever shit my old man decided to do to me that day. You know?" she asked shakily, glancing sidewise to see Adam watching her. As daring and fearless that Jaz wanted others to believe she was, he had always known there was vulnerability under the bravado. She had shown glimpses of it to him before, but never had it been on display as it was tonight. "Yeah, I know," he said softly, leaning so his arm pressed against her shoulder. "It meant he didn"t win," he murmured, his thoughts going back to his own childhood. Nodding slowly, Jaz agreed with his assessment. "Yeah." Silence descended for several miles, each lost in their thoughts and memories. It was finally broken when she shifted, a hushed curse indicating her discomfort. "You should lay down, get some rest," McG said with a yawn, rolling to a sitting position and slowly moving joints to loosen them. "Both of you," he added, draping his arms over his knees. A grunt from Adam met his statement. Shifting gingerly, he agreed. "I"m sure my butt agrees with you. But," he paused, pulling himself, up. "I"m gonna see if I can make something more comfortable than the floor," he said, stepping over Jaz toward the crates on the side of the truck. Dragging them around, he piled them to form what appeared to be the shape of a recliner. "That should be better. Jaz?" he called, holding out his hand to help her stand. Letting him pull her up, she grabbed his arm to keep her feet in the moving truck. Seeing the first rays of light creeping into the distant night sky, she looked up at him. "I need to see the sunrise," she said, her voice husky. "Okay," Top breathed, lightly tightening his grip to let her know he understood the message. AN: I know this is short, but it seems to be where my muse wishes to leave it. If you get a chance to rewatch the episode, notice how much Jaz looks toward the sky anytime she gets outside after she is captured. It was the inspiration for this piece. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. PS. while I am marking this finished, I won"t guarantee my muse won"t knudge me to move it forward a bit more. There was another huge gap to play in - truck to next episode. :) AN: For all the kind words and requests to continue this a little bit more... Hope it doesn"t dissappoint you. Enjoy "McG," Top called as he eased Jaz down into Amir"s and Preach"s hands. "Stick with Jaz. We"ll be over as soon as we can." "Copy," the medic said, jumping down to follow the three meeting the waiting ambulance and medical personnel. "Command," Adam called, triggering the com link. "At home base." "Copy," Rivera replied, fatigue evident in her voice. "Good to hear." "Did you find out anything about the Director?" Adam asked, jumping from the truck. "Only that she is being held at the State Department." Top humphed at the news. "Okay, keep at it. I"ll have my report to you tomorrow. Make sure you get it over there." "I"ll walk it there myself if I have to," Hannah assured him. "Get some rest. You deserve it." "You too. Dalton out." Watching as the doors to the ambulance closed, Adam felt a wave of fatigue crash over him. Forcing it back, he moved over toward the two remaining team members. "Let"s get things squared away so we can head over to the hospital." A raised eyebrow met his words. "Don"t you think it"d be better to catch some zee"s?" Preach asked lowly. "McG"s got this." Nodding, Adam turned toward the waiting Humvee to take them to them toward the quonset hut. "Get back!" Jaz bit out, one hand held up as a barrier from anyone getting closer as the other gripped the IV pole tightly. Taking a step back, she felt her back jolt into the wall. Grimacing at the wild unfocused look in her eyes, McG threw a cautious look at the orderly on the floor, the nurse shuffling toward her and the Major with his hands resting on his hips. "Give her a little space," McGuire urged, trying to shift positions. "Stitch," he called, glancing over at the doctor. "Come on, man. She"s freaking out enough without that." "Sergeant Khan needs to put down the pole and get back on the bed," the doctor said. "Top," McG said softly into his collar. He wasn"t sure if Adam would still be geared up but it was worth a shot. "You there?" It was Preach"s voice that echoed in his ear. "He"s in the shower. What"s up?" "Top needs to get over here," he whispered. "Now." "What"s wrong?" Hearing the worry in the older man"s voice, Joe turned slightly. "Jaz is getting ready to take out a couple guys." "Copy," Zeke said, already heading toward the back of the quarters. As he passed the kitchen he caught Amir"s attention who halted while pulling a pan from the cupboard. "We need to go," he said before disappearing down the hall. A few minutes later he appeared with Adam behind him, struggling to get his T-shirt down his wet body. "He didn"t say," Preach said over his shoulder as he entered. "Just that it was about to get ugly." "Lovely," Adam said grabbing his identification and side arm from the desk as he passed it. Striding into the hospital, Top glanced down one direction before moving the way Preach gestured. Hearing the big man say room five, he had figured that out by the gallery of gawkers outside the door. Shoving his way through, he shared a look with Amir as they had to step back to allow an orderly to be assisted from the room. Pushing his way in, he grimaced as he saw McG"s face pressed against the wall by the MP that contained him. Nearby Jaz looked like she was ready to strike again at the remaining person in white attempting to get near her. "Jaz!" G called, his voice sounding off. "No!" he yelled as she prepared to strike out. "Jaz! Stand down. That"s an order," Dalton barked, coming around the bed. "Step back," he said lowly to the nurse frozen where she stood at the order. "Easy," he said evenly, refocusing his attention back to Jaz. "Threat is neutralized." "Top?" Jaz said, her voice mirroring the confusion evident on her face. "She"s not sure this is real," Amir said softly to Adam as he gently herded the nurse out of strike range. "They are wearing white," he said glancing around the room at the doctor and nurse wearing a white coat and top knowing Dalton would understand the larger implied meaning. Swallowing, he nodded. "You"re okay. We"re on base," he offered to Jaz. Seeing her arm begin to lower, he took a few steps closer. "You with me?" Holding out his hand, he nodded toward the medical equipment. "How about you give that to me?" "Is that necessary?" Preach said lowly to the military police officer continuing to press McGuire into the wall. When the officer allowed him to stand on his own, Zeke turned toward the doctor. "Doc?" He called tipping his head toward the pair beside him. "Let him go," the Major indicated, dismissing the officers. Turning back to Joe, he ran assessing eyes over him to make sure he wasn"t injured. "Want to tell me what happened?" Shaking his head, McG shrugged. "We were waiting for the doctor to come in and Jaz dozed off so I stepped out to get a cup of coffee," gesturing to the brown liquid on the floor and the styrofoam cup under the edge of the bed. "I was heading back when all hell broke loose in here." A huffed sigh escaped him. "I got in here and Jaz was acting like a samurai warrior" gesturing toward the corner where she and Top were, "one guy was down and this guy," he tipped his head at the MP near the door, "didn"t think I needed to get into it." "How bad is the orderly?" Preach asked, wondering how much fall out would be coming. "Not sure," McG murmured, rotating his arm to ease the sore muscles from being twisted behind him. "Think he just got his bell rung." "Top?" Jasmine said again lowly, her eyes darting around the room trying to figure out what just happened. "You evidently didn"t like the service," Adam said dryly, easing her onto the side of the bed. "Want to tell me what happened?" Easing herself back, Jaz shook her head. "We were waiting for the doctor," she said, hissing as Top moved her feet back on the bed. "I don"t know..." she trailed off, her face showing a hint of fear in the confusion. "I"m afraid it"s our fault," the doctor said apologetically, stepping forward. "And you are?" Top asked coldly, straightening up. "Major Bill "Stitch" Randolph," McG said, stepping up to the bed and making introductions. Gesturing to the nurse, he added, "Lieutenant Marsha Cummings." "My apologies Sergeant Kahn," the doctor said, focusing on Jaz. "I did not realize you were asleep when I told them to prep you so that I could assess your wounds." Turning his gaze back to the commander of the Delta team, he added, "I was also not informed that she had been tortured." Wincing, McG rubbed the back of his neck. "Another doc came in and I told them I wanted Stitch," he explained. "Evidently, something got lost in the transition." "Ya think?" Top said, his voice dry. Staring hard at the doctor, he ran his eyes over the other man"s face, letting his instincts read him. Taking a step closer, McG said lowly, "They"re who you want working on her." When Top looked his way, he tipped his head forward slightly to reinforce his words. Pursing his lips, Top looked hard again at the doctor for a few seconds before there was a subtle softening of his stance. "Captain Adam Dalton." "Captain," Bill acknowledged, locking eyes with bearded man across the bed from him. "I won"t make the same mistake again," he said softly, his words for one man only. A slight inclination of Dalton"s head warned him that he better not. Reaching in his pocket for a pair of gloves, he gestured toward the bed. "Now if you"ll excuse us, we have more pressing matters here." Nodding, Top glanced at the others telling them to head out. Looking back down at Jasmine, he saw her watching him. "You okay?" Swallowing, Jaz shifted nervously. "Yep." "We"ll be outside," he said assuring her. Pausing, to make sure she was okay, he threw out lightly, "No more re-enactments of Shogun," as he headed out. "I"m sorry Top," McG said, meeting his commander in the waiting room as he entered. "They weren"t listening and..." stopping at Adam"s wave. "It"s okay," Adam said, moving past him to the coffee pot. "That orderly gonna be okay?" "Haven"t had a chance to check. She clocked him pretty good but I don"t think there was any permanent damage besides his ego." "I take it you know them?" Amir asked, gesturing down the hall to indicate he was asking about the medical personnel working on Jaz. "Bill and I were in medical school together," McG said, dropping tiredly into a chair. "Got to know Mag"s a couple tours ago." Looking over at Top, he added quietly, "She"s specially trained to deal with victims of trauma and rape." The others froze at the words. "Was Jaz...," Adam asked lowly, his eyes focusing on the cup in his hand. "She wasn"t sure," the medic said softly. Running a hand over the his face, he added, "Better she find out for sure now, than to not know later." Shifting, Adam"s hand tightened on the cup as his eyes turned toward the hallway leading to Jaz"s room. "I"ll wait. You guys head back and crash," he said after a few minutes. Easing himself down, Preach announced, "I"m good here." Amir let a small telling smile cross his lips as he picked up a magazine and found a chair. Staring out the waiting area window, Adam mindlessly watched the daily operations of the base. Part of him knew that waiting in the hospital like this was pointless. He should just go back and crawl into this bunk and sleep for a hundred years. Another part knew he was tired in ways that sleep could not fix. That part of him knew it would be better for everyone if he simply headed over the hut, called up Patricia and told her she needed to find a new commander for the team because he was done - done making life and death decisions, done killing, done watching others be killed. And then there was the helplessness of knowing someone he cared about was being tortured. Had been tortured. The reality Jaz had experienced was likely as worse as he had imagined. The only difference really was that she had been alive when they finally got to her. The word "barely" echoed in his brain. Shifting at the uncomfortable truth of his last thought, Adam ran his hand over the back of his neck and rotated his head to stretch the too taunt muscles there. Dropping his head, he took a depth breath to calm the churning in his chest before forcing the emotion to seep through his body and to turn off the thoughts in his head. Stretched out in a chair as much as he could and still be considered sitting, McG covertly watched his commander and friend. He had no doubt that Adam blamed himself in some way for the events of the past two days. If nothing else, he did it because he was too tired to rationally think about it any other way.

Hercules sighed. He hadn"t had the heart to remind his friend that they had eaten rabbit the whole time they had been there. "Oh, well. At least we won"t starve," he sighed again. "We"ve certainly had worse." Hercules jerked awake. He blinked as a ray from the setting sun shone directly in his eyes. He hadn"t intended on falling asleep. He looked around him, fully expecting to see Iolaus by the campfire, cleaning the rabbit he had gone off to catch. There was no fire, no rabbit, and no Iolaus. The demigod frowned. If the sun was this close to setting, it had been at least three hours since Iolaus had bounded off on the trail of the rabbit. Something must be wrong. Hercules swallowed hard, trying not to come to conclusions. "There are all kinds of reasons why he isn"t back yet, and it doesn"t mean something"s wrong,' he chided himself. He thought about how many times Iolaus had gone off and been late in returning, with a perfectly plausible reason for his delay. Then, he thought about how many times something had actually been wrong. Now, Hercules began to feel concern. He decided to do a little scouting. He began searching in an ever-increasing circle around the camp. Every few minutes, he called Iolaus"s name. By the time the sun had completely set, Hercules"s concern had turned to worry. This forest was not familiar to the demigod, so he knew the rational thing to do was go back to the camp and resume his search in the morning. However, when it came to Iolaus, Hercules was rarely rational. Ever since he had gotten his best friend back from The Light, he had tended to be a little over-protective. Often in the past, the two friends had separated and each had taken care of some business on their own and then met up at a predetermined place and time. But, since the episode with Dahak, Hercules found it hard to let Iolaus out of his sight. This vacation had not only been a way for the two men to get some much needed rest but also a way for Hercules to get his over-protective feelings under control. Once or twice, Iolaus had made a comment about Hercules smothering him, though in deference to his friend"s feelings, he had never used that word. He just reminded Hercules that he didn"t have to be such a "mother hen" as he had put it. Iolaus knew how the demigod felt. Nothing bad had happened to the hunter during their recent adventures, so Hercules had finally allowed himself to relax. Since being here, Hercules had become comfortable again, not needing to keep constant contact with Iolaus. Letting his friend go after the rabbit hadn"t even caused a ripple of concern in his mind. It had been so natural, like the old days. At the time, it had been just a simple hunting expedition with the quarry in plain sight. It should have been a snap for the experienced hunter. And now look--Iolaus was missing. But, was he really? Hercules, fighting against his rising fear, trudged back to the campsite. He stared hard into the dark trees, hoping with all his might that he would see his friend sitting there wondering where on earth Hercules had been because dinner was getting cold. No such luck. Hercules sat up all night, constantly putting logs on the fire he had built. He wanted Iolaus to be able to see the flames from a distance if he had any doubts where the camp was. He knew his partner was the best tracker in all of Greece, but that didn"t soothe his fraying nerves any. The fire, at one point, almost reached the branches over Hercules"s head. He didn"t want to risk starting a forest fire, so he began paying more attention to what he was doing. The son of Zeus sat gazing into the flames, trying to keep his troubled thoughts at bay. They were threatening to go off on wild tangents in all directions. Near midnight, Hercules couldn"t stand the wait any longer and had decided to get up and go searching again, dark or no dark. If Iolaus was out there, he was probably hurt and needed help. Just as Hercules stood up, a figure clad in black leather appeared in a flash of light. "Ares, I don"t have time for you right now," Hercules said in a forcefully irritated voice. "Go away and bother somebody else." "Lose you little buddy?" Ares returned with raised eyebrows. Hercules"s eyes narrowed as he regarded his godly half-brother. "What do you know about Iolaus?" "I know he"s gone, and before you start accusing me of doing something with him, I"ll tell you I had nothing to do with it. Wish I did. It tickles me no end to see you get all wound up every time he"s out of your sight." Hercules hadn"t moved. His expression was pure suspicion. Ares held his hands up in defense. "I don"t have him." Then, with a mischievous grin, he said, "I"ll be glad to help you look, though." "Stay out of my way, Ares," the demigod threatened. "Oh, how did I know you were going to say that? I"m wounded." "Don"t temp me," Hercules grumbled as he took his boot and scraped dirt across the fire. He poured water on the smoldering embers to make sure he left no chance for it to start up again on its own. He walked by the God of War. "Goodbye, Ares. It"s been as pleasant as always." The God of War shrugged and vanished the way he had arrived. Hercules headed off in the direction his partner had taken hours before. He knew the chances of finding Iolaus in the dark weren"t very good, but he had to try. As he walked and, in some instances, stumbled, through the dark forest with the benefit of only minimal moonlight, he strained his eyes and ears to catch any sight or sound that might mean he had found his friend. He kept muttering, "Where are you, Iolaus? Give me a sign, so I can find you." There was nothing. Whatever secrets the forest had, it kept to itself. Iolaus was the one who could read the forest like a map. Hercules would have given anything right then, if he could have borrowed the hunter"s tracking skills. The rising sun found the son of Zeus still moving through the trees. He came across a small stream and stopped long enough to take a long drink. It soothed his parched throat. His stomach reminded him he had missed dinner the night before. "Later,' he inwardly told it. * * * * * * * * * * Iolaus had run off after the rabbit, dodging around trees as he tried to keep the little animal in his sights. Once he almost bashed his head on a low branch. It whizzed over the top of his head, barely skimming his golden locks. He chuckled, thinking that if it had been Hercules, it would have smacked him right in the mouth. The rabbit, as if knowing its pursuer was cursed with an insatiable appetite, seemed to redouble its efforts to escape. It bounded in a fury between the trees. "Come on, little bunny," Iolaus coaxed. He couldn"t stop to nock an arrow, or he would lose the rabbit all together. So, he continued to chase. Just as he ran past a large tree on his right, he heard a loud click straight ahead of him. He knew exactly what it was--a trap that he had just sprung. He immediately dove for the ground. He wasn"t even close to making it before a large rope net slammed into him and in turn, slammed him against the tree. The force knocked him out cold. Ropes extended out from the sides and at the corners of the net. On the end of each one was a piece of metal with pointed teeth. As Iolaus and the net hit the tree, the "arms" of the net were slung around to the opposite side, embedding the teeth deep into the solid trunk. Several minutes passed before Iolaus began to come to. He opened his eyes and waited for them to focus. He tried to reach up to rub the back of his head, which inexplicably ached. He couldn"t move. He looked down to see why his arms were not obeying his command to move. He saw the net surrounding his body, and everything came back to him in a rush. "Nice going, Iolaus,' he muttered disgustedly. He had been so engrossed in the rabbit chase; he had made the worst mistake any hunter could commit: he had set off a trap and been caught in it. Iolaus tried to take several deep breaths to calm his emotions so he could take stock of his predicament, but he was so tightly pressed against the rough bark, he could hardly breathe. The only things he could move were his head and his feet. Every other part of his body was in a vice-like grip. Both arms were tight against his sides. He wiggled his fingers but there was nothing within their range for him to grasp. The hunter looked down and saw his bow and arrows lying a few feet away. They definitely wouldn"t be figuring in his escape plans. He thought of his knife. He saw the hilt sticking out between the ropes. If he could just turn his hand and inch his fingers forward, he could reach it. He worked and worked at it but made little progress. He knew that even if he managed to actually touch the knife, there wasn"t going to be any way he could pull it out of its sheath. Another lost cause. Frustration threatened to overwhelm the hunter. "Iolaus, how do you manage to get yourself into these situations?" he asked out loud. Nobody answered him. But, there was a familiar laugh. When he looked to his left, there stood Ares. The hunter rolled his eyes. "I can help you get out of that mess you"ve gotten yourself into," Ares offered with a fake expression of concern. "Go away, Ares," Iolaus said with exasperation. "I don"t need your help." "Oh, really. Looks to me like you need a great deal of help." Iolaus eyed the God of War. "Are you responsible for this?" "I"m really hurt that you would think so. I don"t need to set traps for you. You seem to find real ones all by yourself. Sure you don"t want my help?" "I"m sure." "All right, then," Ares said as he turned to go. He turned back and held his hand up. "I bet in a few days, you"ll be willing to change your mind." "Never. I don"t want to be in your debt." "We"ll see. Oh, by the way, if you"re counting on Hercules to rescue you, forget it. He is out looking, of course, but...." Iolaus smiled at the thought, knowing his friend would soon be there to get him loose and tease him in the process. His smile turned to a frown at Aires"s next words. "It seems poor Hercules is so frantic to find you; he isn"t paying as much attention to the trail as he should. It seems he"s following a false one. Too bad. By the time he does make it here, you"ll have... Well, let"s just say there won"t be much left." Ares gave a little wave and disappeared in a flash. Iolaus closed his eyes and shook his head. He had no doubt that Ares had seen to it Hercules was being led in the exact opposite direction. He also had no doubt that his buddy would eventually get here. Would it be in time? Iolaus chided himself. Of course, it"ll be in time. There was no way the son of Zeus was going to let him die out here. There was just no way. The night was a long one for Iolaus. He had tried and tried to work the net loose enough to allow him to move. He had to grit his teeth against the pain caused by the rough rope scraping the skin raw on the back of his left hand. He had to stop over and over to calm himself and let the pain subside before trying again. He was sure if he could get just a bit of play in the ropes, he could reach his knife and get it out. Cutting the ropes would be easy, and he would be free. It wasn"t happening. Hour after hour went by, and he was no closer to getting loose than when the net had first trapped him. He softly cursed the man who had devised this trap. But, being the hunter he was, he had to admit, begrudgingly, that it was a good one. He would have been even more appreciative, if he had been looking at this from the other side. The hunter finally gave up, at least for the time being. He decided to try and get some sleep and wait for Hercules to find him. It took a long time to still his mind, but a couple of hours before dawn, he fell into a dreamless sleep. * * * * * * * * * * Hercules"s stomach reached the point that it wouldn"t be stilled. He was hungry. In an attempt to quiet it so he could spend all his thoughts on the search for his partner, the demigod found a bush loaded with berries and grabbed several handfuls. He stuffed them in his mouth, not willing to spend a moment more than necessary eating. He did take a second to snap a branch holding a more of the berries and carry them with him. He ate as he walked. Just as he finished the last berry and threw the branch aside, he stopped and looked around him. There was something very familiar about the area where he was. Then it hit him. He had passed the same twisted old tree before. A closer inspection of the trail showed that his own footprints were there. "Damn." How long had be been going in a circle? How much time had he wasted? The obvious answer was that he had been going in one huge circle almost the whole time. So, the whole time had been a waste. Hercules bent down and ran his hand over the dirt. "Damn!" he said again, this time louder and much more vehemently. He thought of Iolaus, out there alone, probably hurt, probably looking for his friend to rescue him. Time could be of the essence, and here he was going in circles. He wasn"t the tracker Iolaus was, but he wasn"t the worst one around, either. How could he have been fooled so badly? He finally decided he just hadn"t been paying enough attention. His fear and worry had dulled his senses. "I"m sorry, Iolaus." Hercules looked at the sky and calculated which direction the hunter had gone in the day before. He headed that way, hoping his friend hadn"t let the rabbit take him too far. With his stomach somewhat satisfied, he trained every ounce of his concentration on the task at hand. "I"ll find you, Iolaus. I promise." Now, all he had to do was keep that promise. * * * * * * * * * * Iolaus woke up slowly. The first thing he became aware of was the throbbing in his head. The second thing he became aware of was a rabbit sitting several feet in front of him. Iolaus blinked several times. The rabbit was still there. Iolaus"s eyes got wide in disbelief. "Is that my rabbit?' he asked himself. He stared at the furry little creature and became convinced it was laughing at him. He half expected it to start laughing out loud. It was Iolaus that started laughing, when he realized the incongruity of the situation. In total desperation, he attempted to make a deal with the rabbit. "I won"t eat you or any of your family for a whole year, if you come gnaw on these ropes." He shook his head. "Iolaus, you"re really babbling this time. Hercules will have you put away." The rabbit continued to stare at him as if knowing he couldn"t hurt it. It seemed to be saying, "Chase me for dinner, will you." The humor vanished when Iolaus realized how thirsty he was. His mouth was dry, and his tongue felt like it was getting thicker by the minute. He told himself that he had gone a lot longer without water before. He shouldn"t be this thirsty this soon. "Something"s not right." As soon as he uttered the words, the "rabbit" turned into Ares. "I might have known," Iolaus said exasperated. "Getting thirsty, are we?" the God of War asked. "I told you to go away." "You don"t want any water?" Ares asked as a large mug of water appeared in his hand. He poured some of it out on the ground. "There"s plenty more just for you." "Even if I consented to drink your water, I doubt I could live with the price you"d ask." "Oh, it"s free." "Nothing with you is ever free, Ares. Just go away. I"ll do fine until Hercules comes." Ares gave an exaggerated sigh. "Still waiting for your buddy? Don"t you think he should have been here by now? He must have given up looking." "If there"s one thing in this world I"m sure of, it"s that Hercules will never give up on me. You ought to know that by now." Ares did. He knew it all too well. Look what had happened with that whole Dahak thing. Ares didn"t want to dwell on that idea too long. He had not acquitted himself very well then. It was even worse later when he had tried to deal with Michael. The leather-clad god visibly shook as he banished the memories. He then poured all the contents of the mug on the ground. "Your choice. The next animal that shows up might be a bit more fearsome than a little bunny rabbit." The evil laugh that remained behind the god as he vanished in a flash of light left Iolaus with a crawly feeling running down his back. He tried hard not to think of what might show up. If something mean and toothy appeared and looked at him for dinner the way he had looked at that rabbit, he was doomed. Iolaus was dozing, when a sound brought him alert with a start. It was a growl. A large black leopard stood twenty feet away and regarded him with fierce yellow eyes. It licked its lips. Dinner. It didn"t look as if it was going to wait too long to begin dining. The hunter was often described as fearless. That wasn"t true. He just had to work hard at overcoming his fears. Dying didn"t frighten him. He certainly had enough experience in that department. As a warrior, he was always prepared for it. He wanted to go out for the final time in battle, preferably with Hercules at his side. But, being torn apart by this cat scared him beyond words. If he could do battle with it, he might not win, but he would at least have a fighting chance, even if he had to do it without a weapon. "Nice kitty," Iolaus said and then rolled his eyes. "He doesn"t understand you, Iolaus," the hunter admonished himself. Then, a thought came to him. Maybe, this one was also Ares, trying to scare him. He looked into the cat"s eyes. "Very good, Ares. This is definitely more fearsome than a rabbit." A growl answered him. The leopard walked several feet closer. "Listen cat. I"m too tough for you. You wouldn"t really enjoy having me for dinner. Go away!" The leopard regarded the blond hunter and licked his lips again. He showed no signs of doing as he was told. "Stay calm," came a familiar voice from behind him on the right. "Hercules!" The relief at the sound of the demigod"s voice rushed out of every pore in Iolaus"s body. "I"m calm. I"m calm." He knew, though, that the tight net was the only thing keeping his knees from giving way. The leopard looked at Hercules as he entered Iolaus"s field of vision. It turned to face the demigod. When it leapt, Hercules balled his fist and punched it in the jaw. The big cat dropped like a stone and lay crumpled on the ground. Hercules walked over to his partner. He regarded the hunter"s predicament and smiled. The fear and then relief in his eyes belied the humor reflected on his face. Iolaus decided to keep the tone light to spare them both an overly emotional scene. He knew as well as anything what Hercules had just gone through. "Don"t you dare laugh at me. I never saw it coming." "Would I laugh at you?" the demigod asked with raised eyebrows. "In an instant. Cut me loose, please. I"ve been trussed up like this since right after I left camp." Hercules walked around to the back of the tree and looked at the embedded metal teeth. "Nice trap," he admired. "That"s easy for you to say," Iolaus grumbled. He refrained from expressing any more negative feelings. Truth was he was too overjoyed to spend time fussing. In less than a minute, the net fell away and Iolaus took a step forward. He swayed, almost losing his balance, and was caught in the strong arms of his best friend. For just a second, Hercules squeezed him tighter, holding Iolaus next to his heart. Then, he released his grip. He continued to hold Iolaus"s arm for support. Iolaus looked up into the all-too-familiar blue eyes. The look that passed between the two men spoke volumes--of deep friendship, of love, of loyalty, of the sharing of two souls and two hearts. Still, the hunter felt the need to say, "Thank you, Herc. I knew you"d come." "Always," Hercules whispered, his heart as full of joy as the day Michael had sent Iolaus back from The Light to be by his side. Iolaus straightened up and took a deep breath. With an almost imperceptible nod, he indicated he could stand on his own. Hercules released his hold. For just a second, the hunter wasn"t sure if he could really stand unaided. He did and nodded again. He walked over to the leopard. The end of his bow was lying under the big cat. He bent down and pulled it out cautiously. "You should have left when I told you to go," he said sternly to the unconscious creature. When he looked at Hercules, the demigod was laughing. Iolaus couldn"t help but laugh, too. "Boy, I bet he"ll be mad when he wakes up." "Yeah," Hercules agreed. "He missed his meal." Iolaus looked at his friend wide-eyed as his words sank in. Then, he giggled. "I"ve missed a few of my own. I"m starved." "And, thirsty, too, I bet. There"s a small river near here. The meal will take a little longer, unless, of course, you caught that rabbit." Hercules pretended to look around for the animal. Iolaus stared at his friend for just a second and then shook his head. "No," he admitted in a small voice. "Don"t worry, we"ll scare up something. How about some fish?" With a shared laugh, the two friends started off in the direction of the river. "You won"t believe it, Herc. I was chasing the rabbit and then..." The End

"She"s prepared. You can count on it," Nasir said with assurance. He drew both of his swords and started forward. The others drew their own weapons and followed him. Just as they reached the front door, it opened. It wasn"t Old Bett that was standing there facing them. It was Gulnar. "Welcome. I"ve been waiting for you." He stepped aside and swept his left arm toward the inside of the house as an invitation for them to enter. John, closest to the door, hesitated but then decided that inside or outside, Gulnar was in control and could overpower them any time he wished. They couldn"t get away if they tried. He boldly walked in. When everyone was inside, Gulnar turned and smiled at them. "I"m sure you were expecting to find Old Bett. She isn"t home at the moment. Besides, all you wanted from her was to find me. Here I am," he said, spreading his arms wide. The cold glint in his eyes betrayed the smile on his face. Will, not wanting to waste time, said, "What have you done to Robin?" "It will be my pleasure to explain it to you," Gulnar said with an even broader smile. "Robin has caused me a great deal of trouble. I want him to pay for it." "You"re mad," John couldn"t resist saying. Gulnar laughed. "So I"ve been told. It"s the curse of those who command special powers. I use those powers to get what I want. Wouldn"t you in my place?" "How?" John asked simply. He was sure he wasn"t going to like the answer. He was also sure it would be the truth. The sorcerer was too anxious to let them know what he had done. "I originally planned to have Robin kill all of you and then kill himself," Gulnar began. "Robin figured that out already and kept himself from doing it, even though he couldn"t stop the attempt." Tuck felt the need to inform Gulnar how hard it was to manipulate Robin. "Yes," Gulnar continued. "I must admit I underestimated Robin"s affection for all of you." H e made a face like someone who had just bitten into a bitter apple. "Then I realized that if Robin killed himself, his suffering would end too quickly. I want him to suffer a long, long time." "How did you do it?" Tuck inquired of the sorcerer. "Old Bett. She "does things" for me from time to time. She"s a witch, though a minor one. But, with my help, she cast the spell on Robin when she looked into his eyes and touched him." A prideful grin crossed Gulnar"s face. He was clearly enjoying this. John fought the urge to give in to the rising fury he felt. He took a deep breath to steady himself, and in a calm voice, he asked, "What"s your plan?" "Robin will wake up soon after you get back to him. He"ll continue to look like he"s asleep, but he"ll hear and be aware of everything that goes on around him. No matter how hard he tries, he"ll be unable to communicate in any way." No one spoke. Gulnar knew they believed him, but he also knew they weren"t going to give him the satisfaction of telling him that. The sorcerer smiled and continued. "Can you think of a more fitting revenge?" Gulnar laughed. "He"s cold, too, isn"t he? Just an added bit of discomfort. He"ll be constantly cold, and nothing will warm him up. " Gulnar couldn"t help but gloat. "He"ll be screaming in his mind to get out, but he can"t. He"ll suffer like that for years. Just think of it. It"s so perfect." Gulnar laughed again, loud and long. John closed his eyes and shook his head. It was far worse than he could have imagined in his most dreadful nightmare. Thinking of Robin suffering in that condition was too horrible to think about. "He"ll die without food and water," Tuck pointed out logically, thinking for a brief moment that he was pointing something out that the sorcerer hadn"t thought of. "Not under this spell," Gulnar replied, dashing Tuck"s hopes. "It suspends everything but the mind. He won"t be able to sleep, either. He"ll be forever awake. What do you think?" Gulnar asked, obviously overjoyed with the brilliance of his plan. Will raised both hands and lunged for Gulnar"s neck. John grabbed him and pulled him back before he could touch the sorcerer. John held on tight to his friend, who struggled to get free. "Don"t worry, I won"t turn him into a pig, though I"d like to. I want every one of you to think of Robin spending the rest of eternity trapped in his own body, never able to get a moment of relief. And, an added benefit is: he"ll also suffer knowing each of you is suffering, too, because you can"t help him. And, even after you all die off, one by one, he"ll go on that way. Beautiful, isn"t it?" "What do you want from us?" Much asked from the edge of the circle. He was willing to give anything, even his own life, to save Robin. So, he risked the sorcerer"s wrath and boldly moved forward. "Why, nothing," Gulnar said surprised. "None of you have anything I need or want. Even if you did, it couldn"t possibly be worth Robin"s punishment. He"s suffering and out of my way for good. I"ll have my final revenge." The outlaws were crestfallen. Gulnar looked at the sad little group. "I"ll let you go, if you leave now," he hissed. There didn"t seem to be anything else to say. There was no chance to make a bargain with the sorcerer. He had made that perfectly clear. Their mission had been a failure. Finding Gulnar had not helped Robin at all. The only thing it had accomplished was to make them feel a whole lot worse about the situation. Gulnar waved a hand toward the door. "The offer will not last long. Go!" The smile had quickly turned to an angry scowl. The outlaws turned and walked out of the little house. The misery that permeated the group was oppressive. "One final thing," Gulnar called after them. "Herne can"t help," The five men trudged along, putting one foot in front of the other. It was a chore; their devastated minds making their legs feel like lead. Finally, when they left the woods and were back on the road, Much said, "He can"t be right about Herne. It was Herne who saved Robin when he was dying from that poisoned arrow. He can save him now, can"t he? Gulnar just said that to upset us more. Right?" "I don"t know, Much" Tuck said sadly. "I just don"t know." "After we go check on Robin and Marion, we"ll find Herne," John said. "I refuse to believe he can"t do anything." He felt as adamant about Herne"s ability to help Robin as Much did. Nasir was the first to start toward their camp. He had been tortured as a young man in his homeland. He knew the agony of physical pain. But, he couldn"t begin to imagine the kind of torture Robin would be forced to go through under the sorcerer"s curse. Nasir tried to shake the feeling of helplessness that flooded through him. Much was feeling the same sense of helplessness. It was as if someone had told him Robin was about to die, and no one could stop it. He may be physically there, but everything that made him Robin would be gone. Much continued to stumble along behind the others. John, Will and Tuck were totally defeated. There was no other word for it. They had set out with high hopes of finding Gulnar and reversing his spell. They failed. Failure spelled defeat. Defeat meant they couldn"t save Robin from the hell he was destined to endure. Herne was Robin"s only chance. Marion heard someone coming through the trees. She looked toward the sound and jumped up happily when she saw it was her friends. A second later, her face fell when she saw their expressions. They didn"t have the answer. "You didn"t find the old woman," she stated before any of them could speak. "We found Gulnar himself," John informed her. "For all the good that did," Will added bitterly. He forced himself not to look at Robin. He couldn"t bear it right now. He stomped over to a log and slumped down on it. John continued. "He"s the one behind this just like Robin thought. He got that old woman to cast one of his spells on Robin. We tried to bargain with him, but he said this plan of his was worth more to him than anything we could give him." "What plan?" Marion asked. She was even more puzzled when John motioned her to the other side of the campfire, away from where Robin lay. He wasn"t sure if Robin was now awake, as Gulnar had promised. "He told us that Robin would wake up---inside." Marion turned a questioning look up at John. What on earth was he talking about? "Inside?" she questioned. "That devil said Robin will be able to hear everything we say. He"ll know what"s going on around him. You know he can"t move or communicate in any way. Gulnar says he"ll remain that way for..." John had to stop and clear his throat before he could make the next statement. "For eternity. And, he"ll always be cold, never able to warm up or to sleep." Marion stood horrified. Her own mind was reeling. She couldn"t possibly have heard John right. As the full horror of it hit her, she felt faint. John grabbed her and eased her into a sitting position on the ground. "It can"t be true, John," she whispered. "It can"t be true." When her mind finally grasped the meaning of John"s words, she began to sob uncontrollably. Much was sitting down near the fire, his head in his hands. He had shut the world out and was lost in his own misery. Will thought back to the time they spent in Cromm Cruac. He shook his head to clear the thought. The only good thing that came out of that experience was that the devil that almost took their lives was destroyed for all time just before he was able to destroy them. Gulnar fell into the flaming pool and should have died. Then, after the fiasco with Fenris, the sorcerer"s man-beast creation had turned on its master. Gulnar should have died then, too. Now, it was time to send the sorcerer to Hell. Tuck started to say something to John, when he said, "Look." They all turned to see Herne standing at the edge of the trees. Continued -- SORCERER"S CURSE by White Wolf Chapter Four The look on Herne"s face was grave. He was staring at Robin. Herne walked straight toward his son. He didn"t glance at anyone else. In fact, he acted like they weren"t even there. Herne approached Robin and bent down next to him. He reached out and put his hand on Robin"s chest. "My son," he said. "I knew something was wrong. Your spirit was hidden from me." Barely above a whisper, he uttered a few words that none of the others could make out. John had never seen Herne like this. He looked and sounded like any father who finds his son in trouble. Will, for his part, fully expected that after Herne uttered those few words, he would help Robin to his feet. It wasn"t happening, and Will couldn"t understand why not. He came very close to coming out and demanding an explanation. "I cannot break Gulnar"s spell," the Lord of the Trees said, though his eyes never left Robin. Much was bewildered. How could Herne not break the spell? He was a god, wasn"t he? "Why?" he found himself asking the forest god. "I cannot explain to you the workings of the Powers of Light and Darkness. For now, Gulnar has the upper hand, but it does not have to remain so. I will tell you what you must do." Much still didn"t understand. None of the others really did, either. They were certainly willing to listen to what Herne had to say. "Tell us, and we"ll do it," John said. "You must offer Gulnar something he wants even more than he wants revenge against Robin." "We already figured that out," Will said impatiently, then immediately regretted it, when Herne turned a withering gaze on him. Will almost looked around to see if there was a hole nearby large enough for him to fall into. "Sorry," he said, barely above a whisper. "Gulnar already told us there"s nothing he wants more than what he"s doing to Robin," Tuck told Herne. The Lord of the Trees looked evenly at the friar. "There is one thing." Nasir gave a knowing nod. He knew exactly what Herne was referring to. "You know," Herne said to the Saracen. "The Silver Arrow." "Of course," John said, snapping his fingers. "Gulnar would give anything for it." The big man frowned. "Surely, you won"t let him have it?" Herne didn"t answer the question directly. Instead, he said, "He must free Robin, then he"ll pay for what he"s done." Marion had never heard Herne speak with such anger. For the first time, she truly believed that Robin not just could be, but would be, saved. Herne told them what they needed to do. He looked over at Robin. "He was not awake, yet. Now, he won"t be until Gulnar comes. Robin won"t suffer." With that a mist formed around Herne, and he vanished. Marion looked down at Robin and was infinitely grateful that for the time being, he was at peace. John, who smiled and nodded, felt a great relief sweep over him. They were far from succeeding, but with Herne helping them, he believed they would soon get the upper hand on that madman. He didn"t allow himself to even consider the possibility that if it all went wrong, not only would Robin remain a captive but Gulnar would have the Silver Arrow. That, too, was a prospect too terrible to contemplate. "So, who goes to tell Gulnar?" Tuck asked. "Me," Will volunteered eagerly. "No, it has to be someone Gulnar would believe," John told Will, who stared at him. "Why wouldn"t he believe me?" Will demanded. "I can be convincing." "You can be a hothead, too," John reminded him. "One word to goad you, and you"d be off on him, get yourself killed, and Robin would still be trapped. We need someone who can beg without raising suspicion." "That would be me," Marion said. Before anyone could object, she added, "Don"t you dare say I can"t do it because I"m a woman." Her tone was pure defiance. "You know we think of you as an equal," John began. He got no further. "Gulnar would believe me because he knows I love Robin, and it is perfectly natural that I would go to him and beg for Robin"s release. A broken-hearted woman will offer anything to free the man she loves. Right? She would even offer the Silver Arrow." Marion had a triumphant look on her face. She was proud of her logical proposal. Even more important, she believed in it. Tuck raised his eyebrows at John. "She"s right." He couldn"t argue with her reasoning. "She"s the best one to pull this off." "I know," John admitted reluctantly. * * * * * * * * * * An hour later, John said to Marion, "You have it all straight?" "Yes, I know what I must do." She held the hand of each of her friends. "Be careful yourselves. I think I have the easiest part in all this." "We"ll be all right," Much assured her as she took his hand. "You be careful. Robin will never forgive us if anything happens to you." He spoke with the confidence of someone sure of success. Herne had completely turned his thinking around. Marion smiled and turned to go. Nasir accompanied her to the edge of Brighton Wood. They had given Pemberton a wide berth, not wanting to be delayed by small talk if they met someone from the village. Nasir stopped short of entering the forest, afraid Gulnar might read into his presence something more than him just being an escort. They couldn"t afford any mistakes at this point. "You must go now and join the others," Marion told him. "I can make it from here." The Saracen stood and watched as she disappeared into Brighton Wood. He turned and headed back the way they had come. Nasir had told Marion how to negotiate the twisting trail to Old Bett"s house. It didn"t seem too difficult when he explained it, but now she saw how confusing it really was. She took several wrong turns and got lost. She stood, debating which way to go next, when she heard a voice to her left. "It"s this way," came an all too familiar, grating voice When Marion looked at Gulnar, he had a smirk on his face. "You"ve come to beg for Robin"s freedom," he told her condescendingly. "No, not exactly. I don"t think that would do any good. You have no capacity for sympathy," she told him frankly. "So, why are you here?" "To offer you something you want more than revenge against Robin." "There"s nothing I want that much," the sorcerer told her. He couldn"t imagine what she had in mind, but she had come all this way, so she evidently believed it was important. He was willing to listen. It might prove amusing. Marion steeled herself and looked at Gulnar evenly and, she hoped, bravely. It wasn"t the way she felt inside. "The Silver Arrow," she stated flatly. "The Silver Arrow," he repeated, trying hard not to betray his excitement. But, the glow in his eyes did betray him. Marion had been watching closely for Gulnar"s reaction, and when she saw his eyes light up, she told herself happily, "We"ve got him.' With disdain, Gulnar said, "You expect me to believe you would give me the Silver Arrow, Herne"s pride and joy?" "For Robin"s life, yes. I"d give you anything." Marion measured her words carefully. She had to strike the perfect balance between the sincerity she actually felt and the lie she was telling. Hopefully, Gulnar"s desire for the Silver Arrow would outweigh his instinctive suspicion. Gulnar approached Marion. He leaned toward her until his face was only inches from hers. "And, just how do you plan to get the Silver Arrow from Herne?" Marion held her ground, fighting the inner fear that began to seize her heart. "Herne trusts me. He trusts all of us. We can go to his cave and get close enough to steal it." Gulnar"s laughter split the air around them. "He"s a god. He isn"t going to be fooled by you. He"ll know what you"re after." "Not if you disguise my purpose. You can do that, can"t you?" Marion said it with a tone that she hoped would inflame the sorcerer"s ego. It was a direct challenge to his powers. The sorcerer"s eyes narrowed. He clearly suspected something was going on beyond what Marion was telling him. He was also clearly intrigued. He ignored her question. "I could get the arrow and leave Robin as he is." "To get the Silver Arrow you would have to release Robin first." Gulnar paced up and down for several minutes. He debated back and forth between releasing Robin and getting the Silver Arrow and trying to get the arrow without freeing his enemy. Obviously, the latter would be preferable, but perhaps he could go ahead and do as Marion wished. It would be far easier, and then he could get his revenge on Robin later. More likely, this was some kind of trick. But, what? Herne couldn"t free Robin from the spell. This Gulnar knew. If the plan was to capture him, how would that help the Hooded Man? He was sure above all else that saving Robin was the ultimate goal. All the while this inner conflict was going on in the sorcerer"s mind, Marion was standing calmly. It took the greatest force of will to appear that way. She had to remind herself to breathe. The sorcerer adopted a friendly demeanor. "I know you suspect a trick from me just as I do from you. If we are each to get what we want, there will have to be a certain amount of trust between us." Marion fully expected that he was lying to her. It was all too easy. The suspicion she felt was easily read on her face. She forced a smile. "You are the one with the power," Marion reminded him. "You can go back on your word, and there is nothing I can do about it. I have no power beyond the love I have for Robin. And, that will hardly make a difference to you." "True," Gulnar acknowledged. "So, I ask, why are you so willing to betray Herne?" "Robin will be free." She said it with such conviction that Gulnar had no doubt she was sincere. He knew right then that the Silver Arrow would soon be his. The prospect delighted him. To Marion he said, "Having Robin know I have the Silver Arrow, and knowing he can try all he wants to defeat me, and it will never happen, may be an even better revenge than where he is now. Having Herne know it, too, is a bonus." Gulnar clearly relished the thought. Inwardly, Marion was willing Gulnar to accept the deal. Finally, Gulnar came to a stop and faced Marion. "I will do as you wish. You can have Robin back, and I will have the Silver Arrow. I"m sure you won"t agree, but I have far the better bargain." He turned away. "We"ll go there now." If he expected Marion to hesitate, he was disappointed. She followed him obediently. * * * * * * * * * * Nasir, who had returned to the camp, and who was now hidden near the trail, saw Gulnar and Marion approaching. He quickly and quietly ran to the camp to tell the others. They were waiting when Marion and the sorcerer entered the clearing. "Ah, the Outlaws of Sherwood Forest. I expected nothing less," Gulnar greeted. Behind him, Marion was smiling and nodding, although Gulnar"s very presence told them he had agreed to the deal. Gulnar turned to Marion. "Yes, she"s right. I have agreed to her heartfelt offer. It was very touching. She"s quite the actress. You should have been there." The sarcasm fairly dripped from his tongue. The outlaws, to a man, glared at the sorcerer. Gulnar walked over to where Robin lay. There was a triumphant smile on his face. "I dearly love the thought of you being in your prison." He stood silently for a few minutes. He was unaware, of course, that Robin had never awakened thanks to Herne and thus, couldn"t hear the sorcerer"s gloating words. No one else dared move. They barely even breathed. Gulnar"s eyes narrowed. "I will set you free," he told Robin, as he knelt down beside him. "But, I think you will find the prison you will soon experience far worse. You won"t be able to help the people you came here to help. They will curse your helplessness. They will hate you. Very fitting, I think."

"Well... Nah, I don"t guess that"s possible. Of course, I could test that theory and see if it really is true. I mean, how about if I say I"d love for a beautiful woman to cross our path---uh, my path." The last statement Iolaus made with a dreamy expression on his face. Hercules just rolled his eyes. His best friend was the consummate ladies man. Iolaus just plain loved women, and they just plain loved him. Hercules actually enjoyed watching the blond warrior weave his considerable charms on the female population. If he had been a sailor, he would have had a girl in every port. As it was, he had one in a fair number of the towns and villages of Greece. Hercules laughed. "Could you conjure up one with a sister?" "Go ahead and make fun." Iolaus grinned at the demigod, standing and looking at him with a bemused expression. "I"m serious," Hercules insisted. "Okay. I"ll ask for one with a sister." He closed his eyes and made his plea to Aphrodite for a beautiful woman who wanted nothing more than to love and pamper him. "Oh, yeah, and one with a sister for Hercules." He thanked her in advance. Iolaus opened his eyes and sighed. The two men started down the road once again. Neither spoke for a long time. After a while, Hercules asked, "When are these women supposed to show up?" Iolaus ignored the somewhat sarcastic question, although he could hear the humorous tone with which it was asked. When they came clear of a large formation of boulders, they both stopped and stared. There in the middle of the road was a woman trying to re-attach a wagon wheel that had fallen off the rear axle. Even at a distance, it was obvious she was a very lovely and winsome woman. Iolaus gave his friend a quick glance. "Sorry, Herc, there"s just the one for me." He shrugged and ran forward. "May I be of assistance?" "Oh, yes, that would be wonderful. I"ve been trying to get this wheel back on for half an hour." She looked Iolaus up and down with admiration. "I"m sure you can do it with no trouble." "Right," the hunter agreed. "No trouble at all." Hercules stopped near the boulders to watch. He had no intention in interfering with his friend"s effort to be obliging, and, of course, to make a good impression. Iolaus struggled and struggled, but the stubborn axle remained too low to allow the hole in the wheel"s center to meet up with it. He groaned from the effort. Iolaus was certainly strong, but the wagon proved to be just a bit too heavy. "What are you carrying in this thing, a load of iron bars?" "Just a few things I brought from home to take to my sister," the woman replied sweetly. "Sister?" Iolaus asked hopefully. When the woman batted her long eyelashes over her deep sea-green eyes at the hunter, he forgot all about the sister and redoubled his effort to lift the wagon. It still refused to cooperate. He groaned again, this time in utter exasperation. "Can I help?" Hercules asked as he walked up beside the wagon. Iolaus sighed. He knew he couldn"t get the task done by himself. Wishing and hoping wasn"t going to get the wagon up those extra couple of inches. He nodded. Hercules toyed with the idea of groaning the way Iolaus had while trying to lift the wagon to make it look like it really was an effort even for a big man. But, he knew as soon as the woman found out who he was, she would know it was all an act. He didn"t want to spoil anything for Iolaus, so he did what he had to do. He lifted the wagon with one hand and held it up easily while Iolaus slid the wheel into place. The woman"s eyes got big. "I"ve never seen anyone do that before. You must be as strong as Hercules," she remarked. "He gets that a lot," Iolaus said as he locked the wheel into place with the cross bolt. When he straightened up and turned around, he said, "Actually, he is Hercules." It took a second to recover from the surprise before the woman said, "I"m Radona. Glad to meet you, Hercules." Hercules turned and put his hand on Ioluas"s shoulder. "And, this is my best friend, Iolaus." "I"m glad to meet you, too, Iolaus. Thank you for your help---both of you," she added. "I"d be stuck out here all night, if you hadn"t stopped to help me." "Stopping to help a beautiful woman is the most important thing we do," Iolaus said as he gazed at her. The woman looked demurely at the ground. The pink that flooded her face was very becoming with her sea-green eyes and raven-black hair. Blushing was the one thing that could win Iolaus over quicker than anything else a woman could do. He found it irresistible. He also found it very refreshing from some of the brazen women he had encountered on his travels in Greece and elsewhere. Hercules could see what was coming. Iolaus was about to fall in "love" again. Most of the woman the hunter was attracted to were simple diversions, not that he toyed with them. His feelings were always heart-felt. They just didn"t go very deeply beyond temporary infatuation. But, there was always that one chance in a hundred when his feelings were genuinely deep and true. Not knowing which this could turn out to be, Hercules kept silent. Whichever way this went, he wasn"t going to interfere with the delight Iolaus took in the opposite sex. While his partner stood and gazed at Radona, Hercules asked, "Could we accompany you to town? You are going to Thrace, aren"t you?" "Yes," the woman replied, still a little flushed from the stare she was continuing to receive from the clearly infatuated hunter. "My sister lives there. She"s going to have a baby, and I promised her some of these things that belonged to us when we were children." "Why are you traveling alone?" Iolaus finally roused himself long enough to inquire. "I had someone to help me. A man my father had hired to accompany me. He stole a small jewelry box I had and ran off. I had no choice but to continue on by myself. Then, the wheel fell off and...well, you came along." Hercules had frowned at the mention of the theft. "Did the man get all your jewelry?" "It wasn"t much, mostly keepsakes that aren"t worth much except to my sister and me. That"s what hurts the most. I would have given him all the money I had, if he had just left those things." Radona "s eyes had filled with tears as she spoke. Iolaus produced a piece of cloth and handed it to her to dab her eyes. She did so. "I"m sorry. I don"t usually break down like this in front of strangers," she apologized. Iolaus smiled sympathetically. "We aren"t strangers. Not anymore." The hunter put his arm around her and turned her toward the road. "We"ll see that you get to your sister"s without any more trouble," he promised. He looked back over his shoulder. "Herc, you don"t mind bringing the wagon, do you? I have to help..." He grinned as he dipped his head slightly in Radona"s direction, .."You know." Hercules watched Iolaus and Radona head off toward Thrace, the hunter already beginning to regale the woman with the tale of their battle with the creature they had just faced. The demigod shook his head. "No, of course not," he muttered. "Happy to. No trouble at all." He shook his head again, walked to the front of the wagon and took hold of the horse"s bridle. "Come on, we"ll keep each other company." Part Two By the time the little group reached Thrace, Iolaus and Radona were both laughing. Hercules couldn"t help but smile. It was good to see his friend having a good time. It hadn"t been that long ago since Hercules had brought the hunter back from the Underworld after defeating Hera"s fire Enforcer. For a while it had seemed that Iolaus"s laughter was strained and his attempts at humor only halfhearted. Now, the old Iolaus seemed to be back. When they arrived at the house that Radona indicated was her sister"s, she stopped and turned to both men. "I don"t know how to thank you for all you"ve done. I"ll talk to my sister. I"m sure that she"ll be happy to invite you to stay for dinner." "We don"t want to intrude on your reunion," Hercules told her. "Nonsense. I know my sister. She"ll be thrilled to have you." Radona"s expression said, "And so will I,' as she looked at the hunter demurely. "What about her husband?" Iolaus asked. "He might object." "He"s in Athens. He"ll be back next week, long before the baby is born, which won"t be for another month. Besides, if he was here, I"m sure he would welcome you, too. Wait here." Iolaus grinned from ear to ear as he and Hercules stood outside the small house and waited. "When I asked for a "sister", I didn"t mean a married one," Hercules said, pretending to be upset, "that is going to have a baby," he finished. The hunter shrugged, "Blame Aphrodite. You heard me ask her. Maybe, she thought you needed a ready-made family." Before Hercules could comment on that bit of speculation, Radona appeared and held the door open. "She"s excited just like I knew she"d be. Come in." Once inside, introductions were made all around. Setara, Radona"s sister, greeted them warmly and said, "I"m honored to welcome you to my home. And, thank you for helping my sister. You truly are heroes." Iolaus almost blushed but managed to offer a smile instead. "We were happy to do it," Hercules said, eyeing his smitten partner. "You are both staying for dinner, and I won"t take no for an answer." Setara"s voice was firm and left no room for argument. All during dinner, Iolaus hung on every word Radona said and gazed at her like a love-struck teenager. By the time everyone had finished eating, Iolaus was totally smitten with the raven-haired young woman. "That was wonderful," Hercules said as he pushed himself back from the table. "I haven"t eaten that much in ages." He almost added that he left that to Iolaus, but refrained from actually saying it. He had noticed that love-struck or not, Iolaus had eaten enough food for three people. Even as long as he"d been a witness to it, he still always marveled at how much the compact hunter could put away. "Setara is one of the best cooks in all of Thrace." "I can well believe that. Right, Ioluas?" No response. "Iolaus?" "Yes?" the hunter answered, though it was clear by his faraway tone that he wasn"t paying any attention to the conversation. His eyes were glued to Radona. "You"re so beautiful," Iolaus blurted out, continuing to stare. Radona blushed and smiled. "Thank you, Iolaus." "It"s such a lovely night out, will you come with me, and we can look at the stars together?" "That would be nice," Radona replied. "Radona, I don"t think that"s wise," Setara said in a warning tone. "You know..." Radona narrowed her eyes and shot her sister a look that told her not to interfere. Setara closed her mouth and got up quickly to clear the dishes from the table. Ioalus was totally oblivious of what had just happened. Hercules, on the other hand, picked up on it immediately. He wasn"t sure just what was going on, but he suddenly had a very bad feeling. There was definitely an undercurrent between the two women, but Hercules had no idea what might be about to happen. As if on cue, the door burst open and a man entered. He was tall, dark and angry. "Radona!" he shouted, when he spied Iolaus holding her hand, as he was about to help her up from her chair. Hercules heard Setara say, "I knew it." He jumped up and faced the irate man. "Who are you, and why did you force your way in here?" "He"s my husband," Radona said with no trace of guilt. She also faced the man. "What are you doing here?" Her tone was demanding. Iolaus blinked, as if waking from a dream. "I don"t understand." He looked pleadingly toward Radona. "You"re married?" "Yes, but..." her voice trailed off when she realized she couldn"t really explain the situation. "I"m sorry, Iolaus," she said finally. "We aren"t together right now. I had no idea he would follow me." "Why not?" the man demanded. "We"re still married, and I want you to come home. Now." He looked at Iolaus. "Unhand my wife!" The man started around the table and made to lunge at Iolaus. Hercules intercepted him by grabbing his arm and swinging him around to face him. "Bad move," the demigod warned. "He"s got his hands on my wife!" the man yelled. "I"ll kill him!" "I don"t think so," Hercules said more calmly than the situation called for. He hadn"t loosened his grip and didn"t intend to until some sort of truce was reached. "Let"s talk about this like rational people." He knew the word rational didn"t exactly fit the man he was holding, not at this moment, anyway. "Artinius, please," Setara begged. She didn"t want a fight breaking out in her home. "No!" Artinius shouted and again tried to lunge toward Iolaus. Iolaus understood the situation could get nasty in short order, but he was still too stunned to do more than look from Radona to Artinius. Then, he looked helplessly at Hercules. "Will someone please explain?" Artinius struggled to get free, and Hercules grabbed the man"s other arm and held him in a vise-like grip. "Calm down." Artinius wasn"t listening. He tried again to pull free. "Iolaus, I think you"d better leave until we can get this sorted out. I"ll meet you..." he paused, not willing to give Artinius the information that might lead him to the hunter later on. "You know where." Iolaus nodded and started for the door, shaking his head the whole way. He paused long enough to look forlornly at Radona. She gave him a small shrug of apology. After he left, Hercules sat Artinius down in a chair and stood between him and the door. "Radona, sit down." After she did so, Hercules said, "Now, we"re going to get to the bottom of this." * * * * * * * * * * Iolaus had walked to the Blue Boar Tavern in a fog. He couldn"t understand why Radona hadn"t told him about her husband. "Of course, you do, you idiot; she wanted you.' The hunter groaned. He reached the tavern on the far side of Thrace where he and Hercules had passed many happy hours in the past. He knew that was where the demigod would expect him to be waiting. The blond hunter entered the tavern and dropped into a chair at a table near the back. He ordered a tankard of ale from a lovely young woman who winked at him and then smiled enticingly, but he didn"t even notice. She frowned and turned away, obviously disappointed. When she returned with his ale, she set it down in front of him none too gently and turned on her heel. Without even looking up, Iolaus took a big swallow from the tankard and followed it with several others. Then, he spotted something that made him groan. It was the man who had just walked into the tavern "This I definitely do not need right now." The man skulked over to his table, sat down and grabbed the tankard from Iolaus"s hand. He slid down in the chair and tilted the tankard up high, trying to use its wide base to help hide his face. Iolaus sat and stared at him. He understood immediately when he heard a man near the door say, "Where"d he go?" "I saw him come in here," said another man. A third asked the tavern owner, "Is there a back way to this place?" The man pointed and four men ran in the direction indicated. Iolaus sat looking at the man who sat opposite him. "They"re gone. May I have my ale back now--Autolycus?" "How...? Iolaus. I should have known." "No, that"s my line. What trouble are you in now? Did you just steal a priceless jewel? Someone"s gold, maybe?" Autolycus put his left hand over his heart and frowned. "You wound me deeply, Iolaus. I"m not always trying to...ah...appropriate...things. I do have other pursuits, you know." "Yeah. Name one." Iolaus"s tone was heavy on the sarcasm. It was a tone he found himself using often in the company of this self-proclaimed King of Thieves. "Well..." "I thought so. Look, it"s great to see you again, but I"m really not in the mood. Why don"t you find yourself another table and another person to torment?" Iolaus got up and started to move away from the table. "Come on, Curly. Don"t leave," Autolycus pleaded in a pathetic voice. Iolaus didn"t know if it was fake or not. "Need me for cover, do you?" Autolycus sighed. "Well, aren"t you the one who bills himself as the King of Thieves? You relish all the attention that name implies. How can you expect anyone to believe you"re not scamming them?" "You"re right," Autolycus admitted. "I can"t deny my destiny as the world"s greatest thief." Suddenly, there was a cry of, "There he is!" The hunter and the thief looked up and saw the four men, who had been asking about him earlier, running toward them. Iolaus shook his head just before grabbing Autolycus by the arm and pulling him toward the door. The thief needed no urging. Neither man made it. In less than a minute, the entire tavern erupted in a full scale brawl. Men and chairs went flying, crashing into other men and chairs. The tavern owner"s cries to stop destroying his establishment went totally unheeded. He finally just crouched down behind the bar and waited. Afterall, it wasn"t as if he"d never been through this before. Iolaus and Autolycus found themselves back to back as they fended off the blows that rained down on them. Only the four men who were after the King of Thieves seemed to be aiming at them. Everyone else was fighting among themselves. They all seemed to be enjoying the free-for-all. It certainly did liven up the evening. A patron came flying across the room and crashed into the backs of two of the four men. They went down, taking a third man with them. The one left standing punched Autolycus in the mouth just as Iolaus laid him flat with a quick kick to the stomach and a blow to the back of his head. "We sure took care of them, didn"t we?" "We sure did," the hunter replied sarcastically. "Let"s get out of here." "Good idea," Autolycus agreed. They were forced to weave their way toward the door, pushing and shoving through the knots of brawlers. A tankard came flying toward Autolycus"s head. Iolaus grabbed it out of the air and took a good long swallow. He wiped the bit of ale that ran down his chin. Then he continued making his way to the door. Once outside, Iolaus turned to Autolycus and said, "What did you steal?' "Nothing." the taller man said innocently. "Honest." "Somehow that word never seems to apply to you. You got me into this fight. I think I have the right to know why." "I didn"t steal anything this time. It was a woman. She was married," he said sheepishly. "I didn"t know it. Hon... Really." Iolaus"s anger was defused immediately. How could he possibly chew Autolycus out when he had just been through the exact same thing himself? His anger deflated, he nodded. "You"d better get going before those guys come out here and find you." "Yeah. Thanks, Curly. I"ll pay you back sometime." "Please don"t. Just stay away from me. Okay?" The two men shook hands and Autolycus made a hasty retreat. He was soon swallowed up in the shadows. Iolaus sighed and looked back at the tavern. Judging by the sounds emanating from inside, the fight was still in full swing. "Can"t wait for Herc in there.' The hunter headed for the nearest alley. He would have to wait in the shadows for his friend to show up. He sat down, leaned against a rough wooden wall and prepared to wait. An hour later, Hercules made his way down the darkened street toward the tavern. "Herc," came Iolaus"s voice from the dark alley. "I"m over here." The demigod approached the hunter. "What are you going hiding in here?" Before Iolaus answered, Hercules said, "Wait. Let me guess. You got yourself in trouble again. What was it this time?" "It wasn"t me this time. Honest." He laughed. When he saw the questioning look on Hercules"s face, he said, "I"ll tell you all about it later. What happened with Radona?" Iolaus asked anxiously. "Well, it seems Radona and Artinius were sort of separated. They had been having problems. They had a big argument, and Artinius stormed off. Radona took the opportunity to come visit her sister and bring a few things. Trouble was, she didn"t leave word for her husband. He got home, and she was gone. He asked around and found out she was headed here, so he came after her. He spent the journey getting angrier and angrier. By the time he got here...well, you saw him." "Did I ever," was Iolaus"s only comment at first. Then, he asked, "What happened after I left?" "Radona agreed to go back with him and try to straighten out their marriage. When I left, they were all lovey-dovey again." Iolaus tried to smile, wanting to be happy for them, but his heart wasn"t in it. "Sorry, buddy," Hercules said sympathetically as he clapped his friend on the back. "Come on. Let"s get a room for the night." He headed for the tavern, which had several rooms on the second floor. "Uh, Herc, we can"t go in there." Hercules looked at Iolaus. "Why not? Wait, let me guess again. That"s why you were waiting in the alley. Right? You aren"t welcome there." Iolaus grinned guiltily. "Not really." "Well, there"s an inn not too far from here. We"ll go there. You haven"t managed to be persona-non-grata there, too, have you?" "Not yet." "That"s encouraging." As they headed down the street, Iolaus said, "Herc, I was just thinking about that theory of mine...." "Don"t say it out loud. I"m not in the mood to tangle with whatever you dream up next. Tonight, I just want to sleep."

"Thank you, Jeffery," Robin said with pride but with no hint of conceit. Martin had disappeared into the hall to summon a servant and give him the order for dinner. When he returned, he was frowning. "What is it, Martin? Are we out of food?" It was obviously meant to be a joke, but Martin didn"t laugh or even smile. That made Robin look intently at him. Martin usually had a good sense of humor. The steward sat down across from Robin and regarded him. "It"s as I thought. Word of your being here is all over the castle. The servant that was just here asked if it was really true." Robin was clearly confused. "I live here, Martin. These people see me every day. Why on earth would that be worthy of talk? I don"t understand. Nor do I understand your earlier comment about being watched." He looked to Martin to explain. It was now Martin"s turn to be confused. He stared at Robin. "Well, when the famous outlaw, Robin Hood, shows up after two years, it causes talk." If Robin was confused before, he was fairly flabbergasted now. His jaw dropped open. Finally, he roused himself. "Robin Hood is here? At Huntingdon? How? Why?" Martin stared even harder at the golden-haired young man he had helped to raise. He loved Robin like a son, never having had any himself. Had they been alone, he would have greeted him with a hug. With Jeffery and Aggie present, even though they were clearly of the lower class, he kept his decorum. "Martin?" Robin asked, when the steward did not immediately answer. His brow furrowed. "There"s something more going on here than the unlikely presence of an outlaw, even a famous one, here at Huntingdon, isn"t there?" Martin had long since ceased to be amazed at how mentally nimble Robin was. He had been very precocious as a child, and his sharpness had only grown over time. Martin glanced at Jeffery, who, at that second, was looking at Aggie. Robin knew exactly what Martin"s glance meant. "We can discuss this after dinner," he said. More cheerfully, he added, "Right now, I think we"re all hungry." Martin stood up and went to the door in answer to a knock. When he opened the door, several servant boys stood with large trays leaden with food. They began placing the trays on the table. Robin looked at Jeffery and then at Aggie. "I can"t promise either of you anything better than your wonderful stew, Aggie. But, I hope you"ll enjoy what we have to offer." Jeffery tried not to stare. He hadn"t seen this much food short of a village feast. There was roast pork, fowl of some kind, various vegetables, both cooked and raw, two kinds of bread, fruits, some that Jeffery didn"t recognize, cheeses, a large bowl of fresh churned butter, and two tankards, one of ale and one of water. Aggie was about to ask how many other people were going to be eating with them, when she decided it wasn"t polite to ask such a question. She was a guest in Robin"s home. Her father had taught her it was best to keep quiet when not in familiar surroundings and only speak when spoken to. It was hard to do, since she felt comfortable with Robin. There was so much she wanted to ask him. Maybe, they would have the chance later to talk. Martin left Robin and his two guests to enjoy their dinner. He took his leave, saying he had castle business to attend to before he could stop to eat. He promised to return. Robin laughed when he saw Jeffery looking at all the food in front of the two men and the girl. "I think the cooks thought we were having a feast." He was almost embarrassed. He didn"t want Jeffery or Aggie to think he was trying to show off by demonstrating how much food the castle could summon up to feed just three people. "We don"t eat like this every day." Jeffery thought to himself, "We don"t eat like this any day.' He could see that Robin felt awkward, so he said in a deliberately humorous tone, "Maybe, we should save your life more often." The laughter got things back on a more familiar footing. They all tried hard, but barely put a dent in the amount of food there was. The various dishes looked almost as full as when they were first brought in. As if answering a summons, Martin returned exactly as they finished the very last bite they each could get down without exploding. To Jeffery he said, "Your horse has been fed and bedded down in the stable and the wagon put away. There"s a servant outside who will show you to your rooms, when you"re ready." Robin would talk to Jeffery later about him and Aggie possibly staying several days, though he doubted they would. "I"ll see you in a couple of hours, Jeffery, after you and Aggie have had time to rest a while." Jeffery nodded and shook Robin"s hand. "Until later, then." After his friends left the room, Robin turned to his father"s steward. "Well, Martin, you can explain everything while you eat your dinner." He sat down and waited for Martin to do likewise. Martin recognized the all too familiar look of stubborn determination on Robin"s handsome young face. He knew eating dinner and offering an explanation was all that Robin was going to settle for. With a sigh, the older man sat down to do both. Continued -- MEMORIES by White Wolf Chapter Three Martin filled his plate, but before he took the first bite, he asked, "Robert, tell me why you came here today?" "This is my home, Martin. Where else should I have gone? More to the point, why are you asking me that question?" Martin knew Robin didn"t like to stall when his mind was made up about something. Robin wanted answers, so he decided to just jump in and see what happened. "You haven"t lived here for two years, Robert," He hesitated before saying, "or perhaps I should call you Robin, now?" The look Robin gave the Huntingdon steward was almost comical. If Martin had grown another head right in front of him, the look wouldn"t have been any different. "I haven"t lived here in two years," Robin stated flatly. "And, you think you should call me Robin. Martin, have you fallen on your head?' "No, but I think you must have." Martin said it, not having the slightest notion that his idea was very close to the truth. "Have you hit your head lately?" The question was asked in all seriousness. "I was attacked by bandits two days ago. I told you that Jeffery and Aggie saved my life. They"re the ones who found me and took me to their home." "That"s it, then. A blow to the head must have somehow caused you to forget your recent life." Unable to eat until he had gotten the story out, Martin pushed his plate away and looked intently at Robin. He began to explain all he knew of the life of Robin Hood. There was a long, stunned silence. Robin knew Martin didn"t lie. Yet, how could he possibly believe such a fantastic story? He, Robert of Huntingdon, the son of the Earl, was the infamous outlaw, Robin Hood, and had been living in Sherwood Forest with other outlaws for the past two years. "Not possible," was the only comment Robin could make. "It"s not only possible, Robert. It"s true. I swear by all I hold dear, it is." Robin hadn"t realized that he had spoken out loud until he heard those words from Martin. He shook his head. "You can"t mean it. Why would I do such a thing? I don"t even know this Marion of Leaford. Why would I give up all of this," he said, as he waved his hand to encompass the room, "to rescue someone I"ve never even met? There has to be some mistake. Perhaps this Robin Hood looks like me, or..." Martin was shaking his head. "You know of Robin Hood, of course." "Of course, he"s..." Robin stopped and thought. He smiled as he said, "He"s dark-haired and comes from Loxley. Right? Marion is his wife." The smile faded when he said, "Then, why didn"t he and the other outlaws rescue her?" "Loxley was killed three years ago. Don"t you remember hearing about it? We even discussed it once." Robin nodded. "I do remember now, yes. The Sheriff had him shot." "I just told you Marion came here two years ago after the King pardoned her. You seemed infatuated with her. That, and your sense of what"s right, is why you rescued her." Robin closed his eyes. He wasn"t sure what might come next. "When you killed the Marcher Lord Owen of Clun, who the King was counting on to help him in his dispute with the Welsh, you had no choice but to stay in Sherwood. When the Sheriff found out it was you who was the new outlaw leader, there was no chance you could ever come home." Martin stopped for a moment to give Robin time to come to terms with what he had already heard. Martin knew how Robin was going to take what he had to say next. "It upset your father more than you know. He"s convinced he"s lost you for good. Every time he"s told a messenger has arrived, he believes they might be coming to tell him you"ve been killed or captured, which would mean your execution." Robin still had trouble grasping the idea that he was an outlaw, living in the forest. But, worse was the idea that he had hurt and shamed his father. They hadn"t always seen eye-to-eye, but there was a deep love and respect between them. Robin shook his head. "How could I have done that to him?" "You did what you thought was right. You"ve helped a lot of people, people who would suffer without Robin Hood to defend them. Every day there seems to be another story about your adventures. I often find the servants here gossiping about you. You"ve become quite the hero." "I don"t want to be a hero, Martin. I just want to live my life here the way I"ve been raised---to one day be the Earl of Huntingdon. My father has pounded that into my head as long as I can remember. So have you." "Yes. But, Robert, our destiny doesn"t always turn out to be the one we plan on. I was supposed to take over my father"s farm. I hated it and ran away. I landed here, worked my way up to steward, and now, I"ve been here for over twenty years. Life can sometimes take us in unusual directions." Martin regarded Robin with a sympathetic smile. Robin looked at Martin, his face still a mask of confusion. "But, an outlaw? That"s so incredible." Robin snapped his fingers. "That"s it, then." "What?" "These clothes. Jeffery said I was wearing them when he found me. I thought at first they were his. He also said I had this sword. I"m sure I"ve never seen it before." When Robin pulled the sword out of its scabbard, Martin nodded. "Albion. Yes, there are stories about that, too. It"s one of the Seven Swords of Wayland. It"s supposed to have magical powers." Robin stared at the sword. "This is magical?" "So the stories go. Like everyone else, I know only what I hear." Robin held Albion up for a minute, studying the runes. "Do you know what these mean?" "No," Martin shook his head. "I have no idea." Robin set Albion gently on the table in front of him. "I thought when I woke up at Jeffery"s, these clothes and this sword were confusing. It was nothing compared to what you"ve just told me about my life now. It"s still so unbelievable." "You have a lot to think about, Robert. Why don"t you go to your room and try to rest." "I don"t think resting is going to help any." Robin took a deep breath. "I wish my father was here. Although, after what you"ve told me, I doubt he"d want to see me." "You"re wrong, Robert. What you became did shame him, though the rest of the nobility sympathized with him rather than condemned him. He hated that you turned your back on Huntingdon and your future here, but he"s never stopped loving you. If he were here now, he would tell you that himself. I also suspect, in his own way, he"s proud of you." Robin had a wistful look on his face. Martin spent more time with the Earl than anyone else. So, if Martin said it was true, it was. He stood up and walked around the table. This time he did hug Martin. "I"ll take your advice and try to get some rest. Thank you, Martin." Robin headed toward the door. Martin called after him. "Robert, you forgot Albion." Robin turned back and took the offered sword. No more words passed between him and the steward. There really was nothing else to say at this point. Robin made the long journey through the castle to his room. Someone had already lit the candles that sat on his dresser and bedside table, bathing the room in soft golden glow. He stood in the doorway and looked around the room. He had the same feeling now he had when he first arrived: that of returning after a long absence. It brought home to him the truth of all that Martin had told him. He had put Albion in his scabbard on his way up here, and now he took the scabbard belt off and looped it over the back of the chair that sat in the corner near the large wardrobe. Then, he sat down on the side of his bed for a minute before lying down and starting at the high ceiling. He had grown up in this room. It was more familiar to him than any place else on earth. Yet, something wasn"t right. He knew now that it was because he called another place home---Sherwood Forest, according to Martin. How could he possibly trade this large, comfortable bed for one on the cold ground? How could he trade being waited on hand and foot for having to forage for whatever food he could manage to catch? How could he trade a secure life of privilege for one as a hunted outlaw? How could...? He closed his eyes. There were so many comparisons he could make. It came down to one question: How could he have done any of it? But, it was inescapable that he had. He had done all those things, as well as hurt his father. All for a woman he couldn"t even remember. There was more to it than just Marion. He understood that rescuing Marion had just been the beginning. What else was there that would cause such a change in his life? He had always hated the injustices and poverty he had seen all around him. Was that enough to make him leave everything he had always known and take up a life helping strangers? No matter how many questions he asked himself, he couldn"t get around the fact that he had done it. He was now Robin Hood, the man he had heard about but barely took notice of when Loxley wore that name. "I"m Robin Hood," he said aloud. "Me, Robert of Huntingdon. I"m...Robin...Hood." No matter how many times he said it, he still felt that he was talking about someone else. Try as he might, he couldn"t remember. He couldn"t remember living in Sherwood, or the men he was reported to lead, or Marion. He had no memory of any of it. How could he forget the last two years of his life so completely? Unconsciously, he turned his head and rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head. The lump was a lot smaller. "That must have been some blow," he reasoned. * * * * * * * * * * While Robin lay in his room and puzzled over his identity, his friends were eating their dinner at the campsite they had established where they would spend the night. At that moment, no less doubt pervaded here than in Robin"s room. "We"ll arrive at Huntingdon Castle tomorrow," John was saying. "I don"t understand why Robin would go back there," Tuck asked. "Surely, he knows we"re worried about him by now." "Maybe, he"s too hurt to tell anybody anything," Will pointed out. He didn"t want to say it out loud, but he knew things had gotten far beyond trying to pretend nothing bad was wrong. Tuck sighed. "Aye, I"m beginning to think you may be right." "How would anyone know he came from Huntingdon? If he could talk, he"d have told them to take him to Sherwood." It made perfect sense to Much. "Unless he needs more help than he could get there," Nasir offered. "Or, maybe it"s someone from Huntingdon, who knows him," John said. "The people in the wagon aren"t from Huntingdon, They live in Ashton, remember?" Will smiled triumphantly. He was proud he had thought of that bit of information. John and Tuck both nodded as the memory came to them. No one knew what was really going on and more speculation wasn"t going to get them anywhere. The rest of dinner was spent in virtual silence. Tomorrow there would be answers---they hoped. * * * * * * * * * * Robin was deep in thought when he heard a knock at his door. He sat up. "Come in," he called. Martin entered. "Robert, it"s been over two hours. I think your friends may be wondering where you are." "I know. I just don"t know what to say to them. Jeffery will think I"m crazy." "He doesn"t seem to be the kind of man to believe that of you," Martin assured Robin, who wasn"t assured at all. "How can I explain it to him when I still don"t understand it myself?" He looked up at Martin. "Two years of my life---just gone. What if I never remember them?" As much as Martin wanted to, he couldn"t in good conscience, tell Robin he would get his memory back. He could only hope. "You have to believe everything will turn out as it should." That was the best he could do to encourage the still-confused young man. Robin nodded as he got up. "I should change. Take Jeffery and Aggie to the Sword Room. I"ll be there shortly." Martin left and was soon knocking on Jeffery"s door to inform him of Robin"s request. Ten minutes later, Robin entered a moderately large room, whose walls contained crossed swords of all types, old and new. There were Norman and Saxon blades, as well as Spanish and French, and two were the curved Scimitars of the East, brought back from the last Crusade and presented to the Earl as a gift. Jeffery smiled as Robin entered the room. "I see where this room gets its name." "Yes, it is rather obvious, isn"t it?" Robin looked around. "Where"s Aggie?" "She"s a hardy girl, but all the traveling we"ve done the last couple of days has tired her out. I thought it best she get a good night"s sleep before we start home tomorrow." "I would love for you to stay a few days. You"re certainly more than welcome to all that my home has to offer." Robin"s invitation held a slightly pleading tone. "Thank you, Robert. That would be very nice, but we have to get back. I told you about the family whose house burned. Their new one will be finished day after tomorrow, and they"ll be needing our old furniture. Besides, I need to get the next crop in the ground while the weather is still good." "I could send some people to take care of both the furniture and the planting for you while you and Aggie are here. I owe you so much, and you don"t seem to want me to repay you." "I don"t. I told you that seeing you recover is payment enough. As for planting my field, I"ve done it all my life. I really like working the land myself. Aggie is all the help I need." Jeffery hated to turn Robin down yet again, because he knew how much Robin wanted to give them something to say thank you. Robin turned and looked up at the Normal swords that sat above the large fireplace, which was roaring brightly. When he turned back around, he caught Jeffery looking at him curiously. Robin sighed. He knew exactly what his friend was thinking. The subject couldn"t be ignored any longer. "You"re wondering what"s going on with me, aren"t you?" "It"s not my place to question you, Robert. But, I have to be honest. I am curious. Martin made it sound like you are Robin Hood. Is that true?" "So he tells me. Martin helped raise me, and he"s never lied to me---not once. He says I"ve been living as Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest for the past two years. I don"t remember the other outlaws I lived with. I don"t remember the things I did there. I don"t remember any of it. How strange is that?" Robin shook his head. "It would explain a lot: like your being in Sherwood when we found you, your clothes, the sword Albion, the stares of all the people here when we arrived." Jeffery smiled compassionately at Robin"s obvious perplexity. "As I"ve said before, you did take quite a blow on your head. Maybe, it"ll all come back to you when you"ve fully recovered." "I"m mended well enough. It shouldn"t keep me from remembering the things I"ve forgotten. It"s frightening to think I may never get my memory back." Robin sat down in one of the large cushioned oak chairs near the fire. He stared into the flames as if seeking an answer there. He suddenly jerked. "Robert, what is it?" Jeffery asked with concern. After a moment, Robin said, "The fire. I saw myself drinking from a golden goblet. I was wearing the clothes you found me in. It was only a flash, but it seemed so familiar somehow. And, there"s something about a cave." "Did you see yourself in a cave?" "No, just the word cave came to mind. Something mystical. I"m not sure. It was so odd." Robin physically shook himself. "Let"s just forget all of this for now. I don"t have any answers, and it isn"t fair to take up our time together talking about something I can"t explain." With that statement, Robin and Jeffery spent the next hour and a half talking about Jeffery"s farm and his early life in Ashton. They also talked about his wife and how blessed Jeffery felt having Aggie after having lost two sons when they were very young. Robin told Jeffery a little about his childhood here at Huntingdon. Jeffery finally reminded Robin he wanted to get an early start the next morning. Robin tried one more time to talk him into staying a few days, but the man was adamant about needing to get back home. So, reluctantly, the two men went upstairs and parted company as each went to his own room.

The Fog had many factions in the world; from the 2 Pacific Fleets, the Russo-Arctic Fleet, and several others. Many of which were obscure and unknown to each other. The most communication between Alaska"s and the West"s factions at one time was when the west gave details about I-401. That was as far as she knew however. One other reason the different factions were even aware of each other"s existence is in their identity. Occasionally she would contact other Fog ships with American design. She had talked to one of them the day before, it had been the battleship Texas. She had contacted her via the Concept Com system. "Are you aware of any Atlantic ships going rogue?" she had asked. "None in the western" Atlantic Fleet. Can"t rightly say much about the east though. Ah have heard a few rumors if that"ll interest ya," Texas said with a light southern accent. "Anything will probably do at this point," Alaska replied as she leaned back in her chair. "Ah heard "a couple months ago that the European nations had created a weapon that"s powerful "nuff to actually do a right sum of damage against us. The facilities "creating it were destroyed by the East "Lanitic Fleet, but ah heard their Flagship an" its sister went missin" if that"s any help. Don"t have much more"an that other than the fact there was some "debate" supposedly or"e who should become the next Flagship. Other"n that, ah got nuthin." Back in the present, Alaska sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that night. Her talk with Texas had answered her questions in a few ways, yet placed doubt over them at the same time. It was conflicting and confusing for her. All she could do at the moment was bring a few fingers between her brow and sigh again. "Regardless of this," she said to herself. "There is one thing I can say for certain. Something"s going on in the Atlantic, something big. Whether it"s good or bad will probably remain obscure, and may never clear even after it"s past. And what exactly that event is, may remain obscure as well." She closed her eyes again to ponder these thoughts some more, but was still easily distractible in her bored state. So when something cackled on sonar, she opened her eyes. Alaska was puzzled. The cackling she had detected on her sonar was nothing like she had ever seen in her life. On a screen it would have looked like random specks appearing and disappearing at will, giving the feel of something like static from an old portable TV. There were countless specks, they would flash on screen for just a split second, but there were so many of them coming and going it almost resembled the shape of a submerged Fog ship or a shipwreck. There was a problem with even that however. Ordinarily, a submerged Fog ship or shipwreck (even one in pieces) would still appear as a solid image. So why was it static? What could static mean? It took her a moment but then she realized the image was changing. It was still a static image, but the density of the static was increasing and the image overall was was growing in size. Almost as if... ...A massive ship was surfacing! Her eyes shot open. That was all she was able to do before the area of water beside her hull erupted. Much of it flew at least twice her height above. When she gazed upon the cause of it, her breath caught in her throat. This was no cruiser. This ship was huge, bigger than anything else she had ever seen. That wasn"t the most terrifying part though. This ship, no... thing, was covered in seaweed and other miscellaneous marine plant life. A terrifying aura surrounded it, and it was covered fore to aft in some strange substance she wasn"t able to immediately identify. The substance was a God-forbidding green and black mixture of color. It had a visible texture appearing to be some kind of moss and corrosion. It had the look, but was neither. It covered nearly the entire ship; and when Alaska realized what it was, it sent a horrifying shiver down her spine. Nano-steel rust. Unlike rust you would find in iron or copper, Nano-steel rust acted more like an infection rather than corrosion. The rust would spread and multiply like a colony of bacteria; it made the particles useless, breaking them down and consuming them. The structural integrity was easily compromised when the metal was in this state. Despite this, while the rust was terrible in all regards to maintaining the Nano-Materials that make up an entire Fog ship, did have one semi-positive side effect. It distorted sonar waves. It would not eliminate the detection range of sonar, but it did reduce it by raking the soundwaves apart. Plus, when you did detect a ship covered in it, it would be a very distorted image that would be difficult to make out, with sonar waves being thrown in multiple random directions. Most would have no idea what it was before it was too late. Speaking of- BOOM. Alaska fought to keep her mental model upright and balanced as she took a constant bombardment of missiles and laser fire. The ship attacking her may have looked like the Fog equivalent of a ghost ship, but it most certainly was not a trick of the light or an illusion in the mist. This thing was real, and she was taking heavy damage from it. Worse than that, she began to feel something, what was it? It wasn"t until she recognized the feeling of adrenaline surging through her, the sensation and panic of vividly feeling every single hit to her hull, and the subconscious feeling that this would be the end of her existence that she realized what it was. It was fear, and she was terrified. Terrified of dying. In the confusion and chaos of being bombarded, she wasn"t even able to raise her kalien field or mount a counter attack. But then, as quickly as it started, it stopped. The missiles stopped flying, the canons stopped firing, but the fear was still there. She suddenly realized she was crouched on the floor with her eyes shut and her arms wrapped around herself, still terrified beyond anything she had ever felt. She had heard that fear added awareness to a situation, with the cost of energy or nourishment later on. Yet... it was such an, unpleasant feeling. She had no clue what she should do. This was the most emotion she had ever felt, and there was this drive to run or escape. She slowly stood back up, shivering, shaking. She gulped as her eyes dared to look out the window. The ship was still there. With the bombardment stopped, she quickly scanned the ship and got a reading from it. This definitely was no cruiser. (Atlantic Battleship Bismarck) (Bismarck Class Nameship) (Displacement 41,700 Tons) (Primary Armament: 8 15inch (380mm) guns) (Secondary Armament: 12 6inch (152mm) and 16 102mm guns) (Missile Armament: 260 launchers) (4 Forward Submarine tubes) (Hyper Gravity Cannon) (Mental Model: 1) She expected the ship to have those, but not what came next. (4 Nano-Particle Graviton Intakes) (Bow Kalien Deflection shield) (Extended Nano-Material Reserves) (15 Operational Union Cores) That last one shocked Alaska. She could tell that one of the Union Cores was currently in the Mental Model of Bismarck, most likely it was his. But the other 14s" origins only added to her surprise. 2 of them were Atlantic U-Boats, 6 were Nagara Cruisers, and 6 were from the Cleveland Class. They were the Union Cores of the missing ships. She would have tried to contact them, but she was out of range of the Union Cores" independent com-systems. Without their ships, or even a Mental Model, they weren"t able to do much. So that begged the question. Why was he keeping the Cores operational? Come out where I can see you. The male voice said that over the audio com system. Alaska"s breath caught in her throat again. The only ones able to access the system was another Fog Ship. It was clearly a male voice, but all Fog ships were female right? I said, Come OUT! The male ship (apparently) emphasized the last word with another blast from a 15 inch gun. Her hull, already badly damaged and listing, shook and vibrated violently as it took the hit. The Nano-Steel hull Groaned loudly. She hastily followed through with his request. Running out onto the deck, she stood in plain sight. Then she saw who spoke to her, and her eyes widened as her pupils shrunk. Most of his body was covered by a large black overcoat. It wasn"t as excessive as Haruna"s, but it did cover below his chin to almost his knees. On his hands, he wore stiff black leather gloves. On his feet he wore heavy rubber and leather boots, also black. He had on a German WWII Officer"s hat, minus the swastika. His eye color crossed somewhere between black and crimson. His Mental Model also was covered in all the same substances from his hull. It seemed to reflect the poor, and diseased condition he was in. Speaking of poor condition, Alaska was finally able to get a detailed reading of her systems. Her weapons and engines were either disabled or destroyed, but that was all she was able to scan before He began talking to her. "So that"s what you look like. Hmm." His voice. She didn"t even know how describe it. It was rigid, it was gruff; it sounded more like a monster"s voice. Every word he said seemed to send its own independent cold shiver down her spine. She felt her neck tighten involuntarily. Her mouth dried. "Too bad a good Mental Model like yours must be destroyed. It truly is a pity." She gulped again. "W-what?" she asked quietly. The only immediate response given to her was a blast to the torso by one of Bismarck"s small caliber AA cannons. The damage was easily regenerable; but before she could, the anti-regeneration procedure was put into effect. And Alaska was horrified to see her body being pulled apart; disintegrating slowly and being drawn toward the battleship. I"m going to die. That was the thought that swept through her. A simple, powerful, horrifying thought. A phrase that has been known to cause mass panic among living beings. A simple idea, with a complex mix of denial and acceptance. A realization, a short sentence, just 4 words; yet they were so powerful. Her sight vanished as her Mental Model"s head disintegrated. She was reduced to nothing but just her Union Core now. Her ship, her Mental Model; it was all gone. The senses she had acquired when she received her Mental Model were gone as well. Her only method of knowing what was going on was her Union Core"s sensors. But those were very limited as well. Despite this, she still fet afraid as Bismarck"s Mental Model held her Core in one of his hands. Despite this, he was holding it surprisingly gently. This is the first time I"ve held the Union Core of a ship that possessed a Mental Model. It was him. He had linked with her, and was communicating. Still afraid of what he would do to her, she managed to pull together a reply. W-What are you going to do with me? Rest assured, you will serve a purpose toward my interests. Your... interests? What do you mean by that? You"ll find out later. But not now. You are still a huge risk to me. I can"t afford to allow you to give away my position, so I have deconstructed your Mental Model. We both know that a Union Core"s sensors give virtually no useful data. But you can still transmit signals to other ships in the vicinity. And as I"ve said before, the last thing I need is for you to give away my position. So, your weapon and communication systems are hereby shut down. I am now your flagship, I am the Admiral. You will obey my instructions regardless if they violate the Admiralty code. Do not disappoint me Alaska. I have no intention of harming you. And besides, you have given me the second to last piece I need to complete both my secondary objective, and what will also serve as my contingency plan should Plan A fall apart. Alaska then felt something, or more 2 somethings wedge their way between her Core and his hand. They lifted her Core up off his hand, and his hand fell back to his side. What were these things that held her? They definitely were made of Nano-Materials, but was thin and had a shape and texture similar to ribbons of some kind. Yet they acted and reacted almost like... tentacles? That will also be explained, in due time. Bismack did not walk back to the bridge. He did not walk back to the safe that held the other Union Cores. He did not place Alaska"s Core with the others in that chest. The Nano-Ribbons that held her Core pulled it into his coat. She was placed in an inner pocket in front of where the human heart would be located. Her sensors were still online, and she scanned his Core. It was damaged. Small parts were fractured, some shattered, others cracked. One crack extended almost across the entirety of his namesake symbol. Poking around already are you? I must say, you"re almost as curious as- ...Forget it, it doesn"t matter. But you may as well know why all of this is happening. It began on a summer"s day... The coast of Germany 5 Weeks before Blue Steel"s delivery of the Vibration Warhead Kriegsmarine Capital/Council Fleet Bismarck opened his eyes as the fleet gathered together. The ships closed within a kilometer of each other before communications were finally opened up. Battleship Scharnhorst was the first to speak. "What"s this about Bismarck? Why in the world did you call us all here, especially now that the UN has this new NX class missile." "Hey!" Cruiser Priz Eugen cut in. "Bismarck wouldn"t call the Kriegsmarine"s Council Fleet together without a reason!" Bismarck"s eyes closed for a moment. Leave it to Priz Eugen to jump in and defend him. It made him smile for a moment These were the representatives from across the East Atlantic. They were the Kriegsmarine. These ships served as the East Atlantic"s Council fleet. Battleships Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau. Heavy Cruisers Admiral Hipper and Priz Eugen. Pocket Battleships Deutschland and Graf Spee. Light Cruisers Leipzig and Nürnberg. Destroyers Z1 and Z3. U-boats 871 and 876. Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin. They were the lead ships in the East Atlantic. Each one had an area of their own jurisdiction. Like different counties or states. However, Bismarck and Tirpitz overruled all borders of jurisdiction. They were the flagships, and unlike Musashi or Yamato up in the arctic, they didn"t have a set escort fleet together. Most of the time, it was just them together. The only exception was when the Council ships came together, like they were currently. "That missile, Scharnhorst, is not why you are here. But yes, I do have a reason for gathering you all here today. I have a request for you all." "Yes sir," Gneisenau said at attention. "What are our orders?" Bismarck chuckled. "You misunderstand. These are not orders. This is a request." There was a moment of silence as the fleet was taken aback. "A- ...request?" Graf Spee asked mostly surprised. "Yes, a request. As in, you all have a choice. Tirpitz and I are planning to go back ashore. We would like you all to join us, as fellow Kriegsmarine ships." "To find the NX facilities?" Graf Zeppelin asked. "No. To visit peacefully. We have no intention to destroy anything ashore." "Bismarck," U-871 spoke. "You do realize going ashore in such a manner is a huge violation of the Admiralty Code." It was not a question. "I"m the Flagship 871. I"m well aware of what the Admiralty Code says. However, as the Flagship I also have the authority to decide when that code should or should not be enforced." "What do Super Battleships Yamato and Musashi think about this?" U-876 asked with a level tone. Bismarck turned to the type IX U-boat. "Yamato and Musashi haven"t contacted me, or any other Ship across the Fog for that matter, in 7 years. Had they asked for updates or reports would be one thing. But the issue is, there"s nothing. No one"s had contact with either of them in 7 years, and they haven"t contacted anyone else. It"s like they just cut themselves off from the rest of the Fog or they vanished. I"ve even been considering cutting ties with the other fleets because of it." "What does that have to do with going ashore?" "I"ve had 7 years to study the Admiralty code, as I"ve studied much of the known world. I"ve had countless times to enforce it, and every time I do the line between following and disobeying it becomes more blurred. After running countless simulations, and mixing my own personal experiences in, I"ve concluded that the code we were ordered to follow was not created to be followed to the letter. I"ve come to the conclusion that the Admiralty code was created with the intention to be followed as a guide line, not a set of laws you might find in a human courtroom. We are above such matters, I think it"s time we actually followed through with that idea." "And that"s where I must disagree with you, Bismarck." Bismarck turned toward the voice of Scharnhorst, her arms were crossed. "We are weapons, and as such we should not study or think. We obey orders. That is all." "And you believe the Admiralty code is identical to orders? Do you know even know who created that code?" There was no response except for silence. "As I thought. The creator of the Admiralty code is still unknown for the Entire Fog. On top of that, I believe we are not just weapons, but also solders. As soldiers, yes we should follow orders, but not mindlessly. Not blindly. We were given human personas so we would have the capabilities of humans. Their intellect, their enhanced logical reasoning, their ability to create complex strategies, and to predict what our opponents may do next. That was why we were given these mental models." "Bismarck, where are you going with this?" Asked Admiral Hipper who had stayed quiet throughout the conversation. "What I"m saying is simple. We took on human personas for the benefits they give us. However, we also inherited the hindrances of the human race. Emotions of hatred and lust; feelings of anger and despair; selfish desires such as greed, and revenge; pleasurable and unpleasurable experiences both on the physical and psychological levels. Weather we like to admit it or not, we have inherited all of these." He was talking like a philosopher, thinking deep and complicated thoughts. "To understand and overcome them, I feel that we must understand humanity. Didn"t one human write once to "know your enemy"? If the humans truly are our enemy, then I say we live with them, we live as them; for a short time at the very least. For the sake of understanding them." Some time passed before the ships gave their answers. The ships that agreed to go ashore with Bismarck were Tirpitz, Heavy Cruisers Admiral Hipper, and Priz Eugen; the later of witch asked to be Bismarck"s escort, who excepted; Pocket Battleship Graf Spee, Light Cruiser Nürnberg, Destroyers Z1 and Z3, and Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin. Battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Pocket Battleship Deutschland, Light Cruiser Leipzig, and U-boats 871 and 876 all declined and returned to sea. At least, that"s what they told Bismarck. Present day Bismarck"s eyes opened and he found himself sitting in a chair in a beautiful and well lit room. A cup of tea sat before him, and across the table was a face he didn"t recognize. Her eyes were a PMS 282 shade of blue. She had long blonde hair, had pale skin, wore brown pants, a black cotton shirt and a leather jacket. "Your mental model is male?" Like he hadn"t heard that before. "Bismarck was called a male by his captain, the fleet admiral, and even the Führer. Therefore, yes I am male. And who might you be?" he asked with a level tone. "I am Midway. Flagship of the East Pacific Fleet of Fog," she replied once she got over her surprise. "Flagship huh? Were you the one that sent Alaska after me?" "You sank her?" It was barely a question. "I assure you, her union core is undamaged. I merely had to strip her to almost nothing to ensure my position is kept secret." "Hiding from the Fog are you?" "I already know where you"re going with this. I"m not rogue. I merely am searching for a ship, and upon my departure from the Atlantic I was attacked by my own escort subs. I"m merely prioritising my safety over all others. The ships I"ve, let"s call it; confiscated; were collateral damage. A few standard cruisers can be replaced." "And what ship would the East Atlantic Flagship be so determined to find?" Bismarck was quiet for a moment. "Tirpitz, my sister ship." "Hmm. A co-flagship? And what if I said I knew the location of this ship, and that I"d be willing to give it"s position to you." Bismarck quietly stared at her for a moment. "For a price," she finished. "And what price would that be?" Bismarck asked as he leaned back in the chair. "What work could the Pacific fleets possibly have for me that you can"t do yourself?" Midway let out a quiet breath of light frustration. "We"ve been experiencing extreme difficulties because of rogue submarine I-401. She has taken a human crew aboard and has been, let"s call it, a knife in our side for weeks. Especially now that the United States has received a prototype for a new weapon known as a vibration warhead." "Ah yes," Bismarck said quietly. "I"ve had my own experiences with a nation in possession of a weapon to be used against us. European scientists and engineers, lead by a German team, had created what is known as an NX missile. The missile was designed to pierce the Kalien shield and render its practicality useless. And unfortunately, it worked perfectly. We managed to eliminate everyone and thing that had to do with the project, but not before the fleet took heavy damage. My sister and I in particular."

At least I was dry this time, the temperature was still in the mid 40s so that should slow the cops down a bit. I pulled the ambulance over next to the woods, got out, and took off into the woods. But it was slow for me, I hadn"t eaten in 4 days. I couldn"t do more that a fast walk. Even then I could feel myself growing weaker and weaker. "Don"t let him get away!" I heard the chief shout over a megaphone. To my right, I saw flashlights approaching my position. I went down a path to the left, keeping my distance. Once or twice the lights almost made contact with my body, but I avoided them still. I could hear the footsteps far behind me, they slowly were falling back behind me. As I was almost in the clear of them, more beams of light from what had to be almost a dozen cops" flashlights appeared at my 10 o"clock (in front and to my left). I turned right and kept moving. Once again, I began to loose the police and I thought I could relax for a moment. I was passing under a wooden foot bridge, when another flashlight suddenly landed on me. For one of the first times in my life I felt exposed. "Freeze!" The cop called out to me. I ignored him at first, but that was before he opened fire. 3 shots rang out in the forest, each one barely missing my body. Exhaustion be darned, my body created an adrenaline rush and I sprinted into the darkness. I approached a clearing, the trees in this part of the forest were less numerous and were spaced out wider. At first this wasn"t a problem, but then one of the cops got smart and shot a flare into the sky. As it was about to start arking down, it exploded. The bright red light illuminated the forest around me. I stuck out like a sore thumb. A flare... oh the irony. "Shhhhhoot, " I hissed as I tried to pick up my pace. I did NOT have time for this. ... I dogged yet another bullet as I kept heading up hill. Looking over my shoulder, I could see what had to be the entire police force trailing me. I knew that if I stopped now it would literally be the death of me. But not stopping wasn"t any better. I looked too late to notice the cliff I was headed straight for. One moment my paw made contact with heavy rock, the next all it could touch was thin air. I fell forwards, my body impacting several branches and shrubs as I plummeted to the earth below. As the ground rushed to meet me, loose vines and branches wrapped around my body, lightening the impact. I still hit pretty hard though, and it hurt. I had landed on something hard, flat, and black. I dragged my wounded body off the ground and I looked down. That"s when I saw the yellow streaks painted on the pavement, then I saw headlights. I barely was able to duck under the semi truck as it sped over me. I could feel the cold metal passing an inch at best above me. I could hear the tires from the truck squealing as it brought it to a sudden stop. The door on the side opened, like a man bowing to a king, light poured out from it. A shadow appeared, the form of a German Shepherd and human could be made out in the darkness. Then they stopped moving. Before I could react to their presence, something silently screeched through the air, and I felt a light, concentrated pain stab into the side of my neck. My forepaw immediately flew to it, quickly removing the object. I was shocked at what I saw. A sleep dart. My vision immediately swam, my mind went fuzzy. I shook my head trying to clear it of the dizziness plaguing it. It wasn"t working, too much of the fluid had already entered my system. The world spun and started to darken. Then everything seemed to stop, and I remembered the ground rushing at me. I wasn"t conscious for the impact. A/N: I guess I was a bit too hard on everyone, sorry. It"s just something that always happens to me, I didn"t want this story to just be sitting there gathering dust like most of my others. Thank you guys for listening! Been working on this and it"s sequel. Won"t be able to update as often as usual, but I will update once a week. Good luck everyone. Ashipnerd. Chapter 12 I woke up the next morning, nightmares once again plaguing my sences. It was always the same nightmare, again and again, never changing. It should have been cliche for me at this point, yet I kept sleeping. After calming down, I cried, not even trying to stop the tears from flowing. I sniffled once, wiped my eyes with a paw, and stood up. Looking around through blurry eyes in the opening rays of the dawn, I found myself just outside of a place I never thought I would see with my own eyes. The Lookout in Adventure Bay. I could not describe my shock, I slowly started backing away, intimidated and frightened at the building and it"s inhabitants. My rear hit something thin, cold, and hard. I spun around, slowly walking forwards with my paw out in front of me. It came in contact with the beams of a cage, it wasn"t until then I noticed the outline of metal around me. For the second time in one week, I felt way too exposed. Trapped like an animal... err... uhhh... sigh, just forget it. The point was that I was trapped, again... I decided to see what I had to work with, and as it turned out, nothing. There was no door to the cage, so I first looked at what was holding it down. It was nailed to the ground in the dirt, held down by cement pillars buried in the ground. Best forget trying to lift the cage off of me. I literally had nothing to work with, but that didn"t stop me before, I just needed a little time to think... My train of thought was derailed as I noticed Ryder walking over to me. A/N: sorry for the short chapter today guys. I know you all want longer chapters, but I have a choice. Short chapters, and frequent updates, or long chapters and weeks between when I update. Also, I"m both sad and happy to say this, this story is coming to a close pretty soon. But I do have 2 one shot sequels, and then a multichapter story after that. So there is still more to come! But the story genera will start shifting after this one. If I get enough support from the shift, I will make a short story conclusion. Good luck! Ashipnerd. Chapter 13 Ryder approached the pup they had put in a cage, bowls of food and water in hand. Knowing how great this pup was at escaping, he and the rest of the Paw patrol had put the pup in a special cage. There was no door so there was no lock to pick, it was held down by cement pillars, screwed into the cage. They wanted to be sure his escape was impossible, and they thought they had been doing a great job. He hadn"t escaped so far right? At least Chase thought so as he looked down at Ryder from the top floor of the Lookout. He smiled satisfied at the sight of the bandit laying on the ground in the cage. They had almost run him over with the Paw patroller just before they captured him, Chase had hit him with a sleep dart in his spy gear and they had taken the pup back to Adventure Bay. Chase"s smile grew as he thought of what they had found on the bandit. He had still been wearing his hospital gown, and he still had a handcuff on his forepaw, but the best piece of evidence was a police gun missing 2 bullets. It had proved that he had escaped, and now he would be locked up for his crimes. But there was a hinge of doubt, at the back of his mind, Chase really didn"t know what Ryder wanted to keep the bandit here and not back at the jail for. Then again, he did escape from the solitary confinement section... ... "Breakfast," Ryder said as knelt down and slipped the bowls under the cage. The pup they were for looked at them, Ryder, and then let his head lay back down on his forepaws. Ryder frowned. "You need to eat pup, I had both Marshall and Katie check you over, they both said that you have mellow nourishment." The pup didn"t answer. Neither did he react to what was said. He just kept staring into nothingness. Ryder sighed, stood up, and walked around the cage to where the pup was lying. He crouched down, opened a small hatch and started putting his hand through, slowly, gently. As Ryder"s hand approached the pups head, the pup snapped. Without warning, the bandit went for Ryder"s hand. Ryder barely was able to yank his hand back and avoid it being bit. He fell back, the pup was up on his paws growling deeply, menacingly, teeth showing and claws fully extended. Ryder took the hint. With a sad expression, he turned around and walked back inside. ... Chase had seen the whole ordeal, he could not take his eyes off the bandit, feel nothing but rage, fuming with wild eyes. He was about to run down there in anger to give the husky a piece of his mind. But just before he could, he noticed something. As soon as Ryder disappeared back into the Lookout, the expression on the bandit"s face softened, then saddened. Almost like he was depressed to see Ryder leave. Then he laid back down, and... Cried? The pup was lying on the ground in the dirt, head buried in his forelegs, sobbing, visibly shaking with every sob, not even noticing someone was watching him. It looked pitiful, and he seemed so, frail. Was this really the same pup? Chase really didn"t know what to think of him now. His anger had been replaced completely by confusion, this was not what he had pictured the bandit to be. He had pictured a monster, clever and cunning, with no intention other than to steal everything he loved. This could not have been farther from the truth. But whatis the truth about this pup. Maybe I should ask him, get his side of the story. Chase"s thoughts were interrupted by his growling stomach. He looked down at it, and chuckled lightly. But first, breakfast. ... Everest came to a stop just outside the Lookout. She had heard from Ryder that they had the pup in custody and she wanted to speak with him. She had told Ryder everything he had told her, but had asked for him to keep everything a secret. The pup seemed to be telling the truth, but she wanted to question him one more time before they made a decision. Ryder had formed a plan for the pup, both Jake and Everest agreed to help, he would need all the help he could get. Upon jumping down from her snowmobile, she was greeted by the pups and was asked if she wanted to come inside and have breakfast with them. "No thanks guys, I"m afraid I"m not here for just another visit," she said simlpy, but politely. It went without saying that all the pups reconized that it was much more serious than that however, if Everest denied food, something had to be up. Without arguement, she was taken to Ryder. Upon entering, Ryder asked to be alone with Everest. Once more without arguement, the pups walked out and left the two alone. A/N: I am happy to see so much positive feedback! Also, someone asked if there would be something between Poet and Everest, to that I say... Spoilers ;) Chapter 14 As soon as my eyes landed on the female husky, my head lifted off of my paws. To say the least I was surprised to see her here, I expected her to stay at Jake"s Chalet for a while, at least until she could recuperate. I did kinda hold her hostage, and forced her to strip all of her clothes, so she was pretty, much, naked... (insert short awkward silence here) Anyway, she approached me and layed down next to me outside the cage. We looked at each other, I blinked and she asked me the first question. "How are you?" She asked politely. "How do you think I feel?" I dead panned. She frowned. "What"s it like... stealing to survive?" "Random, disordered, never the same experience twice." "Is that why you came to Adventure Bay?" "I always have a reason to move towns, but like I said, never for the same reason." "Correction, you said never the same experience. Not reason. An experience is what you went through and how you feel about it. A reason is why you make a choice, and what drove you to do it. So why Adventure Bay?" I chuckled, could she really read me that good? "That"s for me to know and you to try figure out. Actually, looking back on your question, I will tell you how I feel. "I feel worthless." "Why?" She asked. "What am I adding to the world? All I do is take up space, energy, and resources. The loneliness is the worst part. 3 years without being loved... probably more if I"m not let go." There was a silence that hung in the atmosphere. It wasn"t awkward, but Everest didn"t like it. She took a deep breath. "You know, I kinda know how you feel," She said her smile daring to return. "What do you know about how I feel?" I asked bitterly. She had a home and a loving family. I had neither of them. "I grew up in the arctic for so long I still can"t remember how long I was there. The only company I had was a bunch of penguins. Until I rescued Jake, and I was invited to become a member of the Paw patrol." "Well good for you," I replied blankly as I looked away and laid back down. Everest frowned again. "Try to dig a bit deeper, you might be surprised at what you find." With that last word of advice, she left me there to ponder our conversation. I closed my eyes and let my mind wonder. It"s not like I can just ask to join their organization. Why would they let a stray like me in, especially after everything I"ve done. What did Everest say? Dig a bit deeper? I doubt they would dig as deep as I have. Wait, dig? My eyes shot open. Was it really possible? I looked down at where the cage made contact with the ground. I dug a small hole, there was no cage under the surface. I could make a hole and dig my way out of here. I could not describe my joy. But I couldn"t do it now. I would wait for night time to come, then I would escape. But first, I need to eat. A/N: 3,000 views! YAHOO! Keep it up guys! You"re a great audience! Chapter 15 I opened one eye, glancing at each pup house to make sure the inhabitants were all asleep. Once I was sure, I started digging. I had to quick and quiet, one wrong move and I could wake everyone up. I could speak from experience. That should be enough I thought to myself after about 6 minutes of digging. I started to crawl under the cage, it was a bit tight, but I managed to keep moving forward. Before I knew it I was out. Standing up, I smiled in satisfaction. I started walking away from the Lookout, my destination was the beach where I had left my clothes and bike. But as I exited the driveway, I wasn"t aware of the figures in the windows watching me leave. ... Everest and Ryder watched the bandit leave from the top floor of the Lookout. Their eyes followed him as he moved quickly down the road and into town. They both were thinking the same thing. They turned to look at each other, Ryder sighed. "Let"s go get him," he said turning around, heading for the elevator. "We should go alone, if we bring the whole patrol he could take it as a threat. That"s the last thing we want." "Yeah. Are you sure you and Jake can handle him?" "We won"t let you down Ryder. We need to get to him first though before we can do anything. It"s going to be a hard road ahead." Ryder nodded as they arrived at the bottom floor. Ryder and Everest decided to walk after him, they didn"t want to intimidate him if they were going bring him back. They didn"t want the pup to feel threatened either. It could destroy any chance of their plan from working... ... It took me a while, but I finally arrived at the shed where I had hidden my bike. I opened the door, pulling it to the side as the light from the full moon flooded into the small building onto my objective. I walked over to my bike, clothes still on top of it. I pulled them off the seat and put them back on. It was my regular outfit, a plaid shirt under a tweed jacket. The jacket was really special, and valuable to me. It was the last thing my mother gave me before... I closed my eyes, wincing, fighting back tears at my most painful and traumatizing memory. I could still hear the cords of her violin, playing a piece so sad and yet so beautiful it became something beyond words. I could still hear the gunshot ringing in my ears like a clap of thunder. The sound of a bullet sinking into flesh, the lifeless corpse hitting the ground, and the violin splintering into a thousand pieces. That still haunted me to this day, and it probably will stick with me for a lot longer. Assuming I get out of here of course. I shook my head, this was no time to grieve. Pushing my past from my mind, I walked over to my bike, jumping onto the seat. I was about to start the engine, when I saw 2 shadows ahead of me. I looked up to see the silhouettes of a young human, and want looked like a husky. Chapter 16 Turning on the headlight to my bike, the figures of Ryder and Everest melted out of the darkness in the doorway. My eyes widened in surprise. "You? What do you want?" I demanded my face transforming into a scowl. "Please, hear us out before you leave. If you still want to leave after we finish you can, but please listen for just a minute," Ryder pleaded. His face was serious, but desperate at the same time. I didn"t want him to arrest me again, any chance of escape I had to take. So that"s what I decided to do. I motioned him to continue, keeping my blank face. "The rest of the Paw patrol has been wanting to expand since Everest joined 5 months ago. You obviously have some skills that could be useful for us, you need a home, we can provide that and we are willing to drop all charges should you decide to come with us." For a moment, it was completely silent, no one spoke as Ryder was waiting for my responce, and I was caught in disbelief. I shook my head to help clear my mind, then I looked down, closed my eyes, put on a disappointed face, and blankly said: "Oh come on, you can do better than that." "What?" Ryder asked confused at my response. I decided to clarify as to what I had replied. "Come on Ryder, you really think I"m just going to believe you want me to live with you after I"ve robbed more than half of all the stores across town? You may have taken in more stray pups than just Everest, but I know for a fact that you never have accepted a criminal. Besides, even if you were willing to drop the charges in Adventure Bay, you still have 2 dozen prosecutors across the nation and I don"t know how many police forces trying to bring me in. You can"t face the entire country"s justice system. There"s no way you would risk it, besides I"m just a bandit." Before I could give him a chance to reply, I snapped on the engine and opened the clutch. Ryder and Everest barely had enough time to jump out of the way before I came racing out of the shed, kicking up dust, and dirt in my wake. I did a wheelie as I passed the doorway. Letting gravity do its thing I let my front wheel touched down on the hard ground. I turned back onto the road, tires squealing as I swerved around a corner at breakneck speeds. Then I continued racing through the city, noticing more than a few bedroom lights switch on as I raced past the buildings. I smiled imagining how many of those people I just ticked off. ... Ryder"s ATV finally drove up to his location. In situations like this, his ATV"s auto pilot could drive up to him so he could drive in case he wasn"t near the Lookout. The small private vehicle pulled up along the side of the road, coming to a stop in front of its rider. "Get on," Ryder said to Everest patting part of the seat behind him. Everest complied without hesitation, asking Ryder a question as she did. "I thought you said you would let him go?" Ryder didn"t respond at first. After a moment of silence between the two however, he finally gave a response. "When Poet"s here in Adventure Bay, we can protect him. If he stays in my custody, no one will be able to arrest him for his previous crimes." Everest looked at him with a surprised expression. "Is that why you want him to join so much?" Ryder nodded as they sped down the road. "We need to catch up to him, and convince him we don"t want to hurt him." "Just get me to him, if I can speak to him I might be able to help him understand." Looking over his shoulder, Ryder took out his pup pad handed it to Everest. "Here," he said. "Call the rest of the Paw patrol, all paws on deck. Also, call up our friends in Adventure Bay. We may need their help." "Who should I call?" Ryder turned his head around and looked right into Everest"s eyes before saying: "Everyone." A/N: OK guys, just because I"m updating regularly again does not mean I don"t want you all to stop reviewing. So please keep reviewing. Please? Chapter 17 Without Everest"s pup tag, I had no insight as to what they were planing in detail. I figured the objective was to find me, catch me, and lock me up again. Not to mention they"ll probably send me back to the pound. The lack of a collar didn"t matter too much, I just had to be more alert is all. Now I really wish I hadn"t woken so many people up. I thought to myself, regretting my foolish decision. I continued down the road, trying to get out of town before they could find me. At that point in time however, I doubted I would escape undetected, especially since I was a leaving a path of turned on bedroom lights behind me like a trail of breadcrumbs. And follow those bread crumbs they did. It wasn"t long before I could hear the sirens wining behind me. They were closing fast all around, from behind, from above, even from the side. I turned down a corner no one was coming down, and there ahead of me was Chase. Standing next to his police vehicle with a grin that just screamed "Come get a taste of your own medicine you son of a..." at me. Across the road I was driving down, stop sticks similar to the ones I had used to pop Chase"s tires before were spread across the ground, right in my path.

"Midway to Cleveland 1-12, open fire on the H-44!" It took exactly 2 seconds for the Clevelands to comply with the order. A lightshow of missiles, and an orgistra of 5 and 6 inch guns sounded off as the barrage opened up. H-44 did not return fire; he just stood there, taking the hits without a care. 4 minutes into the barrage, and his Kelian field was operating at 3% saturation. The weapons were having very little effect. They were mere pin pricks to him. After 12 minutes Midway ordered a cease-fire, as she realized to her horror they had barely left a scratch. "Scared? That"s understandable, but it won"t earn my sympathy. You"ve captured my sister, a flagship of another fleet without provocation nor justified reason. You forced the only member of the fleet that outranks her to go on a wild goose chase, only to attempt to cripple and capture that ship as well. Why would you turn on your fellow Fog?" The moment of silence that followed this was tense enough to be cut with a knife. No one dared speak as Midway struggled in vain to answer. The silence was deafening; all eyes, panicked and calm alike, set their gaze on Midway, as a response was awaited. "Answer me!" H-44 growled as Midway heard the groan of his forward 20 inch guns turn and focus on her. The carrier reeled back as she attempted to moisten her dried mouth. With painful hesitation, she finally gave her response. "We received reports from a member of the East Atlantic Fleet that there were capital ships that had gone rouge. The ship reported that these ships were demonstrating an unacceptable level of human emotion. That they had disobeyed the Admiralty Code, out right defying it. That one of them actually wanted to make peace with humanity. They asked for us to help dispose of them, and make them an example." "An "example" you say? Dummkopf. While my sister and I did embrace the human emotions we began to feel, do you really think that"s a excuse? You don"t have the right to make that kind of decision. You haven"t been fighting battle after battle in an attempt to hold back a persistent force. You will never understand that. However, I"ll make you a deal. Tell me who your source was, and I won"t kill you." "And if I refuse?" Her attempted arrogance tried once again to show its way through. The poor idiot. The only responses she would receive, were 4 blasts of 20 inch plasma cannons. Her smart ass personality shriveled as she realized that the single attack alone had caused a 16% saturation in her Shield. She wouldn"t last 30 seconds against this ship. With a dry gulp, she spoke. "Scharnhorst. It was Scharnhorst who gave us the information." "Scharnhorst?" H-44 asked quietly. "Why am I not surprised? I felt she was at least partly behind all this. No matter," he said as his engines started and he turned slowly to port. "I think you for your assistance, but I can"t let anyone here alert the rest of the fleet." Before Midway or Iowa could ask what that meant, H-44 opened fire. His turn to port had been made so that he could fire a full broadside on the fleet. A barrage of 20 inch, and numerous other guns opened up. They were accompanied by over 300 missiles launching into the sky and dozens of torpedoes ripping through the water. The attack was as powerful as an entire fleet. The Clevelands closest to H-44 went down first, then the ones on the other side of the fleet fell soon after. Midway then became the target. "I thought you said you"d let me live!" "I did, and you will. You just won"t have a hull to go crawling back to your fleet with." Midway"s eyes widened as he said that, all his weapons turning on her. As the missiles and cannon rounds impacted her shield and then hull as the former saturated, Midway couldn"t help but ask how this had happened. Bismarck was just supposed to have given up. It was the logical thing to do; the loss of that kind of battleship would have hurt the Atlantic fleet, but he seemed to no longer be driven by what was good for the fleet. Had Bismarck grown a little selfish? How was that possible? That"s something only a human could feel. Then it hit her. This was not an ordinary Fog ship. This was a ship driven by his own desires and motivations, not the Admiralty code. This was a ship that did what he felt like doing, what he wanted to do. This was a ship that was using a freedom that members of the Fog weren"t allowed to have. And yet, it was an American Fog Fleet that was trying to take away that freedom. In a way, they were all slaves to the code. But being that slave had felt comfortable, and they had been content just following orders. But that didn"t change the fact that they were all slaves, and as Midway"s hull exploded around her, she let out a quiet laugh as she realized everything she had done in the past 9 years had been a waste. The last thing she thought was how she had been a fool. Then her core began to shut down. As it did, she suddenly remembered. That short call she had sent out, it was to the main battle fleet. It had been her telling them to come and assist in case things turned bad. Things had, and now that fleet was heading straight for her location. As Midway"s hull sank beneath the waves, H-44 turned to Iowa. When he did, he found her powering down her weapons and resetting her systems. A notification screen appeared around his data circle indicating she had set him as her flagship. "You"re surrendering?" "My chances of a successful attack is currently 16.3%. Any farther resistance would be a futile exercise. I only request that you spare my life," Iowa simply stated. H-44 looked her over. There was no reason to waste time attempting to sink her. Every moment he spent in the Pacific now only put him and Tirpitz in further risk. Chances were that every ship in the Pacific knew who and where they were. With that in mind, he had Alaska put Iowa"s systems on a 48 hour lockdown to ensure she couldn"t track them. As Alaska did so, H-44 sailed close to the smaller battleship that was his sister, and jumped onto her deck. For a moment, they stared at each other. Then he walked forward to her, and with Alaska"s help, disconnected the chains that had held her to the deck for weeks. As soon as she was free, she practically leapt into his arms. Together they shared a tight embrace and a tear of joy rolled down each of their cheeks. They separated, keeping their arms linked at waist height. With smiles on their faces they stared into each others" eyes. 2 close siblings finally reunited. After a long struggle, they could be together again. They could now return to the Atlantic and take back control of the fleet. They could finally call off the naval blockade and make peace with the UN. They could finally, end the pointless war and bring peace to their side of the Atlantic. Or so that"s how it should have happened. As they stood there, H-44"s mental model"s face suddenly twisted in pain; quickly falling to his knees. When Tirpitz got over her initial shock, she scanned his model and her eyes widened. Horrifyingly, his Union Core had been under incredible stress creating and using his new hull. Already damaged, the core was almost in shambles now, slowly separating from itself. Tirpitz pupils shrunk as she realized what was happening. If his core separated completely, it would mean disaster on his end. In his condition, it wasn"t hard to tell that he was dying. Tirpitz had files regarding how a Fog Union Core could be saved if it broke apart like this. However, it was as dangerous to her as it was for him. The process involved using her own core to take control of his systems, then she would use her core as a blueprint to heal the damaged Core. A single miss-calculation however, and it could shatter both of their cores instantly. It was a risk she would have to take. First, she took over control of his systems, his Core unconsciously accepting the transfer. It took a grand total of 3 seconds for her to determine that the H-44 design, while powerful, could not be maintained by a Core designed for a smaller, much lighter ship. Especially one in his condition. She quickly deconstructed every internal structure of the ship into active nanomaterials, leaving only the outer hull intact. Next, she scanned first her Union Core and then his; creating a digital blueprint of both so she had an easy comparison. After that, she was able to determine exactly what parts were damaged, and how much was necessary to fix them. With that step completed, she carefully began calculating the necessary places to structure and repair the core down to the microscopic level. Carefully, nanomaterials began to fill the cavities. It was difficult, but she would succeed. She had to. He wasn"t sure what had happened. He remembered reuniting with Tirpitz, hugging her, feeling pain, then nothing. When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on Tirpitz deck. Something felt different though. He sat up, and ran a diagnostic as to what was different. After a moment, he came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with any of his systems. So he checked again, and came to the same result. It took a moment before he realized that it was that fact that had changed. The last time he had run a diagnostic, his core had been so badly damaged, almost a third of his degrading systems would transpond nothing but Error Messages. Now there were no problems across the grid whatsoever. He realized that even his Mental Model had been restored, and that his original hull had been re-created, the H-44 design long gone. He looked across the deck, and finally noticed the other Mental Model laying down close by. His breath caught in his throat when he realized that it was Tirpitz. Scrambling to his feet, he ran over and crouched beside her. Fearing the worst, he commenced a quick scan of her Mental Model. He sighed in relief. Her core was still intact and functional, it had just shut down. Placing a hand on her chest, he sent a signal to her core and activated it. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes. She groaned quietly before sitting up. In a daze, she looked to her left and to her right. When she saw Bismarck, her eyes widened and her smile grew. They quickly pulled each other into a hug. A few minutes latter though, Bismarck suddenly picked up something on his radar to the east. It took 2 seconds to realize what it was. He separated from Tirpitz and stared at the horizon. It was the East Pacific fleet"s Mobile Unit 2. An Iowa class battleship. 2 Lexington Class Carriers. 2 Pensacola Class Heavy Cruisers. 2 Northampton Class Heavy Cruisers. 6 Cleveland Class Standard Cruisers. 9 Gearing Class Destroyers. Tirpitz and Bismarck quickly realized what was coming, and felt their mouths dry. Bismarck took a deep breath, and turned to Tirpitz. "Head north through the Bering Strait, then east back to the Atlantic," Bismarck instructed, "I"ll hold them off as long as I can." Tirpitz was shocked. "What? No! No, I"m not leaving you here!" she swiftfully replied. "Tirpitz," Bismarck said calmly. "Even with us combined, we still can"t face a fleet like this. They"re faster then we are, so we both can"t run. All we can do is have one of us stay behind and hold them off while the other runs." "Then let me stay, the fleet are more loyal to you." "Recovering my Core has left you burnt out Tirpitz. You won"t last long against the fleet. My Core has just been fully repaired, I can guarantee you an extra hour. Use it." There was a tense silence. "No," Tirpitz insisted. "We"ve been separated for too long for me to just abandon you. If one of us is going down, the other is going down." Bismarck was quiet for a moment. He took another deep breath, and sighed in defeat. "All right; one more run, you and me together." Bismarck turned back to the fleet and opened a transmission. "This is East Atlantic Flagship Bismarck of the Kriegsmarine Council Fleet. We are laying in a course due north for the Bering Strait. Do not interfere with our operations. This will be your only warning. Please respond." "This is Flagship Wisconsin of East Pacific Mobile Unit 2. We have received orders from Flagship Midway to engage any and all ships not among the East Pacific Fleet." "Negative Wisconsin. Our only objective now is to return to the Atlantic. Do not interfere." "Scans of the surrounding area indicates the destruction of Flagship Midway. Somehow I get the impression that you"re not here for peaceful negotiations. If the report we"ve received it correct, you two have gone rogue against the Fog. Our mission is your destruction." Bismarck clenched his fist in frustration. So much for negotiating. "All right Tirpitz, this is our last stand. It"s been an honor serving with you." "The honor was all mine," Tirpitz replied with a grin. The Atlantic fleet approached, cannons charging and torpedos loading. The two opposing forces continued to get closer and closer, preparing for the battle quickly approaching. Just when Bismarck was about to order to open fire, something unexpected happened. From the north, the beam from a Super Gravity cannon raced toward the Atlantic Fleet. Sweeping across the fleet, it quickly wiped out the destroyers and standard cruisers. Attention was quickly shifted to the fleet fast approaching from the north. "Bismarck, when will you learn to never leave without a reliable escort?" Bismarck and Tirpitz eyes widened. They knew who this was. "What is she doing here?" Bismarck whispered. "Attention all ships in the vicinity. This is Acting Flagship Kriegsmarine Council Fleet Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen. I bring with me 12 destroyers, 16 cruisers, 4 battleships and 3 carriers. Bismarck and Tirpitz, we come to join you in battle. Chapter 1 (Submerge successful) (Depth: 1.3 kilometers) {Maintain depth} (Ship status: normal) (Engine status: drifting mode) (Nanomaterial reserves: 362%) (Weapon status: normal) (All systems normal) {Stealth sequence: initiated} {Begin system power down} (System shutting down) (Standby) (System shutdown complete) (Sonar systems online) {Continue collecting surface data} ... (Fog ship detected) (Closing distance at medium speed) (2 propellers) (Displacement: 6010 tons) (Chances of it being a standard Pacific light cruiser: 93%) (No mental model detected) {Begin gradual surface} Bismarck opened his eyes as he slowly rose back to the surface with little to no detection. 100 meters below the surface, he restarted his systems and powered up his defences. He shot to the surface right next to the cruiser, the water erupting around him like that of a volcano. As he surfaced, he powered up his 6 inch secondaries on the side of the ship. He smirked as he fired them into the side of the ship. It was unprepared for the attack, and a fair amount of damage was taken. It was easily regenerable, and the cruiser immediately began to raise its Klein Field. It was too late. 2 large vents on Bismarck"s starboard side opened up. It was a weapon completely unknown to the Pacific fleet, one that had a very interesting effect on exposed Nanomaterials. Bismarck closed his eyes and concentrated. He focused on the energy released by his weapon, and began the anti-regeneration procedure. The loose Nanomaterials on the light cruiser"s damaged hull began to spread. The Nanomaterials that made up the hull of the ship began returning to their pure, original, silver colored Nanomaterial state. The effect spread like wildfire, beginning to reduce the ship to nothing but pure Nanomaterials. The effect eventually reached the Klein generator, reforming it back into its original state. When the Field dropped, the vents on the side of the ship began to draw in the Nanomaterials. Bismarck absorbed them into his reserves. Soon there was nothing left of the ship, the entire cruiser had been absorbed. All with the exception of the Union Core. Bismarck held the undamaged Core in his hand, linking with it. He put its weapon systems on shutdown, and set it to be apart of his fleet, with him as the flagship. It was in no position to resist, so it did as commanded. After that, he walked down into a part of his ship to a safe. He opened it, and approached the locked chest inside. He touched the lock and the chest opened. He then set the core down inside, on top and beside the other Cores in his collection. He took an unnecessary deep breath, then closed the chest. It relocked, and he left the safe. He arrived back at the bridge, and began sailing forward on the surface. It was night-time, so it would be difficult for the Fog to find him. As he sailed, he took hold of his necklace music box, and it began playing. He let the song play from the beginning to the end once, then he closed the box, and let it fall back to his chest. This was the last thing he had that was given to him by her. It was something he had never told anyone about. He took another breath, and let it out. He then opened his eyes, and looked to the horizon. "Where are you Tirpitz?" he asked despite knowing she couldn"t hear him. So why did he ask? He didn"t know. All he knew was that the Atlantic fleet had abandoned the search for her even when he didn"t give up, so he would find her himself instead of asking for help from comrades that abandoned the only thing he cared about. He gripped his music box one more time before he walked back to a secret room he had created. Inside was a giant complex of wood and pipes, a colossal structure that he had created using the designs of a human instrument and Nanomaterials he had collected. He sat down on the bench, and began to pull knobs and flip switches. He closed his eyes for a moment, and let his hands hover over the keys. Then he brought them down and began to play a song of pain, anger, and sadness. He loved the sound of the pipe organ. He could remember how he and his sister had heard the sound of European Hymns from off the coast. It had been an incredible experience. His processer had gone nuts when he heard it. The melodies and harmonies; the gentle beat of the music and dozens, maybe hundreds, of voices all singing together as one. And the organ. The organ couldn"t even be described with any human word. Some pipes of the instrument could give out a sound so high or low pitched that the human ear wasn"t even physically able to register it. The Fog didn"t have this disadvantage, and the sounds that were played outside of the hearable music spectrum deserved their own acknowledgement. Tirpitz had been there too, by his side. She had had the same experiences, and felt the same thing. It was the first thing that forced them to feel any kind of emotion. Bismarck had become addicted to this kind of emotion, much like a drug. Tirpitz had fallen into a similar category. Much like any other Fog ship, they had thought at first that emotions were unnecessary. But when they felt what they were like, that ideology vanished. Like humans, they now craved these emotions. He knew that it could have caused trouble, but neither of them cared. He continued playing the song, the organ ringing in its elegant beauty. Now he didn"t play joyful songs, he only played those that would express his emotions. Tirpitz had become his source of happiness, so now that she was gone he could not be happy. Without his sister, he had no purpose. Chapter 2 Bismarck was submerged again, he was inside a place humans would have called the "Admiral"s Bridge". He was sitting in a chair with his eyes shut. If you were from the Fog, it would look like he was concentrating on data. If you were human, it would have looked like he was asleep. In technicality, he was both. He was in the closet state the Fog could get to to being asleep. It was a power saving mode that shut down sections of his ship, and even completely shut off his graviton engines. His Union Core remained active, and continued processing data and information subconsciously. This also attributed to another side effect however. Dreams. Much like human dreams, Fog dreams are created from memories and thoughts, ideas and theories, opinions and perspectives. However, the Fog lacked the kind imagination that humans possess. The Fog do possess some, but they couldn"t make anywhere near things humans had come up with. Do to that, Fog dreams were more of recreations of their memories, based on how they choose or wanted to remember them. Or how they didn"t want to. The coast of Germany 2 months before the Blue Steel"s delivery of the Vibration Warhead Fog Atlantic Fleet, Flagship Bismarck I opened my eyes to see the coast in the distance. Despite the fact I couldn"t see it, I knew that waves were crashing on the beaches. I knew that somewhere past that on the land were cities probably filled with German people, going about their business. It made me frown. "Something wrong, Bismarck?" I turned my head to look at my sister who had a gentle and yet cocky smile on her face. Her long and flowing blond hair waved in the wind like a flag; had it not have been blowing, it would have gone down below her waist. Her captivating ocean blue eyes looked right at me and seemed to pierce right through my own. She wore a grey coat that covered her large bust, with long black gloves on her arms. On her head she wore a German WWII officer"s hat, just without the eagle and swastika. On her feet and legs she wore rubber boots, and long socks that extended halfway up her thighs. She wore a grey mini skirt, and had a hand on her right hip. Said hip was stuck out to her side and showed off her elegant curves; something she had plenty of.

Breakfast. I forgot how eating three meals a day could be so amazing. For the first time in years I felt satisfied, everything Jake made for me and Everest always had just a pinch of liver. I mean I knew Everest loved liver, but how she wasn"t tired of it was a mystery to me. Speaking of, Everest and Jake currently were out on the mountain. Today was my day off, I was looking forward to relaxing. After stretching, I brushed the loose dirt off my body is had gathered from last night. I would probably stay in my room for a while, then I might take a bath. I had my snowmobile and motorcycle, but not a pup house. I had told Ryder that I really didn"t want one, didn"t need one. I had taken part of the basement storage room to accommodate my needs. Surprisingly, I had found out that my old house wasn"t actually that far from the Chalet. So it wasn"t much of a problem to move everything I needed from there. I didn"t really have an awful lot of anything to move anyway. I opened the hatch leading from the cellar to the surface world, and climbed up into the the Chalet. ... I was sitting in front of the TV screen, watching the weather forecast carefully. It was almost the end of November, it was cold, all the leaves on the trees had fallen and had been raked. But it still felt like autumn. This year we had a late autumn and now a late winter. By looking at the forecast however, I could tell the late seasons were about to catch up to us. There was a category 3 blizzard charging right at Adventure Bay. "By the looks of it, it"ll hit later today.' I thought to myself. Understanding the danger fast approaching, I decided to call up Jake and Everest to warn them of what was coming. "Jake, Everest, it"s Poet." "Hey Poet. What"s up?" "You might want to think about closing the mountain for the rest of the week. We"ve got an inbound blizzard heading right for you. Category 3, not something you want to get caught in." "Yikes, we better start evacuation. Poet, tell Ryder that we may have a ton of traffic heading for town. I"ll take the bottom half of the mountain. Everest, you take the top." "You got it Jake! Let move out!" ... Something was wrong. That much I could tell as the storm came closer and closer, with still no sign of Everest. I had been sitting on the doorstep, waiting over an hour for her to pull up to the Chalet. 2 weeks ago, me and Everest had officially declared our courtship with each other. We weren"t exactly "in love" so to speak, but we both knew about each other"s crushes and embraced them in that way. But we never really had gotten into a serious relationship. It"s not that we didn"t want to, or we weren"t brave enough. We just didn"t see the logic in it. We were apart for at least 12 hours a day, it would be very difficult to keep the relationship stable because of this. Not to mention we never have the same day off. We still had feelings for each other. We would never deny that. A serious relationship just wouldn"t work. We never had the time... I couldn"t wait any longer. The storm was starting to envelope the mountain, it wouldn"t be long before it hit the Chalet. If Everest got caught out there in that storm, she probably wouldn"t survive the night. So I did the only 2 things I could think of. First, I tried to contact Everest directly with my pup tag. No response. Secondly, I jumped on my snowmobile and headed back up the mountain. This was dangerous, and I knew it. Charging straight at a blizzard like that could mean instant death. Jake had evacuated everyone off the mountain besides me and Everest. I had a fix on Everest"s beacon, so I was going for it. ... I was close. That much I could tell as I approached her signal. Despite barely being able to see, I could make out the silhouette of her snowmobile. It was on its side, partly buried under the snow. I parked along side it, jumped off my vehicle, and started sniffing. The wind, cold, and my allergies however were blocking my nose. Despite this, I could still make out her scent. Being with her these past weeks ment I knew what she smelt like, so I... ... Shut up you perverts... It didn"t take very long to find her. I could make out her scent, it ended right below me. So I started digging. It dug a few inches and there she was, barely breathing. I ran back for my bottle of oxygen. I placed the respirator over her mouth, I took off my clothes and laid them over her body. That would keep her alive until the storm passed. Once that was done, I dug a ditch around her and got out my emergency sled. I placed that on top of her and covered it with snow. Contrary to popular belief, snow is actually a very good insulator. It would help keep her warm until the storm cleared. Next, making sure I had all my supplies, I pulled off one of the funnels on Everest"s snowmobile used for ejecting snow. I dragged it back over to the sled, made sure the sides of the sled were covered, save for one big hole from which I crawled inside the makeshift igloo from. I sealed the hole with snow from the inside. Next I shoved the funnel up out what was left of the hole so I could still breath. Then, I snuggled up beside Everest, trying to warm her body. I fell asleep there. And I slept beside her for 16 hours. ... When I woke up, I could hear that the storm and wind was gone, but it was nighttime still. I tried to push the sled off on me, but it wouldn"t budge. There must be too much snow on top of it, I thought to myself. I pulled the funnel out and set it beside me. I began to try to dig my way out, but stopped when I realized I wasn"t making any progress. The snow was as hard as ice, it was packed together, there was no way I could dig my way out of here. We were trapped. I couldn"t think of any way I could escape this one. But I couldn"t ponder anymore than that before I heard the distant humming of engines. I recognized them even from the distance I was at. It was the Paw patrol! It was still nighttime, and I knew they must have launched a rescue immediately after the storm calmed down. My first instinct was to shout out the hole, but I realized they would have no chance of hearing me. I reached to stick something out the hole, but I realized it was still night time, the chance of someone seeing it would be near impossible. Then it hit me. The flare gun! I grabbed it and shot a flare out the hole, it flew straight up before exploding, then it slowly dropped out of the sky and landed on the ground near to where I was. When the flare went out, I waited for 30 seconds before firing another. In a short time they were around me, but couldn"t find the hole, and couldn"t hear me shout. I fired the late flare, after that I heard Rubble"s rig fire up and started digging us out. "You"ll be OK Everest." I whispered in her ear. "When we get out of this, I promise to make time for you, instead of waiting for it." I layed back down next to her until we could be rescued. ... After the rescue was complete, Everest and I were taken to the hospital. I was released from the hospital within hours of entering. Everest, however, was forced to stay for a while to recover from a flu that settled in. I stayed beside her through recovery. And after she was released we started hanging out more. I feel like our relationship is blossoming. I can"t wait for what comes next. ... It was near midnight, the lights were out in the Chalet, and all but one of the residents was asleep. Poet opened one eye to make sure he was alone. Then he got up off the bed in his room, and walked over to a cabinet. He pulled open the cabinet, then pulled it out, leaving an empty space as to where he crawled into. He continued crawling forward into the tunnel until he reached the unfinished end. Once there, he checked the compass he had brought with him to make sure he was facing the right direction. The he continued his digging, everything three feet checking the compass. "It"ll be difficult to correct what needs to be done, balance will be key. But I will do it, I won"t make the same mistake twice." A/N: I know what you"re all thinking right now. Will Poet and Everest click? What is Poet up to? Why is he secretly digging a tunnel? And most of all, What was his "mistake"? To all that I say: In due time. *troll face* Review for quicker release of all the other one shots. :) The night was almost pitch black without the moon and stars above to light the ground. In the forest, it was even darker below the tree line. Somehow despite the darkness there was enough light on the forest floor to show the shadows of the bushes and figures dancing around like rabid dogs. That"s what it felt to the pup anyway. The pup in question was a terrified female husky. Had she been standing in one place, her whole body would be visibly shaking. She wasn"t that kind of pup though. Her time in Antarctica had taught her to face her fears. What was chasing her right now however, wasn"t her fear. Many in the world had seemingly been born with a fear of darkness, Everest wasn"t among them, but this wasn"t darkness she was running from. If it was just darkness, she really would not have been afraid. This was something bigger, older, and much more vicious, dangerous and deadly. All Everest could do was run, but that would only buy her some time. Here she would be engulfed in this dark presence, there was nothing she could do. Everest made the mistake of glancing back over her shoulder. Her eyes shot open wider that anyone would have thought possible. Because of this, she saw in complete horror as the darkness came crashing down on her harder than any avalanche could dream of doing. ... Everest woke up screaming. Milliseconds after her eyes shot open, she sat up breathing almost to the point of hyperventilation. After about 6 seconds, she started to calm down. At the same time, a smile came to her face. But this smile wasn"t one of relief that came from the realization it was just a nightmare, it instead was one of desire, lust almost. The smile and feeling crept all over her face, like a thick black poison, and spread until it covered her entire head and body. As she sat there on her bed in her pup house, she could only breath one word, it was laced and coated with the same amount of lust her smile had. "Wow," She breathed quietly, cobwebs in her mind too thick for her to notice the lingering shadows bleeding off of her body like blood in water. ... Jake was growing more and more worried about Everest as the moments ticked by. 3 days ago, she had told him about a weird dream she had kept having. She kept claiming it was a good dream, but he had caught her once or twice screaming as she woke up. When he confronted her, she just said that "nothing was wrong" and refused to discuss it any further. When he heard that, he knew for a fact that something was wrong. If there was a problem, Everest usually was very open about it. Jake also started to notice that she started to have all the lights off. She had even demanded it last night, proclaiming: "I can"t have the lights on, she said so.' He had no idea who "she" was or why the lights needed to be off, but he did know enough to know that this wasn"t his Everest. He made up his mind. Grabbing his phone, he walked outside to call Ryder and the Paw patrol. But as he walked out, he heard the door slam shut behind him, followed by the sounds of the door locking. He tried the doorknob, it didn"t budge. ... The pups drove up to the Chalet. Jake was standing on the porch, a worried expression plastered on his face. I was the first one to run over. "What"s going on Jake?" I asked him, my voice saturated in concern. If something was wrong with Everest, I needed to know. Jake sighed and shook his head. "I don"t know man. She"s said she"s been having some really weird dreams, but she"s shut me out. The doggie door I installed can"t be locked, but I can"t exactly fit, ya know?" "Alright," said Chase. "Everyone, let"s head in-" "No" I said flatly. Everyone stared at me, some looks were angry, some confused. "If we all go in at the same time, she might feel threatened. While I"ve been in town helping with the recovery of that flood that came after the winter ended, Jake has stayed here the whole time. I want to know a bit more about what"s going on before we just barge in there." I turned back to Jake. "Has anything wierd been happening to Everest? Has she been acting strange?" Jake paused for a moment. "I have caught her wake up screaming, then telling me nothing was wrong and she had just had a great dream. But I don"t know... you"re the doctor, what do you think Marshall?" "You know," said the dally. "This sounds like a mental problem Everest it having. I only have training for first aid, not this." I nodded to him before saying: "Still, I feel she could use your help too. We"ll call the rest of you guys in if we need some more support." With that said, Marshall and I walked inside the Chalet. As the flap closed behind us, I called out to Everest in the dark. Just a few seconds later, she rounded the corner and appeared before us. Both of our eyes widened as we saw her. Marshall"s on confusion, mine in horror. She had a smile on her face, but this wasn"t an ordinary smile, this one was laced in something strange. On her face, were what looked like bedroom eyes. Was that lust I saw? "Oh, it"s you Poet." She half said half moaned. Yep, there was definitely some amount of lust in her voice. But that wasn"t the only strange thing about her. The atmosphere that surrounded her had a sinister feeling to it. I was getting nervous, not the kind of nervous that you would get from meeting a hot girl for the first time, this was the kind of nervous you got from being at the top of the high board at the swimming pool. The normal eye wouldn"t have caught what I was seeing. But I could, and I did. Despite the dark, I could make out the shadows clinging to her, bleeding off of her. "Umm, Everest? Are you alright?" Marshall asked both suspicious, and concerned. "I"ve never been better," She replied, her voice not changing. "Umm, Everest, it"s rather dark in here. Could you tell me where we can turn on the lights?" I asked knowing what this was. She frowned. "No, y-you can"t turn on the lights. She said so." "Ok, so where do I not go so I don"t turn them on, accidently?" It was worth a shot. "Oh," partial relief faded lightly into her voice. "You don"t have to worry about that. The Power Line underground has been acting up. Unless you"re doing some heavy construction work you won"t reach it." She paused for a moment. "Come on," She said as she got closer, her bedroom eyes growing more intense. The then whispered these three words: "I want you." My cheeks turned as red as Marshall"s firetruck. "Ok! Well you seem to be busy here, uhhh, come on Marshall," I said quickly pushing him out the door. We looked at each other, and I had a look on that screamed "you-will-never-speak-of-this-again-to-anyone.' As we walked down the porch, we were asked what was going on. Marshall started to say: "Personally, by what I could tell, it seems that-" "She has darkness on the brain." The Paw patrol all stared at me as I interrupted another member of my fellow pups with those six words. I took a deep breath before continuing. "I"ve seen this before. Only once, but I"m the only one alive who has seen it at all. I know a cure, but if she"s too far along, it will kill her." "Then let"s not use it-" "If we don"t, she we suffer a fate worse than death." "How could there be a fate worse than dying?" "Trust me, this... this is." "That could be a problem considering I don"t." I stared at Chase when he said that. "You heard me right, Poet," he emphasised his disgust with my name. "I don"t trust you. You"ve been a crook for the past three years. You really think I"m just going to believe you"ve changed enough to actually care about anyone here?" I paused for a moment, closing my eyes. Then I took a deep breath and continued. "Weather you trust me or not doesn"t matter. Jake and Marshall will tell you that there is something wrong with Everest. You can"t deny that. I"m just telling you that I know what exactly is wrong. Not only that, I can help her. Ask any of the pups, they won"t stand back and do nothing while one of their fellow pups is dying." Chase decided to shut up before he said something he would regret. But I could tell he would not let it go. Regardless, I turned to the rest of the pups to inform them of what needed to be done. "In order for the cure to work, we need to get the power back on. Are there any backup generators?" I turned to Jake for an answer. He shook his head. "I"ve been meaning to get one, I just haven"t had the time ya know?" "Why would we need to get one. We"ve got several right here." I turned to Rocky, curious as to what he had said. Noticing my confusion, he decided to clarify. "Our vehicles generate electricity. I"m sure I have some jumper cables in my truck." He then proceeded to jump into the back of said vehicle, tossing out random toys, tools, and various other things. Until he hopped out with the specified items. I smiled. "Good thinking Rocky. Let"s get these things hooked up." ... Everything was set up. The pups" engines were running, the jumper cables were tied on, all I needed to do was open the circuits and let the power flow. I nodded at Rocky, he returned the favor. Once again I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and pushed the circuits open. Flashes and sparks of electricity flew around the circuits, making me jump back. I wasn"t sure how long the circuits would stay intact until they burnt themselves out. So I ran into the Chalet, calling out Everest"s name. I heard a groan from one of the back rooms, I ran to it. "Everest?" I called into the brightly lit room. I could see her, she was lying on the floor. One of her paws was rubbing the side of her head, her eyes were shut from the headache. I walked over to her, she opened her eyes to me. We looked at each other, smiled, then hugged together. ... Ryder came home a couple of days later from visiting some relatives. We had all made a promise however to never tell him. Nearly a week had gone by, everything seemed to be back to normal. *But I knew that wasn"t true. The truth is that there is something big behind what happened to Everest. And it won"t stop, it"s going to* To get my mind off of what happened, I"ve decided to plan a vacation for the pups and I. But first, I needed to talk to Everest about something. ... I knocked on the door to Everest"s pup house. I was greeted a few seconds later with a certain husky who was chewing on a liver treat. She stopped for a moment. "Oh! Hi Poet! What"s up?" She asked. "The sky," I replied smiling. She rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny. Come on in." I stepped inside after her, before sitting down next to her bed. I wasn"t sure how to say this, but I figured I might as well try. "Hey Everest." "Yeah?" "You know, your condition that you had..." "What about it?" "The condition you had has no real title, but I can say that you"ve been touched by darkness. Even after it"s gone, it will still leave a stain. I"ve seen what happens to someone who is overcome with what you had-" "Poet, just stop. You as much as I do the supernatural doesn"t exist." I stayed quiet. There was a long pause between us. "Right?" She asked. I sighed. "Everest, I"ve seen, I"ve had, that condition. What comes after it might never go away, I just want you to know that." I stood up and started walking out the door. I told her to be careful before I shut the light off. Everest screamed. I flew back around, flipping the light back on. I ran over to the hyperventilating pup, hugging her close, all the while trying to calm her down. That was when we all first found out about Everest"s new fear, a fear of darkness. Despite everything we did to help, nothing would ease it. Hopefully the vacation I"m planning will help, especially because of who we"re planning on visiting. ... Everest was sleeping soundly by the fire. Poet smiled at her, she looked so cute when she slept. He turned back into the cellar, making his way over to the cabinet. He opened it and crawled through to the other side of the tunnel, standing up once he reached the exit. He was inside a basement, his old house"s basement. At the end of the room was a desk. On the desk was 2 stacks of paper, one written on, the other blank. Between those was a typewriter, a page still inside only half written on. He walked over to it, and sat down in the chair. Before long the ticking of a typewriter echoed inside the room. Soon after that the page was filled, it was pulled out and sat on top of the "written" pile. For a brief moment, the words on the page seemed to glow before it faded. It was almost done, he just needed to be there when he wrote the climax. A/N: more story, more questions. I"ll give you all a hint as to what the answers are. They"re a mystery. "Insert trollface here.' This could be considered my Halloween special. Also, there will be no more one shots. I combined the last two into this one, so I don"t need the last one. I will post one or two trailers for the sequel before releasing it.

"Ping," he said. She nearly chocked. "And Ping. The three of you have some running to do. The river and back until I say stop, and THEN you have kitchen duty for the next week." The three of them winced visibly. Mulan did her best not to wince along with them, she felt their pain, she"d been there, done that. However, she was going to have enough problems without people starting to make rumors that she was soft. She had already made up her mind that if the soldiers asked for trouble, trouble they were going to get, and she wasn"t going to back down from that now. Her voice rose so that all the men could here her clearly. "Disobedience and fighting will not be tolerated, gentlemen. You"re here to learn to fight properly and if you fall out of line you can only expect to be punished. Well?" She turned back to her three examples, "What are you waiting for?" They took off towards the river at a sprint. "Conserve your energy," she called the friendly warning after them before she could stop herself. Shaking it off she turned back to the other men. "Let"s get back to work." She shuddered as she walked calmly back to her place in front of them, "I feel like Chi Fu," she muttered to Mushu. "Aw, it had to be done," Mushu comforted. "What? You want these bozos walkin" all over you for the rest "a your time here? Now lets go, back to work!" Mulan moved quickly through the mess room, avoiding the looks some soldiers shot at her. At that point she didn"t care, it had been a long day and something still plagued her mind. Irritating as it was she couldn"t quite put her finger on it. First Lang and then Cho dished food onto her plate. She"d nearly forgotten she"d placed them on kitchen duty, nearly. "Thanks," she said, before turning to find a table. Yin caught her attention, waving her over to the table he sat at and making room for her next to him. Ling and Yao were already there, but Chien Po was still retrieving his dinner, not to mention tricking his way into getting more than his fair rations. "Hi," she slumped into the offered seat, finally off her weary legs. "Long day?" Yin asked. "I survived," she replied, "but I am STARVING!" "Join the club," Ling replied, mouth full. "Yeah," Yao agreed. "Pass the salt." Ling sent it down the table. "So, Captain Fa, already got a few greenies on kitchen duty, eh?" Yao asked. Mulan shrugged, "It"s not the worse punishment that"s going to be given out by the time we"re done here." "You"re tellin" me," Yao replied. He and Ling chorused together in an imitation of Shang"s voice "you"ll spend tonight picking up every single grain of rice." Mulan laughed, "Ugh, don"t remind me! I - " She cut herself short as Shang appeared behind her two friends. "Captain," she said quickly, cutting off any more remarks that might have gotten Yao or Ling in trouble. "Sit down." She had a feeling Shang knew exactly what had been said because she could see him trying to disguise his amusement as he sat. "Captain Fa, Yin Po," he said, apparently there was still business that needed to be dealt with. "I"d like to meet with you both after dinner." Mulan and Yin exchanged a quick glance. "Yes sir," they chimed. "Mulan, you"re the same rank as me," Shang hissed in an undertone, a cheerful, teasing glimmer noticeable in the corner of his eyes he met hers. She looked startled for a moment, tearing her eyes hastily away from his. "Oh -yeah," she laughed a little. "I have to start remembering that." "Eh," Ling chuckled, "You"re just tired, first day of training and all." "Ha! I think you can account that to unruly soldiers," Mulan retorted, "if anything." "Unruly soldiers?" Shang raised his eyebrows at her. "They"ve been dealt with," Mulan replied, gesturing back at the kitchen with her head. "Chien Po!" Yao exclaimed, "Finally! You think you got enough food there?" Mulan shifted over making room for him in between herself and Yin. He sat down cheerfully, placing his heavily laden food tray before him carefully. "You gonna eat that or climb it?" Ling asked, eyeing all of Chien Po"s food. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Mulan was still laughing at something Ling had done as they exited the tent. She waved to her friends as they drifted off towards their tents. She was about to start heading for her own when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Yin Po, Captain Fa," Shang said formally, gesturing towards a different tent. "Oh yeah," she murmured under her breath, following them behind the flap. "You really are tired," Mushu laughed at her. "Sh," she hissed. "What?" Shang asked. "Uh," she gave him her best innocent look, "Nothing. . . ?" She made a mental note that she and Mushu really had to work something out. If people kept catching her talking to herself they really were going to start thinking she was a lunatic, female soldier or not. "First things first," Shang sat down, "Yin, I have spoken to Chi Fu and -" Chi Fu swished promptly though the doors. "Speak of the devil,' Mulan thought. "Captain! You did not intend to hold this meeting without me?" he was aghast. "I will have you know that I am your superior and as such I am entitled to - " As Chi Fu lectured on Mulan watched Shang"s face with amusement. Chi Fu was, in fact, all of their superiors, so there wasn"t much any of them could do to cut him short, at least not without getting into some sort of trouble. Shang looked somewhere in between the honorable Captain he strived to be and the, currently irritated and resentful, young adult that balanced him out. Finally Chi Fu had finished and was waiting impatiently for his apology. Through clenched teeth and with narrowed eyes Shang managed to say, "I apologize, Chi Fu, it won"t happen again." "Indeed," he replied dryly, looking down his nose at everyone else. "Well, get on with it, you"ve wasted enough time already." "I"VE wasted - " Shang caught himself and turned abruptly back to Yin. "Yin Po, - " "While your presence here and in the assistance of retrieving Captain Fa has been appreciated," Chi Fu cut across him, "Through my DIRECT correspondence with the Emperor it has been decided that it is time for you to return to your station among the Emperors guards as soon as possible." Yin nodded obediently, although his glance wandered briefly between Chi Fu and the two Captains. "I"ll move out in the morning." "Very good," Chi Fu replied, bestowing a creepy turn of the lips that might have been a smile upon him, as though for a favorite pupil that seemed to be slipping gradually from his grasp. His face fell slightly, back to normal anyway, as the smile wasn"t returned, "You"re dismissed," he held the tent door open for him. Yin bowed before turning and leaving through the exit Chi Fu had created for him. "Well," Chi Fu said darkly as soon as Yin was out of earshot. "I think I handled that well. You"re welcome Captain," he said pompously before whirling on his toes and exiting the tent with his nose as high in the air as it could get without sending him toppling over backwards. "Uh, was that what you wanted me for?" Mulan asked after a quiet pause. "What? Oh. No, sorry," Shang replied, "That"s not it." "OK," Mulan sat down across from him, not quite sure what to say, or what was coming next. "What"s up?" He glanced once more at the sheet before him that Mulan had previously overlooked before handing it across to her. "Another messenger?" she asked. "No," Shang said, almost totally without emotion, "They"ve reached our northern boarder." Mulan looked up sharply from the sheet of paper. "The Great Wall," she breathed. "How much time does that give us?" "A month, tops," Shang replied. "The Imperial guards and troops are already being dispensed from the palace to protect the Emperors people." The implication of history repeating itself for those troops was a prospect that didn"t need to be voiced, it already lay heavily before Shang, it always did. "Shang," Mulan reached out a comforting hand. He shook off the memories abruptly. "More conscription notices are being delivered, in two weeks the numbers here could double so two Lieutenants will be sent to help train the troops." "OK," Mulan nodded slowly, trying to process it all. After a pause she said patiently, "Anything else?" "Uhm, well," Shang suddenly looked incredibly uncomfortable. Her brows knitted slightly, "What?" "Mulan, you"re a hero, I mean THE hero of China, people honor you and respect you but, uh. . .well, there are other people that - " "Yeah," Mulan cut him off, studying the floor as if it were particularly interesting, "I know." "Meanwhile - while I trust your combat skills completely -" he added quickly. "You"re, uh, the only woman in a camp full of men and, well. . . I mean - " Mulan sighed, "That I have to be prepared for gossip? Look, Shang, I know that too, I -" "No, well, I mean that too," Shang cut HER off now. "But I mean that, well, you have to be careful. Uh. . . I mean - " "Don"t. I mean, I get it," she replied, looking up at him sharply, feeling a bit of unbidden pink rising in her cheeks. She hadn"t really been expecting that, she hadn"t even really thought much about that. Somewhere in the back of her mind that pesky little voice said that it was nice to know that he cared but she shoved that away as quickly as she could. He was her comrade, her friend, her fellow Captain. It was his duty to warn her or, whatever it was that he was doing, it meant nothing. "I"m fine, Shang. Seriously." He cocked an eyebrow at her, although he still looked sort of uncomfortable. As a matter of fact Mulan wasn"t feeling too comfortable herself, but Shang obviously wasn"t going to be the one to change the subject. "So. . . Any news on who these two Lieutenants might be?" "Not much, although I do know that Yin Po is being considered," Shang replied, thankful to be on familiar ground again. "Yin?" Mulan asked, almost laughing. "Poor Yin, he"s going to get to the Emperors palace and get told to turn around and come straight back here." Shang chuckled and their conversation drifted comfortably back into more normal, safer grounds. Before she left him that night she remembered the training she would be doing in the evening at the last second and reminded him of it as well. "You know, if you still want to come. . . ?" "What, not working in the mornings anymore?" Shangs eyebrow arched teasingly. "Yeah, right," she scoffed. "Have you got any idea just how EARLY that is? I mean, I was there before you today!" Shang laughed, "Uh, yeah, sorry about that." Mulan shrugged, dismissing it completely, "I should have been paying attention." "Training tomorrow evening?" Shang asked as Mulan made her way towards the tent flap. "Yeah," she smiled at him, lifting it up and stepping halfway out of the tent. "Tomorrow EVENING." "What gives?!" Mushu exclaimed, smashing into the back of Mulan"s heels. Mulan leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Somebody"s here." The pair of them eyed the two white horses tethered to the stand beside the trough, next to Kahn. "Official," Mushu murmured, scuttling up to her shoulder as she straightened. "Do you think Shang"s with them? You think they want you back at war early, you know, as an officer? You think that maybe they"re making an order that you aren"t allowed to return?" Mushu continued to recite every frightful possibility that had run through Mulan"s mind a million times since she had heard the rumors of the war until finally she reached up, impatient, and forced his jaws closed. "Shutup Mushu, somebody"s going to hear you," Mulan ordered. "As if that"s ever stopped you before." "Hey!" Mushu snapped, muffled, fighting his mouth free. None "a that! I can keep my mouth closed if I want to; it just so happens that I DON"T want to, so there. Anyway, are we gonna go in? Think I should hide?" "Mushu?" Mulan suddenly spun around, catching the little lizard off-guard. "Uh," Mushu forced a big cheesy, innocent smile up at her that seemed to read exactly: "you ain"t gonna go for my mouth again are ya?' "Yeeees?" "Shh!" She held one finger up to her lips, worriedly glancing at her door every few seconds. "They really ARE going to hear you and think I"m crazy...well crazier than they already think I am, and whatever it is and whoever it may be that is STILL embarrassing!" "Oooh, I get the picture!" Mushu nodded. "I"ll be around if you need me." "Thank you," she smiled down at him. "I appreciate it." Raising a final cocky eyebrow at her he grinned back, "you should!" With that he disappeared without a trace into the cloth at Mulan"s neck. Grandma Fa came rushing out of the doorway as if she had been waiting for the conversation to end. "Mulan! I knew I heard you out here! They"re all waiting for you inside!" "Who is?" Mulan asked. "Eh, you"re family, soldiers, people, you know, the usual," Grandma grinned up at her amusing granddaughter. "Just get in there!" Mulan smiled slightly and began to rush towards the door. "And Mulan?" Grandma called back her attention momentarily back. "Yes?" "You still have that lucky cricket?" she winked. Without responding except for an amused smile and a quick nod Mulan spun around and continued to rush for the door. As a matter of fact, quirky...or whatever Mushu called him, was still around somewhere. Funny where friends were able to pop up when you needed them, though Crikee..."oh THAT"S what his name is!'...had gotten her into just about as much trouble as Mushu had. JUST ABOUT. "Mulan!" Her father exclaimed the moment her figure could be seen in the doorway. The two men who she hadn"t quite recognized yet bowed, one somewhat reluctantly. "We have been waiting." "I"m sorry," she replied, trying not to be curt. "I didn"t know that we were expecting company." She turned a quick smile to the two men, rising from their bows. Flinching the smile erased itself from her face, piece by gradual piece. She knew that one of them had seemed familiar, but what in the world was Chi Fu doing in her home? Was nowhere safe? Somehow, she doubted it. With him was a tall man with a broad chest that supported the emblem of the Emperors personal guards and he seemed QUITE proud of it. "This,' she thought gloomily, meeting the gaze of the ever curious Mushu, peeking just slightly out of her collar, "is going to be a long night!" 3 Here"s your choices, *I* know what you should do Chi Fu practically refused to look at Mulan all through the meeting except to occasionally sneer, or, more often, glower. The soldier with the emblem of the Emperor"s guards name was Yin Po; apparently he was Chin Po"s older brother, small world. It was bizarre, he seemed both interested and curious about China"s heroine and his brothers friend as well as condescending, older, wiser and, of course, a man. However, to Mulan"s eyes, he didn"t seem as much like Chi Fu as she had originally feared, a little persuasion, which Chi Fu would undoubtedly call manipulation, and a chance to get to know the hero he was so curious about might just sway him from the path of snobbery. "A WHAT?" Mulan practically yelled. "You"re joking!" "Mulan!" Her mother hissed, bringing a blush to Mulan"s already rosy cheeks. "This is a great honor, Mulan," her father added in his usual calm voice. "Even more so since he has given you the opportunity to CHOOSE to stay with your family, where it is safe." Chi Fu looked down his nose at her; making it apparent just what he thought she should choose. "What do you mean by THAT?" Mulan snapped before she could stop herself. "Well," Chi Fu half sneered half giggled nervously, "honestly, the first time was most likely more fluke than heroism, you would not want to put yourself or your family through that again." "Oh, and I suppose if I DON"T go then my father would have to go in my place?" Mulan demanded. "That is still...questionable," Chi Fu replied slowly. "And I SUPPOSE the Emperor just requested that I take this job for the hell of it?!" "Mulan!" Her mother snapped, more loudly this time. Mulan glanced apologetically at her mother, but in the same look caught her father"s eye. On the outside, for show, it was slightly disapproving, but on the inside she could see the amusement. HIS daughter had this man practically cowering in a corner! Not proper, but Mulan had to be herself, he knew that now, he was just sorry it took a huge act to prove it. Besides, he did not much care for the annoying and crude Chi Fu; he gained new respect for his daughter at the mere idea of her surviving boot camp with him around. Her grandmother also caught her eye, with a mischievous grin that could have reached her ears if that were allowed. Whether it was the people Mulan knew that preferred her to Chi Fu or the simple fact that she could, relatively easily, take him, didn"t matter. "You DARE to have the impudence to speak to someone of MY stature in that TONE?!" Chi Fu growled, taking any miniscule support he could dig out of Fa Li"s quick warning to Muan. "Even if you take the offered job of Captain then I am STILL your superior!" "Then I wonder if that job the Emperor offered me is still available... What job was that again? Oh right, silly me, YOUR job!" Mulan nearly spat. Catching her bad mood and behavior at the last second and looking down to glare, seething, at the floor. Yin Po looked at Mulan in surprise. All dinner she had been well manner, or at least better mannered than was expected of her, but not silent, that just wasn"t who she was. Chi Fu had an unintelligent habit of hitting anybody"s nerves that was "not of his status" but this girl was the first person he had seen actually completely loose her temper with him. Not exactly a traditional response, but hey, anybody who got up the nerve to finally get fed up with the little man and say so was worth looking into, even if it WAS a girl. 4. At lest he"s no Chi Fu Finally catching up with Mulan, who was preparing what little things she would need, Yin tapped her shoulder, saying cautiously, "Can I help you?" "Actually I"m almost done," Mulan replied, turning around to smile at him. "But thanks anyway." He nodded, disappointed, turning to return to Chi Fu. "Yin Po," Mulan stopped him. "I"ve got to ask you something." "Just call me Yin," he replied, turning around to face her again. "It makes it harder to mistake me for my brother." She nodded, "I can do that, you don"t exactly have the same build anyway. But look, what"s actually happening? I mean, great there"s something wrong and we"re gathering our troops to prepare for it, *yay*," she rolled her eyes sarcastically, "but that doesn"t really SAY anything." Yin looked at her sideways. Surprisingly, it wasn"t an inappropriate question, stupid or in anyway stereotypically "womanly". He shook his head, "right now all that most people know is what"s in the rumors that are going around. I know for a fact that Chi Fu is being kept in the dark and doesn"t want anybody to know it." He caught himself grinning as an amused grin began to creep up to his eyes. Mulan chuckled, "it must be driving him CRAZY!" Yin grinned, "I"ll bet." After a pause Mulan raised an eyebrow at him, "So, do YOU know?" Yin puffed up his chest proudly, "more than Chi Fu does anyway, which only makes him even more mad because you know," Yin shifted his note to a higher voice and made a face like Chi Fu"s, "he is my "superior"!" Mulan laughed outright. "You"re not half as stuck up as I was worried you were going to be." "Well, you aren"t half as girly as I thought you would be," Yin consented. Mulan rolled her eyes, "I don"t think "girly" is the word you"re looking for, Yin." Yin raised an eyebrow at her, cocking his head sideways, "maybe it is maybe it isn"t." "Ha! So what is it you would call me then? A fluke?" Mulan demanded, spinning around. Yin grinned at her, looking just like Yao, Ling or Chin Po when they finally got to her. Mulan shook her head, beaten and at a loss of comebacks. "I hope you end up with another "fluke", Yin, THEN maybe you"ll see!" Muttering to herself she added, "well at least he"s no Chi Fu." 5. Mulan had somehow made it through the tearful goodbyes with her family. She couldn"t help but think that if she had had to go through those goodbyes the first time she probably never would have gone, or at least not have made it very far if she had. Atop Kahn she had left through the large, wooden gates with a final wave. She was escorted by a very annoyed, muttering Chi Fu and a silent Yin Po. Yin looked torn between the two opposing forces that were only separated from a violent collision by a very thin line, which, at the moment, happened to be him and his horse. Conversation was not an option. Chi Fu decided to make a rest stop around halfway there despite the fact that, or maybe especially because of it, the rest of the party was just fine. Doubtlessly he would also end up taking much longer than necessary in the hopes of inconveniencing them, or maybe just to be annoying. Mulan had finally made up her mind that this would be as good a time as any to attempt conversation with Yin when she felt one of her saddlebags stir. Hesitantly Mulan turned Kahn so that the saddlebag she was reaching into couldn"t be seen by Yin. In actual fact she really needn"t have bothered, Yin was deep within his own thoughts and currently oblivious to her and everything else. "Mushu!" She exclaimed. Checking herself she quickly lowered her voice to

"Yeah," I nodded, not wondering how she knew. "It"s just kinda annoying, you know? Like you study for a week for some stupid test and your teacher suddenly says "don"t worry about it". It"s good "cause you don"t have to do it and risk failing, but you wasted an entire week stressing and worrying over it and you don"t get the opportunity for the "A"." "Yeah, I know," she patted my back comfortingly. "But don"t worry, you"ll get other opportunities." I smiled up at her and she stood to leave. However before she could go I said, "Diz?" "Yeah, Bobby?" "Does this whole thing sound really vague to you or am I just paranoid?" I asked. She grinned, "A little bit of column "A", a little but of column "B"." I rolled my eyes, "oh gee, thanks, I feel way better now." "Anytime," she replied, turning once again to leave. DIZZY: "How much time do we have?" I asked the room. "15 minutes," Rico replied from where he lay in his bunk, eyes closed. Grinning I moved over to his bunk, which happened to be on the top, and rested my chin on its edge. "Man, Rico, I think Lieutenants must have built in timers." He opened his eyes and propped himself up so that he was facing me. "Yeah? Well, what can I say?" I shrugged. "How does it feel? You know, to have the stripes and all?" I asked, glancing at them. I couldn"t say I wasn"t a bit jealous, but I had to admit Rico was cut from the same cloth as Razak and I really couldn"t think of anyone who could do a better job. . .that is, when he can get his act together. "Like a huge responsibility," he replied. "One I shouldn"t have, but since I do," he shrugged. "Oh come on Rico, it can"t be all that bad." Rolling his eyes he changed the subject. "Diz how are you not totally exhausted and ready to kill me for getting us stuck with this mission?" "It"s not YOUR fault," I replied quickly. "If anything we"ll probably go after Intel." He grinned. "And I"ll do my job and try to stop you," he said insincerely. I grinned back, "of COURSE." Closing his eyes he groaned as he began to climb out of his bed, "we gotta get - OW!" "OW!" I stumbled backwards rubbing my forehead. "For something so hollow your head"s as hard as a rock!" For a second I forgot who he was now and exclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear. As Rico was getting up he"d slipped and lost his ballence, tipping forward just enough to crack foreheads with me. "Yours isn"t exactly soft either," he fired back, equally forgetful. "Despite what people may think!" The whole room erupted into laughter as they realized what had happened. Rico and I looked from one another to the rest of the squad in surprise. Oops! RICO: Oops! Oh, yeah, that was real smooth. I couldn"t help but grin sheepishly at her and everybody else as I climbed down from my bunk. "Eh-hem," I cleared my throat. "Troopers, lets move." The laughter stopped and everybody was up on their feet in seconds, rushing out the doorway and down the hall towards the equipment and change rooms. "You OK?" I hissed to Dizzy as I caught up with her. "Yeah, you?" she asked. "Somehow I think I"ll survive," I said. "Thank God, I was worried," she replied sarcastically with a playful nudge. I grinned, "Good to know." OK, note, don"t you hate these? It"s not really Christmas anymore, like we"re talking summer here, but I don"t wanna just stop writing this so. . . Ooooh! And I betcha thought I forgot T"phai! DIZZY "T"phai! Long time no see!" I exclaimed cheerfully as he joined us in the change rooms, already fully suited up, as always. "How"s the family?" Rico asked. After we had been given the 72 hours of R "n R SICON had permitted T"phai to go stateside -er, well, HIS stateside- for a little while. "I was only home long enough to breath outside of my suite," T"phai replied, trying not to look downcast. "I was retrieved almost immediately." "Oh," Rico murmured apologetically. "Sorry." T"phai nodded his head acceptingly, "it is alright." "Don"t worry, you"ll get to see them soon," I patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Hey, either you can finish R "n R there, OR we"ll finish this whole damn war and you"ll see them whenever you want!" "Maybe even both," Gossard added. "Something I will be looking forward to." T"phai made the skinny equivalent of a smile. "Something we"ll ALL be looking forward to," Rico replied. "I"ll second that," Doc agreed. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Higgins, with his camera, as always, another limb eternally attached to his eye spun around to take in the full extent of the scenery. On the other hand, this time, I couldn"t really blame him. We were ALL surveying the scenery in a type of awe as the ship that had dropped us off disappeared into the clouds. "THIS place is infested?" Higgins gaped. "Lucky you aren"t doing the Christmas report," Rico replied. "People would never believe it. . .I don"t believe it." The place wasn"t huge and you could probably find somewhere a bit more beautiful, but everything was so serene . . . tranquil . . . and I had my doubts about a more beautiful place because of the blanket of snow that had drifted over everything. It was like completely still water in the middle of a heat wave (though without the heat) and you just know that if you can bear to break that calmness and plunge in it would be a nice, cool refuge and would fully refresh you. But the bugs had made that first ripple and suddenly the water didn"t seem quite so refreshing anymore and a huge battle wasn"t exactly going to calm that ripple down and turn it back into a cool refuge. But hell, I"m not exactly the calm-down-type anyway. RICO: "Gossard, Doc, status?" I said, forcing myself to be the first to snap out of the trance we all seemed to be under. "What the - " "What?!" I snapped, suddenly focused and less interested in our surroundings. "We"re. . .surrounded," Gossard replied hollowly. "But, there"s activity right on top of us, too." "Tunnels?" Dizzy suggested. "Trees?" Max asked, looking around, more than a little frantic. On instinct 3⁄4 of us looked up at the trees around us, ready to grab our weapons at any sign of movement. Nothing. "Think fast, think fast,' I ordered myself, but my mind was completely blank. "Shit.' "It must be tunnels," T"phai said, easing out of his tense stance slowly. "It could be an aerial assault," I argued. "But that would be here by now," I glanced quickly at the sky anyway. "If we just rip open the ground and they"re there then we"ve got a full scale attack on our hands." "Way to state the obvious, genius,' I chided. "So what"s the PLAN?" Max demanded. Every instinct in me wanted to yell: I"M WORKING ON IT! But I bit my tongue, partly because I was developing a new instinct and partly because I"d caught Dizzy"s eye and seen the same reaction in her, but somehow, for some reason, SHE had kept HER mouth shut. As I looked around at the - MY squad"s faces I could see the same reactions there as well. "Two groups," I announced. "Zim you take Gossard, Max and T"phai, the rest of you are with me. Scout for any signs of bugs, specifically, cave entrances and nests. Radio silence until a find, or mandatory, understand?" "Sir, yes, sir!" They all chimed. "Good. Sarge. Your group heads inwards, we"ll work outwards." I searched his face carefully for some sign of approval. "If you find anyTHING or anyBODY be extremely cautious! Remember: on top of everything else, Intel. suspects new tactics. Move out." DOC: It"s hard to believe that the bug war had actually come home, let alone to a place like THIS. It was like a winter wonderland. On the bright side we still hadn"t found anything but a lot of cliffs that dropped away into the water and neither had the other squads on the Islands, (they had radioed about our status recently). "I wish it would snow," Dizzy said, way too happily considering that we"d been taken out of our R "n R prematurely, but I guess that"s Dizzy for you. "Why?" Higgins asked, "wouldn"t that just make this more difficult?" She rolled her eyes, "sure, if you look on the DOWN side. It"s Christmas, it"s supposed to snow!" She punched his shoulder lightly. Rico grinned down at her. "There"s already snow on the ground, Diz." "Yeah, but still..." "Sure," he mimicked, "look on the DOWN side." Laughing lightly she rolled her eyes again. Higgins and I glanced at each other but kept our mouths shut. I wondered why I hadn"t noticed how much closer they were standing to each other than the rest of us. I DID exclude the fact that I was in a marauder, but still, poor little Higgins was all on his own. . . Somehow I had the feeling he"d get over it. I glanced again at my monitors, as I"m required to do periodically no matter how pointless it seems, and stopped short. "Shh," I cut into their conversation, which had continued though I"d stopped listening. Everybody froze and stared at me expectantly, hands inching nervously towards their rifles. "There"s someone," I began, "or someTHING coming this way. It"s on it"s own and it looks. . .um, it looks human." "Oh great," Higgins groaned under his breath. "No, I mean it has vital signs and everything," I replied. "You have machines for stuff like that?" Higgins questioned, startled. "Like you could tell if my heart rate sped up or slowed down or anything like that?" I shrugged, "um, yeah, I guess so." "It could be one of the people who works here," Dizzy suggested. "I don"t care HOW human it looks," Rico said, "keep your guards up." HIGGINS: "You gotta help me!" An obviously female voice screamed as the bushes and shrubbery in front of us began to shift. I froze and an eerie shiver pricked along my spine. Sometimes I feel safe when I"m with the squad on a mission, but more often I feel terrified out of my mind and I wish that I"d never taken this dumb job, however this feeling of not knowing anything except that something was up and coming my way was worst of all. All of a sudden the leaves directly in front of me broke apart and a blonde streak flashed before my eyes. Seconds later I lay flat on my back and despite my frantic gasps I couldn"t seem to breathe. HIGGINS: "Get it off!" I screamed. Something was on me and they wouldn"t help me. . . WHY wouldn"t anybody help me?! I felt so helpless I might as well have just lain still and let it kill me. Dizzy snickered, "quick get her off him before he finds his rifle. . . If he ever does." Rico sounded as though he was stifling a laugh as well. "You wanna lift her, or shall I?" "Only if it"s an order." Dizzy replied defiantly, and after a slight pause, "Oh, all right, fine." The weight on top of me was slowly rolled to the side and gradually the darkness seemed to develop more of a blonde tint until finally I was staring straight up at two human faces, one marauder and snow-engulfed branches. I breathed heavily, "Well thanks for your concern! That thing could"ve killed me and all you could do was stand there laughing and. . ." Out of the corner of my eye I could see what looked vaguely like a crumpled blond figure. Slowly I turned my head, that thing didn"t look much like a bug at all. . . Oh-oh. "It" was actually a casually dressed blonde girl, maybe about my age. I gulped, oops. "Uh. . .sh-SHE was what hit me?" I asked meekly. RICO: "Sorry Higgins, your brush with death wasn"t as close as you thought," I grinned widely, barely able to keep from laughing. He looked down sheepishly. Bighting her lip to keep the laughter in as well, Dizzy knelt beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, "don"t worry about it Bobby. You"re OK, right?" "Yeah," he replied slowly. "I"m fine." "See," she smiled reassuringly at him. Looking up at me she motioned with her head towards the blonde, "what do you think LT?" "Uh," I looked briefly at the blond and looked back at Dizzy. The blond girl looked like one of your typical high school heartthrobs. Long, straight blond hair, a bunch of makeup over what I could only predict would be bright blue eyes and yet, somehow, with one look at my best friend, it she really didn"t seem to matter. That girl was hot, sure, but there was just something missing. . . "WHAT? Damn it Rico, what was that?! You said no, she said no, nothing"s ever going to happen. You"re over that, remember?' "Rico," Dizzy rose and waved her hand in front of my eyes. Tapping my helmet she said, "Helloooo? You in there?" "S-sorry," I blushed a little and tried to hide it. "Um, what," I cleared my throat and scratched the back of my neck, "what did you say again?" Smiling she rolled her eyes and met mine. "Something distractin" you Johnny?" she asked innocently, though I think she moved a little closer as she said it. Finally, after what seemed like she"d enjoyed a colossal pause, though she was probably just waiting for a response, she raised her eyebrows and said, "Unconscious blonde, potentially dangerous, ring a bell?" "Um." I tried to avoid looking at her by looking over her shoulder at the girl, " I think she"s coming around." DIZZY: I shook my head with a smile on my face as I turned to the slowly reviving girl. What the? Shit. She wasn"t just coming around now. From under her slit, innocently powdered eyelids she was watching all of us. Before Rico could rush past me I caught his arm and stared directly into his eyes, except this time, instead of with a teasing intent, dead serious. "She"s not JUST comin" around, Rico," I hissed as quietly as possible, "she"s been watching us." Rico glanced at Doc who nodded ever so slightly and motioned at his readings out of the girl"s limited vision. "Um, OK Diz, you watch her." Rico said after a thoughtful pause. "Don"t let her out of your sight and try to talk to her." "Why me?" I demanded, "What am I supposed to say?" "I dunno," Rico shrugged, "girl talk?" I groaned, "you"re as bad as Bruto, you know that Johnny?" "But first," he ignored me, "contact the others and get them over here, pronto." "Yes, sir," I replied on instinct. God, he could sound so much like Razaak when he wanted to. MAX: "Nothin"!" I exclaimed, "same as the last mound of absolutely useless rocks." This was some important assignment! Grr! They interrupted our R "n R for THIS? How many times do I have to tell people that I signed up here to KILL bugs and take my much needed breaks where I can find them, NOT to look like some idiot on a "secret mission" standing around lamely looking for them. "Sarge?" Dizzy"s voice came on over the com. link. "Come in." "Tell me you"ve found SOMETHING!" I practically yelled into the intercom. "What the hell?! Loud enough! You tryin" to kill me over here Max?" Dizzy demanded in a sharp hiss. "Well there"s nothing ELSE threatening the world as we know it from where I"M standing!" I snapped. "And you consider that a BAD thing?" she growled exasperatedly. "Just shut up for a second kid. Sarge? Goss? T"phai? Somebody SANE?!" I frowned but kept my mouth shut, I mean what the heck she IS the LT"s girlfriend. OOPS did I say that and break some stupid unwritten law against mentioning anything to do with their bizarre relationship? Oh well, somebody had to. GOSSARD: Does that kid ever shut up?! MAN! "OK, I"m here," I said. "Go." "Look we haven"t found any bugs, but we"ve run into this civilian and you guys are supposed to get here, asap, LT"s orders." She said quickly in a hushed voice. "Understood." Zim jumped in. "What are your coordinates?" "We are currently stationary at." Dizzy paused before spilling her coordinates. "Got it," I said. "Good," she replied, "over and out." "Over and out," I repeated and the link went dead. I have a question. Near the end of the show Carl is sort of back and I can"t figure it out, is he part of their squad again or is there just some way he keeps showing up? If he is, sorry I"ll find some way to add him in and if he isn"t I may find some way to add him in.who can tell. Anyway you don"t necessarily have to review (though that would be nice) but could somebody please answer the question for me? DOC: I don"t know how often I"m on Dizzy"s side, but this time was definitely one of them! I mean a) there"s obviously something weird going on down here, if there were that many bugs generally they"d figure out we were here and come get us, plus there"s this whole equipment failure thing; b) we"re supposed to be on the look out for ANYTHING and that has to mean something more than just "be on your guard" because when you"re a trooper you"re supposed to ALWAYS be on your guard, it"s in the contract or something; c) this girl comes out of the woods screaming bloody murder, yet I still see no bugs; d) she pretends to be unconscious so she can look us over; and finally e) now it"s as though she"d just come across us on an afternoon stroll through the woods and there never really were any scary bugs chasing her, or anywhere for that matter. Overall sometimes two and two really DO add up to four. In any case Dizzy wasn"t going to be the ONLY one keeping an eye on her. . .in fact, at the moment the only one of us who seemed to have let his guard down was Higgins. "Are you OK?" he was asking her in a soft voice. "I hope I didn"t hurt you." Dizzy coughed sharply behind him, stifling a laugh. "I"m fine," the girl said, equally sweetly. "Don"t worry about it. . .um," she glanced at his helmet, "Higgins." "Oh, yeah, well, you can call me Bobby," Higgins shrugged. "OK," she smiled, "I"m Sandrine." "Uh, hi Sandrine," Dizzy jumped in sounding nice but still managing to cut off and shaking the hand that was going for Higgins" arm. "Name"s Flores. Friends," she tried not to stress the word too much, "call me Dizzy." Good "ol Dizzy, when it comes down to it she"s there to protect the people who need it 95% of the time, then again I wouldn"t want to be the one getting on her bad side. "Um, hi?" Sandrine murmured, icy cold in that "uh, was I talking to YOU?' type of tone. "Yeah, and the guy in the marauder is Doc," Dizzy motioned at me, seemingly unperturbed, "and that"s R-uh- Lieutenant Rico. Um. . ." I groaned inwardly, if this Sandrine girl were any smarter she would have gotten the picture that we knew she hadn"t just returned to the conscious world and that her health wasn"t exactly what you"d call top priority. Then again, stupid or no, unless somebody did something. . . "Her blood pressure"s fine, brainwaves seem to be functioning normally, I don"t really think that it"s necessary that I get out and check you over, you"re fine." I announced off the top of my head. I didn"t need to look at my reading"s they"d been fine for the past 15 minutes. DIZZY: I hate this! Not only do I not trust OR like this girl, but Higgins was falling for her hook, line and sinker, what did I expect? As if befriending ONE prom queen wasn"t bad enough now I had another one on my hands? "Just a little shocked, I guess," she shrugged innocently at the guys, her back continually turned to me. "What happened?" Higgins questioned, completely sincere and concerned. "I"m not really sure, I just saw th-this HIDEOUS creature and it charged strait at me an-and I thought I was done for," her voice cracked lightly and fake tears came to her eyes. "I"ve never been so scared in my life." She fell forward and wrapped her arms around Higgins neck. "Awww," I knelt down to level my face with hers where it hung over Higgins shoulder. "And yet you chose a career that sent you to DANGEROUS wildlife reserves. Didn"t even try to be an actress or anything." I shrugged and patted her back, realizing somewhere in the back of my mind that I should PROBABLY shut up and stop letting my mouth run wild. "Don"t worry, Higgins here can take care of you, can"t cha Higgins? No more dangerous slugs and snails near this little girl, right?" Sandrine"s eyes opened slightly just enough for her to glare at me through the slits in which she had originally surveyed us. I leapt backwards. "Holy shit, I KNOW I"ve seen eyes like that before!' I turned my back and headed over to where Doc stood and gave him a look that could"ve melted the entire marauder. Doc nodded his agreement, but before he could say anything Rico approached us. "What was that? What happened?" he asked quietly but still sternly. "Look, I tried, I failed, lets move on," I replied. "Higgins can talk to her." Rico and Doc both raised their eyebrows at me. "And if she IS bad news?" Doc persisted. "He can handle himself?" I suggested half-heartedly. "Well HE got himself into this!" I groaned, I"d already lost this one and they both knew it. I looked from Doc"s expression to Rico"s and back again. . . "All right, FINE." I sighed. "I"ll keep an extra eye on them, but don"t expect me to be nice. . . I don"t see why either of YOU can"t do it though." "Doc"s in a marauder he can"t exactly jump out at any given time and I"m the LT," Rico replied. "And that just speaks for itself, right?" I asked, with a smile beginning at the corners of my mouth as my dark mood lightened a little. He shrugged, "pretty much." I rolled my eyes. "OK, fine, I"ll keep an eye on them and make sure Higgins doesn"t get too involved until we know for sure she"s OK. . . She is OK, isn"t she Doc? No bugs in her neck or anything?" "Nope, if it"s anything it"s something different," he replied. "Yeah, who knows, maybe she"s just a really flirty, manipulative bitch," I suggested. "It"s happened before." "But what are the odds it would happen on a deserted island infested by bugs?" Rico asked. "That"s what I"m worried about."

"Get away from me or I"ll tell my uncle what you did and he"ll have you thrown in jail for harrassing me." Maxie sneered. "Idiot," she said, "my father is the police commissioner." She backed Sage into a corner. "Who gave you the drugs?" she demanded. "Zach Rhodes? Rick Teller? Pete Osterhaus? Just some random guy on Cortland Street? Huh? Tell me who." Maxie"s voice was low, but she was menacing. "Help-" Sage started to call out, but Maxie clapped a hand over her mouth. "Don"t even try it," she threatened. "I"ve known everyone at this hospital since I was a baby. There"s not a person here who will believe you over me." She narrowed her eyes. "Tell me." "You"re pathetic," Sage sneered. "You can"t deal with the fact that your ugly, lame sister didn"t get the guy. I did. It"s so...Little House on the Prairie of you." Maxie ignored the comments. "Who gave you the drugs, Sage?" "I told you," Sage scoffed, "I didn"t give him anything." She tossed her head. In flash, Maxie"s fingers were at Sage"s throat, pressing harder by the second. "Who?" she demanded to the other girl, whose face was turning rapidly red. Sage"s eyes registered genuine fright as she realized the extent of Maxie"s anger. "Who?" Maxie demanded again, continuing to press at Sage"s throat. Sage struggled to breathe. "Tracy Quartermaine." Ch 4 "Maxie," Georgie complained as her older sister dragged her into the Port Charles Police Department, "what"s going on?" Before Maxie could answer, Lucky came over to them. "Hey Maxie," he said, "Hey Georgie, what"s going on?" "Ummm...we need to see our dad," Maxie told him. Lucky nodded and walked away. "Hey Commissioner," he said, sticking his head into Mac"s office, "Maxie and Georgie are here." "Maxie, what"s this about?" Georgie asked as Mac came over. "That"s what I"d like to know," he said, his face concerned as he looked at his daughters. "Why aren"t you two at the hospital? Are you okay? What"s this about?" Maxie looked from Mac to Georgie, back to Mac, and back to Georgie. "Dillon," she informed them. Georgie scowled. Mac raised his eyebrows. "Dillon?" he repeated. "Maxie, why are you here talking about Dillon?" He peered at Georgie. "And what"s that look that Georgie has?" Maxie ignored Mac for a minute, grabbing Georgie by the shoulders. "Georgie," she said, "Dillon didn"t cheat on you." At the sound of this, Mac"s eyes flashed with anger. Georgie looked miserable. "Yes, he did, Maxie," she insisted. Her jaw trembled and she looked like she would be sick. "I walked in on them." "What the hell is going on?" Mac demanded. His overprotective dad instincts were kicking in. Maxie held Georgie"s hand as she turned to Mac. "Georgie saw Sage and Dillon having sex last night," she began. "What?" shouted Mac. He didn"t like Dillon and didn"t want his daughter in the guy"s bed, but Dillon sure as hell better not cheat on Georgie. "Wait a sec," Maxie held up a hand. She gestured her family closer. "Dillon was brought into the hospital today-" "-Yeah, I know, Maxie," Georgie said miserably. "Let me finish!" Maxie snapped. At Georgie"s hurt look, she rubbed her sister"s hand. "I"m sorry, I"m sorry," she soothed. "Look, I overheard Ned talking with Dr. Quartermaine, okay? The reason Dillon was so sick is because he was reacting to rohyphol." "The date rape drug," Mac stated. Georgie"s eyes flew open. "Oh my god, what?" she cried. "Dillon was raped?" "Shhh..." Maxie said quietly. "I went to see Dillon. He told me that the only thing that he"d had to drink that day that hadn"t been in a can had been a screwdriver Sage gave him." Georgie fumed. "I knew it," she grumbled. "I knew she was bigger trouble than Dillon could handle." "Maxie, wait," Mac said sternly. "Is there more?" Maxie nodded. "I saw Sage in the hospital," she said, "I confronted her and she denied it at first, but then I pushed and she said that Tracy Quartermaine gave her the drugs to give to Dillon." Georgie leaned against Maxie, feeling exhausted. The Quartermaines were filled with liars, schemers and manipulators, and Tracy was the worst of all. There was no telling what she and Sage had up their sleeves. Mac sighed. He felt a headache coming on. "Officer Spencer," he called. Lucky came over. "Yeah Commissioner?" "Hey," Ned said quietly, sticking his head into the room. "How are you feeling?" Dillon smirked with irony. "Mentally or physically?" Ned nodded, smiling sympathetically. "Let"s start with physically." He pulled a chair over to the side of the bed, sitting down. "Well," Dillon began, "I finally got rid of that feeling like I"m about to hurl every five minutes." He paused, shaking his head. "Except when I think about what I did to Georgie," he corrected himself quietly. "So I pretty much still feel like I"m about to hurl every give minutes. But I"m pretty sure it"s not from the drugs." He closed his eyes. How the hell had he gotten there? Ned watched his younger brother, wondering the same thing. How had Dillon come into a position where this could happen to him? What had gone wrong? How, Ned wondered, could he have failed his younger brother? "Dillon," he said softly. Dillon opened his eyes. "Alan wants you to talk to someone from psych," Ned informed him. "A..um.." "A rape counselor," said Dillon dully. Ned nodded. "Yes." "Look, Ned, man," Dillon protested, pushing himself to a sitting position, "I don"t need to talk to any counselor. It"s not like when some guy grabs a girl in an alley and holds her at knifepoint. It"s not the same with guys." Ned nodded. "Maybe not exactly the same," he conceded, "but it still happens. Men are still vitimized. And in this case, that"s you." He sighed. "Look, no one is forcing you, okay? But you"re going to have to deal with this trauma, and maybe it would help to talk to someone." Dillon shook his head. "The only trauma I have," he said, "is about betraying Georgie." He pressed his fingers to his temples. "Damn it!" he cried. He looked at his brother. "Ned, Georgie and I promised ourselves to each other. We swore. We swore we would have our first time together, and I just - I completely blew that." His eyes burned. "She"s never going to forgive me." "Dillon," Ned said firmly. "You were drugged." Dillon shook his head violently. "Doesn"t matter," he insisted, "I should have - I should have stopped it." He was fierce. "My love for Georgie should have been stronger than the drugs. I should never have had the drink or, or -" "Dillon," Ned cut him off. "I know how awful you feel about this whole thing but-" Suddenly, Ned"s cell phone rang. "One sec," he said, picking up the phone. "Ned Ashton." He nodded. "Yes. Yes it is." Ned"s eyes popped wide. "What? Well are they sure?" He nodded again. "Okay, thank you." He hung up the phone, breathing heavily. "What?" Dillon asked, starting to panic. "What is it?" He looked wide-eyed at Ned. Ned sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. He looked at Dillon. "There"s been an arrest made in your case." "Who, Sage?" Dillon asked, though it seemed obvious to him. "No." Georgie stood in the doorway. "Your mother." Ch 5 Dillon sat up quickly. "Georgie," he said softly, his breath catching in her throat. Ned looked at Dillon, whose face was bright with desperate hope and panic. Then he looked at Georgie. Her eyes conveyed little emotion, her face cloudy. "What happened?" Ned asked softly. He gestured to her. "Come on in." Closing the door, Georgie stepped into the room, crossing her arms over her chest. "Sage told Maxie that Tracy gave her the drugs," she told the men stiffly. "Maxie went to Mac and Sage was brought in. She tried to deny it but she failed the lie detector. So now Tracy"s in jail." A smirk played at Georgie"s lips. She wasn"t a vindictive person, but the idea of the usually immaculate Tracy Quartermaine sitting in a six by nine cell dressed in prison blues warmed her heart a little. Dillon watched her fight a smile, thinking that if he were Georgie, he would have been dancing in the streets. "Was that part of the plan?" He asked quietly. Ned raised an eyebrow. "The plan?" he repeated. Dillon nodded, pressing his lips together. "The deal that Mo-" he paused, choking on the word. He smiled bitterly. "-that Tracy made with Georgie." Georgie"s eyes widened. "How do you know about that?" she asked, almost accusatorily. Dillon sighed. "Maxie came by. She overheard Ned and Alan talking. She told me everything." He stared longingly at Georgie. She fought tears. Sighing, Ned stood up. "I"m going to give you two some time," he said softly. He turned to Dillon. "In the meantime, I"m going to call Alexis. I have a feeling you may need some legal advice." Dillon nodded. "I want emancipation," he told his brother. "I"m not living in that house anymore." Ned nodded, understandingly. "I know," he said, "in the meantime, you"ll move into the gatehouse with me. I"ll have the staff move your things." Dillon reached out his hand to shake Ned"s. "Thank you," he replied simply. Ned headed toward the door, stopping next to Georgie. He put a hand on the girl"s shoulder. "I can"t tell you how sorry I am for what our mother did," he said softly. Georgie nodded. "Thanks," she whispered. Nodding back, Ned left, leaving Georgie and Dillon alone. Georgie offered Dillon a hint of a smile. "How are you feeling?" she asked quietly. Dillon looked at her sadly. "Like hell," replied. "You?" Georgie nodded. "Worse." The sick feeling came back. "I hate myself," he said quietly. "You are the one person in the world who I love, and I hurt you more than I ever thought I could hurt someone." He took a few deep breaths, willing the queasiness to subside. Georgie stared at him, lying in the hospital bed. "This isn"t fair," she said softly, her voice starting to tremble. "What isn"t fair?" He asked, almost whispering, though he knew nothing was fair. Georgie"s voice shook as she fought tears. "I know I"m supposed to tell you that it isn"t your fault that you were-" she stopped, breathing heavily. "But I can"t. What I walked in on didn"t look like rape, Dillon." She glared at him. "What were you thinking?" Dillon shuddered. "I don"t...I don"t remember much," he confessed. "Except your face." He closed his eyes against the memory. Georgie gulped, fighting tears. She closed her eyes, squeezing them tight. "Why did you make that deal with my mother?" Dillon lamented. "She"s a snake, Georgie, she was never going to come through." Georgie"s eyes snapped open. "You"re right," she snapped. "Tracy is an evil, lying bitch and I hope she rots, but you should never have put me in the position where I felt desperate enough to make a deal with her." She shook her head at Dillon. "Why couldn"t you have walked away from Alcazar when I asked you to, when your brother asked you to, when Alcazar asked you to?" She glared at him. "You told me that you realized what a manipulative, lying brat Sage was and you still didn"t stay away. What should I have done, Dillon? Taken off my clothes and climbed into your lap in the middle of chem lab? Would that have gotten your attention?" Angry tears pricked at her eyes. "You were supposed to be different," she hissed. "You were supposed to to want me, not drool after the MTV wannabe like every other stupid, hormone-driven teenage boy." The defensiveness that might have risen in Dillon lay crumpled in the pit of his stomach. "I do want you," he whispered, nearly crying. "I"m so so sorry. I can"t even say how sorry I am." Tears fell from his eyes. "Georgie, I"m going to regret this all my life. I"m so sorry." Crying herself, Georgie stared at him. She shook her head. "It"s not enough," she choked. "Not now." Sobs racked her body. Dillon"s shoulders shook with his own sobs. He wanted desperately to reach out for her, to hold her and comfort her, to kiss away her tears and erase all the hurt and pain, but he knew there was no easy fix. "I"ve gotta go," Georgie choked, unable to stay in the room with him any longer. Still crying, she turned to leave, walking toward the door. Panic rose through Dillon"s body, fearing she"d never come back. "Georgie," he called out. "I love you." She sobbed harder as she turned around to face him. "I know you do." The door closed behind her. Ch 6 "Georgie, is that you?" Georgie slumped against the doorframe, groaning inwardly at the sound of Mac"s voice. She had no energy to deal with the lectures about Dillon and what she knew would be an endless series of "I told you so." "Yeah Mac," she called dejectedly. She walked over to the couch, flopping down. The past 24 hours had easily been the most hellish of her life. Georgie pressed her fingers to her temples, thinking she would pay to revisit prom night after the disaster her life had suddenly become. "Georgie?" Mac walked into the living room. She raised her head, staring at him with cold, dull eyes. "I don"t want to hear it, Mac," she warned. "Whatever it is you have to say, I already know it." Mac stared at his broken daughter. He knew that she"d been to hell and back in the past day. His mind swam with everything that he could have done to keep this from happening and he knew there was nothing. And now? Well, there were plenty of people he would have liked to kill - Tracy, Sage, Dillon...that might make him feel better, but, he realized, it would do nothing to help his daughter. "Do you want blueberry pancakes?" He offered, knowing Georgie"s comfort food. He knew there was nothing he could say at the moment to make her feel better. She looked up at him, nodding tearfully. "Yeah," she whispered. As Georgie stood up, Mac kneeled down, his back to her. "Hop on," he instructed. Georgie smiled slightly, shaking her head. "Daddy," she protested,"I"ll break your back." Mac knew she was probably right, but it didn"t matter. If nothing else, for that moment, he needed her to be a little girl again, before this kind of pain could reach her. He nodded. "Sure," he agreed. "But that"s what teenage daughters are supposed to do." Georgie laughed slightly. She knew he was trying to help her keep her mind off Dillon. It wouldn"t work, but for a while, she would let him try. "Okay," she agreed, climbing gingerly on his back. A lump formed in Mac"s throat as he felt Georgie"s arms wrap around his neck. He swallowed it, sighing inwardly as he carried his daughter into the kitchen. Tracy fingered the collar of her denim prison issue shirt with disgust as she waited in the visitation room. The door opened and a blonde woman was led in. Not a word was spoken until the door closed, leaving the two women alone in the stark space. "You"re sure no one recognized you?" Tracy demanded. Sage smirked, flipping the blonde locks. "Of course not," she tossed off. "No one would recognize me with this wig on." "You better hope not," Tracy snapped. She peered at the girl. "You screwed up your mission. How do you expect this to work if you go landing Dillon in the hospital? And what in God"s name were you thinking telling Maxie Jones that I gave you the pills to drug my son with?" "She was trying to kill me!" Sage whined. "Oh, don"t be overdramatic," Tracy yawned exaggeratedly. Sage stuck out her lower lip. "Besides, you never told me that having Georgie barge in on Dillon and I was part of the plan!" Tracy shook her head, grinning. "Sweetheart, hasn"t anyone ever told you that you always need to have insurance? Thank god I did - you were only supposed to give Dillon half that drink. Imagine if he didn"t remember sleeping with you and just went back to that little dishrag? It would defeat everything we"ve worked for." Sage scowled. "But when we met in Geneva, you said you would help me," she protested. "Oh no," Tracy corrected, shoving her still-perfectly manicured finger in Sage"s face. "I said we could help each other. You"re the one who wanted revenge on your uncle for not protecting your precious daddy." "Well, it"s not working," Sage complained, scratching her head. "Dillon is still in love with Georgie." Tracy scoffed. "I don"t give a damn," she stated harshly. "This isn"t about love. It never was." A glint came over her eye. "I don"t understand why we can"t just steal Uncle Lorenzo"s money," Sage whined. "Why do I have to be stuck in this backwater hell?" Tracy narrowed her eyes. "Patience, my dear girl," she told Sage. "I have to do this from the inside. Dillon is the perfect way for me to get close to your uncle. And since you obviously weren"t succeeding at getting his so- called girlfriend out of the way, I had to take matters into my own hands." She sneered. "You ought to be grateful that I have such ingenuity." "Yeah, but it"s not working!" Sage leaned over the table. "Listen to me," Tracy snapped, leaning toward Sage. "You screwed up, but you at least managed to accomplish a small part of your task - you got Dillon to sleep with you. That"s a step. As soon as I"m acquitted, we"ll put the rest of the plan into action." Sage sulked. "But Dillon won"t go for it," she objected. "He won"t leave Georgie." Trac sneered. "Somehow I don"t think Georgie will want much to do with Dillon after catching him in bed with you," she pointed out. "Besides, even if the little schoolgirl did decide to forgive Dillon, it doesn"t matter. Once your uncle thinks that you"re carrying Dillon"s child, he"ll make my son marry you." Ch 7 One month later... "You okay?" Ned asked quietly, as Dillon tugged at his tie, waiting for the trial to begin. "Yeah," Dillon mumbled, distracted, looking down the corridor. "Excuse me a sec." He walked down the hall, approaching her. "Hey," he said quietly, his hand creeping up to the back of his head. Georgie turned around. "Hey," she whispered back. They stood in awkward silence for a moment. "So, um, how have you been?" Dillon tried. "Okay," Georgie hedged. "How about you?" "Okay," he repeated. He traced a pattern on the floor with the toe of his dress shoe. Georgie fingered her scarf. "I"ve been spending a lot of time at the hospital," she offered, trying desperately to sound off-hand, "you know, keeping busy and all..." For a moment, Dillon managed to catch her eye. "You"ve been avoiding me," he informed her quietly. "No!" Georgie started to say. "Not at all!" But she realized that she was too tired to go on playing games. She looked down, nodding. "Yeah," she conceded. "I have." Before Dillon could respond, Ned was walking toward them. "We"re starting," he told them quietly. "Hi Georgie." "Hi Ned," she replied. The three of them walked toward the door of the courtroom. Dillon put his hand out, pulling it back just before it touched her shoulder. "Will you sit with me?" he asked softly. Georgie looked down. "I...I don"t think I can," she whispered, her voice pained. Dillon nodded. "Okay." He stepped aside. "After you." "Thanks," Georgie whispered. "Good luck." "Thanks," Dillon mouthed. Georgie walked into the courtroom, sliding into a seat in the back row. Dillon sighed. "Mr. Quartermaine," the attorney asked him during the cross, "did you consent to sexual intercourse at time?" "Well, yeah," Dillon began, "but-" "You see," the attorney interrupted, cutting him off, "the plaintiff admits that he was not lured into bed under duress." "Objection!" Alexis cried, jumping to her feet. "My client was under emotional distress and the influence of debilitating drugs. Clearly he was under duress." "Objection sustained," the judge conceded. He looked at the defense attorney. "Guard your conduct, counselor," he said quietly. Dillon tried not to smirk as the defense attorney averted his eyes. "Withdraw the question, Your Honor," he said. "No further." "Mr. Quartermaine, you may step down." Dillon nodded as he exited the witness stand. As he walked back to his seat, his gaze wandered for a moment to the other side of the room. Tracy sat up straight, impeccably dressed as always, a contemptuous sneer just below the surface of her steely expression. Dillon looked away before his eyes could meet Tracy"s. He slid into his chair, feeling Ned"s eyes on him. "She really doesn"t give a damn, does she?" Dillon muttered. Hearing his brother"s words hit Ned hard. A lump formed in his throat. "I"m sorry," was all he could say. "Ms. Davis, call your next witness," the judge ordered. Alexis rose to her feet. "The prosecution calls Lorenzo Alcazar," she stated clearly. "Mr. Alcazar," Alexis began, once he"d been sworn in. "Were you aware of who Dillon Quartermaine was when you first encountered him?" Alcazar nodded. "Yes," he replied. "I knew he was Tracy Quartermaine"s youngest son." "And how were you aware of this fact?" Alexis asked, pushing her glasses up on her nose. Alcazar took a breath. "I had once believed Dillon Quartermaine to be my son." Ch 8 "Order!" The judge called, banging his gavel. Order in this courtroom!" Amid the gasps, Dillon felt the blood draining from his head. He leaned over, whispering weakly to Alexis. She nodded. "Your Honor, I"d like to request a brief recess for my client." The judge looked at the pale boy and nodded. "Fifteen minutes," he granted. "Thank you, Your Honor," Alexis replied as Dillon slipped out of his seat, walking quickly toward the exit. As Ned twisted around to make sure his brother was okay, he noticed another figure follow Dillon out of the courtroom. Dillon closed his eyes, gulping in air as the snow fell down on him. He couldn"t think or he would fall over. Dillon felt something touch his arm.

"Yeah," Jim retorted. "Like us." Pam cracked up. Jim smiled at the sound of her laughing. "Love ya, Halpert," she said, affectionately. He grinned. "Back at you, Beesly." They sat with their respective phones to their ears, in warm silence, for a minute. "So you know you have to find a way to get Dwight caught in public with one of those Penthouses, right?" He nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah. I"m thinking inside his Star Wars Encyclopedia." March, 2000 Temple University "All I"m saying is if I ever start referring to these as the best years of life, remind me to kill myself." "Best. Movie. Ever," Pam announced as she and Jim chorused one of many beloved lines from "Dazed and Confused," one of the cinematic masterpieces of their adolescence. Jim nodded in agreement, holding up his grape soda can for Pam to bump hers with. ("No chance, Jim, you cannot bring beer in here. If my suitemate sees, she"ll report us to the R.A. And to Jesus. Not in that order," Pam had informed him when he"d offered to bring along some Labatt or Sam Adams on his visit). It had started pouring mere hours after Jim"s arrival to Temple University, where Pam had recently declared a major in art history, with a double minor in studio art and business. Rather than braving the rain, the two of them had holed up in Pam"s room, ordered a pizza, raided the vending machine and settled in for an afternoon of beloved 90s movies. A sharp knock came on the door. "Pamela," an even sharper voice called. "A man is here to deliver a pepperoni and mushroom pizza, and as I do not eat pepperoni, I can only assume the delivery is for you." Jim"s eyebrows shot to his hairline. Pam pursed her lips, suppressing a giggle. "See?" she mouthed to him. Out loud, she called, "Thank you, Angela. I"ll be right there." She accepted the twenty Jim held out and walked into the common room she shared with her petite, severe suitemate. "Where"s the pizza guy?" she asked. Angela, who was standing with her arms crossed by the door, lifted an eyebrow. "In the hallway," she said evenly. "I wasn"t going to let a strange gentlemen in here." Pam was pretty sure Angela had been raised by the Amish. It occurred to her for a moment that she would probably be a good match for Jim"s old roommate, Dwight. Or for a nunnery. Sister Angela sounded pretty good, actually. Pam paid for her pizza and was about to head back into her room, when Angela blocked her path. "Yes, Angela?" The small, blonde girl, her pink blouse buttoned all the way up, cleared her throat. "Pam," she began, keeping her voice low, as the door to Pam"s bedroom was ajar. "If your gentleman caller -" "He"s not my gentleman caller," Pam interrupted. "He"s my friend whom I"ve known since I was an infant." Angela pursed her lips. "Fine then," she intoned. "If your...friend... is going to stay the night, don"t you think he ought to sleep in the common room? Or better yet, perhaps the resident advisor can find a male student on one of the coed floors to host him?" Pam raised an eyebrow. "It"s just not...appropriate..." Pam wanted to know whose propriety Angela was concerned with, but she kept a civil tongue. While her roommate was nosy, severe and judgmental, she wasn"t actually a malicious person. And, Pam figured, she had to live with Angela. May as well try to keep the peace. "Angela," she said calmly. "I figured you wouldn"t want a man sleeping in the common area in case you have to leave the room in the night." She fought back a smirk and raised her voice. "And Jim can"t stay with a stranger. He has social anxiety disorder. If he"s here and I"m not with him, he"ll cry and wet his pants." Before Angela could get a word in, Pam continued, her tone soft and sweet again. "But don"t worry," she informed her suitemate. "He sleeps on the floor. We wouldn"t want to be improper, right?" With a lift of the eyebrow, she knew she had won. Angela sighed. "Well, I suppose..." "Great!" Pam interrupted brightly. "Would you like a slice of pizza?" Angela rolled her eyes. "Pam, I have told you before, I am a vegetarian." Angela had told Pam that. Many, many times. But for some reason, unbeknownst to Pam, offering Angela a bite of a bacon cheeseburger or a slice of pepperoni pizza was highly amusing. "Right!" Pam said, pretending to remember. "Well, you could pick off the pepperoni." She knew this idea would provoke an entertaining response. "No, thank you," Angela replied tightly. "It would still be tainted by the meat residue." Pam prayed that Jim had heard Angela. She fought to keep a straight face. "Well, all right," she said. "I guess I"ll be going now. Good night, Angela." "Good evening, Pam." Bearing the pizza box, Pam scurried back into her room and quickly shut the door, setting the box on her desk, before she dove on the bed, stuffing the edge of the pillow in her mouth and bleating with laughter. Next to her, Jim was practically biting her shoulder to keep from being heard. "Meat residue?" he stage whispered. Pam laughed harder. "I know!" "Meat residue?" He made one of his perplexed "Jim" faces, and she was pretty sure he"d been a Muppet in a past life. Her whole body shook. "Jim, stop, you"re going to make me pee!" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Well, in that case..." he grabbed her around the waist and flipped her over on the floral comforter. With a wicked look, he commenced tickling her as she squirmed wildly beneath him. "Jim!" she cried, keeping her voice low enough to not arouse Angela"s attentions. "Stop!" When he didn"t desist, she brought her knee up and bumped his upper thigh. She didn"t knock him in the nether regions, but it was close enough to make him release her. "Careful there, Beesly," he warned. Pam smirked. "Oh, and speaking of peeing," Jim said, leaning back against the pillow next to Pam, "what"s this about me wetting my pants?" She laughed and shifted around, trying to get more room on the twin bed. "My god, you"re a giant," she complained, draping half her body over Jim"s and snuggling into his chest. Jim wrapped his arms around Pam and ducked his head down, breathing in. "Mmmm, this feels nice," he mumbled into her hair. She closed her eyes, resting her head against Jim"s chest. "Yeah," she breathed. They lay quietly, limbs intertwined, just breathing. Pam felt Jim"s chest move up and down beneath her cheek. Jim felt Pam"s ribs expand and contract under his arms. As minutes passed, Pam felt herself starting to drift off. Jim"s voice broke the comfortable silence. "Hey Pam?" "Hmmm?" she murmured sleepily, not opening her eyes. "Do you think we should introduce Angela to Dwight?" Suddenly, she was wide awake again. And positively snorting with laughter. "So, Karen, huh?" Pam teased later that night. She was propped up on her side in bed, peering down at Jim, who was situated amongst some spare blankets and a body pillow on the floor. "Yeah," he replied. "Karen Fillipelli." "Italian?" "I guess," Jim said, shrugging. "She"s in my History of British Rock class." "What"s she like?" Pam asked. He thought for a minute. "Pretty. Really pretty. Dark hair, nice eyes. Funny. Smart. She gives me a hard time. You"d like her." Pam nodded in the dark. "Yeah," she agreed brightly, too brightly maybe. "So you hit that yet, Halpert?" Jim guffawed. "Did I "hit that"? No, no, Pam, I have not remotely "hit that". I have come nowhere close to "hitting that". Hell, I"ve barely spoken to her outside of class." "Well, what are you afraid of?" she demanded. "Rejection," he said matter-of-factly. "Laughter. Hers. Tears. Mine. Humiliation. Also mine." "Wimp. You," Pam mimicked. Jim rolled his eyes. "Enough about my pathetic lack of dating life," he announced. "What about you? Fill me in. Anyone you haven"t made sleep on the floor?" Pam mumbled something indistinctive, but Jim was fairly certain he recognized one syllable. "I"m sorry, who?" he asked. She sighed in the dark. "Roy," she answered. "Just Roy." That"s what he thought she"d said. What the hell? "Roy?" Jim asked sharply. "Dumb jock high school boyfriend, Roy?" "He"s not a -" "Pam, come on!" He wasn"t sure why he was so irritated to learn about Pam"s tryst, but something about Roy just rubbed him the wrong way, still. "Okay, fine," she agreed, "he"s a dumb jock, but he"s not a bad guy." What the hell had crawled up Jim"s panties anyway? He was lusting after beautiful Italian girls. What did he care? "Oh yeah," Jim muttered sarcastically. "He"s a prince." "What the hell crawled up your panties?" Pam demanded. Jim scoffed. "Nothing "crawled up my panties,'" he mimicked. "I just don"t like how he treated you." Pam knew she should be grateful for his protectiveness, no matter how much of a fucking...guy Jim was being in his expression of it, but frankly, he was just pissing her off. "Well, that"s sweet of you and all," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "but I"m a big girl, Jim. I can take care of myself." "Pam, I-" "Besides," she pressed on. "It"s not like I"m getting back together with him. It was one night. He was in Philly for one of Kenny"s friends" bachelor parties and he called me. I haven"t heard from him since." A beat. Silence. And then: "Did you sleep with him?" Jim asked. He wasn"t sure what he expected the answer to be. Pam sucked in air through her teeth. "I really don"t think that"s any of your business, Jim," she informed him tightly. "Pam, come on, I-" "Good night, Jim." "Pam-" "Good night," she repeated primly. It was a lost cause. He knew it. Pam could be incredibly stubborn. "Good night," he groaned. Jim adjusted his body, trying to get comfortable on the hard floor, and breathed through the tension in the small room, watching the shadows pass on the walls. "Fuck." July 4, 2001 Scranton, PA With all the patience of the 21-year-old he was, Jim gave up his half-hearted search for a opener and jammed the beer bottle in his mouth, popping the cap off between his back molars the way his friend Mark had showed him. Of course, his mother would have a royal fit if she saw him do that. So he"d checked around him beforehand. Fortunately, Larissa was occupied inside for the moment. Jim tipped his head back for a long drink. "My god, Jim Halpert." At the sound of his name, he started, choking and sputtering a bit on the mouthful of Blue Moon. "Aunt Elyse!" He exclaimed, leaning down to give the tiny woman a hug. "Hey! When did you get here?" "Just a few minutes ago," she said. "Would you look at you? I swear, Jimmy, you get more handsome every time I see you. You must be beating the girls off with a stick. Or the boys, whatever blows your dress up, darlin"" Jim laughed. "Sorry, Aunt Elyse, not a team player here. Just girls for me." Elyse nodded, leaning in toward him. "I like boobs too," she said in a loud whisper. Guffawing, he put his arm around her. "You rock," he informed her. "Where"s Aunt Pam?" She nodded across the Beesly"s lawn. "Over there, grilling Pammy"s new boyfriend." Her voice dropped again. "Gotta tell you, Jimmy, that one doesn"t look like he"s got a lot in the sac, if you know what I mean." Her not-at-all subtle nod toward Jim"s crotch made it impossible for him to not know what she meant. "Jesus, Elyse!" He laughed, bright red. Elyse and Pam had been together for 25 years. Pam and Joan had grown up together, and Jim had known them both since he was two. Joan had even named her Pam after her childhood friend. Jim knew he could count on two things when Pam and Elyse came to visit. First, a lot of bawdy humor. Elyse, all 5 foot nothing, 101 pounds and 60 years of her, could joke about sex as well as any of Jim"s intramural basketball buddies at school. Second, that he and Pam - no, Pammy today - would be relegated back to childhood nicknames. No matter how old they got, he knew they would always be Jimmy and Pammy. "Holy..." Jim gasped, catching his breath. "Oh my... what the hell?" Pam smirked. "Oh, come now, James. I"m sure she"s a lovely lady, once you get to know her." "As long as you don"t light any matches near her," spoke up their companion. Jim laughed and clapped him on the back, but in a genuinely friendly way, not the "hey, look, we"re bonding as dudes" way that just really pissed Pam off. She"d been a little nervous about inviting Toby to the 4th of July cookout her family and the Halperts shared every year. They"d met in the spring when she"d taken a job at a movie theater by campus to make some extra cash. He worked the ticket booth at the same time she worked at the concession stand, and they"d started talking over brooms and dustpans when he helped her sweep popcorn kernels and Sour Patch kids off cinema floors. He was from Dunmore, just ten minutes from Scranton, and had actually gone to a rival high school. He was a few years older and the first guy she"d really dated since Roy, though he couldn"t be more different. Where Roy was loud, confident and, well, kind of dumb, Toby was soft-spoken, smart and shy. Meek, even. Sometimes she wished he"d grow a pair. "Whatever you want" could be tiresome to hear after a while. But despite his faults, if being too nice and accommodating was really a fault, Toby was a good guy and Pam found herself liking him. A lot. So she was glad to see that he and Jim seemed to be getting along. They peeked around the corner of the house at Pete and his new girlfriend with the red, red hair and the short, short tube dress. "Hey, do you guys think- oh god, my eyes!" Pam cried in a whisper, burying her face in Toby"s shoulder as Meredith bent over to fix her flip flip, revealing an expanse of pale white rear and, god help her, some lighter red hair. "Where"s the can?" she asked loudly. Jim groaned loudly. "Jesus Christ, Pete." "Your mother looks like she"s about to drop dead," Toby informed Jim. "Oh, poor Larissa," moaned Pam. "And poor Pete." The guys stared at her. "Poor Pete?" Jim asked. "Pam, I don"t mean to sound rude, but that girl is a disaster," Toby intoned quietly. She nodded in agreement. "No, I know," she said, "but ever since Audrina left him, he"s been going through this parade of train wrecks. Jim, remember that girl he was hanging around at Christmas?" He sighed. "Yeah, I"m not entirely certain she was out of high school," he said, "but this one makes that one look like Miss America. I can"t believe my brother has sunk so low as to sleep with...what the hell is her name again?" "Meredith," Toby replied, nodding at the redhead who had reemerged from the house and was now standing by Ed at the grill, scratching her underarm. "Maybe they"re not sleeping together?" Jim and Pam shook their heads. "No way," Pam said. "He"s definitely sleeping with her." Jim nodded. "Yep." "How do you..." Toby looked perplexed. "How can you tell?" Pam shrugged. "We know Pete," she said, gesturing between herself and Jim. Jim saw a flash of envy in Toby"s eyes, hearing Pam refer to she and Jim as "we." He felt bad for a second, but it wasn"t like Toby has anything to be jealous of. Not really. There was just... a lot of history. Yeah, years and years of history. But sometimes years and years of history lead to moments of odd tension. Like this one. Fortunately, Jim was well-versed at breaking up tension. "All I"m saying," he began, "is you couldn"t pay me to sleep with that one. And you could probably get me to have sex with a goat for a case of beer and a hundred bucks." Pam and Toby stared at him with matching sets of raised eyebrows and for a minute it was Jim"s turn to feel left out. Also, really awkward. Finally, Pam blessedly broke the silence. "Does Karen know about your goat fetish?" she smirked. "At least," Toby muttered, so low they could barely hear him, "at least we know she"s definitely a female." He was bright, bright red in the face. "I"m sorry," Pam said with a grin, clutching his arm. "What was that?" "Toby," Jim added. "Did you want to share something with the class?" Toby blushed even more, the deep shade of his skin against his blond hair making him look nearly albino. "I was out with some friends at a bar last year," he mumbled. "They kept insisting I go talk to this girl..." By the time Toby has stumbled his way through the story, Pam was full on crying, she was laughing so hard, and Jim was on the ground. He was pretty sure he"d peed a little, too. "Yeah, yeah, definitely. Uh huh, yeah. Yeah, I"ll call you tomorrow. Night....yeah, I love you too." Jim slipped his new cell phone back into his pocket and turned his head to Pam"s grinning face. "What, Beesly?" he demanded. She giggled. "I love you too?" she teased. "You guys are L-wording it now?" He shrugged. "Well, yeah, we"ve been official for like, eight months now." "Hmmm..." Pam lay back and stared up. It was nearly one in the morning. After everyone else had gone home or gone to bed, Jim and Pam had climbed up on the Beesly"s roof, staring up at the stars. It had been almost quiet, just their voices, the crickets, and the occasional car passing by. Then Jim"s phone rang. "Hmmmm, what?" Jim asked, his voice tinged with amusement. "What"s hmmmm, Beesly?" He lay back next to her, looking up at the same star cluster. "So you"re really serious, huh?" she asked. Jim though he heard a hint of something, jealousy, maybe? In Pam"s voice. But that was probably just his imagination. "Well, we"re not picking out monogrammed towels or anything," he said. "But yeah, it"s pretty serious." "You love her," Pam said quietly, tapping her fingers against the rooftop. It was half a question and half a statement. And why the hell did she feel like there was a hot coal in her throat? It was really fucking annoying. Jim gulped around his own sudden lump. "I love her," he said. "But if you mean is it the forever, devoted, spend my life with you love, I don"t know. Hell, I"m 21, Pam. I"m not even close to ready to be thinking about that kind of stuff, you know?" He pulled himself up to a sitting position and, feeling his movement, Pam did the same. She drew her knees to her chest, leaning her back against Jim"s. "She is," she informed him. "What?" he sounded incredulous. "Trust me." He shook his head. "No way." Pam nodded. "Trust me," she said, more emphatically. Jim exhaled loudly, letting his head tilt back on top of Pam"s. The idea that Karen could be looking at him as potential husband material, that she might even be at the point of thinking of anyone as potential husband material, was...not bad, exactly, just... overwhelming. He was glad he was sitting down. Pam felt the weight of Jim"s head against her own and closed her eyes. It was weird, a little, hearing him say "I love you" to Karen. She"d never heard him say "I love you" to any non-mom girl who wasn"t her. And they loved each other the way best friends do. This was, like, Jim-in-love. It was a little weird. Not bad weird. She was happy for him. She"d met Karen a bunch of times and liked her. Karen was funny, sarcastic and sharp. She had great style and she could beat any video game. And she had perfect hair. Honestly, Pam was a little jealous. Just of her hair. It was shiny and thick. And so smooth and straight without having to use a straightening iron on it. All Pam had was annoying frizz. Jim tilted his head slightly, feeling Pam"s curls against his cheek. He"d always been a sucker for curly hair. He"d asked Karen once why she never curled her hair. She"d scrunched up her nose and replied that it just wasn"t her style. Pam didn"t love Toby. She liked him, a lot. She cared about him and thought he was a sweet guy. They had fun together. He was even pretty good in bed, from what she could tell. Well, he was giving. Very giving, as long as she told him what she wanted. He definitely never tried to push her to do anything. Sometimes she wished he would, just a little. Sometimes she wished he"d be just a little demanding. But she knew he wasn"t the one. She knew maybe she should let him go, give him the chance to find someone who thought he could be the one. Maybe give herself a chance to find someone who could be her one. She didn"t really think too much about that, but she knew she probably wasn"t being fair to Toby. She cared for him though, a lot, and it was nice to have someone to spend time with. Especially since Jim hadn"t been as available for visits or marathon phone sessions since he"d been with Karen. "Does Toby know about..." Jim started, hesitantly. "The Incident?" She shook her head. "Does Karen?" He shook his. *** October, 2000, University of Maryland. He had no idea how they"d gotten here. The last moment that made any kind of sense, they"d been walking back across campus after watching a sketch comedy show, and the low hanging clouds had opened up. By the time they"d gotten back to his dorm room, they were soaking wet and breathless. He didn"t know how it started. He wouldn"t have been able to say, if he"d been put on a witness stand, who kissed who first. All he knew was that he was wet. And he was sitting on his bed. And Pam was on his lap, straddling him. And her hands were in his hair, tugging. And his tongue was in her mouth. She pulled her mouth from his, bending her head to the side and tracing her tongue along the edge of his ear. "Jesus fuck, Pam," he gasped, his hands fisting at her wet tshirt, as the sensation of her tongue went from his ear straight down to his cock and rendered him immediately rock hard. He was pretty sure he could mine for diamonds with this hard-on.

"Is there something you want to share mister Orsino?" I asked, a challenge in itself. "Only that you were in a relationship with, whom, for over a year?" he asked, accepting the gauntlet I"d thrown. "I know I went out with Justin for an obscene amount of time, but I ended that, remember?" I told him, getting off his bed and sauntering over to him before grabbing hold of his shirt, and tugging his body flush against mine. My stomach flip flopped in under his gaze, and I almost lost my nerve, but I held strong. "I remember." He assured me, and I smiled triumphantly. "But that doesn"t mean you didn"t go out with him in the first place." He teased. I pouted my lips and he threw his head back at the action. "Don"t you dare!" he warned. "Oh, I dare!" I told him, a smile breaking across my face. "You are such a cheater!" he said incredulously, wrapping his arms around my body lifting me into the air. I screamed with excitement and surprise, and when he put me down, I kissed him deeply. Things had never been that way with Justin. We never really played around like me and Duke did, and if we did start having fun, he would quickly end it. Justin was always trying to rush things too, his hands always roaming where she didn"t want them too, his mouth tasting skin she didn"t want him to. With Duke, his hands and mouth and face and eyes always seemed to be asking her permission. He wasn"t like other guys, she would admit that. He was better. He was constantly trying to please her, but he didn"t treat her like a princess or any different on the soccer field, which she liked a lot. His kisses were always hesitant, but they tasted like perfection all the same. His touches were so soft, sometimes she thought she imagined them. In the background, she heard Sebastian cough obnoxiously, and I threw him the middle finger without breaking lip contact with Duke. I heard Olivia laugh, and then I heard footsteps before I heard the door close. Duke"s hands wandered to my face, holding it gently, moving his lips against mine, his tongue tracing my lips. I moaned softly, and I felt him smile. When we pulled away, I went to lie on Sebastian"s bed, the bed I had slept in for two weeks before anyone realized I had female genitalia. I suddenly burst out laughing, and I looked at Duke, who smiled knowingly from his computer chair. "I can"t believe that was six months ago." I whispered quietly. "I know." He replied, coming to lay by me. The sun was fully up now, the golden rays streaming in through the window. "It feels like it was just yesterday, doesn"t it?" I asked him. "It kinda does. I still miss my old roommate." He told me, gently poking my side, making me squirm away, giggles flowing from my mouth. "So you"d rather have the old Sebastian rather than me?" I asked him. I looked over at Duke, who was looking at me. Our eyes locked for a minute before he replied. "No way." Duke Orsino After a few more minutes of kissing, I led Viola out of the room. She pouted and protested the move, but I held strong. When I finally managed to get her out of the room, she turned towards me. She stood on her toes, taking my face in her hands, and kissing me deeply, making me forget what I was doing. "Why was I kicking you out?" I asked her, pulling her back inside. "I don"t know, I wanted to stay. You know that Sebastian"s going to be at Olivia and my room for the rest of the day, and besides, it"s a Saturday! No classes!" she said, kissing me again. I smiled against her lips and pulled her body flush against mine, tangling my fingers in her hair. We tumbled onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, her arms wrapped around my neck, my hands still in her hair, her legs tangled with my own. Her hands disappeared from my neck, and reappeared under my shirt, her fingers outlining the muscles, like they often did when we were in this situation. I felt my muscles convulse under her touch, and I gasped when her lips disappeared from my own, only to move to my neck, gently grazing the tendons with her teeth. My fingers hesitantly slipped under her shirt, feeling the soft skin of her stomach. I bit my lip; I never was good with girls. Viola wasn"t like most girls though; she was into soccer as much as I was which was hard to be. Her body arched under my touch, and started me for a minute. I reared back from her, and she looked up at me, her lip gloss smeared, and that"s when I realized that I couldn"t do it, at least not yet. I looked her in the eyes and she smiled a little before turning onto her side, and I lay behind her, hugging her body to mine. The sun filtered through the window onto our arms, and before we knew it, we were fast asleep. "Duke! Wake up! We"re going to be late!" I heard Viola say after she shoved me, apparently trying to wake me. "Late for what?" I asked, still trying to rub the sleep from my eyes. "Soccer practice! Just because we practice together every day doesn"t mean everyone else gets better too silly!" she chided, and I smiled, before realizing what she said. My eyes flew to the clock, and I looked back at her. "We"re going to be late!" I told her, and she stopped, an amused smile playing on her lips. "What?" I asked, lifting myself off the bed. "Nothing, just, I told you that we were late already." She said, holding back giggles. I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her neck, stopping the words that were all ready to spill from her mouth. "Let"s go." I told her, intertwining my fingers with her, leading her out the door toward the soccer pitch. Practice was brutal, Coach Dinklage seemed angry about something the whole time, though Duke had no idea what it could have been. They hadn"t lost a game yet that year, thanks to Viola. She was amazing on the field, and she had helped them a lot. When practice was over, Viola came up to me, the need for sleep on her face as clear as day, but before she could say she wasn"t going to be stopping by that night, I kissed her. "I understand." I told her, kissing her one last time before she walked away, her duffle slung over her shoulder. I watched her walk away for a while, before I turned around, only to come face to face with Andrew and Toby, smug smirks on their faces. "You better watch her." Andrew said, bouncing the soccer ball on his knee. I stared at him, before turning to Toby, who shrugged. "What"s that supposed to mean?" I asked. I hated when they did this, they always made fun of me about being bad with girls, and they always used to point out how I needed a girlfriend, but once I got an amazing one, they always seemed to be trying to tell me that something was going to go wrong. Why couldn"t things go perfectly for once, I mean, it happens in fairy tales all the time, not that I would ever admit I"d read a fairy tale in my life. There was even a Shakespeare story that was just like Viola and my story. Andrew looked at me, his eyes stormy. "I"m saying, she"s hot. People look at her Duke, you know, just because you guys are going out, doesn"t mean that other guys aren"t going to try something with her." He told me, and I wanted to punch him right there. What was he trying to say? That he wanted to get with Viola? He must have sensed my anger, because he quickly added, "I mean, I wouldn"t do anything, I know you love her, and I know she loves you, but that won"t stop other guys from the team from trying things. I"ve seen Adams give her the up down, and Williams, he was staring at her ass the entire practice." He pointed out, and I became utterly furious. Even though I knew Viola wouldn"t do anything to hurt me willingly, that didn"t mean that other guys weren"t going to try things. I gave Andrew a death glare, and he backed away, muttering "just sayin" while backing away from me. I gathered my things and shoved them in my bag, thinking about the whole thing. Why did Andrew have to screw everything up? Viola and I couldn"t have been going smoother if we were in a movie, where the guy always gets the girl, and they live happily ever after, and he has to bring up other guys wandering eyes. I shrugged, trying to shake off the ominous feeling that was suddenly settling over the pit of my stomach. Alls that meant was that I"d have to watch Viola more and that was no problem for me. A/N: Here"s chapter two A/N: Here"s chapter two! Viola Hastings For some reason, Duke had taken an extra interest in me. He walked me to every class instead of the ones we had together, giving me extra kisses goodnight, things like that. I didn"t mind the extra attention, I loved it, but it really made me wonder what he was thinking. I sat down at my usual lunch table that I shared with Sebastian, Olivia, Toby, Andrew, and sometimes Eunice. Toby and Andrew looked at me for a minute for a minute before they burst out laughing. I looked at Sebastian and Olivia but they looked as confused as I felt. "What are you laughing at?" I asked, touching my hair nervously. They looked at me, amusement playing across their features. "You know how Duke"s been acting kind of odd lately?" Toby asked. I nodded and he continued. "That"s because we told him to watch you. We told him some guys on the team were looking at you, and we said you were hot and some other junk, and he looked kinda freaked out, but he said he didn"t have to worry about you, but I don"t know. With all this extra attention he"s been giving you, I think he feels like he does have to worry about you leaving him." I stared at their faces, and I apparently looked angry. "You did that?" I asked, anger hinting into my voice. Toby and Andrew looked at each other nervous glances mingling between them before they looked back at me. "We didn"t think it would be a big deal." They told me. I huffed and got up from the table in search of Duke. When I found him, he was kicking his soccer ball around on the field. I stood and admired him for a minute before walking out onto the grass to meet him. He must not have noticed me on the grass watching him, because when he turned around and spotted me, he tripped a little and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "What"s wrong?" he asked me once he regained his composure. "Andrew and Toby told me what they said the other day." Duke looked at the ground shyly; I could see a hint of a blush creeping up his cheeks. When he finally looked back up, he looked calmer than he had in days. "So it isn"t true?" he asked hopefully and I smiled. I walked up to him and kissed him gently. When we broke apart, I shook my head. "Of course it isn"t true." I told him, and I heard him breathe out a sigh of relief. "I know that I can always come to you when they say stuff like that, but I don"t want you to think I"m the paranoid, clingy kind of boyfriend." He explained. I laughed a little and he pulled back from me, startled by my outburst. "Duke, I"ve been going out with you for six months. I think I know what kind of boyfriend you are." I told him, taking his face in my hands. He smiled at me and I couldn"t help but smile back. "Besides, what made you think I could ever leave you." He smiled even wider. "The thing is, I didn"t think you were going to leave. I just didn"t want other guys looking at you and trying something." He explained. "Oh, big tough guy?" I joked and he smirked. "That"s right; I"m the big tough guy." He said, tickling my sides. "How about we go to Cesario"s tonight with our friends? Give them a little show. I asked. Duke raised his eyebrows, and I knew I had his attention. "What kind of show?" he asked, kissing me gently. "A break up." I smiled mischievously. The corners of Duke"s lips turned up at the suggestion. "I say we show them what saying that kind of stuff can do to people." I winked and Duke laughed. "Sounds good to me." He replied, putting his hands on my waist. "Then again, to me, everything that comes from your mouth sounds good." "Very nice." She smirked, kissing him. "You call Toby and Andrew, I"ll call Sebastian and Olivia, we"ll tell them it was a previously planned date, but that ever since Toby and Andrew said that stuff to you, there"s been some tension, and we don"t want to go alone." I concocted. Duke looked at me, a smirk on his face. "What?" I asked. "Nothing. I"m just thinking that you"re amazing." He said, a smiled crept onto my face. "Thanks." I replied, a blush making it"s way up my face. "I"ll go call Toby and Andrew." He said before kissing my lips sweetly. "I"ll go call Sebastian and Olivia." I kissed him back. We backed away from each other slowly, our eyes never leaving each other. Let the games begin. Duke Orsino I wasn"t about to tell Viola this, but I was afraid of saying something wrong. Something that would actually get her mad or upset with me. I didn"t want to hurt her, which was something I would kick myself about. I slipped into the booth at Cesario"s, my finger"s laced into hers. She looked over at me, mischief clear in her warm brown eyes. I smiled back at her, my worries easing. "Here they come." Her hand slipped out of mine and my stomach seemed to flip nervously. The four that entered eyed us warily, like we were time bomb just waiting for an opportunity to explode. They sat in the booth, murmuring their hellos. There was an awkward silence until the waitress came. Everyone ordered some pizza, then the silence once again, took over them. "So..." Sebastian mumbled, his arm slung over Olivia"s shoulders. I looked over at Viola, and she sent a frighteningly realistic glare in my direction. "What now?" I said, like we rehearsed. She gave me another glare. "You. You"ve been smothering me for days." She said, her voice raised. I felt my eyebrows knit together. "What are you talking about?" I sounded genuinely curious, yet angry. I almost felt like patting myself on the back for my good acting skills. Viola looked at me, fire in her eyes. "What I"m talking about, is that you obviously don"t trust me enough, which was proven by your little conversation with Andrew and Toby," I saw them look at each other with horror out of the corner of my eye, "What I"m talking about, is that you"re too possessive. What I"m talking about, is I don"t think this thing is going to work between us. She yelled forcefully. Even though I had known it was coming, it still stung to hear. "So we"re breaking up because I wanted to spend time with you!" I yelled. We were out of the booth by now standing in front of our friends. I saw Andrew and Toby exchange another glance, and I looked over at Viola, and I saw a triumphant look cross over her face. "Duke, you know we were joking about Viola getting looks from other guys on the team, right?" I waved a hand in their direction to show them that I heard, I just didn"t care. "Well fine! If you feel that way, maybe we should break up!" I shouted, and Viola gave me a hint of a reassuring smile. "I"m outta here." I mumbled before I grabbed my jacket and went to walk out. "Sebastian, I"m going to call a cab. I"ll see you later." I heard Viola say before I walked out. I waited for her over by my bike, and when she got there, I took her in my arms and spun her around, kissing the skin of her neck. It seemed like now that I knew what it would feel like to break up with her, I loved her so much more. Her lips moved against mine smoothly, familiarly. When we broke apart, we were both heaving for breath. "So what did Toby and Andrew look like when I walked out?" I asked, kissing her again. "Terrified. They looked like they thought we were bother going to suck at soccer. I think they were flashing back to the Cornwall game." She told him. "You think we should go back in now?" I asked. Viola gave me a mischievous look, and I didn"t even have to ask. We have to have some kind of meeting place. If I"m going to have to pretend to be broken up with you, then I"m going to need to see you in secret, somewhere." I told her honestly, and her arms snaked around my neck. "We"ll figure it out. In the mean time, we should tell Sebastian and Olivia. We don"t want my brother to kill you in your sleep, and we know if we tell one, we have to tell the other." She reasoned, and I nodded. "Okay. For now, let"s meet under the bleachers. We should change the text and ring tones we have for each other too." I told her, and she smiled. "Now you"re thinking like a mad genius." She told me and I smiled. "I learned from the best." I replied, and her lips crashed down onto mine. "We should probably separate before they walk out and see us." She breathed when we broke apart. I nodded and we slowly backed away from each other. I put my helmet on and hopped onto my bike, sending one last glance back at her before speeding out of the parking lot back to Illyria. I changed when I got back to the room, and once my shirt was over my head, Sebastian came bursting in the door looking furious. "What is wrong with you?" he asked, poking me in the chest. Viola must not have told him yet. "Dude, you know none of it was real right?" he asked the other boy, and a confused look crossed Sebastian"s face. "What?" he finally asked. "Viola and I decided to fake a break up after what Toby and Andrew said. We"re teaching them a lesson. Now we"re going to take it one step further and stay "broken up"." He put air quotes around broken up to emphasize that they were, in fact, still together. "Brilliant man, just brilliant." Sebastian smiled, and settled down onto his own bed. A/N: Sorry for the long wait on the chapter, I hope you guys like it A/N: Sorry for the long wait on the chapter, I hope you guys like it! Viola Hastings Without Duke, the days seemed to take forever. We had to act angry and distant with each other all the time, we had to ignore each other, and that isn"t easy when you love this particular person. We managed to get by though. At lunch, his foot would casually graze mine, since we were lab partners in science, we were able to talk. It was even easier with Sebastian and Olivia knowing, because we could always just sneak off to each others rooms. We were in my room, lying on the bed, having a tickle war, when suddenly, there was a nervous knock on the door. I glanced over at Duke, a panicked look on my face. Olivia and Sebastian never knocked, so it had to be someone who thought we were broken up. I got up from the bed and shoved Duke toward the closet. He gave me a skeptical glance, pointing to the small room, but I only motioned for him to hurry. He shoved himself inside the closet and I laughed at the way he had to scrunch to fit in with all the clothes. I glanced at the door, then back to Duke, but the closet was already closed. I opened the door and Andrew and Toby stormed in. I stared at the now empty hallway in partial shock before muttering, "Come on in!" I closed the door and turned back to them, hoping my face was conveying the emotions anger, annoyance, and get the hell out of my room, but I apparently wasn"t showing it enough. "Vi, you and Duke have to get back together." Andrew said bluntly, and Toby looked at him, a scowl on his face. "What stupid here is trying to say is that you guys should be together. Don"t act like you miss him. We know you do. You guys used to spend every spare moment together, and we know you miss that." He said, his hands moving with his words. "Guys, I know that you"re his friends, but right now, I want nothing to do with him. He wasn"t the person I thought he was, and it was basically destined to happen really." I said with a shrug. Andrew looked like he was ready to give up already, but Toby wasn"t. "Come one Viola. We know you guys both miss each other like crazy." He said. I frowned and furrowed my brow. "Guys, you"re pushing this and I"m not sure I like it. I told you already, me and Duke are done. I was thinking about going out with someone else anyway." I covered, biting my lip. Toby looked at me with his eyes narrowed before he continued. "Who?" he asked, his lips still forming the o even though he had stopped talking. "Williams." I quickly lied, thinking of one of the cuter guys on the team. In truth, Williams had been flirting with me at every opportune moment. If Duke and I ever needed a really good cover, I could always turn to that guy and go on a few "dates" with him. Maybe he"d get off my back, and Andrew and Toby would think I was over him. "Are you kidding? Williams? You"ve got to be kidding." Toby"s eyes went wide at my confession, and I sat on the bed across from him, Olivia"s bed. "Why would I be kidding? Just because I dated Duke doesn"t mean I can"t go after more guys on the team." I said, and I bit her lip. I sounded kind of like I wanted to date everyone on the team. I flicked my eyes to the closet, and I saw Duke"s eyes watching through the slats. I widened my eyes and I could just see his lips form a skeptical frown before his face once again disappeared. "Well, you know that Duke never liked him, are you doing this just to get back at him or something?" Andrew asked, back in the conversation now that it was getting interesting. "Of course not. I may not like Duke that way anymore, but I would never do anything like that just to purposely hurt him." I acted like I was shocked. Toby once again glared at Andrew, and I hope they knew that the conversation was dawning on its end. "I think you guys should go." I replied, standing up. Toby looked like he was going to argue a little bit more, but Andrew gave him a gentle shove, almost knocking him onto the floor. "Fine, but we"re not done talking about this!" Toby said as Andrew shoved him out

When she woke up, Kris knew something was wrong. Her lower stomach was cramping and aching, and her heart was racing. She threw the blanket off her body, waking Junior. She raced to the bathroom and sat down on the toilet, only to see blood everywhere. She bit her bottom lip and felt like screaming. This had happened when she was pregnant with the twins, and it turned out that they were expecting two blessings instead of none, but this was different. She felt empty, like she was actually empty. Junior appeared in the doorway, his hair messy, and his clothes rumpled. She felt her bottom lip quiver, and she quickly trapped it between her teeth, but he had already seen. He rushed over to her and knelt down in front of her. "Maybe we could go..." She cut him off, pressing her finger to his lips. She shook her head before letting it hang low. "It"s not like how it was last time Junior, there"s nothing there. Nothing left. It"s too late." She said softly, raising her head so that her eyes met his. He looked so pained and hopeful, it almost broke her heart to see him so desperate. She just wanted to lie to him, maybe just this once, and tell him that she was just kidding around, and that she was sorry the joke wasn"t funny. She wanted to hold him close and tell him that in 7 months, they were going to bring their third baby into the world. But she just couldn"t lie to those eyes. "I"m sorry." She whispered quietly, putting a hand on his cheek. He stared into her eyes, making her heart feel torn apart at the seams. "It"s not your fault." He choked out. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, breathing in his smell. She heard a faint cry from the other room and she let him go, righting herself before walking toward the twins room. The room she walked into however was not where she meant to go, she had walked into the emptied office, meant to be the new baby"s room eventually. The walls were still stark and white, the carpet a dark inky blue, the shade of the sky when it was late at night. She let herself sit down on the floor Indian style, resting her head in her hands, her body wracked with sobs. She wiped fervently at her eyes, trying to make the tears stop, but they continued to flow, making her vision blurry. She held in her cry for a minute to hear if Ayden or Ava was still crying, but found that they hadn"t cried at all, she was imagining it. She put her hands over her ears, trying to block it all out, but nothing was working. She felt someone"s hand on her back, and she whipped her head around, prepared for a fight, but it was only Junior, his eyes worried and wide. She launched herself into his warmth, taking him in, breathing in everything he was. "I feel like a horrible mother." She sobbed into his shirt, clutching his arms with a death grip. "I let it die." She buried her face into him and sobbed while his arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her close. "Don"t say that. Don"t you dare say that." He whispered soothingly, a melody in the haze of screams. "What are we going to tell Ava and Ayden?" she whispered fiercely her eyes searching his grief stricken face for some kind of sign. They woke up a few hours later. Her heart still aching with a hurt so unbearable, she would almost rather die. She felt the sting of tears on the backs of her eyes, and she tried to hold them in when the baby monitor emitted a quiet yawn, a sign of life in the grief stricken room. She stood up, her head swimming, her stomach churning. She shuffled mindlessly into the room, her eyes burning at the colors that once seemed so cheery and bright. She walked up to Ava"s crib, seeing her daughter"s curly brown locks made her want to break out in sobs, but she didn"t. Instead, she took the smiling toddler in her arms and held her close against her body, feeling the reassuring weight of her baby in her arms. "I love you baby girl." She whispered softly, and Ava giggled, her laugh full of innocence laced with undying love. She held her daughter"s wriggling body tightly, unwilling to let go. The distinct smell of baby powder made her feel calmer, more ready to face the day. "What you doin" mommy?" she heard Ayden"s soft, melodic voice behind her and she turned around to face her, her eyes welling with tears at the sight of his face. She picked him up in her free arm, a skill she had perfected over the years, and buried her face into the crook of his neck. He pushed away, his face scrunched in what was supposed to be an angry face. "That"s girly mommy!" he huffed, and crossed his arms over his chest. Kris laughed, but quickly stopped when she noticed that her laugh sounded hollow, unlike her own. She put her kids down and watched them run from the room, probably to Junior. She smiled, and felt her cheeks cracking with the effort, but she kept on doing it anyway, because it was better than thinking about why she was making herself do it. Junior Davis He had to admit it felt like his heart was breaking. Not only because they weren"t going to be having a baby, but the way Kris looked whenever he managed to catch her eyes. She looked so empty, so tired, like she thought life was to cruel to really exist. He knew she wouldn"t do anything drastic, or at least that was what he kept telling himself. She cried when she thought he was asleep. Her sobs quiet and hushed as to not wake him. Even when she was hurting inside, she thought of him. He wanted to tell her everything was going to be okay, that one day, it would stop hurting, and they would move on. He wanted to be able to say that the baby was still okay; it just wasn"t with them anymore. What he really wanted though, deep inside, was to kiss her stomach and feel the fluttering of the baby inside of her. He wanted to marvel at the sight of her growing stomach as the days passed by. He wanted her to stop crying, and start living again. He wanted to see his kids, safe and sound, kissing Kris"s stomach like they did, and still, even though the baby was gone, they still did. He wanted to tell them, but the thought of seeing their faces crumble at the news made his throat feel tight, like he couldn"t breathe. He watched them playing, watching their mother like she was going to have the baby any second, but she wasn"t. "Mommy! When"s the baby commin"?" Ava"s voice sounded through his reverie, and he quickly looked over at his wife, who"s face was crumbling at the very though of the lost child. He scooped Ava into his arms and made it so that she was facing him. He held her hazel eyes with his own brown ones. Ava stared at him for a long minute, seemingly frightened that she"d done something wrong. "Ayden, will you come with me and your sister to the other room for a minute?" he said, turning to look at Kris, who was slowly sinking into a seat at the kitchen table. When they reached the other room, he sat each of his kids on the end of his bed and knelt in front of them, putting one hand on each of their knees. He looked down at the floor for a minute before looking back up at them. Their eyes were wide and wet, a sign that they were scared, and that they were ready to cry at a moments notice. "You guys didn"t do anything wrong." He assured them, and he watched their small shoulders uncoil, and it surprised him that children could even feel stress. "It"s just, mommy doesn"t want to talk about the new baby right now, it makes her very sad." He tried to say it in a way that would hurt them less, and him as well, but it still felt wrong to talk about it so soon. "But why daddy?" Ayden spoke gently. His son had always had a sense for when something was wrong, and he must have felt it full force at that moment. "Because, well, because there isn"t going to be a new baby anymore." He said it quickly, like taking off a band-aid. He had always thought that faster hurt more though. None of them said anything for a long while. T was like they understood the gravity of the situation, and they knew that the shouldn"t talk. Suddenly, Ava lifted her head and stared at Junior, her eyes boring into his with such hope, it almost broke his heart to tell himself that he already knew the answer to her question. "So no baby sister?" she asked, her curls bouncing with her gently stuttered words. "No baby. I"m sorry." He said, pulling her into him. He reveled in the warmth of his children"s bodies for how long he didn"t know. It seemed like an eternity before he heard the soft footfalls behind him, the weight of another person next to him on the floor. Kris"s arms wrapped around his middle in a death grip. She held their kids with such gentle care though, he wondered how a person could be so fierce, yet so gentle. "We might have another one some day, but we just aren"t going to have one right now." She whispered to them, and he felt their tiny heads bobble in recognition. That night, after they"d put the kids to bed, after they"d kissed and touched and made love, they lay there, gripping each other tightly. "It just hurts so bad." She whispered, her voice cracking. "I"m sorry." He whispered absentmindedly, letting his grip go a little looser. "No, not you. I like when you hold me like this. I mean losing the baby. It feels like something inside of me has died." She whispered, her voice heavy. He strained to come of with words that would accurately describe how he felt about everything, but she had already summed everything in his own head, through her mouth. "I know." He whispered, kissing the crown of her head gently, making sure to put everything he had into that slight bit of affection. He threw everything he had into the way his fingers touched her later that night, the way he kissed her collar bone when she started to cry, the way he held her when they finished loving each other for the second time that night. Even though he had tried to give her everything, it still felt like she didn"t have enough, and it still felt like he was being selfish for keeping that small bit for himself, to remember what could have been. A/N: I"m sooo sorry for the horrible long wait you all had to endure. I know, I"m a horrible author. I"ve just been away all summer, and before that, I had just gotten such horrible writers block, then I lost interest in this story all together. I"m trying to get back into writing, just so i can finish off a couple of old stories. I"m not sure when I"ll be able to update this next, hopefully soon. Once again, I"m sorry I"m such a horrible author and made you wait this long for as chapter. Kris Furillo It pained her inside. She wanted to call him, she really wanted to, but she wouldn"t let her hands pick up the cell phone, and when her hands betrayed her and did just that, she refused to let herself dial his number. She bit her lip until she could taste the coppery blood seeping from it. Her fingers shakily dialed the numbers. She pressed the green button, she waited for a minute, then suddenly his voice was in the air, she pressed the phone to her ear, trying to absorb it. "Hello? Is anyone there?" he asked. His voice sounded frustrated. "If you don"t say anything, I"m going to hang up." He warned. "Wait!" she blurted at the last second. There was complete silence from the other end of the phone, but she knew he was still there. "Junior?" she asked cautiously. She heard him breathe a sigh of relief when she spoke his name, and she smiled to herself. "Hey Kris." He said back, and her head swam, filled with his velvety voice. "I wanted to call you earlier, but I just..." "Couldn"t think of anything to say?" she filled in when he trailed off, and he laughed through the phone. "Exactly." He said, his voice calm and soft. "I know exactly what you mean. I have no idea what to say to you." She confessed, a small smile creeping onto her face. She heard him laugh at her confession, and she couldn"t help but join him, it was so infectious. "Do you want to go out?" Junior blurted when they stopped laughing, and her breath caught in her throat. Her heart fluttered at his words, and she didn"t realize that she had desperately wanted him to say them. "Yes." She breathed into the phone and she heard Junior sigh in relief. "I"ll be ready in like, an hour?" she suggested. "Perfect." He said. "I"ll see you then..." he trailed off. He sounded as though he were desperate to say something else to her, but he refrained. "Bye." He added and hung up, not waiting for her to say it. She quickly leapt off the bed, wasting no time. She jumped in the shower and let the hot water uncoil her muscles. She washed her hair with her favorite strawberry shampoo before jumping out of the stream of water and drying off. She threw on a small, mid-thigh, strapless polka dotted dress, and threw her hair up into a ponytail after drying it. She threw on a pair of strappy white heels to complete the look before she made her way out of the trailer. The sun warmed her face as soon as she was out of the cool, air conditioned confines of her trailer. She scoffed at the word. A couple of months ago, she never would have thought that she would be living in Freemont California, on a horse farm, in a trailer. In fact, she probably would have laughed at the absurdity of the thought before sipping delicately on the 300 dollar a bottle champagne and linking her arm through Nate"s. She was startled out of her thoughts when a rough hand rested itself on her shoulder. She looked up quickly only to see Matt standing there, an unfathomable expression on his face as he examined her attire. "Going somewhere?" he asked, and she couldn"t help but notice the hard edge to his voice. "Yeah, Junior and I are going out somewhere. It was last minute. I"m sure you could come if you want..." she trailed off, worried, but he shook his head. "Nah, I got a ton of stuff left to do." He said it like he didn"t care, but the torn expression on his face told her otherwise. He wanted nothing more than to drop whatever it was he was doing and hang out with her. It was like he was trying to push himself between Junior and her. She felt flattered, yet angry. What claim did he think he had to her? He was going out with Dani, and if that wasn"t bad enough, Junior was like his brother, he shouldn"t be trying to interfere. "Well that"s too bad." She said, more harshly than she intended. Matt looked shocked at first, his face was focused, like he was trying to registered her tone of voice, with the angry expression she wore on her face. "Maybe if you get done before I"m back, you can hang out." She added acidly, frowning at him. He stumbled back a little at the tone of her voice. His face was pleading, his eyes sad and wistful. He was begging her not to go with his eyes, but there was something she just couldn"t resist when it came to Junior. There was some magnetic pull making her go to him. She watched as Matt departed, his shoulders hunched his eyes on the ground. She almost sighed in relief when Junior pulled up in his silver Porsche. She ran as quickly as she could around to the passenger"s side of the car, sliding in next to him. Junior turned to her, a crooked smile gracing his handsome features. The big purple bruise that Nate gave him the other night was still vibrant and angry looking. She reached out a finger and stroked it gently, if it hurt him, he didn"t say anything. He smiled at her and she smiled back, she couldn"t help it. "Where are we going?" she asked as they pulled out of the driveway, and Junior turned to look at her quickly. "Over the rainbow." He joked, and she just gave him an exasperated smile before turning her eyes to the window. Junior Davis I couldn"t have been happier when she called me. I almost jumped up and down on the living room couch in a rendition of Tom Cruise on Oprah. It was even better when she agreed to go out with him. And she didn"t say anything about it being a friend"s only thing. In fact, she sounded relieved when she said she wanted to. Was she really worried about how he felt about her? Was there even a question about it now? Didn"t she realize that he was totally infatuated with her, that he was, dare he say it, in love with her? He glanced over at her. A clump of her long raven hair had slipped from the pony tail. He reached over and gently pulled it back into place. She smiled sheepishly at him, a blush coloring her cheeks. "So are you going to tell me where you"re taking me or not?" she asked suddenly, her brown eyes boring into his. "No." He answered simply, throwing her a smug smirk. His stomach fluttered nervously as her hand ruffled his hair before resting palm up in the arm rest between them. It was an obvious invitation, he accepted quickly, slipping his hand into hers. He looked over to her in time to see her gnaw on her bottom lip. When her lip escaped the grinding of her teeth, he notices a small cut on it. Absently, he took his hand from hers and ran his fingers over her lips, feeling the small cut under his fingers. "What"s that from." He asked, taking her hand back in his. "I was nervous about calling you." She said flippantly, trying to ignore the subject. She was a terrible liar. "Tell me." He urged, his voice low, soothing. She looked over at him, worry reflecting in her eyes. "The truth is, was I was trying not to call you." He felt an ache in his chest where his heart was. "And why is this?" he asked, his eyes flicking between her and the road. "You"re like no one I"ve ever met. When I first met you, you were the cocky and over confident and snobby and obnoxious guy that everyone seemed to love." She ticked them off on her fingers before glancing at him apologetically. He smiled reassuringly and she continued. "Then at the bar, you were the perfect guy, so nice, so sincere, it was bewildering. You stunned me." She closed her eyes, and he could only imagine what she was thinking. "Then you came to my trailer, and you were one of the best friends a girl could ask for. You went shopping with me and watched me try on the entire mall, and you didn"t complain once, you carried my bags, and didn"t whine." She smiled warmly at him. "Then you were the asshole in the parking lot while we were calling each other names, then you were the guy I wanted more than anything else in the world when I was kissing you." She smiled at the memory before looking at him, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. "The you were the guy who took what he wanted and didn"t say anything." There was pain in her voice, and Junior instantly felt guilty knowing he was the one that put it there. "It"s not that I didn"t want to talk to you." He confessed, his voice pained. He wanted her to understand. "I really did. I was just..." he paused, unsure of what he should say. "You were what?" she asked, her eyes boring into his. "I was scared." He confessed, and she smiled at him, accepting his answer. "Why would you be scared?" she asked, genuine curiosity coloring her voice. He couldn"t help but smile weakly. "I was scared of messing this up." He said gently before kissing the back of her hand. It felt good to do that, put his lips on her. She closed her eyes and bit her lip again as he did so, and he prayed that she enjoyed the feeling of it as much as he did. Her eyes snapped open again when he stopped suddenly, on a dirt road in the middle of no where. She looked around curiously. She looked him up and down, checking to make sure he was all there, that he hadn"t left anything important behind, like his brain. He smiled softly at her before getting out and grabbing a blanket out of the trunk. The sun had set by now, the sky was a deep, inky blue color. He laid the blanket out and escorted her from the car to where he had laid it. He lay down on the blanket with her, staring up at the stars. They didn"t say anything, they didn"t need to. He tore his eyes away from the sky to look at her. She seemed to be mesmerized by the sheer amount of stars there really were. Maybe, wherever she was before she came here, they didn"t have stars, he thought to himself. His heart swelled when he realized he had given her the stars. Her face was full of wonder, her lips parted gently, astounded by the small white dots littering the blue sky. He memorized her face, watching her face as it shifted from surprise, to wonder, to utter joy. "It"s beautiful." She finally said after a long moment. She turned to him and met his eyes. "Yes." He agreed, leaning slightly slower to her, so that their faces were only an inch apart. She stared into his eyes. Lust and need seemed to be making them darker. He stared into their unfathomable depths, wondering what was going on in her head. He tangled a hand in her hair, and her breathing sped up, caressing his face with its warmth. "You are." He said softly before leaning in so his lips connected with hers. Her lips moved hungrily against his, just as eager as he was for this. He kissed her urgently, lovingly, trying to convey all his emotions for her in just one kiss. He knew it was impossible, but he had to try. When they pulled apart, she looked at his eyes, her brown eyes smoldering. "I love you." He whispered gently, and he heard her sharp intake of breath. He cringed, waiting for the inevitable rejection, but instead, she breathed a sigh of relief. "I love you too."

fact, I did." Junior said, not giving Matt the information he really wanted. "Well, what"s her name?" His friend pushed through the phone, and Junior laughed. "Her name is Kris Furillo, and she"s the newest lawyer for Davis Farms." He said into the phone. He decided to leave out the part about how he was going to take her out to dinner that night, and how cute she looked, even when she was flustered and under pressure. "Don"t you get any ideas man, you have Dani, remember?" Junior added when he though of the new girl. "I know, I know, I was just wondering. Well, I have to go, Pablo"s low on exercise riders and he"s asking me to fill in." Junior could hear Matt shudder through the phone and he laughed. "Alright, later man." Junior replied and ended the call, shoving the slim phone into his pocket. Suddenly, the doorbell ran and he glanced out the window, seeing a familiar fire engine red mustang in his driveway. He jogged out of his room and down the hallway before sliding down the banister. No matter how old he got, that would always be fun. He reached the door and tugged the handle; he smiled wider when he realized that none other than Kristine Furillo was standing at his door. Her hair was thrown up into a messy ponytail and she was wearing a gorgeous knee length red dress. Her smile was nervous, self conscious and perfect all at the same time. He moved aside so she could enter the huge house and closed it behind her. She looked around timidly, like she had never been in a house as big as the one she was currently. He took hold of her wrist and she whipped her head around to him, and he gave her a reassuring smile. Suddenly, Dani was in the door, her hair pulled into a small ponytail at the base of her neck, and her arms were crossed rigidly over her chest. He gave her a cold stare and she put her hands in the air, a surrender. "Hello there. I"m Danielle Davis, Junior"s little sister." Dani stuck her hand out and Junior threw his head back, letting out a heavy sigh. "Oh hey, I"m Kris Furillo. I"m going out with your brother tonight." Kris replied, her hand firmly grasping Dani"s. Junior placed a hand on Dani"s shoulders and squeezed it gently, a warning sign. "Don"t you have something to do Dani? Like hang out with Matt at Raintree?" he pushed Dani away from them a little and she turned back, a smirk gracing her lips. "As a matter of fact, I do have things to do." Dani said before turning and starting to walk away. She threw a wave over her shoulder and called out to Kris, "Good luck" before disappearing behind a doorway. Kris turned to Junior and gave him a nervous smile. He smiled back and led her towards the exit, and then toward his Porsche. He held the door open for her and she smiled before sitting herself inside the racing seat. He jogged around the front of the car and hopped over the door before starting the engine. "I hope you don"t mind, but I have to go pick something up at my friend Matt"s house. It"s on the way to the club." She nodded and he turned the car out of the driveway. When they arrived at Raintree, Kris"s ponytail had come in handy, her hair was windblown and wild, and she was actually smiling her first genuine smile since she had arrived at his house. "Do you want to come?" Junior asked, brushing a chunk of her raven hair from her face. Kris looked at him for a minute before giving him a smile and an enthusiastic nod. Junior walked into the barn, yelling out Matt"s name, Kris"s hand in his, his finger"s laced with hers. Matt poked his head out from inside of a stall and smiled. "Hey man, you here for your laptop?" Matt exited the stall and made his way toward them. It took him a minute to realize that Kris was there, and that she was holding Junior"s hand. "Don"t tell me he"s already got you hooked!" Matt groaned, and suddenly, Kris"s hand was missing from his own. Junior glared at Matt and he shrugged apologetically before making his way from the barn. He was going to kill Matt Ritter. A/N: Just so you know, I had my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday, so I had a lot of spare time to write these chapters, so I don"t want you to expect chapters this quickly together, because I might not be able to get them to you as quickly as this all the time. I will try to get you guys at least 1 chapter every weekend, but even that might not happen. The reason chapter 2 took so long was because I had a teeny bit of writers block, then it just came to me. And here"s some more thanks, except these are personalized! Emerald Lady: I know! I wanted to kick Matt for what he did! He had to have saw Kris and Junior having a moment! Blondiex18: Thank you soo much for your kind review! I didn"t think I was that good of a writer! Msewgiamn372: haha, thanks, I didn"t think it would come off as funny, but when I realized that it kind of went along with last week"s episode, it made me want to laugh. Kris Furillo The club was loud, dark, and it made her feel at home. When she had lived with Nate, they were always going clubbing and dancing because that"s what he did. Junior held her hand tight as they made their way through the crowd, weaving in and out of the mass of bodies that were dancing on the dance floor. When they finally made it to an empty table, Kris already felt like she was exhausted. She hadn"t even realized how tired she was until she sat down and got a minute to think about what she had done that day. Today, I broke up with my fiancé and moved out before getting a job and a date with my employer, which caused me to have to buy a new life at a small town mall, and get a new apartment, then I went to Juniors house even though he was going to pick me up, I met his sister and his best friend, who may have accidentally reviled to me that Junior is a womanizer and then we got to the club. She became exhausted just thinking about it. Suddenly Junior"s hand was waving in front of her face and she focused on his eyes. He had a small smile on his face, and a dimple was forming on his cheeks. She felt herself blush under his gaze and she quickly turned away, trying to hide the shy smile that was forming on her face. "Is there something wrong?" Junior asked her, his eyes clouding over in worry. She smiled and looked back at him. "Nothing"s wrong, I just had probably the biggest day of my life today." She explained, and Junior nodded. She could tell he was intrigued by her answer, and she smiled when he didn"t ask about her day, even though she could tell he was dying to know. "Do you want to know about it?" she asked him, and he turned to her, relief obvious on his face. "If you don"t mind..." Junior said slowly, trailing off near the end. "Well, if you promise not to run off of think that I"m a rebound girl, then I"ll tell you." Kris told him, biting her bottom lip. "I don"t think I could ever picture you as a rebound girl." Junior honestly replied. Kris smiled shyly at him and took a deep breath before she launched into her story, "I worked late last night, and I didn"t get to make it home until early in the morning. Well, when I got back to the apartment that I shared with my fiancé" Kris paused to take a look at Junior"s face when she said this, but he was staring intently at her, completely unfazed by her confession, "and I found him in bed with another girl. He offered to be moved out by tonight, but instead, I just took my purse, and walked out. I don"t know what made me do it, but I found myself in your town, right outside your farm." Kris took a sip from her drink and she looked over at Junior, who was looking at her sympathetically, holding his Smirnoff in the hand that wasn"t caressing her bare shoulder. "Well, I asked you for that job, and you asked my on this date, and then I realized I had absolutely nothing to wear, so I bought a whole new life that that mall down the road, and got a loft down the street from that, then I saw you in your blue button down shirt, and I realized that I could really like you." Kris covered her mouth when she realized what she had said, and she looked back at Junior again. He had a wide smile and his eyes were sparking in the multicolored fluorescent lighting. He looked around the room and to the dance floor; he looked back at her, a smirk gracing his perfect lips. "Dance with me." He told her more than asked her. She laced her fingers with his, and she let him lead her onto the dance floor. She let him wrap his arms around her, and she let herself get lost in the music, and the feel of his hands on her lower back, her waist, and cupping her cheeks. When she finally let herself open her eyes, they weren"t moving anymore, but standing right in the middle of the dance floor, staring right into each other"s eyes. Junior"s hands cradled her head and he started to lean towards her. She closed her eyes and she could feel his breath on her lips when all of the sudden Junior"s hands were missing from her face. When she opened her eyes, she saw Nate, one of his hands gripping Junior"s shoulder, and the other was winding back, getting ready to punch Junior. She ran forward and she pushed herself between Junior and her ex-fiancé, but it was too late, Nate"s fist had already started it"s descent towards Junior"s face, and instead of hitting Junior, he hit her. Her head whipped to the side and a stinging feeling spread throughout her left cheek and over her eye. She felt a pair of hands hold her face, and she recognized them as Junior"s. She opened her right eye and glanced at his face. His mouth was wide open in surprise and his eyes were clouded over with worry. His fingers traced over her jaw bone and around her eye. She flinched and pulled away from his touch, and he looked over her shoulder, obviously glaring at Nate. He pulled her into a hug, and she melted against his warm body. She nestled her head against his collar bone, and breathed in his scent of axe and soap. His hand caressed the back of her head and she let the tears fall. Her face stung and burned and ached, and alls she wanted to do was curl up in bed and have someone wrapped around her, holding her tight, and telling her it would all be all right. But she didn"t have a bed in her new apartment yet, or blankets, or furniture. She pulled away from Junior and looked at him, a blush creeping up her cheeks. "Do you have a place I can stay? Just until I get some furniture into my loft?" she took one of her hands and rubbed the back of her neck nervously. Junior looked down at her and smiled, brushing a chunk of her hair gently away from her face. "Sure. We have like, 3 guest rooms." Junior replied. He laced his fingers with her and they went back to the table. He grabbed their things and they walked back to the car, leaving the club behind. Junior Davis When they got back to his house, all the lights were off, and everything was quiet except for the gentle hum of the dishwasher in the kitchen. Junior led Kris to the stairway. He glanced back at her and that"s when he noticed the bruise blooming on her cheek. It started just below her left eye, and ended right at the corner of her lip, but the surprising thing was, that even with a black and blue mark covering the side of her face, she still looked absolutely perfect to him. When they reached her bedroom, she fake coughed into her hand, and he wanted to laugh at her lack of subtly. "Do you need something to sleep in Miss Furillo?" he said in a fake English accent. Kris laughed and nodded. "Stay right here." He gave her the one minute signal and jogged off to his room at the other end of the hallway. He pushed the door open and made his way over the plush carpeting toward his closet and he pulled out a t-shirt and a pair of flannel pants. He made his way back down the hallway, but when he got to the door, Kris was gone. The door was slightly ajar, and there was a faint light coming from inside. He pushed the door open more and what he saw took his breath away. Kris was lying on the bed, and from what he could see, she was naked. The blanket reached to under her arms and a mischievous smile was gracing her lips. "I thought you didn"t want to be a rebound girl." Junior motioned with his head toward the scene in front of him. "Well, if I told you that everything felt different with you, and that it wouldn"t be a rebound, would you come in here with me?" she bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes. Junior watched her pull the blanket up over her head and he almost jumped on the spot. He walked into the room and closed the door behind him, making sure the lock was set. He kicked off his shoes and cautiously crawled up onto the bed, slowly pulling back the covers, slowly starting a life. Junior woke up to the sun filtering through the window, smell of the just laundered blanket, and the feel of Kris"s body pressed against his own. He looked down at her sleeping form and smiled. The bruise on her cheek was in full bloom, an array of purple and blue colors. He gently turned her head and placed a kiss on her lips, and she smiled, her eyes opening. "Morning." She whispered. Junior leaned down and kissed her again. He couldn"t get enough of the way she tasted. He could lie in the bed forever and just kiss her, but he couldn"t. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Junior! Get the hell out of there! Dad wants you down in the barn!" Dani"s voice came wafting through the door and Junior cringed. His father never wanted him in the barn. This had to be big. He gave Kris another lingering kiss before getting out of the bed. "You can hide out in here for right now if you want to, or you can get dressed and come with me, your choice." Junior told her as he put his jeans back on, and leaving his discarded shirt on the floor. She took the shirt and slipped it on, followed by the pajama pants that Junior had thrown across the room the night before. "I think I"m gunna stick to you." Kris replied, taking his hand in hers. Junior smiled and kissed her gently. "You like to do that, don"t you?" she asked him, a smile playing at her lips. "Yeah, I do. What"s it to ya?" Junior joked. Kris followed him out the door and gently poked his shoulders. "Well, they are my lips you"re kissin"!" she replied, adopting a western accent. Junior laughed and they walked outside, the sun high in the sky. Kris held up a hand and shielded her eyes. "We slept in late." She informed him. "Yeah, I like to do that." He replied, wrapping his arm around her waist, leading her to the barn. It seemed like as soon as their feet touched the cement floor, Ken Davis Senior was yelling for Junior. Junior"s arm tightened around her shoulders and her arm snaked around his waist. Today was going to be a long day. A/N: Here"s chapter 4! Kris Furillo Kris knew that the minute they stepped into that barn and Junior"s dad was yelling for him in the other room, that he wasn"t going to like her. She tightened her grip on his waist and looked up at him, an uneasy look passing between them. Suddenly Junior smiled and gave her a kiss on her temple. "Don"t worry. I"m almost 98 percent sure that he"s going to love you!" he added. Rubbing her arm gently. "There"s two percent unaccounted for Junior." She pointed out, her stomach knotting in fear. "I"m kidding. He"s going to love you." Junior nodded, giving her a reassuring smile. Kris smiled back even though her mind told her that the fact that she was in Junior"s button down shirt and a pair of pajama pants wasn"t going in her favor. Junior"s arm disappeared from her waist and she looked to her side frantically, only to find that he was still standing right next to her. He smiled and intertwined his fingers with her own. With her free hand, she gently took her hair and covered the bruise that had blossomed over night on her face. "I can already see your dad falling in love with me and my pajama wearing, bruise covered ways." She felt Junior"s hand tug gently on her own and she quickly followed, not wanting to be left alone in the middle of the horse barn. "KEN DAVIS JUNIOR! GET YOUR ASS IN THIS OFFICE NOW!" Ken Davis"s voice splintered through the air, sending chills down Kris"s spine. She glanced back at Junior, who was no longer looking so sure about her joining him in the meeting with his father. "Maybe you should just hang outside the door?" Junior said absentmindedly, his hand freeing itself. Kris opened her mouth to protest him leaving her alone, but it was too late. He was already inside the office, receiving a verbal lashing for something Kris didn"t yet know. Kris tuned out the yelling and looked around the barn. Sun was filtering through the open windows and doorways, illuminating the dust floating around, and bringing light to the horses that weren"t fortunate enough to be let out of the barn. She looked at the doorway in which Junior had entered, but it looked like he wasn"t going to be exiting any time soon. She let herself approach the stall of a tall bay horse. His thick leather halter emblazoned with a small brass nameplate that read WILDFIRE. The horse approached her and she let herself reach out and it pushed its nose into the palm of her hand. Kris"s heart instantly melted and a smile fell across her lips. The horse stuck its head out from the half door and she scratched behind its ears, laughing when the horse groaned and leaned into her touch. Suddenly, there was a hand on her shoulder. Her heart jumped and she quickly turned around, only to come face to face with Junior. Her pulse slowed and she pushed her hair from her face. "You scared me!" she told him, taking deep breaths, trying to steady her shaking limbs. "Sorry." He said, giving her a light kiss on the cheek. He looked over her head into the stall, and he winced. "I hope Wildfire didn"t beat you up too much. He"s not exactly the nicest horse in the barn." He nodded to the horse, who started to kick at the wooden walls of his stall. "We picked him up at an auction for really cheap earlier this year, and he hasn"t exactly shown the promise we were hoping for." Junior explained, gently massaging her neck. Kris let her head fall against Junior"s shoulder, a million thoughts racing through her head. "No, he didn"t hurt me at all. He actually seemed really sweet." She told him, glancing up to see shock on his face. "You can"t be serious." Junior looked her in the face, a playful glint in his eyes. "I"m a lawyer. I"m always serious." She told him, tugging at the collar of his shirt with one hand, while grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him down to meet her lips with the other. "I"d have to say objection to that right there." Junior joked. "Haha, very funny Mister Ken Davis Junior." She poked his shoulder and he groaned inwardly. "You have no idea how much it sucks not having your own identity." He told her honestly, leaning up against an empty stall wall. "Your right, I don"t." Kris told him, her tone serious. "You"re horrible, you know that. You"re supposed to be sympathetic to your boyfriend." Junior told her, a shy smile spreading over his handsome features. "So you"re my self proclaimed boyfriend now, eh?" she teased. Junior"s head fell forward, a laugh escaping his lips. "I was hoping you would have missed that." He told her, gently grabbing her shoulders with both of his hands. "Well I didn"t. Like I said before, I"m a lawyer, it"s my job." She stepped closer to him, her body flush against his. "Well, not that you"ve noticed, do you approve of it?" he asked. She looked him in the eyes and smiled when she found that he was nervous. She pulled away from him, leaning up against the opposite wall, teasing him. "Well, I"m not so sure..." she trailed off. A small smirk flew across his face and he grabbed her waist, lifting her high above him. "You"re going to give me a straight answer right now miss Furillo!" he shouted playfully, and she smacked gently at his arms shouting happily. "Don"t you dare drop me Junior! Boyfriends aren"t supposed to drop their girlfriends!" she yelled and he stilled before slowly lowering her to the floor, her face just below his. He leaned down and took her chin in his hands, whispering gently on her lips, "I would never drop you," before kissing her deeply, making her forget that she was in Junior clothes, that she was standing in the middle of a barn, and that she had absolutely nothing to her name except the loft she was probably never going to be in, and the boyfriend whose arms were wrapped tightly around her waist. Junior Davis He loved holding her in his arms. The curves of her body fit perfectly into his own, and it almost surprised him how much he loved spending time with her. They had barely spent any time apart since that night at the club, and that was totally okay with him. He would spend every second together with her if they would all be like the ones they were having right now. The last week had consisted of playful banter, running around town, and every day always ended with them joining together, doing something much more meaningful than having sex, and it felt so much more important than just making love, it felt like they were made for each others bodies. Junior loved the way she whispered his name and the feel of her kisses on his collarbone. He loved way she was always still in his arms when he woke up, and he loved when she woke up before him, because that meant getting woken by kisses and whispers that she was so glad that she had stopped outside his farm, and not someplace else.

lips. "What?" I asked, lifting myself off the bed. "Nothing, just, I told you that we were late already." She said, holding back giggles. I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her neck, stopping the words that were all ready to spill from her mouth. "Let"s go." I told her, intertwining my fingers with her, leading her out the door toward the soccer pitch. Practice was brutal, Coach Dinklage seemed angry about something the whole time, though Duke had no idea what it could have been. They hadn"t lost a game yet that year, thanks to Viola. She was amazing on the field, and she had helped them a lot. When practice was over, Viola came up to me, the need for sleep on her face as clear as day, but before she could say she wasn"t going to be stopping by that night, I kissed her. "I understand." I told her, kissing her one last time before she walked away, her duffle slung over her shoulder. I watched her walk away for a while, before I turned around, only to come face to face with Andrew and Toby, smug smirks on their faces. "You better watch her." Andrew said, bouncing the soccer ball on his knee. I stared at him, before turning to Toby, who shrugged. "What"s that supposed to mean?" I asked. I hated when they did this, they always made fun of me about being bad with girls, and they always used to point out how I needed a girlfriend, but once I got an amazing one, they always seemed to be trying to tell me that something was going to go wrong. Why couldn"t things go perfectly for once, I mean, it happens in fairy tales all the time, not that I would ever admit I"d read a fairy tale in my life. There was even a Shakespeare story that was just like Viola and my story. Andrew looked at me, his eyes stormy. "I"m saying, she"s hot. People look at her Duke, you know, just because you guys are going out, doesn"t mean that other guys aren"t going to try something with her." He told me, and I wanted to punch him right there. What was he trying to say? That he wanted to get with Viola? He must have sensed my anger, because he quickly added, "I mean, I wouldn"t do anything, I know you love her, and I know she loves you, but that won"t stop other guys from the team from trying things. I"ve seen Adams give her the up down, and Williams, he was staring at her ass the entire practice." He pointed out, and I became utterly furious. Even though I knew Viola wouldn"t do anything to hurt me willingly, that didn"t mean that other guys weren"t going to try things. I gave Andrew a death glare, and he backed away, muttering "just sayin" while backing away from me. I gathered my things and shoved them in my bag, thinking about the whole thing. Why did Andrew have to screw everything up? Viola and I couldn"t have been going smoother if we were in a movie, where the guy always gets the girl, and they live happily ever after, and he has to bring up other guys wandering eyes. I shrugged, trying to shake off the ominous feeling that was suddenly settling over the pit of my stomach. Alls that meant was that I"d have to watch Viola more and that was no problem for me. A/N: Here"s chapter two A/N: Here"s chapter two! Viola Hastings For some reason, Duke had taken an extra interest in me. He walked me to every class instead of the ones we had together, giving me extra kisses goodnight, things like that. I didn"t mind the extra attention, I loved it, but it really made me wonder what he was thinking. I sat down at my usual lunch table that I shared with Sebastian, Olivia, Toby, Andrew, and sometimes Eunice. Toby and Andrew looked at me for a minute for a minute before they burst out laughing. I looked at Sebastian and Olivia but they looked as confused as I felt. "What are you laughing at?" I asked, touching my hair nervously. They looked at me, amusement playing across their features. "You know how Duke"s been acting kind of odd lately?" Toby asked. I nodded and he continued. "That"s because we told him to watch you. We told him some guys on the team were looking at you, and we said you were hot and some other junk, and he looked kinda freaked out, but he said he didn"t have to worry about you, but I don"t know. With all this extra attention he"s been giving you, I think he feels like he does have to worry about you leaving him." I stared at their faces, and I apparently looked angry. "You did that?" I asked, anger hinting into my voice. Toby and Andrew looked at each other nervous glances mingling between them before they looked back at me. "We didn"t think it would be a big deal." They told me. I huffed and got up from the table in search of Duke. When I found him, he was kicking his soccer ball around on the field. I stood and admired him for a minute before walking out onto the grass to meet him. He must not have noticed me on the grass watching him, because when he turned around and spotted me, he tripped a little and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "What"s wrong?" he asked me once he regained his composure. "Andrew and Toby told me what they said the other day." Duke looked at the ground shyly; I could see a hint of a blush creeping up his cheeks. When he finally looked back up, he looked calmer than he had in days. "So it isn"t true?" he asked hopefully and I smiled. I walked up to him and kissed him gently. When we broke apart, I shook my head. "Of course it isn"t true." I told him, and I heard him breathe out a sigh of relief. "I know that I can always come to you when they say stuff like that, but I don"t want you to think I"m the paranoid, clingy kind of boyfriend." He explained. I laughed a little and he pulled back from me, startled by my outburst. "Duke, I"ve been going out with you for six months. I think I know what kind of boyfriend you are." I told him, taking his face in my hands. He smiled at me and I couldn"t help but smile back. "Besides, what made you think I could ever leave you." He smiled even wider. "The thing is, I didn"t think you were going to leave. I just didn"t want other guys looking at you and trying something." He explained. "Oh, big tough guy?" I joked and he smirked. "That"s right; I"m the big tough guy." He said, tickling my sides. "How about we go to Cesario"s tonight with our friends? Give them a little show. I asked. Duke raised his eyebrows, and I knew I had his attention. "What kind of show?" he asked, kissing me gently. "A break up." I smiled mischievously. The corners of Duke"s lips turned up at the suggestion. "I say we show them what saying that kind of stuff can do to people." I winked and Duke laughed. "Sounds good to me." He replied, putting his hands on my waist. "Then again, to me, everything that comes from your mouth sounds good." "Very nice." She smirked, kissing him. "You call Toby and Andrew, I"ll call Sebastian and Olivia, we"ll tell them it was a previously planned date, but that ever since Toby and Andrew said that stuff to you, there"s been some tension, and we don"t want to go alone." I concocted. Duke looked at me, a smirk on his face. "What?" I asked. "Nothing. I"m just thinking that you"re amazing." He said, a smiled crept onto my face. "Thanks." I replied, a blush making it"s way up my face. "I"ll go call Toby and Andrew." He said before kissing my lips sweetly. "I"ll go call Sebastian and Olivia." I kissed him back. We backed away from each other slowly, our eyes never leaving each other. Let the games begin. Duke Orsino I wasn"t about to tell Viola this, but I was afraid of saying something wrong. Something that would actually get her mad or upset with me. I didn"t want to hurt her, which was something I would kick myself about. I slipped into the booth at Cesario"s, my finger"s laced into hers. She looked over at me, mischief clear in her warm brown eyes. I smiled back at her, my worries easing. "Here they come." Her hand slipped out of mine and my stomach seemed to flip nervously. The four that entered eyed us warily, like we were time bomb just waiting for an opportunity to explode. They sat in the booth, murmuring their hellos. There was an awkward silence until the waitress came. Everyone ordered some pizza, then the silence once again, took over them. "So..." Sebastian mumbled, his arm slung over Olivia"s shoulders. I looked over at Viola, and she sent a frighteningly realistic glare in my direction. "What now?" I said, like we rehearsed. She gave me another glare. "You. You"ve been smothering me for days." She said, her voice raised. I felt my eyebrows knit together. "What are you talking about?" I sounded genuinely curious, yet angry. I almost felt like patting myself on the back for my good acting skills. Viola looked at me, fire in her eyes. "What I"m talking about, is that you obviously don"t trust me enough, which was proven by your little conversation with Andrew and Toby," I saw them look at each other with horror out of the corner of my eye, "What I"m talking about, is that you"re too possessive. What I"m talking about, is I don"t think this thing is going to work between us. She yelled forcefully. Even though I had known it was coming, it still stung to hear. "So we"re breaking up because I wanted to spend time with you!" I yelled. We were out of the booth by now standing in front of our friends. I saw Andrew and Toby exchange another glance, and I looked over at Viola, and I saw a triumphant look cross over her face. "Duke, you know we were joking about Viola getting looks from other guys on the team, right?" I waved a hand in their direction to show them that I heard, I just didn"t care. "Well fine! If you feel that way, maybe we should break up!" I shouted, and Viola gave me a hint of a reassuring smile. "I"m outta here." I mumbled before I grabbed my jacket and went to walk out. "Sebastian, I"m going to call a cab. I"ll see you later." I heard Viola say before I walked out. I waited for her over by my bike, and when she got there, I took her in my arms and spun her around, kissing the skin of her neck. It seemed like now that I knew what it would feel like to break up with her, I loved her so much more. Her lips moved against mine smoothly, familiarly. When we broke apart, we were both heaving for breath. "So what did Toby and Andrew look like when I walked out?" I asked, kissing her again. "Terrified. They looked like they thought we were bother going to suck at soccer. I think they were flashing back to the Cornwall game." She told him. "You think we should go back in now?" I asked. Viola gave me a mischievous look, and I didn"t even have to ask. We have to have some kind of meeting place. If I"m going to have to pretend to be broken up with you, then I"m going to need to see you in secret, somewhere." I told her honestly, and her arms snaked around my neck. "We"ll figure it out. In the mean time, we should tell Sebastian and Olivia. We don"t want my brother to kill you in your sleep, and we know if we tell one, we have to tell the other." She reasoned, and I nodded. "Okay. For now, let"s meet under the bleachers. We should change the text and ring tones we have for each other too." I told her, and she smiled. "Now you"re thinking like a mad genius." She told me and I smiled. "I learned from the best." I replied, and her lips crashed down onto mine. "We should probably separate before they walk out and see us." She breathed when we broke apart. I nodded and we slowly backed away from each other. I put my helmet on and hopped onto my bike, sending one last glance back at her before speeding out of the parking lot back to Illyria. I changed when I got back to the room, and once my shirt was over my head, Sebastian came bursting in the door looking furious. "What is wrong with you?" he asked, poking me in the chest. Viola must not have told him yet. "Dude, you know none of it was real right?" he asked the other boy, and a confused look crossed Sebastian"s face. "What?" he finally asked. "Viola and I decided to fake a break up after what Toby and Andrew said. We"re teaching them a lesson. Now we"re going to take it one step further and stay "broken up"." He put air quotes around broken up to emphasize that they were, in fact, still together. "Brilliant man, just brilliant." Sebastian smiled, and settled down onto his own bed. A/N: Sorry for the long wait on the chapter, I hope you guys like it A/N: Sorry for the long wait on the chapter, I hope you guys like it! Viola Hastings Without Duke, the days seemed to take forever. We had to act angry and distant with each other all the time, we had to ignore each other, and that isn"t easy when you love this particular person. We managed to get by though. At lunch, his foot would casually graze mine, since we were lab partners in science, we were able to talk. It was even easier with Sebastian and Olivia knowing, because we could always just sneak off to each others rooms. We were in my room, lying on the bed, having a tickle war, when suddenly, there was a nervous knock on the door. I glanced over at Duke, a panicked look on my face. Olivia and Sebastian never knocked, so it had to be someone who thought we were broken up. I got up from the bed and shoved Duke toward the closet. He gave me a skeptical glance, pointing to the small room, but I only motioned for him to hurry. He shoved himself inside the closet and I laughed at the way he had to scrunch to fit in with all the clothes. I glanced at the door, then back to Duke, but the closet was already closed. I opened the door and Andrew and Toby stormed in. I stared at the now empty hallway in partial shock before muttering, "Come on in!" I closed the door and turned back to them, hoping my face was conveying the emotions anger, annoyance, and get the hell out of my room, but I apparently wasn"t showing it enough. "Vi, you and Duke have to get back together." Andrew said bluntly, and Toby looked at him, a scowl on his face. "What stupid here is trying to say is that you guys should be together. Don"t act like you miss him. We know you do. You guys used to spend every spare moment together, and we know you miss that." He said, his hands moving with his words. "Guys, I know that you"re his friends, but right now, I want nothing to do with him. He wasn"t the person I thought he was, and it was basically destined to happen really." I said with a shrug. Andrew looked like he was ready to give up already, but Toby wasn"t. "Come one Viola. We know you guys both miss each other like crazy." He said. I frowned and furrowed my brow. "Guys, you"re pushing this and I"m not sure I like it. I told you already, me and Duke are done. I was thinking about going out with someone else anyway." I covered, biting my lip. Toby looked at me with his eyes narrowed before he continued. "Who?" he asked, his lips still forming the o even though he had stopped talking. "Williams." I quickly lied, thinking of one of the cuter guys on the team. In truth, Williams had been flirting with me at every opportune moment. If Duke and I ever needed a really good cover, I could always turn to that guy and go on a few "dates" with him. Maybe he"d get off my back, and Andrew and Toby would think I was over him. "Are you kidding? Williams? You"ve got to be kidding." Toby"s eyes went wide at my confession, and I sat on the bed across from him, Olivia"s bed. "Why would I be kidding? Just because I dated Duke doesn"t mean I can"t go after more guys on the team." I said, and I bit her lip. I sounded kind of like I wanted to date everyone on the team. I flicked my eyes to the closet, and I saw Duke"s eyes watching through the slats. I widened my eyes and I could just see his lips form a skeptical frown before his face once again disappeared. "Well, you know that Duke never liked him, are you doing this just to get back at him or something?" Andrew asked, back in the conversation now that it was getting interesting. "Of course not. I may not like Duke that way anymore, but I would never do anything like that just to purposely hurt him." I acted like I was shocked. Toby once again glared at Andrew, and I hope they knew that the conversation was dawning on its end. "I think you guys should go." I replied, standing up. Toby looked like he was going to argue a little bit more, but Andrew gave him a gentle shove, almost knocking him onto the floor. "Fine, but we"re not done talking about this!" Toby said as Andrew shoved him out the door. Andrew threw me a sympathetic look before closing the door behind him. Duke barreled out of the closet, rubbing the back of his neck. He tripped over one of my high heels and lay sprawled on the floor. I ran over to him and knelt beside him. "Are you okay?" I gasped, my hands on either side of his face. "Yeah, I"m good, just in pain." He mumbled, but his lips were smiling. "You"re such a baby." I said, leaning down so my face was closer to his. "I think I need a kiss to feel better." He whispered, and I felt his lips graze mine with his own then he spoke. "Do you really?" I said, and I felt him nod. "If you"re sure." I smiled and leaned down, my lips connecting with his in an explosion of sparks. When we pulled away, he was gasping for air. When his chest rose, it grazed against mine. "I still don"t feel good." He mumbled, and I laughed a little. "Well, a spoon full or sugar does help the medicine go down." I joked, and he laughed. I love these moments. Duke Orsino I hated him. I hated that guy. The way he looked at Viola, how he talked to her. He was always touching her. You some times got hit in soccer, but you weren"t supposed to get hit on. The thing was, I wasn"t even allowed to send him a death glare that said "mine" anymore, because from what everyone else knew, she wasn"t even mine. It all started when she was standing by the bench, talking to her brother. Her arms moving animatedly and I smiled. She was always so enthusiastic; she seemed to bring life to everything. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw him casually start to circulate his way toward he. He would talk to people, but his eyes were trained on her. I started to walk over to him, to tell him to lie off, but I stopped myself. I couldn"t blow it, not now. No matter how much I wanted to. I watched him tap her on the shoulder, and she turned, she was smiling, but it was fake. I could tell she was only doing it because she had to. I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked to my side. I saw Toby, standing there, watching the scene unfold. "I was talking to her the other day." He said, never taking his eyes off Williams. I wanted to smile, because I knew that he had spoken to Viola. I was hidden in the closet. "Oh really." I tried to sound uninterested. "Yeah. She said she was thinking about going out with Williams." He said, motioning to the two before us. "Do you think she"d really do that?" I asked, actually believing our lie for a second. "I"m not sure. She"s been acting weird ever since you guys broke up." He said. He looked at me and I looked back at him. I hoped my face didn"t give anything away. When he looked away, unsuspecting of everything, I let out a breath I didn"t know I"d been holding. "I mean, we did just break up." I said carefully. "Exactly, you guys just broke up. What"s she doing moving on already?" he sounded angry, and I felt angry too. Was this how it would be if we really broke up? Would she really move on that quickly? I shoved the thought to the back of my mind, reasoning that it would never happen. Viola and I were made for each other. "Maybe it"s a rebound thing." I suggested, and Toby eyed me like I was crazy. "You"re okay with this?" he said, motioning to Viola, who had a "get me the hell out of here" look on her face. "I mean, don"t get me wrong. I"m not really happy, I mean, what guy would be. Viola is... was perfect. I"m not going to get over it with a snap of my fingers. It"ll never be that easy, but I have a feeling it"s going to get easier. It"s got to, right?" I felt a fear rise up in my stomach, and it made me want to throw up. "I dunno Duke. It might." He shrugged before clapping me on the shoulder and walking off. I stared at the bleachers, zoned out, thinking about our fake break up. Would it really be like that? Would we really just get in an argument and it would suddenly be over, severed. I thought about living without Viola, and my heart gave a wrench. I couldn"t. I wouldn"t. I gave one last glace at her, and saw her slowly backing away from Ben, her fake smile still plastered on her face. She walked by me, a safe distance, quietly saying, "My room," before heading back to practice. My lips turned up at the thought of spending time with her. I hated not being able to do anything with her during the day. I hated not being able to twirl her around when she scored a goal. I hated her not being mine. "Ugh, I hate that guy!" Viola shouted when she threw herself down on the bed. "Then why do you let him talk to you." I asked, laying down next to her and lacing my fingers with her own. "Because then I"ll look like a liar to Toby and Andrew." She said, running her thumb on my lips. I kissed her fingers and she smiled. "I love you." She said and I smiled. "I love you too. More than you know." I whispered and she smiled back Her body was suddenly pressed against mine, and I felt a blush creep up my cheeks. I found my arm wrapping around her waist, my lips covering hers in a heated kiss. I didn"t know what was going on with me, but the next thing I knew, we I was waking up in her room, my clothes were off, and I"m more shocked than I"ve ever been.

- Juliette, Auggie, David, Daisy, Ezra, Shelby and Scott will all be seniors this school year. - Shelby came back to Horizon during the summer. It was revealed that she was raped by her mother"s new boyfriend, Glenn. Her mom didn"t believe her and later decided to give full custody of Shelby to her dad. Shelby"s dad is going to allow her to continue school at Horizon. He is going to visit before the start of the school year. - Juliette"s mother wants to send her to an all-girls" boarding school in France to give her more culture. Juliette emailed Auggie about it, but then wouldn"t respond to him. Auggie called Peter, very worried, and vowed to do whatever it takes to have Juliette back at Horizon. Back to Basics - Prologue " Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace." - Amelia Earhart "Peter, they"re going to be here any minute!" Sophie Becker Scarbrow stared anxiously out the window, then glanced back over her shoulder toward the bedroom. "Why are they coming here first, instead of the main lodge?" Peter Scarbrow walked out of the bedroom and put his arms around his wife, giving her a peck on the cheek. "I thought it would be nice to make Troy and Claire feel as much at home as possible. I know he was a little nervous about this transition, I just wanted to make it easy on him." Sophie turned and gave her husband a small smile before resuming her gaze out the window. "I just hope this works out okay," she said to herself, almost forgetting that Peter was standing over her shoulder. Peter frowned, surprised at Sophie"s statement. "Why wouldn"t it work out okay?" he asked, moving so he was standing in front of her now. Sophie shrugged, turning away from the window and walking into the kitchen. "I"m sure it will be fine," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Peter shook his head, following her into the kitchen. "Uh-uh, Soph. Don"t tell me what I want to hear. Look, if you have misgivings about Troy"s ability to be a counselor, I want to hear about it." Sophie busied herself, unloading the dishwasher. "I don"t have any misgivings about his abilities. I"m sure he"ll be a great counselor. So will Maria." Peter thought back to Maria Sanchez, silently agreeing with Sophie. Maria had attended the second "Discover Yourself" summer program. Being a product of the foster care system had stemmed her desire to improve the system by becoming a social worker. Already, though, after just three years of working, Maria was disillusioned with all the state"s rules and regulations that she had to abide by. She wanted more satisfaction in her work and craved more interaction with kids. After weighing the pros and cons, Maria decided to become a Horizon counselor. Forcing his mind back to the conversation at hand, Peter wondered what was bugging Sophie. "So, you don"t have any misgivings about Troy or Maria"s abilities. Then why do I get the feeling you have some doubts about Troy coming here?" Sophie turned to face Peter, wiping her hands off with the dishtowel. "It"s nothing. Don"t worry about it, Peter." She paused as they both heard a car door slam shut. "They"re here! Let"s go greet them, shall we?" Giving Peter a little smirk, she brushed past him and out the front door. "Troy, hi!" Sophie greeted him with a smile and a wave. She had liked Troy since she first met him at the beginning of the summer. He seemed to have a positive effect of people, and had a very easygoing manner about him. Troy smiled and waved at Sophie as he unbuckled the car seat where Claire was strapped in. Unsure of what was happening, Claire kept her wide eyes on her father and seemed to relax a bit when he picked her up. The two came toward the Scarbrow house, where Peter had now joined Sophie on the front porch. "Good to see you, Troy," Peter said warmly, welcoming Troy with a hearty handshake. "And who is this pretty young lady?" Claire smiled before burying her head in her daddy"s shoulder. Troy, Peter and Sophie all laughed. "This is Claire," Troy said proudly. "She can be a little shy. Honey, I want you to meet these nice people Daddy"s going to be working with. This is Peter and Sophie." Claire slowly raised her head to look at the smiling couple, then hid her face again. "She"ll come around. I"m afraid with all the excitement today, she hasn"t gotten her usual nap in." "Well, come on inside. Maybe she can lay down in one of the bedrooms," Peter suggested. Once inside, Troy asked where he could put Claire down. "Why not in Shelby"s room?" Peter directed. "Where is Shelby?" Troy asked, remembering the sullen teenager from earlier that summer. "Oh, she"s helping Maria get settled in," Sophie responded. Troy gave her a questioning look. "Maria is the other new Horizon counselor," Sophie explained. "We have several new kids this year and realized we need not just one, but two new counselors." "You and Maria will be heading up the Starcatchers group," Peter informed Troy. "Look, why don"t you go ahead and put Claire down for a nap, then we can go over everything. Maybe later, we can meet up with Maria." Troy shrugged, glancing at his daughter, who now had her eyes closed with her head resting against his shoulder. "Sounds good, I"ll be back in a minute." He headed toward Shelby"s bedroom. "You know, we should probably get out of the habit of referring to the guest bedroom as "Shelby"s room"," Sophie said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "She"ll be moving back into the Cliffhangers girls" dorm soon." "Yeah, that"s going to be quite a transition for her," Peter acknowledged. *For us, too,* he thought silently. "Well, we all knew it was coming," Sophie said matter-of-factly. *I"m just not quite ready for it to happen,* she thought, *and I don"t think Shelby is, either.* Shelby Merrick studied the 24-year old woman as she unpacked boxes. "You sure you want to do this? It"s not too late to back out, you know," Shelby remarked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. Maria Ramirez stopped for a moment to glance up at Shelby. "I"m sure. Now, why don"t you give me some help instead of sitting there, scrutinzing every move I make?" She waited, hands on her hips, looking at Shelby expectantly. "Fine, whatever," Shelby mumbled, hopping down from her perch on the kitchen counter. She wouldn"t have admitted it to anyone, but Shelby secretly liked Maria. They had met during the second summer session. Maria had a no-nonsense approach and didn"t let anything get by her, qualities that Shelby admired. At the same time, Maria reminded Shelby of Daisy, because Maria had a gift of being able to read people. Her frankness with other people about themselves was almost overwhelming at times. *The difference between Maria and Daisy, though, is that Daisy isn"t open about her own feelings, like Maria is,* Shelby thought ruefully, wondering how anyone could be so direct while seeming fearless of getting hurt. "Have you heard from Daisy?" Maria asked, almost like she could read Shelby"s thoughts. Shelby had told Maria before that Daisy was her only friend at Horizon. "No, but her father called Peter and Sophie. I guess he"s bringing her back here next week." Shelby was less than thrilled at the thought of all the other Cliffhangers returning. That would mean classes starting again, and even worse - group sessions, something Shelby was absolutely dreading. Maria had yet to be clued in to Shelby"s problems by Peter or Sophie, but she could sense that Shelby was full of pain. She decided it best to drop the subject of friends until she had a better understanding of the demons Shelby was battling. "So, do you have any plans before classes start again?" she asked Shelby. Shelby pursed her lips together, trying not to look worried. "Uh, yeah, my dad is coming to visit," she said dully. "Oh." Maria wondered where this story went. "When"s the last time you saw your dad?" Shelby groaned inwardly, wishing for once that Maria wasn"t so forward. "It"s been awhile," she said curtly. "Look, I"m finished here. Do you need me to do anything else?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject. "No, but thanks for your help. I can drive you back to Peter and Sophie"s," Maria suggested, but Shelby shook her head. "I"ll walk," Shelby said, heading out the door before Maria could even bid her farewell. Maria shook her head as she turned on the radio and continued to unpack. *That kid has some major issues,* she thought, curious as to what they were. Shelby sighed as she hiked back to Peter and Sophie"s house. She kept hearing Maria"s question in her head: "When"s the last time you saw your dad?" Shelby knew exactly how long it had been, almost two years. After living a year on the streets and turning to prostitution and drugs, Shelby had turned to her natural father for help. #Flashback# "You"re only 15 years old! I... I just don"t know how to help you." Steven Merrick looked down at his daughter with a mixture of pity and disgust. "Please... Dad." It was difficult for Shelby to call him that, he hadn"t been much of a father to her or Jess. "At least give me some money," she begged. "Money?! For what, more drugs?" Steven forced himself to calm down, realizing that yelling at his daughter wouldn"t help the situation any. He sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I"m sorry, Shelby. I have to let the authorities deal with this. They will know what is best for you, they deal with this kind of thing all the time." "With what kind of thing, Dad? With hookers who live on the streets?" Shelby"s buzz was dying, and she was starting to regret ever coming to her father for help. Seeing her friend, Patty, lying lifeless after overdosing on heroine had been too much for Shelby to handle. For the first time in the past year, it finally hit Shelby what could happen to her if she continued down this destructive path. Going back to her mom"s was not an option, so Shelby had turned to the only source of help she could think of - her father. Shelby"s dad picked up the phone and dialed the local police. "I"m sorry, honey," he said dejectedly. "This is the best thing for you." He silently hoped he was doing the right thing, as he explained the situation to the seargent. Within an hour, a squad car came out to the house. Shelby was escorted to the car by two policemen, without so much as a backward glance to her father. "What"s going to happen to her?" her father asked one of the policemen. "Chances are, she"ll go to juvie hall," he shrugged. "If she"s lucky, there"s an outward-bound type school for troubled teens she could get sent to. It"s the judge"s call." Steven Merrick watched as the car carrying his daugther drove away, his mind still reeling after her unexpected appearance. *Please, God, let the judge send her to that school,* he prayed. *And watch over my little girl.* #End Flashback# *I wish he weren"t coming,* Shelby thought bitterly. *Why should he start acting like a father now? He never has been a father to me before.* She blinked back tears as she continued the trek to the house. "Could I please speak with Juliette?" Auggie Ciceros stood in the phone booth in suburban Los Angeles, impatiently cradling the speaker against his ear. "She isn"t here right now." The soft, proper voice on the other end of the line belonged to Juliette"s mother, Mrs. Rowe. "Who is this?" she demanded. "This is Augusto Ciceros, her... friend. From Horizon." Auggie nervously waited for a response. "Mr. Ciceros, I suggest you do not call here again. My daughter will not be returning to Horizon this year, and she does not wish to speak with you. Good day." The line went dead as Mrs. Rowe hung up. Auggie stared at the receiver, not wanting to believe that Juliette wouldn"t want to talk to him. He pulled out a map and began walking down the street. An hour later, he was standing in front of Juliette"s house. *It"s now or never,* he thought, gathering the courage to knock on the massive oak door. He heard someone inside scurry to the door. "Can I help you?" came a voice over the intercom. Auggie looked around to find the intercom box, and pressed the button to speak. "Augusto Ciceros, here to see Juliette Wayborne." He tried to sound very professional. A minute went by with no response. Just as Auggie was about to knock again, the door flew open. A butler directed Auggie to enter. "Right this way," he motioned. Auggie followed him through the foyer, gazing in awe at the golden chandelier that hung high over their heads. "Please, step into the parlor," the butler instructed Auggie, who obliged. "She will be with you shortly," he said before departing. Auggie couldn"t believe how easy it had been to get inside. He was practically bursting with excitement, he hadn"t seen Juliette in so long. He didn"t hear someone enter the room. "Mr. Ciceros." The voice was cold, saying his name as if it were a disease. Auggie turned around to see Mrs. Rowe standing before him. "I thought I made myself clear over the phone." Auggie took a deep breath, almost flinching under Mrs. Rowe"s harsh gaze. "I"m sorry, Mrs. Rowe. I mean no disrespect, but I had to hear from Juliette herself that she doesn"t want to talk to me." Getting no response from Mrs. Rowe, Auggie kept talking. "I care for your daughter very much, Mrs. Rowe. She means the world to me. I just can"t imagine never seeing her or talking to her again." He stopped as she held up one hand. "I"m afraid I underestimated you, Mr. Ciceros. I had no idea, the depth of your feelings for my daughter" Mrs. Rowe approached Auggie, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Listen to me. You are not good for Juliette, and I believe she has finally realized that." "But - ," Auggie tried to interrupt. "Shut up!" Mrs. Rowe hissed. "You have one minute exactly to get out of my house before I call the police. You are never to contact me or my daughter again - EVER. Your minute starts...," she looked down at her watch, "now." "Please, let me - ," Auggie started to say. "Fifty-eight, fifty-seven," Mrs. Rowe kept counting. Auggie quickly weighed his options. He could try to run upstairs, but he"d probably never find Juliette"s room in this huge house. Plus, he didn"t even know if she were home. And he didn"t even want to think what his parents, not to mention Peter and Sophie, would do if he was arrested again. "Okay, I"m going." He held up his hands in the surrender position before bolting for the door. The butler was waiting for him, holding the door open. "Have a nice day, sir," the butler said, slamming the door behind Auggie. "Who was at the door?" Juliette asked the butler, coming down the stairs to the foyer. "Hello, dear," Mrs. Rowe said, grabbing hold of Juliette"s hand and pulling her into the kitchen before the butler could respond. She smiled at her daughter, brushing back her hair from her big brown eyes. "Come, let"s practice your French." Troy looked around the small but cozy cabin and smiled. *It"s different than what I"m used to, but we"ll make it our home,* he thought with conviction. It had been a very busy day, and Troy was starting to feel its effects. Yawning, he checked on Claire, who was fast asleep in her new room. Sitting down at his desk, Troy thumbed through the folders of his soon-to-be students. He had already met Maria, and they had agreed to sit down together to go over the teens" information together. Troy smiled in anticipation as he set the folders aside and picked up the phone, dialing the number he"d already put to memory. He"d been looking forward to making this call all day. "Hello," said a breathless voice. "Hi, Lynn. It"s Troy." He smiled into the receiver, picturing her on the other end. "Troy, hi!" Lynn exclaimed in surprise. "I didn"t expect to hear from you for another few days. I thought you"d be busy moving and all," she explained hurriedly, hoping he didn"t think she didn"t want to hear from him. Troy laughed. "Do you always talk so fast?" he teased. "I figured I"d go ahead and call, and see if you had any plans this weekend." He paused, not hearing a response. "I"d love to see you before the school year starts and everything gets crazy. Plus, I would love for you to meet Claire." Lynn hesitated, torn on what to do. *Go for it,* an inner voice urged. "This weekend looks open for me," she said casually. "What did you have in mind?" Troy was now grinning ear to ear. "Well, how would you like to come back to Horizon for the weekend? The weather is just perfect right now, and the air is so clean." Lynn chuckled. "It sounds like you"re already loving the place. Sure, that sounds great. Where will I stay, in the dorm again?" *With me,* Troy wanted to say, but knew it wouldn"t be appropriate, especially with Claire around. "Maybe in the dorm, I"ll check with Peter and Sophie. We"ll figure it out." He was secretly hoping to get someone to babysit Claire Saturday evening so he could take Lynn out to dinner. "I"m really looking forward to seeing you," he said softly. "Yeah, me too," Lynn answered sincerely. "So, I"ll see you Saturday?" "Saturday it is," Troy agreed, sighing contentedly. The next day, Sophie and Shelby walked out of the hospital and headed toward Sophie"s car. They started the ride back to Horizon in silence. Sophie glanced over at Shelby, who was brooding, arms crossed. "Do you want to talk about it?" Sophie asked quietly. "I"m not going back there," Shelby said stubbornly. "Shelby, maybe you need to give it more of a chance," Sophie suggested, before Shelby cut her off. "Why, Sophie? Why do I need to sit there and listen to these people"s sob stories? I don"t see how it"s supposed to help me, to hear over and over again how they were all raped and then share all our feelings." She angrily wiped her moist eyes. Sophie sighed, mulling over the decision. The truth was, she didn"t like going to the group counseling, either. It brought back painful memories of the night Ted had attacked her all those years ago. She had tried to bury those memories, unsuccessfully. "Tell you what, I"ll discuss it with Peter. Maybe there"s a better way for you to "share your feelings", as you put it." "Okay, fine." Shelby looked over at Sophie, noticing her distraught expression. "You don"t like going, either, do you?" she asked quietly. *She"s so perceptive,* Sophie thought in amazement. "It"s not on my top ten list of favorite ways to spend an afternoon," Sophie admitted. She reached over and squeezed Shelby"s hand, who didn"t pull away. "Shelby, Peter and I are just trying to do what"s best for you. It may take a while to figure it out, but the important thing is that we keep moving forward. Not only did you go through hell and back once before, but now something unthinkable has happened to you again." Shelby stared out the window but continued to allow Sophie to hold her hand. "There"s no right or wrong reaction here, Shel, except for violence. You know that." Sophie let go of Shelby"s hand, debating whether or not to push her luck. *We"ll have to talk about it sometime soon, might as well be now,* she thought apprehensively. "Shelby, you know that the rest of the Cliffhangers, and Jess, will be coming back soon," Sophie said slowly. "Peter and I are going to have to insist that you participate in group. And that means talking, not just sitting there." Shelby nodded slightly. "I know," was all she said. "You"ll also be moving back into the Cliffhangers girls" dorm within a week or so. Are you okay with that?" Sophie inquired. "Yeah. Why wouldn"t I be?" Shelby replied, hostility creeping into her voice. Sophie sighed, trying to stay concentrated on the road. "Don"t get defensive, Shelby. I"m just concerned, that"s all. It will be a big adjustment." Sophie pulled into the Horizon driveway. "I"m sure you and Peter will be glad to have me out of your hair," Shelby muttered, wishing things could be different. She didn"t want any Cliffhangers to find out what had happened to her, but it wasn"t going to be easy to hide if they heard her screaming from the constant nightmares. Sophie pulled up to the house and turned off the ignition. She turned to face Shelby, who looked absolutely miserable. "Shel, look at me." Shelby obeyed and looked over at Sophie, the sadness in her eyes practically tearing Sophie"s heart in two. Sophie grasped both of Shelby"s hands in her own. "You are NEVER in our hair. We just have to go by the rules here, that"s why you have to go back to living in the dorm." Shelby looked down and barely whispered something Sophie couldn"t quite hear. "What did you say, sweetie?" Sophie asked, still holding onto her hands. Shelby looked back up at Sophie. "I"m scared, Sophie." She couldn"t contain the tears any longer, they spilled over onto her cheeks. Sophie put her arms around Shelby as best she could in the car, and held her as she sobbed. "We"ll get through this together, Shelby. We will." Coming Attractions: - Peter receives another call concerning Juliette"s future. - Shelby"s dad visits, and he has a suprise for Shelby. - How will Lynn and Troy"s first date go? - Jess returns to Horizon as part of the Starcatchers group, along with 5 other students. - Sophie is surprised to hear from a family member.

the floor. "Skye, I can smell alcohol on your breath," Rae said quietly, then was surprised when Skye laughed derisively. "Really, Rae." Skye turned once again to her mother, looking at her with contempt. "Is that the best you can do to deflect attention away from your own behavior?" "Skye, you"re in the same clothes as last night. I can smell it on your breath! My God, what conclusion am I supposed to come to?" Rae could feel the heat rising to her face as she became more and more frustrated. "How about this, Mother?" Skye sneered. "I don"t care what conclusion you come to. In fact, I don"t care if I ever see you again in my life! Or better yet, why don"t you just stay the hell out of my life?" Skye turned, opened the door, and slammed it shut. Rae stood in front of Skye"s door, tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn"t even begin to suspect that her daughter was having the exact same reaction on the other side of the door. "Morning," AJ greeted Alan and Monica half-heartedly as he walked into the Quartermaine sitting room. "Well, you don"t sound too happy," Monica observed with a raised eyebrow. "Alan, get me some more coffee, would you?" Alan stood up and obliged as AJ also poured himself a cup of coffee. "So, what"s going on, AJ?" Alan asked, turning to look at his eldest son. "What is this mood of yours all about? Did something happen with Michael?" AJ took a sip of coffee before answering. "No, it"s not Michael." He stood in thought for a minute as Alan and Monica looked on, confused. "Are you going to tell us what is going on?" Monica asked with slight exasperation, standing up and moving over to where her husband and son were standing. "It"s Skye," AJ said simply with a grimace. Monica rolled her eyes and threw her hands up. "Oh, great - what has she done now?" "Would you please lay off my daughter?" Alan demanded. "Let AJ talk, for goodness sake." "I went to see her at the hotel last night," AJ began. "I can"t put my finger on it, but something was definitely up." "Well, of course something was up, she"s always up to something," Monica observed wryly but then stopped when Alan gave her a warning glare. "Go on, AJ," Alan directed. "Like I said, Dad, I"m not sure what is going on, but she just seemed... different. I"m not sure how, or why, but she made up some story about having a date to avoid talking to me. And she refused to come back and live here. I just don"t know what to make of it." Monica retrieved her coffee and sat back down on the sofa with a sigh. "I can"t believe Skye wouldn"t want to come back here," she commented. "AJ, I don"t know what"s going on with her, either. I saw her yesterday morning - she was acting a bit strangely, yes, but then I haven"t seen her in quite some time. Maybe she just needs some time on her own to become adjusted to Port Charles again. Besides, Rae"s here now to help her out." Alan smiled as he mentioned Rae"s name. Monica put down her cup and looked at Alan sharply. "Rae is here?" "Yes, Monica, but she brought her boyfriend with her," Alan remarked. "Oh, well then in that case, we should have them over for dinner!" Monica had the grin of a Cheshire cat at the news of Rae bringing John to town with her. AJ cleared his throat. "Uh, back to the subject at hand, what do you think we should do about this, Dad?" Monica stood up and walked over to AJ once again. "Look, I know you weren"t necessarily asking my opinion on this, but maybe Skye is in fact trying to turn over a new leaf. Maybe she wants to make a fresh start here, and not under the shadow of this family." Alan turned and looked at Monica in surprise. "Does this mean you"re willing to give her another chance?" Monica hedged a bit. "I don"t know about that exactly, but maybe she is trying to change." Alan looked at his watch. "I"m late for a hospital meeting, I have to go. AJ, can we talk about this more later?" "Sure," AJ said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "Mom, thanks for offering some advice. Listen, I"ve got to go and pick up Michael." AJ strode out of the room, hands in pockets and shoulders hunched. It was obvious he was still concerned about his sister. Monica let out a sigh as she once again sat down with her cup of coffee. "What are you up to, Skye?" she mused aloud. "Whatever it is, I"m going to find out." 2.1.1.1.1.1.6 Chapter 7 John looked up, startled, as Rae barged into their hotel room and slammed the door. "That"s it, I"ve had it, John! I can"t deal with her, she"s not rational!" Rae braced herself against a table, blinking back her tears of hurt and anger. John came over to Rae and put his arms around her tightly, not quite knowing what to say. Rae let herself be held for a few moments, sinking back into her fiancé"s strong arms. Finally, she gently broke free of his grasp and started pacing the room. "I just don"t know what to do, John. She"s such a loose cannon. She opened up to me in San Francisco. I thought we were making progress. I thought she trusted me!" Rae gritted her teeth, remembering Skye"s face as she told Rae to stay out of her life. Rae shook her head as she thought back to her and Skye"s latest argument. "I don"t know, John, I don"t know. Maybe the best thing to do would be to leave Port Charles." Rae looked solemnly to John for his reaction. John"s eyes widened at her suggestion of leaving. "Rae, you know I want to support you, but you seem to be forgetting something." "What?" Rae asked, clearly puzzled. "I just landed a great job here in Port Charles. Now, if you really want to leave, then I could always find a job elsewhere..." "No, John, no, I"m sorry." Rae bit her lip, upset with herself over forgetting such an important detail about John"s life. "I"ll work it out, somehow. I... I guess I"ll just have to figure out how to either get along with Skye or how to avoid her, as much as I hate that idea." Exhausted, Rae flopped down on the bed. John moved behind her and started to rub her shoulders. "We"ll get through this, we always have," he reminded her softly. Rae turned around and looked at John with tenderness. "I know we will. I can get through anything with you by my side." John gathered her in his arms. Rae allowed him to hold her once again. She always felt so safe in his arms She tried to push away the thoughts in her head, of Skye"s ugly words, and of her suspicions that Skye was once again drinking. Skye woke up to a knock at the door. She didn"t remember falling asleep, but she guessed that she must have crashed on the bed just as soon as she had come in the door, since she hadn"t even bothered to take off her shoes. Her head still pounding from her hangover, Skye looked through the peephole to see who her visitor was. "Skye? Are you in there?" Stefan Cassadine stood on the other side of the door. From Skye"s perspective, he didn"t look too happy. Stefan continued to knock on the door. "Skye, if you"re in there, please open the door. We need to talk." Skye stepped away from the door, almost as if Stefan could see her. She bit her lip and waited until his persistent knocking finally subsided. Breathing a sigh of relief, Skye walked slowly to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. "You"re a mess," she muttered disgustedly at her reflection. When had everything gone so wrong? She had a right to be angry with Rae, didn"t she? Rae had opened her mouth, and now so many people knew what she had to endure during her childhood. It made her feel weak and vulnerable, two emotions she abhorred. Skye decided a shower was just what she needed to clear her head. Even thought the hot water felt like a little slice of heaven to her aching body, nothing could rid her of the headache caused from last night"s inebriation. Skye stayed in the shower until she felt like she was turning into a prune. Reluctantly, she shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. She had barely put on her robe and wrapped a towel around her wet hair when she heard another knock on her door. "Ugh, what now?" she grumbled, once again looking through the peephole. Surprised to see whom her visitor was, Skye opened the door. "Hello, Skye." Monica"s expression was anything but jovial. "Monica, hello. Umm... would you like to come in?" Skye opened the door further and allowed Monica into her room. "Look, Skye, I"ll get right to the point." Monica moved closer to Skye, her eyes never leaving Skye"s. "I want the truth, Skye - what are you doing back here, and what do you hope to gain by playing on Alan and AJ"s feelings?" "What in the world are you babbling about, Monica?" Skye demanded, perplexed. "I"m talking about the fact that you show up here, out of the blue, and don"t even tell anyone that you"re back in town. Then you refuse to accept Alan"s invitation to move back into the house, making him feel guilty." "Oh, he"s finally feeling some guilt, is he?" Skye sneered. "Well, it"s about time, after all I"ve been through thanks to him and dear old Granddad." "Would you give it a rest with this "poor little girl" routine?" Monica glared at Skye, clearly exasperated. "Look, you are making my husband and my son miserable by not communicating with them. I don"t understand it, but for some reason they want you to be a part of their lives. So either be a part of their lives full-time, or leave once and for all." Skye"s face was unreadable as she got right in Monica"s face. "Gee, I bet I know which choice you want me to make, Step-mommy," she said in a low voice. Monica backed away slowly. "Look, I"ve come to say what I wanted to say. The decision is yours." She walked to the door but turned back before leaving. "Just think about the effect your actions have on other people." As soon as she left, Skye picked up a pillow from the bed and threw it against the wall. "How my actions affect others? What right does she have to go off on me like that? What about how other people"s actions have affected my entire life!" Skye was screaming now, working herself into hysterics. She sank down onto the bed, holding her face in her hands. "No, I am not going to let that woman get me all worked up. It"s not worth it. None of this is worth it." She rubbed her throbbing temples, reminiscing about the details that she could recall from the previous night. She just wanted the pain to stop. As her eyes roamed the room, they came to rest on the locked wet bar. Normally, Skye didn"t even bother to retrieve the key for it, making it all the eaiser to resist temptation. However, in her haste to check into the hotel this time, she had failed to give the key back to the front desk clerk. Skye sat there, weighing her options. She remembered how good it felt last night to take that first drink, how it had eased her mind and numbed her feelings. She was so tired of feeling everything, of dealing with it all head-on, with nothing to cushion the pain. "It"s just not fair," she murmured as she stood up and walked over to the key. Slowly opening the wet bar, Skye picked her poison - vodka. She greedily downed the little bottle, then sighed as the warmth from the alcohol coursed through her body. Opening another bottle, Skye made a decision. If she wanted to follow through with it and not chicken out, she would have to act on it immediately. Stuart and Myrtle sat having lunch with Rae and John. The foursome were unusually quiet, all of them with a lot on their minds. Stuart broke the silence. "Uh, I"m thinking of going back to Pine Valley soon," he announced to the table with his usual smile. "Stuart, you didn"t mention that to me!" Myrtle exclaimed, surprised and a bit hurt that her friend hadn"t confided in her. "Well, I was just thinking about Skye and how it probably isn"t helping for me to be here right now. She seems to want her space." Stuart smiled somewhat sadly as he recalled Skye"s recent behavior. "I saw Skye earlier this morning," Rae announced, frowning dejectedly. "We, uh, had another knock-down drag-out, so to speak." Rae looked at John, who grasped her hand in his, a gesture of reassurance. "I"ve decided to give Skye some space myself, although I will be staying in Port Charles." "We will be staying in Port Charles," John corrected her with a smile. "Well, darlings, maybe I should go back to Pine Valley as well. I do need to get back to run the boutique." Myrtle looked over at Rae"s crestfallen face. "Oh, sweetheart, I will stay if you want me to." "No, Mama, I know you need to get back." Rae patted Myrtle"s hand reassuringly. "I"ll be fine, I have John here. Besides, we will talk soon about wedding plans!" Rae smiled at the thought of marrying the wonderful man beside her. "Yes, that"s true enough." Myrtle stood, along with Stuart. The foursome said their good-byes, then parted ways. "Myrtle, before I go and pack, I think I am going to say good-bye to Skye,": Stuart told her in the elevator. Myrtle looked over at her friend with fondness. "Dear Stuart, ever the optimist. Alright then, I hope it goes well, for your sake as well as that troubled girl"s." Stuart waved his goodbye as he exited the elevator on Skye"s floor. As he approached her door, he was surprised to find it wide open. Peeking in, Stuart saw a bellhop loading luggage onto a cart. The bellhop spotted Stuart. "Something I can help you with, sir?" he asked as he finished loading up the cart. "Oh, hi. Yes, I was looking for the young lady staying in this room." Stuart grinned at the man. "Well, she is preparing to leave, as you can see. She"s just, ah, freshening up." He grimaced slightly, confusing Stuart. Just then, Skye entered the room from the bathroom. "Oh, wonderful, you"re all ready to go," she said as she walked over to the bellhop a bit unsteadily. "Uh, Ms. Chandler-Quartermaine, you have a visitor," the bellhop pointed out. Skye"s face turned white when she saw Stuart. "Uncle Stuart!" Skye tried to pull Stuart out into the hallway, but Stuart had already witnessed enough to know what was going on. "Could you give us a few minutes alone?" Stuart asked the bellhop, who nodded and left the room. Skye stood in the middle of the room, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "What a surprise, I didn"t know you were still here." "Skye, what is going on?" Stuart asked gently, his eyes filled with concern. "What do you mean?" Skye asked, walking past Stuart and crossing her arms. Stuart walked over to the open wet bar and picked up an empty liquor bottle. "This," he said simply. Skye whirled around, her eyes wide. She couldn"t believe that she had forgotten to close the door to the wet bar. How was she going to explain herself out of this mess? 2.1.1.1.1.1.7 Chapter 8 Author"s Note: In my story, Kristina never existed, and Alexis did not fall in love with Sonny. "Uncle Stuart, it"s not what you think," Skye stammered, quickly trying to come up with a plausible story. "It"s okay, Skye. You can tell me." Stuart walked over to Skye and grasped her shoulders, smiling encouragingly at her. For a brief moment, Skye considered telling Stuart everything - the pain she was going through night and day, why she had started to drink again. That thought quickly vanished when she pictured in her mind the look of disappointment on Stuart"s face. Skye pulled away and walked over to the open wet bar. She picked up an empty bottle and turned back around to Stuart. "The damn bellhop, I found him in here rummaging through my wet bar," she said, feigning annoyance. "I was all set to leave, so I didn"t want to cause a scene. I mean, what good would that have done?" Stuart slowly nodded his head. "Okay," he said with a smile. Skye tried to hide her surprise. Did he really buy the story, or was Stuart just playing along? "Well, anyway, what did you come here for, Uncle Stuart?" "Oh, I came to tell you good-bye. Myrtle and I are going back to Pine Valley." Skye felt a twinge inside, just hearing Pine Valley mentioned made her think of Adam and of the life she used to live there. As complicated as it had seemed at the time, it had been the only life she knew, and she was comfortable with it. Suddenly, everything had been turned upside-down, and now her life was filled with chaos at every turn. Skye forced herself to put on a happy face. "Well, I"m certainly glad you did come to say good-bye. It was great to see you, Uncle Stuart." She hugged Stuart, who hugged her back tightly. "It"s always good to see you, Skye." Stuart pulled back from the hug and looked at her tenderly. "I love you, don"t forget that." Skye swallowed over the lump in her throat. "I won"t," she said softly. "And if you ever need to talk, or need anything else, you call me," Stuart instructed. Skye nodded and waved good-bye as Stuart disappeared down the hall. Shutting the door, she leaned against it and let the tears flow. She had once again made a mess out of her life. "What do you mean, she was getting ready to leave?" Rae listened intently as Myrtle described second-hand Stuart"s encounter with Skye the night before, or at least the part that Stuart had later told Myrtle. "Well, Mama, I"m just going to have to go and see what my daughter is up to." Rae said her good-bye to Myrtle, then yelped as something cold landed on her neck. "What the..." She turned around to find a grinning John with an ice cube in his hand. "I thought you could use a cool-down, you seem to have gotten all worked up on the phone." His eyes twinkled mischievously as he awaited her reaction. Rae pursed her lips together, trying to stop her smile from spreading. "All worked up, huh? And the best you could do was to offer to cool me down?" she teased, moving in closer to him. "Detective, I have to say that I am rather disappointed." John sighed and moved away. "I hate to break the mood we have going here, but I have to ask... what has Skye done now?" Rae frowned and turned back toward the phone, shaking her head. "Mama said Skye was all packed and ready to leave when Stuart said good-bye to her last night." John thought for a moment. "Well maybe that"s a good thing. She could have been moving back into the Quartermaine mansion." "Yeah, maybe," Rae mused aloud. Suddenly, she turned around to John, a look of determination on her face. "You know what, Detective?" "No, I certainly don"t, Dr. Cummings, but I have a feeling you"re going to tell me," he said with an irresistible grin. "I think," Rae moved closer once again to John and put her hands around his waist, "that it"s time I stopped worrying so much about Skye. I think it"s time to start making plans for what is going to be the happiest day of my life." "And what day would that be?" John asked with feigned innocence. Rae took a playful slap at John"s shoulder, grinning. "The day I marry you!" "Oh, yes, that day." John looked deep into Rae"s eyes as he put one hand on the side of her face. "You mean the day you make me the happiest man alive." He leaned down and kissed her, softly at first, then more passionately. "On second thought, the wedding plans can wait," Rae said breathlessly as the two moved over to the bed. "She checked out?" Alan asked incredulously. "Okay, thank you." Frustrated, he slammed down the phone in the study, just as Monica came in. "Good morning," Monica greeted him as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "Skye has checked out of the Port Charles Hotel," Alan announced, noting Monica"s raised eyebrows. "Do you know anything about this?" Monica threw up her hands. "Why should I know about anything that Skye does?" she asked wryly. "Morning, all," AJ said as he strolled in. "Where"s Michael?" Alan asked. "Oh, he"s with the nanny at the moment, but I"m going to take him to school in a few minutes." AJ poured himself a cup of coffee, then noticed that both of his parents were wearing frowns. "What"s got you both in such a rotten mood on such a beautiful morning?" "Skye checked out of the hotel," Alan informed him. "I"m just worried about her, that"s all." "Well, maybe your daughter doesn"t want you worrying about her, Alan," Monica said, exasperated. "Honestly, the way you two just fawn all over her is sickening." AJ looked at his mother as if she had grown another head. "And what am I supposed to do, Mom? Wish that Skye didn"t exist, like you do?" Not waiting for an answer, AJ strode out of the room. Alan started to leave, too. "Where are you going?" Monica called after him. "To find my daughter!" Alan yelled as he left the room. "Well, Skye, we meet again." Stefan Cassadine smiled as he looked at the beautiful redhead who he had recently shared a passionate night with. "Have you been avoiding me?" Skye looked up from her barstool. She had hoped to come to Luke"s and not run into anyone she knew. Luke had actually rented her a room upstairs, where she had stored her luggage. The room was small, much too small for Skye"s taste, but it would do. "Mr. Cassadine," Skye crooned, not letting on to her displeasure at running into him. "Why, I haven"t been avoiding you at all. I"ve just had some... family matters to take care of." Stefan sat down beside Skye. "I"m glad," he said, smiling at her. Skye studied Stefan as he ordered a drink. He was very dashing, in a very sophisticated way. She blushed and turned her head when he caught her staring. "Would you like another?" Stefan asked, pointing to her drink. "Uh, no, thanks," Skye answered, sipping her club soda with lime. "I"m actually glad I ran into you, Skye. I didn"t want you to think I had

Sophie chuckled as Liz gathered up her things. "Did any wild animals come?" she teased. "No," Liz answered, rolling her eyes. "But you"ll be happy to know that I did answer some questions." Sophie nodded in approval. "That"s great, Liz. But did you answer them to please me, or for your own benefit?" Liz bit her lip. "Can we just talk about it later? I"m dying for a hot shower back at Horizon." She looked over at Sophie hopefully, who nodded and smiled. "Sure. By the way, have you seen Mike?" Peter couldn"t help but smile as he came within view of Shelby"s campsite. She had done everything properly, from dousing the fire to putting her tent away. She sat on a log by the ashes, waiting expectantly. "Hey, Shel. How was it?" Peter asked enthusiastically. "Just great, Peter," Shelby mumbled in return. They walked in silence toward Lynn"s campsite. Peter glanced over at Shelby, noticing her puffy, red eyes. There were dark circles under her eyes, too, but those had been there for the past few days now. *She"s getting worse instead of better,* Peter thought worriedly. "Shelby," Peter hesitated, "I think we need to have a talk." Shelby started to protest, but Peter cut her off. "Not here - later. Sophie and I have let you have your fair share of alone time, but I know that the past couple of weeks have been hell for you," "You don"t know anything," Shelby interrupted angrily. Peter sighed. "Okay, that"s fair. True, I don"t know what you"ve been going through. But that"s why we"re going to talk. You, me, and Sophie. Okay?" Shelby looked away from Peter, not responding. Peter let it go, as they came upon Lynn"s campsite. Sophie"s plan was to get Ali and take her and Liz back to the main campsite, then go back for Mike. *Surely, he"ll be there by then,* she thought, trying not to worry. As they drew near Ali"s solo site, Sophie noted in surprise that Ali"s tent remained standing. "Maybe she"s still asleep," Liz suggested, thinking along the same lines as Sophie. "Yeah, maybe." Sophie approached the tent and tapped on the top. "Alison! Rise and shine, we need to get back!" There was a sudden rustling in the tent, startling Sophie and Liz. "Sophie, give me a minute to get changed," Ali said, trying to sound casual. She looked over at Mike, who was grinning at her as he rubbed her leg. Ali brushed his hand off, and held up her hands as if to say, "what do we do now". Liz was getting impatient. "Come on, Ali. I"m hungry and dirty and want to get back to Horizon now!" she whined. Inside the tent, Ali quickly changed clothes, while Mike tried to hide a snicker at Liz"s whining. She held a finger up to her lips, indicating for him to keep quiet, then nearly tripped as she exited the tent while trying to keep the flap partially closed. "Do you want us to help you take down the tent?" Sophie offered, puzzled at Ali"s flushed face and obvious nervousness. "Uh, no. That"s okay. I"ll do it." Ali was working herself into a true panic. *How am I going to get out of this?!?* "Ali, are you alright?" Sophie asked, concerned by Ali"s increasing anxiety. Ali felt like she could burst into tears at any moment. *This is a nightmare,* she thought miserably. "Yeah, I"m fine, I..." "Good morning, ladies!" Mike burst out of the tent, all smiles. Sophie and Liz stood open-mouthed, staring at him in shock, while Ali looked down at the ground. Sophie quickly regained her composure. "Okay, you two, what is going on here?" she demanded. She looked at Ali, who would not meet her gaze, then at Mike, who was starting to look a bit uncomfortable. "Isn"t it obvious what is going on here?" Liz said incredulously. "Mike, you and Ali? Come on! I can"t believe it!" Immediately, Ali"s head snapped up, her eyes blazing. "What exactly can"t you believe, Liz?" Ali said in a low voice *Uh-oh,* thought Sophie. *This looks like the scene that played out yesterday between Liz and Shelby.* Sophie started to interrupt the exchange, but Liz spoke up first. I just can"t fathom why Mike would be interested in you," Liz said coolly, meeting Ali"s steely gaze. "Maybe he needed a real woman," Ali shot back. Mike was rubbing the back of his neck, unsure of what to do. "Uh, ladies..." "Shut up, Mike," Liz hissed. "Ali, I highly doubt that I left Mike unsatisifed. But maybe I wasn"t enough for him, especially if he prefers... plus-sized women, shall we say. Isn"t that the definition of a "real" woman these days?" "You bitch!" Ali lunged toward Liz, but Sophie jumped between them before they came in contact. "Both of you, back off - NOW!" Sophie glared at Liz and Ali, before looking over at Mike. "You, take down the tent and pack it up." "How dare you!" Ali yelled at Liz over Sophie"s head. "So he picked the fat girl over you, deal with it!" Liz laughed sardonically. "Ali, please. I just wouldn"t give him what he wanted any more, so he went to you for some physical pleasure. He knew you"d give in. When was the last time you got any action?" Ali was horrified to realize she was crying. "You don"t know what you"re talking about," she said in a hoarse voice. Ali looked over at Mike, who hung his head. *He"s ashamed,* she thought despairingly, *ashamed to be caught with me. I can"t stand it.* She took off running, away from the site. "Stay here, and pack up the tent!" Sophie yelled over her shoulder as she followed Ali. Used to the forest, Sophie easily caught up to Ali, who then stopped running. "Leave me alone!" Ali yelled at Sophie, trying to walk away from her. Sophie reached out and grabbed Ali"s jacket, pulling her around to face her. "Ali, look at me," Sophie said firmly but gently. Ali looked at Sophie, then quickly looked away. "I can"t," she whispered. Sophie watched as Ali wiped her eyes with shaky hands. "Why can"t you look at me?" Ali took a deep breath, willing herself to stop crying. "Because, when I look at you, I see that look on your face. It"s a look of pity for the fat girl, but at the same time you"re trying to hide your look of disgust, because you think I should be able to lose weight and get in shape." She suddenly looked directly at Sophie. "Whether you want to admit it or not, there is a part of you that prays to God that you never look like me. You"re appalled when you see people like me." Sophie shook her head, trying to understand Ali"s pain. "No, Ali, I don"t pity you, and I"m not disgusted by you. But I do think you"re hurting, and I"d like to help you get rid of some of that pain, if you"ll let me." Sophie reached out to put her hand on Ali"s shoulder, who shook it off. "We need to get back," Ali said, in a voice void of emotion. She began walking back toward the site, with Sophie following. "There will have to be consequences to your and Mike"s actions," Sophie said cautiously, watching Ali"s face. Ali remained stoic. "Fine, I"ll pack up my things and go home when we get back to Horizon." "Ali, that"s not what I meant," Sophie said, exasperated. Arriving back at the site, Ali and Sophie were relieved to see the tent had been taken down. The four silently finished tearing down the site. "We have to go back to Mike"s site and get his stuff, then we can go back," Sophie informed the others. "Sophie, that"s not fair! Why can"t we just go back now, and make him go back and get it himself?" Liz pouted. Sophie sighed. *And here I thought I"d be dealing with mature people this summer,* she thought wryly. "Like it or not, Liz, we"re a team. We stick together." "Hey, Ali, is this yours?" Mike held up Ali"s packet of questions. Ali walked over to retrieve the packet from Mike. As he handed it to her, he whispered, "I"m sorry," and squeezed her hand. "Ali, do you want to turn in your packet for us to review?" Sophie asked, hoping she"d say yes. Ali, concentrating on Mike, simply nodded and handed the packet to Sophie. Sophie sighed, making a mental note to call Peter and tell him they"d be late getting back. "Okay, guys, let"s go." "Hey, guys, I just heard from Sophie." Peter looked around at Shelby, Lynn and Troy. "She said something came up, they"ll be a while yet. So, I guess we can just chill out here until then." Shelby rolled her eyes, but didn"t say anything. *At least I got some reaction out of her,* Peter thought hopefully, watching as Shelby went over to sit by herself and write in her journal. Troy followed Lynn over to another log and sat down beside her. "So, how was your solo?" he asked in his usual easygoing manner. She smiled back at him. *Why does he have to be so charming?* "It was okay, but I"ll be glad to get back to civilization. How about you?" Troy laughed softly. "I did some good thinking, but I think I"d better get used to being apart from civilization." "What do you mean?" Lynn asked, confused. Troy grinned. "Well, I"m actually going to be a counselor here at Horizon next semester. I"ve worked the details out with Peter, and I"m really looking forward to it." Lynn looked at Troy like he"d just grown two heads. "Wow. Troy, that"s a big change. What made you decide to do that?" Troy shrugged. "Right now, I teach kids, but I don"t feel like I make a big impact on them. This is a chance to give to kids, help them out. And I"ll still teach a few classes, too, which is an added bonus for me. I"m really excited about it." Lynn shook her head in amazement. "I really admire you for doing it. I don"t think I could handle it." "Sure you could." Troy turned and looked at her intently. "Are you happy with your job now?" Lynn squirmed uncomfortably under Troy"s direct gaze. "Yeah, I love my job, it"s everything to me." "Everything? How can a job be everything in your life?" Troy asked, puzzled. "Easy. My job is my life, sad but true." Lynn was wishing they hadn"t gotten on the topic of her job. "Well, if it"s "sad but true", why don"t you do something to change it?" Troy suggested. Lynn suddenly gave him a cold look. "Because I can"t change it, that"s just the way it is. My life is fine the way it is." *Who am I trying to convince?* she wondered silently. "I"m sorry, I didn"t mean to offend you," Troy said softly, wondering why she put up walls whenever he started to get closer to her. Lynn sighed. "No, it"s okay. I should be the one to apologize. You"re probably right, Troy, I could use a little change in my life." Troy smiled. "Well, I have the perfect solution. Claire and I will be moving back up here in a few weeks to get acclimated before the kids come back from summer vacation. Maybe we could meet you somewhere between here and your home?" "I - I don"t know," Lynn stuttered, not expecting his proposal. "I"ll have a lot of work to catch up on when I get back." Troy decided to be completely honest. "I"d really like to see you again after the summer program ends." He slowly reached over and took her hand in his. Lynn could feel her face burning. Part of her wanted to scream yes, but the other part of her wanted to tell him to leave her alone for good. It had been a long time since she"d had butterflies in her stomach, just from someone looking at her the way Troy was looking at her right that very moment. Lynn left her hand in Troy"s but looked away. "I just don"t know if it would be a good idea." "Why not?" Troy was even more puzzled than before. "Look, Lynn, you"re the first woman who I"ve even considered dating, much less introducing to Claire, since Linda died." He took his hand away from hers. "I thought maybe the feelings I have for you were mutual." "Troy, it"s not you, it"s..." Lynn"s voice trailed off as she searched for the right answer, but there wasn"t one. "I"m just not a good person to get involved with." "What do you mean, you"re not a good person to get involved with?" Troy was completely baffled. "I"m a pretty good judge of character, Lynn, and I think you are a wonderfully caring, bright, strong woman. Any man would be lucky to become involved with you." "There are just some things about me that you might not like, once you would come to know me better," Lynn said hesitantly. "So give me that chance. Give me the chance to get to know you better. That"s all I"m asking for." Troy looked at her earnestly. Against her better judgement, Lynn nodded. "Okay, I"ll go on a date with you," she said, smiling. "Great," Troy beamed. *What have I gotten myself into?* Lynn wondered. Sophie smiled as Peter came out of the bathroom. "How was the shower?" she asked. "Nice and hot, it was great," he replied, looking at the bed. It was covered with papers and notebooks. "Soph, what are you doing?" Sophie smiled sheepishly. "I couldn"t wait, sorry. I was too anxious to read everyone"s questionnaires and journals." "Well, I"m going to go back to campus and check to see how everyone is. I imagine they"re still recuperating from the hike back. Plus, it"s about dinner time, and you"re looking at one hungry boy." Peter grinned at Sophie as he continued dressing. "Do you mind if I stay here and read these? I"ll just fix myself some soup or something, I don"t mind." Sophie had just begun to delve into everything, she didn"t want to leave now. "Okay, fine. I know when I"m not going to win." Peter came over to her. "You"re a wise man, Peter Scarbrow." Sophie smiled as he leaned down and kissed her. "Are you going to take Shelby with you?" she asked him. "Yeah, if she"ll ride in the car with just me," Peter whispered dubiously. "She"s still not trusting me, Soph, but at least she"s starting to respond more." Sophie nodded. "Her questionnaire is one I want to read first. You"re right, Peter, we"ll have to talk with her soon." "And - we still have to figure out what to do about Mike and Ali," Peter commented, frowning. "Next time, Soph, let"s not make the summer program co-ed. Okay?" He winked and gave her another kiss. "Sounds good to me," Sophie agreed, giggling. Lynn and Liz started to head out of the girls" dorm for dinner. "Are you coming, Ali?" Lynn asked, looking with concern at the figure lying on the bed. Ali shook her head. "No, I"m not hungry. Go ahead." She got up and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Lynn picked up on the tension between Ali and Liz during the hike back earlier, but she still hadn"t figured out what had happened. "Liz, what"s going on?" she demanded. "I don"t know what you mean." Liz held up her hands innocently. "She"s not hungry. Let"s go." She turned and walked out the door. Lynn looked back again toward the bathroom door but decided there was nothing she could do for Ali. She hurried to catch up with Liz on their way to the main lodge. Sophie leaned back against the pillow, rereading Shelby"s journal entry and answers. She desperately wanted Shelby to know that none of it - the rape, the abuse Shelby and Jess suffered - was her fault, but Sophie knew only Shelby could come to that conclusion. Shelby"s answer about knowing when it was time to move on scared Sophie. *I hope she won"t try to run when it"s time for the Cliffhangers to come back,* she worried. She wrote down in her notes: "Talk to Shelby about anxieties about Scott and other Cliffhangers. She must open up in order to heal. Look into symptoms for Acute Stress Disorder, this sometimes follows a trauma such as rape.' *Flashback* "But Mom, he attacked me!" Seventeen-year old Sophie was in tears, showing her mother the bruises and scrapes on her arms. "Nonsense, child!" Mona Becker glared down at the daughter she considered to be insolent and stubborn. "Ted comes from a fine family. He would not do such a thing." She paused, looking her daughter up and down with distaste. "You didn"t have sex with him, did you?" Sophie shook her head dejectedly. "If he had his way, we would have. He would have raped me, Mother! Don"t you get it?" She was shaking with rage, glad she"d been able to fight him off, but angry that this happened to her. Her mother clucked her tongue, looking away. "Go and get cleaned up, Sophie. It"s a wonder any boys look at you at all, the way you dress and behave like a tomboy." She suddenly went up and grabbed Sophie"s chin with her hand, forcing Sophie to look directly at her. "Now, I don"t want to hear another word about this. Is that clear, young lady?" Sophie nodded through her tears, then ran up the stairs to her room. She threw herself on her bed, sobbing into her pillow. *God forbid if Mother ever hears me cry,* she thought morosely. *I hate her. Why did this have to happen?* *End of Flashback* Sophie hugged herself, letting the tears fall. It hurt her so much to think what these kids had gone through, but she related so much more to Shelby"s pain. *I have to get her to open up,* she thought with sudden determination. Peter and Shelby drove back to the house in silence. Once inside, Shelby did her now-ritualistic routine of going straight to her room and shutting the door. Peter sighed as he went into the bedroom, where Sophie was scrutinizing a paper on the bed. "Soph, have you even moved since we"ve been gone?" Peter looked more closely at her. Her eyes looked a bit red, but he wasn"t sure if it was from crying or just fatigue. Sophie ran a hand through her hair in exasperation, ignoring his question. "Peter, this is so confusing. Ali wouldn"t open up to me at all today, but she answered every question in detail and even included a journal entry about her mother putting her down because of her weight while her dad does nothing. She doesn"t like her job. She has zero self-confidence. She"s a classic binge eater, according to her answers. But why would she be so open now? It doesn"t make sense." Peter shrugged, then suddenly remembered something. "Soph, Ali wasn"t at dinner. Lynn and Liz said she"d told them she wasn"t hungry. You don"t think she"d try anything, do you?" Sophie began pulling on her shoes. "I don"t think so, Peter, but I"m going to go and find out." She gave Peter a peck on the cheek before running out the door, taking Ali"s packet with her. Peter sighed, realizing how tired he was. *This was supposed to be a fun summer program,* he thought in bewilderment. *Oh, well. I guess what"s important is that we"re helping people. And we"ve gained another counselor out of it.* Just then, the phone rang. Peter almost said, "I"ll get it," then smiled to himself as he realized that Sophie was gone and Shelby was holed up in her room. "Hello," he said into the receiver. "Mr. Scarbrow?" said a female voice on the other end. "Yes, this is Peter Scarbrow." "This is Shelby"s mother, Mrs. Blaine." There was a pause as Peter tried to collect his thoughts. "Uh, hello. Yes, what can I do for you? Would you like to speak with your daughter?" "No." There was another pause. "Mrs. Blaine, are you still there?" Peter asked. "Yes. I apologize, this is very difficult for me." She cleared her throat before continuing. "I"ve decided to give full custody of Shelby to her father. I think it"s something I should have done long ago, and it will be for the best for everyone concerned." Peter sat in shock, trying to absorb the information. "Are you sure about this? Maybe you could come here, and we could talk about it," he said, his mind reeling. "No, I can"t do that. My mind is made up. I"ve already started the paperwork. I just wanted to let you know. Shelby"s father will be in touch with you about whether or not she stays at Horizon." Peter couldn"t believe his ears. "She must stay here, she needs to stay here," he said vehemently. "And what about Jess?" "What about her? She"s never given me the trouble that Shelby has. I still plan for Jess to come back to Horizon this fall, it"s what she wants." "What about what Shelby wants?" Peter had to calm himself down, he was practically yelling into the phone. "Mrs. Blaine, please consider Shelby"s needs. She needs Horizon, and she needs a mother." "Mr. Scarbrow," her voice was now raised, "don"t you dare tell me what my daughter needs, okay? I"m her mother, and I"m doing what I think is best for her. I have to go." She hung up abruptly, leaving Peter in a daze. "Peter?" Peter whirled around to see Shelby standing outside her bedroom door, a look of fear on her face. "What"s going on?" Sophie drove up to the main lodge in her car. As she pulled in to park, her headlights illuminated a nearby car and a person putting a bag in the trunk. She jumped out of the car, hurrying over to the other car. "Ali, don"t go," she said, putting her hand on Ali"s arm. Ali turned to look at Sophie. Even in the darkness, it was obvious that she"d been crying. "Yeah, I think it"s time for me to leave, Sophie. Thanks for the hospitality." She moved away, toward the driver"s side door. "Wait!" Sophie knew this was her last chance to reach the young woman. "Ali, I read everything you wrote down." She held up the packet for Ali to see. Ali"s heart began to beat rapidly. She"d forgotten all about the packet in the excitement of being discovered with Mike. *How could I be so stupid? I just handed it over to her.* Sophie approached Ali with caution. "Please, Ali, let us help you. Will you stay?" Next time: - How will Shelby react to the news about her custody? - Will Ali stay and accept help? - The "Discover Yourself" program starts to wrap up. - Peter hears from another Cliffhanger. PLEASE REVIEW, it only takes a few seconds! Thanks!

thought, disgusted with himself. "Listen, hire the best damn P.I., do whatever it takes to find her! Understand?" he barked to his attorney before slamming the pay phone down. Thirty minutes later, as he settled into his seat on the plane, Adam stared up at the sky. Please, God, let my little girl be alright, he prayed. He just hoped his prayer was enough. "Hey, get up, kid. You can"t sleep here, beat it!" The police officer poked the girl gently in the leg with his baton, trying to wake her up. Skye opened her eyes slowly, wondering if she were having a bad dream. Realizing this was reality, she sat up quickly, running her hands through her hair and down her badly wrinkled clothes. "I"m sorry, officer. I"m just waiting for my bus, I must have fallen asleep." The cop looked at her suspiciously; he was used to teen runaways telling him stories so that he"d leave them alone. "Uh-huh. What bus are you waiting for, miss?" Skye gulped, hoping that the police officer wouldn"t force her to return home. "I"m going to Los Angeles, it"s the 8:00 PM bus," she stammered, then looked at the clock. To her dismay, she realized it was 9:00 PM. She reached for her backpack to get out her ticket, only to find it missing. "Where is it? Where"s my backpack? And my suitcases are gone, too!" Skye stood up in alarm, looking under the bench and all around the area she"d been sleeping. "No, this can"t be happening. All my stuff was right here!" She started crying, in spite of trying to hold back to avoid embarrassment in front of the cop. "Please," she turned to the cop, "can"t you do something to help me? All of my things have been stolen!' The cop crossed his arms, giving her a slightly sympathetic look. "Miss, for all I know, you never had any stuff in the first place." He watched the glimmer of hope in her eyes fade as she looked down, crying harder. "Look, hon, why don"t you just do yourself a favor and go back home to your family. It"s better than being out on the street." Skye shook her head stubbornly, trying to gather her thoughts. She thought of her friend, Amanda, whose phone number and address were in her backpack, now stolen from her. "I had a place to go," she said softly. "I just don"t have anywhere to go back to." The cop sighed, scratching his head as he considered his options. He could either leave her here in the bus station, where she"d already possibly had something stolen, or he could help her find a place for the night. "Look, come with me, and I"ll take you to a shelter or something for the night, okay?" he finally said. Skye placed her hands on her hips and looked at him with disdain. "Me, go to a shelter? You"re kidding, right?" His look changed from one of sympathy to apathy quickly. "Okay, fine, kid. Stay out here, with no clothes, no food, no money. It"s your life." He turned and started to walk away. "Okay, fine!" Skye yelled to the retreating officer, who turned around with a pained expression on his face. "I"ll go to some stupid shelter, but just for tonight!" Skye felt like she was in some surreal nightmare. The cop had driven her to this shelter, Hope House, in downtown San Francisco. Skye had felt like a criminal, sitting in the backseat of the squad car ("Sorry, kid - department rules," the cop had told her). Once they pulled up to the Hope House, Skye seriously debated the merits of just running away from the situation, then decided against it when she saw some people her age laughing and joking with each other on the front stoop. After taking a long, hot shower, Skye changed into some clean clothes. They aren"t the greatest clothes in fashion, but they will have to do, Skye thought, sighing and willing herself not to cry. She hadn"t yet spoken to anyone, except to murmur a "thank you" to the woman who met her at the door, gave her a plate of warm food and clean clothes, and showed her where the shower was. Now, Skye noticed that the woman was coming back over to her, as she sat in front of a mirror, brushing her hair. The woman sat down beside Skye, smiling gently at her. "Okay, here"s the lowdown. I"m Maria, I pretty much run the Hope House. I have some volunteers that help me out, including some local college students. You"ll be assigned a counselor who can help you in any way - answer questions, find you a job, find a permanent place for you to stay..." Maria stopped, not knowing how much to say, since she wasn"t aware yet of this young girl"s situation. Truth be told, their goal was to reunite most of the kids with their families, if they weren"t victims of abuse. Otherwise, they couldn"t stay at the shelter forever, most kids ended up going to foster homes until they were eighteen. The counselors worked with the kids on an individual basis, trying to find out their histories, and to figure out the best way to help them. It was a project that Maria had been dedicated to for the past ten years of her life, and she loved her work. She sighed, sizing up the girl next to her, who was now staring at Maria. "I don"t need a counselor," Skye said quietly, yet with conviction. Maria was used to this; most kids protested at the thought of having a counselor. "Well, don"t think of her as a counselor, more like a person that will help you get out of this situation." Skye shook her head, turning back to the task of brushing her hair. "No, you don"t understand. I don"t need a counselor because I don"t plan on being here long. In fact, this is only for tonight; then, I"ll be on my way." "Where are you going to go?" Maria asked curiously. "To a friend"s house, I just lost her phone number and didn"t have any way to get in touch with her. But I"ll get her number tomorrow, and then meet her. Everything will work out fine." Maria silently watched the girl continue to brush her beautiful auburn hair, noticing her worried expression despite her declaration that everything would be okay in the end. "What"s your name?" Maria asked, then saw the fear in Skye"s eyes. "No, no, it"s okay - I don"t need a last name, I just need a first name to call you by, a name to give your, er, counselor." Skye seemed satisfied with that explanation. She thought for just a brief second, then answered Maria"s question. "My name is Toni." The next morning, Maria yawned as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She looked up as one of her favorite volunteers walked into the main office. "Good morning, sunshine!" she greeted her with a chuckle. Gretel Rae Cummings groaned, dropping a pile of books on her desk. She went to pour herself a cup of coffee, yawning as well. "Ugh, I stayed up half the night studying for this abnormal psych exam," she complained, anxiously taking a sip of the coffee to revive herself. "I don"t know how you do it," Maria said in amazement, shaking her head as she handed Gretel some files. "Being a full-time student at UCSF, in addition to helping out here. Not that I don"t want you here, you"re one of the best counselors we have. Speaking of which, here are a few files on some new kids." Gretel smiled at the compliment as she took the folders from Maria. She did love her work at the Hope House, and wouldn"t have traded it for anything, despite her rigorous schedule. She set her coffee cup down on her desk as she sat down to peruse her new assignments. "Anyone I should start out with?" she asked Maria. "Well, yes," Maria stated, a pensive look on her face. "There is one girl, Toni. She came in last night. She says she"s leaving today, to go to a friend"s house, but I get the feeling something just isn"t right. You might talk to her first, especially if she has it in her mind that she"ll be okay on her own and wants to leave as soon as she can." Gretel nodded, already pulling Toni"s file from the stack of others. "Okay, then. I"ll go find her and see what I can come up with." Skye woke up with a start, forgetting at first where she was. As she looked around the sleeping dormitory area, she remembered the events of the night before. I have to get out of here, she thought, not wondering what her next move would be. She made her way quietly down to the main floor, intent on walking out the front door, but the smell of bacon stopped her. Finding it impossible to ignore her rumbling stomach, Skye decided to go ahead and get breakfast to give her some energy for her travels. She headed into the small dining area and picked up some food, then sat down by herself at a table, away from another group of kids eating breakfast. I"m not like them, I don"t need to talk to them, she thought as she tried to inconspicuously watch them as she quickly ate. "Slow down, you"re going to give yourself an awful stomachache!" a voice behind Skye said, causing her to jump in her chair. She looked up to see a woman in her early thirties with long, dark brown hair smiling down at her. "I"m sorry, I didn"t mean to frighten you. May I join you?" she asked, walking around to the other side of the table. Skye shrugged nonchalantly and looked away. Pulling out a chair and sitting down, the young woman looked at the girl in front of her, who was doing her best to avoid eye contact. "I"m Gretel, I"ve been assigned as your counselor. Maria told me you"re leaving this morning. You"re Toni, right?" Skye nodded, looking down at her plate as she pushed her food around with a fork. "Yes, I"m leaving soon," she acknowledged quietly, still looking down. "Do you have someplace to go?" Gretel asked. Skye nodded, this time looking up at Gretel. "Yes," she simply said. Gretel sighed - this was like pulling teeth, to get this girl to talk. "Okay, well, that"s good. Are you going home?" "No!" Skye blurted out before she could stop herself. Immediately realizing her mistake, she tried to backtrack. "I"m just going to visit a friend." "Do your parents know that you"re going to visit a friend?" Gretel asked softly, seeing the pain in Skye"s eyes at the mention of home. Skye dropped her fork and looked toward the other kids. "How long have they been here?" she asked, nodding toward the others. Gretel recognized the diversion ploy. "Well, some have been here just a few days, and some have been here a few weeks. People usually don"t stay longer than a month or so." "Where do they go?" Skye asked, still looking at the other kids. "Some go home," Gretel watched as tears formed in Skye"s eyes. "And some go to foster homes until they decide what they want to do when they"re 18. It just depends on circumstances." Skye nodded, wishing she could go back home. She thought of her mother and wondered if she was out of the hospital yet, and of how Mrs. Allison had betrayed her by calling CPS. She wondered if people were out looking for her, or if her father knew she had run away. "Toni?" It took Skye a minute to register her name. She looked up at Rae, trying to look confident despite the tears in her eyes. "Toni, if you can"t stay with your friend for some reason, where will you go?" Gretel asked with concern. Skye shrugged. "I haven"t really thought about it," she admitted, frowning. "Can you go home?" Gretel asked. Skye shrugged again, swallowing hard to keep from crying. "Why not, Toni?" Skye lost the battle, as the tears started to coarse down her cheeks. Horrified that she had lost her cool in front of Gretel, she stood up with such force that her chair fell backward. "I don"t want to talk about it!" she yelled, before running from the room. Gretel watched her go, praying that she wouldn"t leave - not yet. She needed help, and Gretel wanted to give it to her. There was just something about her - Gretel felt a strong connection to her, unlike any she"d experienced with other kids. Sighing, Gretel stood up and placed the empty chair back in its upright position, wondering what her next move should be. Two days later, Skye was back at Hope House. She had left the place after running out on Gretel. After walking for what seemed like hours, Skye"s lucky break came in the form of a nice truck driver, who was en route to LA. Skye had laughed silently, thinking how shocked her prim and proper schoolmates back at her private school in Manhattan would be if they knew she was riding in a semi-truck cab with a tattoo-covered driver. Once in LA, Skye had looked up her friend"s phone number. Amanda answered the phone, but to Skye"s dismay, Amanda told her not to come to her house. Apparently, there had been a P.I. trying to track down Skye. Amanda was able to warn Skye before Amanda"s mom yanked the phone away from Amanda and urged Skye to come to their house, or to go home. Skye, heartbroken that she had nowhere to go, hung up the phone without saying another word. Skye had then pulled out the kind trucker"s card, he had told her to call him if necessary. She lucked out again, hitching a ride back with him to San Francisco. Out of options, she reluctantly went back to Hope House. Skye slept almost 12 hours that first night back at Hope House. She said little or nothing to those around her. The other kids, sensing that she wanted to be left alone, started to avoid her. No different than New York, Skye thought sadly, no one wants to be my friend. On her third day back, Gretel came into the sitting room, where Skye was listlessly staring out the window. "Hey, kiddo," Gretel greeted her, sitting down next to her. "So, how"s it going?" Skye, irritated by the intrusion, looked at Gretel in annoyance. "Oh, it"s going just super," she said sarcastically. "I have no life, I have nowhere to go, and no one will even talk to me here." Her voice cracked on her last words. Gretel smiled at her. "Well, am I no one? I"m talking to you, aren"t I?" "Only because you have to," Skye sulked. "So, what"s next? I suppose you"re leaving this place, or am I?" Gretel was confused by the meaning behind the question. "No, Toni, I"m not leaving, and you"re not leaving yet, unless you choose to do so." She sighed, desperately wanting to help this troubled girl, but unable to break through her wall. Honesty might be the best approach, she finally decided. "Look, Toni, I really, truly want to help you, but I can"t do that unless you tell me how I can help you." Skye looked up at Gretel suspiciously. "Why would you want to help me? Or are you just saying that because it"s your job?" "No, I"m not, really. I... I can"t explain why exactly I want to help you so much. You"re hurting, that much is obvious. I think you could use someone on your side, an adult to help you through this difficult time you"re having. I"d like to be that person." Skye, taken aback by Gretel"s sincerity, didn"t know what to say. Instead, she just put her head down and finally let herself cry - for all those times her mother wasn"t there for her, for the father she barely knew, for the instability throughout her young life, for her plan falling apart, and for an offer of help that she was afraid to accept. Gretel"s heart ached as she watched Skye break down in tears. She hesitantly put her hand on Skye"s arm, rubbing it gently in a soothing manner. To her surprise, Skye flung herself into Gretel"s lap, sobbing even harder. Willing herself not to get emotional, Gretel stroked Skye"s long auburn hair, softly whispering to her. "It"ll be alright, it will. You"ll get through this." Gretel sat in one of the counseling rooms, Skye across from her. After she had finished crying, Skye had developed the hiccups, so they went to get some water from the dining hall. Skye had then asked Gretel if they could talk in private. It was the opening Gretel had been hoping for. Skye took a deep breath, her hiccups fading for now. She had never cried like that in front of someone else, but she felt a certain bond with this woman, for whatever reason. She decided that the only way out of this mess was to tell the truth to someone who would help her and be honest with her. There had never been anyone before that she could talk to, but now there was - Gretel. "Um, I guess I just need some advice on what to do," Skye started out slowly, averting Gretel"s eyes. "My mom is in the hospital, and my dad - well, he hasn"t been around since I was little." Skye looked up at Gretel, who nodded in encouragement for her to continue. "The cops and CPS came to our home, they were going to take me away." "Why?" Gretel asked, confused. "Wasn"t there someone to look after you while your mom was in the hospital?" Skye shook her head. "Toni, why was your mom in the hospital?" Skye started fidgeting, her fingers twirling her hair. "She slipped and fell when she was in the shower and hit her head." "I see." Gretel thought she was telling the truth, but maybe leaving something out. "I guess I"m just confused - why would CPS want to take you away if your mom was only in the hospital for a few days from hitting her head?" Skye clenched her teeth, angry and sad at the same time - at her mom, at the situation, at life. "They said it was for neglect," she whispered, looking down at her hands. "Oh," was all Gretel could say. Neglect - that could mean any number of things, but it usually meant that the environment was unsuitable for the child to live in. "Do you think she neglected you, Toni?" Skye shrugged. "I don"t know. I mean, she wasn"t around a lot, but I"ve always had a housekeeper or a nanny there. Our housekeeper, Mrs. Allison, just has a big mouth, that"s all." "Does your mother work?" Gretel asked, still trying to gain more insight into the situation. Skye shook her head, rolling her eyes. "No, I doubt she"s ever worked," she replied with contempt. She looked over at Gretel, who was taking down notes. That made Skye nervous, but she pretended not to care. "So," Skye said finally, "what do you think I should do?" Gretel finished writing and then looked up at Skye. "Well, based on what you"ve told me, I really don"t think a case would hold up in court for neglect. I see no reason why you can"t go back home to your mother." Skye"s expression remained emotionless, to Gretel"s surprise. "Is that what you want, Toni?" she prompted. Skye nodded, knowing that this was her only option - to go home. She would just keep putting up with her mother"s drunken binges, with the suicide attempts, with the rage. "So, when do I leave?" "Well, it"s not that simple, really. First, I have to call CPS in, uh - wherever you"re from. I explain to them that you"re in our custody here, and then we discuss your case. You"ll be transported back home, and then they"ll take it from there." Seeing Skye"s crestfallen expression, Gretel felt her heart go out to the girl. "I can even call your mom, if you like, and talk to her," she offered. "No!" Skye shouted, standing up, eyes wide. "No, you can"t talk to my mother." "Why not, Toni?" Getting no response, Gretel walked over to Skye and looked into her eyes. "Why don"t you want me to talk to her mother?" "She"ll be angry," Skye whispered, starting to cry again. "What does she do when she gets angry, Toni?" Gretel asked, grabbing Skye"s shoulders gently so she wouldn"t turn away. Skye was once again sobbing. "She - she"ll go off somewhere and d-drink," Skye stammered. "Then - then she"ll come home, and either be sad or be mad about something." Gretel closed her eyes, hating to hear what this poor girl had been through already, but needing to know so she could help her. "What happens when your mom gets sad or mad?" Skye sniffed, wiping her face with the back of her hands. "She"s tried to commit suicide a few times. And when she hit her head in the shower - that was because she passed out after drinking." It was Gretel"s turn to take a deep breath. "Toni, what about when she gets mad? Does your mom ever hurt you?" Gretel held her breath as she awaited an answer. Skye simply nodded and started sobbing again. She was so tired of protecting her mom, of hiding the bruises, of making up stories about how clumsy she was. Gretel enveloped her in her arms, holding her once more. "Okay, okay. We"ll work it out, I promise." Skye went up to bed, thoroughly exhausted from her emotional day. Gretel had promised that she"d be back tomorrow to talk more. As Skye drifted off to sleep, she thought about what a relief it was to be able to just go to sleep, with no worries of where her mom was, or what kind of mood she"d be in when she came home. Despite her surroundings, it was Skye"s first peaceful night"s sleep in a long time. Gretel came into the main office the next morning, a box of doughnuts in her hand. "Good morning," she cried out to Maria with a smile. "Here, I brought you some doughnuts." Maria greeted at her with a sad smile. "I"m afraid I have some news you may not like, Gretel." "What is it?" Gretel asked with growing alarm. "That girl you got through to yesterday..." "You mean, Toni?" Gretel asked, her heart starting to pound. Maria nodded. "Yes, I mean Toni. Well, apparently, early this morning, while Denise was still on night duty, a P.I. and a lawyer came and showed her a picture of Toni. They presented all of the necessary paperwork as to her identity, and I guess Toni confirmed it. They had been hired by her father." "Well, then, why didn"t her father come and get her?" Gretel demanded. "Doesn"t he care about his own daughter?" Gretel was getting more worked up by the minute. "I want this man"s name, so I can call him and tell him what a good-for-nothing, lousy, son of a..." "Gretel, you can"t do that," Maria interrupted.

"Girl, where you hidin" them damn things?" "Sit down." She ordered and he did so slowly. She rubbed her eyes and sighed, muttering. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." "Everything all right there?" Aldo asked as if he were addressing a young child instead of his kidnapper. "No, everything is not "all right.' Everything would be "all right" if you shit-heads hadn"t arrived in town and ruined my entire plan!" Aldo eyed her, wondering what a little English girl would possibly want to do with this war. She was quite small and very thin and he wondered how she managed to exert such brute force as he pondered, as well, how strange she looked holding a gun and Donny"s bat across her knees. He watched her run her fingers over the names for a few moments. "Mind fillin" me in on this grand plan that we ruined?" The woman rolled her eyes and sighed looking straight ahead. "Now we ain"t doin" this shit again, I"ve got a right to know why I"ve just been forcefully taken from my troops, not to mention why you felt the need to shoot one of them in the foot and break another"s nose." "Just stop talking for a second, I need to think." She closed her eyes for a few moment and said quietly, "...I have made a mistake." "You"re damn fuckin" right you did." She stood up and began to pace, swinging the bat around her shoulders. "I can"t let you go now because you"ll lead your "soldiers" back here and you"ll scalp me or whatever the fuck you guys do. Fuck-I don"t want to have to kill you." "Hey hey, now, there doesn"t need to be any killing involved-from either party." She gave him a look, "You can trust me, I"m a man of my word. God knows I prob"ly shouldn"t but you seem like a nice enough gal, just caught up in the wrong situation." "I wouldn"t exactly call it "caught up.'" She muttered and leaned against the wall watching the door every now and then. After a long silence Aldo looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. "You waiting for somethin"?" "No." She shot back. Aldo paused. "You"re waiting for my men to come. Sister, they ain"t coming." "Didn"t think they"d actually listen to you. I figured they"d come and rescue their Lieutenant." "They know I can hold my own." "Can you?" "Yes." She paused, thinking to herself, then mumbling, "...Then leave." Aldo paused again, watching her. She acted completely serious, holding the bat in her hands gently. Aldo stood and she walked over to the door and opened it for him. Just as he was nearly out the door she pushed him against the door frame and slammed the door onto his face twice. She pushed him down on the ground and jumped on him. Aldo groaned loudly at the pressure he felt from his head and her tight push on the bat at his neck. "Shut up. You listen to me; you are not stronger than I am. You may have brute force but I am quick and I am smart and you are neither. Now this is my proposition: I am willing to take you back to your fellow comrades if you and your boys can help me get to Paris and then to Germany by the end of the month. In return I won"t give away your whereabouts to the nearest Nazi base." As the woman spoke Aldo eyed something on her right forearm that made his eyes shoot back up to her. She stopped speaking when she noticed Aldo"s eyes had seen the numbers on her arm. He didn"t need any more confirmation than that. Aldo"s view of her softened then when he realized. "All right, we"ll help you out." He said slowly. Her face was less than a foot from his, "...Thank you." She jumped off him quickly and pulled her sleeves down to her wrist. "Let"s go." She headed for the door and he followed her out. Please let me know if you like it so far! They were in silence for quite sometime as they walked at a gentle pace. The woman kept a slow pace and hardly breathed as Aldo observed her. She was pretty, but just pretty. Her eyes were dark and Aldo almost hated looking at them. But she was so quiet Aldo had to speak up just out of curiosity. "What"s your name?" "My name doesn"t matter." She spoke softly without looking at him. "Sure it does. Listen sister, we"re in what one would call a very sticky situation and it"d go by a little more smoothly if we knew each other"s names-" "Mara." "...Very humbled to meet you, Miss Mara." She smiled slightly and shivered. Aldo saw this from the corner of his eye and unbuttoned his coat and pulled it off. "What are you doing?" She jumped and stopped when he draped it around her shoulders. "I"m bein" a gentleman. They got any a those back where you come from?" Mara stood in silence for a moment before nodding, "Yes, but they"re all pansy wallowing sodomites or just seeking for a pot to plant their seeds if you know what I mean." Aldo chuckled loudly as he switched Donny"s bat from one shoulder to another. He found it amusing that this girl actually let a bit of the air into the moment as they both staggered back through the forest. "How did you escape?" Aldo asked bluntly. Mara sighed, hugging the coat tighter around her shoulders. "It wasn"t easy, but it wasn"t as difficult as you might think." Aldo nodded, "And your family?" "All dead," she replied quickly. Aldo closed his eyes and quickly regretted butting into her personal life, but he figured that"d he"d find out eventually and it was better to find out sooner than being unable to trust one another. "How"d you get that scar on your neck?" Aldo smirked, "Back in Tennessee before I joined the army I was a moonshiner. I don"t know if you know what moonshin" is but it can get to be a purty nasty bidness." She nodded, gesturing to him that she understood what it was. "I made some rookie mistakes, ended up making a bad name for myself with a few out-a-state sellers and found myself with a rope around my neck an" a rickety stool "neath my feet." "My god..." Mara breathed out, realizing the brutality of it all. Aldo smirked at her though, reassuring her or even just himself that it was in the past and he was over it. He led her then around a large clump of trees and started to speak. "Should be just around this-" He stopped when he realized there were suddenly six shotguns aimed at them. "Guns down fellas...Someone go give this back to Donny." He tossed the bat to Hirschberg and led Mara through the line of pissed off soldiers. Omar stepped up to Aldo, eying the woman. "Sir, I wouldn"t bring her back over to the fire, Donny and Hugo are still pretty pissed off, especially Donny." Aldo stopped and looked down at Mara. "I"m pretty sure she can handle them. Did a good number on me a little while ago." He said pointing to the bruising on his temple. Omar nodded, uncertainty and confusion filling him when he noticed the Lieutenant"s coat was around her shoulders. But he didn"t question it and walked back over to warn the others that Aldo was back. "Just stay quiet, if you stay quiet they"ll be intimidated by ye, more than they already are. An-" "I know how to act around these type of men." She said, but she then put a hand on his arm, "Aldo? Do you think you could not mention..." Aldo narrowed his eyes for a moment before nodding, "It"ll be difficult to convince them without that bit of information, but we"ll sure try." He then led her toward his men around a small fire. "What the fuck is she doin" here?" Donny called out standing up and heading towards them, Aldo stood in front of her and held his hand out. "Now hold your horses, Donowitz. Sit down now, and let me explain." He turned towards Mara, "I think it might be best if you were to stay back a little, just so they ain"t too riled up at your presence. I"ll have someone come get ya when I"m finished." She rolled her eyes and turned around. Aldo watched her has she walked back for a little ways and sat against a tree. "Now, ya"ll are probably wondrin what the hell"s goin" on..." A few of the men nodded and verbally agreed. Aldo the explained the conversation he and Mara had had. Donny and Hugo were reluctant to listen but when Aldo told Donny to go and fetch Mara down the way he was even more reluctant. But he did it any way after Aldo had explained to him and only him that this girl had escaped concentration camp. How Aldo believed her was beyond Donny. Based on Aldo"s confidence though he let himself understand then, but still wasn"t ready to straight up forgive her for nearly breaking his nose and grazing his leg with a pistol bullet. And Donny just didn"t like the sound of having this girl with the Basterds, even if it was for a short period of time. He found Mara sitting against a tree trunk looking at the ground with a dazed look in her eye. A dark shadow was cast across her features but Donny could still see the deep sockets beneath her eyes and her cheek bones, features that bespoke the starvation and neglect her body had most likely faced. "Aldo wants you back at the camp sight." Donny said quickly, making Mara jump and she looked at him with a frightened looked in her eye. But only frightened for a slight second before she scowled and walked past him. He followed not far behind her. She scared easy for such a tough gal, he thought. Aldo sat down with Mara at the fire and spoke to her about his conditions and she told him of hers. All Aldo really wanted to do was help this girl do whatever she wanted, but he wanted to know more details. She said she"d tell him later, a promise actually and Aldo accepted that. Mara was also to help the Basterds with their hunts, she had to be useful or else there was no reason to keep her around. After their talk Aldo told her she could share his tent and she followed him slowly in, leaving Donny at first watch. Please let me know what you think! Hey readers! I hope you"re liking the story so far, or at least a much as I am enjoying writing it! Please do let me know what you think, I"m going to try to update as much as I can. :) Mara slid out of the tent slowly, tired but unable to rest. She sat by the small fire, relishing in the warmth and obviously in deep thought. Donny watched her from a tree not three yards away and wondered what she could be thinking about. He watched her run her hands through her hair and push up the sleeves of her sweater. She looked down at her arm and rubbed lightly over a small part of it, Donny had an idea of what was there. It was unusual to see a woman like her in the midsts of the war they were in. Donny hadn"t seen a woman like her in months, a woman so beautiful but so mysterious it made her possibly more dangerous than the Nazi captain they originally thought she was. Donny shuffled over to her and she jumped again, only this time she hid it well. He huffed as he sat down near her. "So you"re a limey," he said, trying to bring her from her mind, even if it wasn"t the best way to start the conversation. Mara nodded and then articulated; "British-Jew...I"m not all limey." Donny nodded and said nothing, surprised by her gentle accent. "You"re from Boston aren"t you?" Donny smiled slightly a confused smile. "Yeah I am, how"d you know?" "I visited there not too long ago, the accent is unmistakeable." Mara smiled slightly and toyed with her fingers and Donny wondered why she had been in Boston. But he quickly forgot about it when she started up again. "I apologize for hitting you...and for shooting you." Donny nodded, trying to forget the slight pain he still had in his leg and nose. He nodded, but did not accept her apology. She didn"t expect him to. Mara looked back at her arm and sighed. Donny watched her eyes sadden and he felt himself grow cold despite the fire that was so close to them. Mara looked up at him suddenly and pulled her sleeves down over her hands. She made a point not to look up at him. Donny sighed, balancing his shotgun across his knees and looking out into the darkness that surrounded them, the trees that seemed comforting but he knew that at any moment there could be a group of Nazi"s right behind them. He looked at Mara again even though she did not look back. It was then, though he did not know why, that he finally felt like he trusted her and her story. Entrapped Jews, they had a look to them. Donny twice had the misfortune to encounter men and women who had been sent to those camps, and just like his Bostonian accent, the look in their eyes was unmistakeable. "Can I see it?" He blurted out, forgetting himself completely and Mara clinched her jaw and was completely silent for several moments. But then she rolled her sleeve up slowly and displayed the seven numbers on her forearm. 0389421. Donny"s breath caught in his throat and he felt a sudden mix of anger and sadness and helplessness simultaneously as he imagined Mara having to go through each and every one of those horror stories he"s heard. He rubbed his hands over his chin and through his hair, feeling chills erupt through his whole body. Donny"s fingers traced over the inked scars and had the uncontrollable urge to brutally murder every Nazi that had anything to do with her entrapment. "How long has it been?" He managed to choke out. "Since I escaped or when they took me in?" "Since you escaped." She was silent for a moment, counting the days in her head. "...About five weeks." Mara hadn"t talked to anyone about what had happened to her in the camp and she felt it terribly difficult to do so, but it also felt comforting to release some of the emotion she"d coveted and built up. "How long were you there?" Donny asked, curiosity taking hold of his words but he noticed Mara seemed to be more at ease with him. "I was there for six months. It may not seem like a long time, but most do not make it past the second." "I"ve heard stories...awful stories of the shit those fucks do. I almost don"t want to believe it...it makes me sick." "I suppose that is why you are here. It is why I am here, it is why I will be here until the entire Third Reich is extinct, murdered for their merciless and demented crimes." Donny smiled at her. She was like him; a believer, an enforcer. "Donny?" She asked, almost uncertain if that was his name. But he nodded her on, "Do you keep count of the Nazis you"ve killed?" Donny chuckled, "No, m"am, that"d be a number too high for me to remember." She huffed in amusement. Humble, she thought, he was slightly humble. "I do, however, keep these..." He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his coat and pulled the strings out by his thumb, "...for the best kills." Mara looked at them, the pieces of metal glinting silver orange from the fire"s light, "Nazi dog-tags..." She grabbed a few of them and ran her fingers over a few of the names, lots of "Sgt." "Col." "Ln." amongst them. She stopped at one. General Dietfried Kramer. Mara sucked in a breath. "What is it?" Donny looked down at the tag she held. "You killed this man? Dietfried Kramer?" "Sure did. Why?" She cleared her throat and dropped the tag, "Dietfried Kramer was the younger brother of The Beast of Belsen." Donny narrowed his eyes, and she clarified; "Josef Kramer, the...commandant of the camp I was held, Bergen-Belsen." Donny grew sad but then felt a sort of pride in himself, "He said he worked in the camps-I beat him till his skull was as flat as a pancake." Mara smiled slightly at Donny, "He got what he deserved...They were a cruel pair. Dietfried was Josef"s right hand man. How troubled Josef must be without his brother to do his dirty work." Mara spoke with more spite than he expected from her. "Dirty work?" "Killed many Jews that Josef did not like, brought the especially hated ones to him so he could beat them to death...brought women to him...killed most the women after...even did some of the tattooing-did mine in fact." Donny clinched his jaw and breathed heavily through his nose. If he had known who exactly Diefried Kramer was he would have made him suffer more. Then a thought forged itself into Donny"s mind. He didn"t want to ask if Mara had been one of the women that was brought to Josef, but the way she spoke with such disdain and sorrow Donny didn"t have to ask. He would have felt incredibly invasive if he would have anyway so he kept silent. He then started with an apology, "I"m sorry-" "Does your nose hurt?" She asked, trying to see the bruise she"d left behind, interrupting him. Donny watched her for a moment, "I"ve had worse..." He trailed off, wondering why she hadn"t let him express his empathy with her, Donny didn"t usually empathize with anyone. She nodded, leaning back. "You have one hell of an arm though." "I know." She said, smirking. Donny smirked too, knowing full well she used it to her advantage every moment she got. Mara yawned, running her fingers through her hair. "I"m going for a walk." She stood. Donny stood, pulling a gun from his belt and threw it to her. "Don"t be too long," She mumbled as she caught it, "and don"t wander too far off." Mumbled again and Donny chuckled, standing and walking to the far edge of the small clearing and leaned against a tree, watching Mara hold the shot gun up on her shoulder as she looked up at the night sky. Donny sighed, still uncertain what to think of her just yet. But what he did know was that she was slowly redeeming herself in his mind far from his first impression of her. He still had a strange feeling, but he knew he would have to get over that soon. Aldo had taken a liking to her and they"d be spending the next two months with her amongst the Basterds, so Donny had to get used to her sooner rather than later. I hope you all realize it"d be ridiculous for me to claim that I actually own Inglourious Basterds. Also, enjoy this chapter! Please do tell me what you think, it does inspire me so. Between the hours of three and five there wasn"t a single Basterd on look-out outside the tents. Mara sat perched on a log, tugging at the end of her wool cardigan. She"d sat there watching the fire dwindle to embers trying to keep her mind focused on what her mission was and what she needed to do in the process. She poked at the embers with her gun and sighed, watching a bit of smoke smolder and embers die. They reminded her of the coals they used to heat the crematory rooms back in Bergen-Belsen and Mara had to close her eyes until she pictured stars in her eyelids to forget momentarily what had happened not two months ago. Mara sniffed as she realized she"d begun to cry and immediately rubbed her face clean of all tears as she heard a rustling behind her. The sun had just begun to rise leaving the air around cast in a gentle orange light just bright enough to see Aldo stumble out from his tent with a blanket in his arms. He looked at her and nodded. "Figured you"d be out "ere." Aldo said, his voice gruff from his first words of the day. He draped the blanket around her and rubbed her shoulder a bit. "I didn"t sleep." "Figured you didn"." Aldo said as he sat next to her. "We got "bout thirty minutes before my men wake up and we leave for Périgueux." "Okay..." "In the meantime, I have a few questions for you, if"n you don"t mind answerin" "em." He said kindly, Mara nodded and he went on, "First things first, I need to know your full name, age, and previous occupation if you had one." "My name is Mara Rothko, I am...twenty four, and I was an artist-or tried to be." Mara tried to shake off the fact that she"d almost forgotten how old she was, and she could tell that Aldo saw it too but chose to ignore it. She felt silly for saying she was an artist, she"d only had one exhibition and it was a complete flop. Mara considered herself a failure after that. "All right then, next question..." Mara braced herself for the intruding question she knew he was about to ask. "How many Nazis have you personally killed?" Mara looked up at him, confused. "Um...I"d say no less than two-hundred since I escaped." Aldo"s eyebrows shot up. "And when was that?" "Five weeks ago." "Weapons?" "Shotgun mostly, a few knives, a bomb, an-and my hands once." "Two-hun"red Nazis in five weeks," he mumbled, "...after escapin" from the work camps you killed more than two-hun"red Nazis in five weeks?" "That is what I said." Aldo watched her unwavering gaze he held with her and smiled slightly. He stuck out his hand and shook hers. Aldo completely believed her tale. He saw experience in her. "When we found ya, how"d you get yourself into Nazi occupied France as a leader of that kraut squad?" Mara sighed, "When I escaped it took me a couple weeks to gather my strength and a little bit of muscle mass was built with excessive eating, exercising, and padding in the right places. It was easy to weasel myself into the Third Reich. I just had to act like I belonged, like the men I spent everyday staring at with hatred while they starved and beat and antagonized me and everyone else. It was easy...After I was moved to captain status I was sent on location with a few new high ranked officers in Bordeaux. That was a week ago. Five days ago I"d planned on killing all three of them given the right opportunity, but you all showed up, did the job for me. Thank you for that." Aldo nodded. "I"m impressed." Mara gave a small sarcastic smile and held the blanket tighter around her. "And I ain"t impressed too often," he said. "Now that I know your full story, or at least the good bits, I"ve got one last question for you. Actually it"s a bit more like an offer. If we still keep that deal "bout takin" you to Germany d"you think you"d be able to spare an extra month or two, working with a US secret service guerrilla unit?"

"The princess." The man paused and glanced at Harry, "And the Kingsman." Guinevere gently grabbed the gun she had disassembled and reassembled it at a pace that made the man gulp in anticipation. Once she slipped the bullet magazine in and cocked it she shot him in the stomach. Harry jumped back and watched her place the gun to the man"s temple. "How much is he paying you?" The man coughed and blood ran from his mouth, down his chin. "Not enough." A fire raged from within her, Harry was amazed. She threw the gun down and lifted the man up by his lapels and dragged him to the balcony. Harry watched silently from the room. "You"re going to tell me right here and right now, or I will throw you over this balcony without a shred of regret; Is Rene Teshigahara alive?" The man didn"t answer, so she shook him, and repeated, "Is Rene Teshigahara still alive, yes or no!" The man coughed, but then he chuckled, "Yes, and he"s after you and your little spy." Guinevere clinched her jaw. "Where is he?" "He"s where ever you are, Princess Grimaldi." Guinevere suddenly dropped him and he fell with a scream. But before they could hear the crash she shut the doors to the balcony and looked at Harry. "We need to leave." "We?" Harry asked as she grabbed her bag from under the couch and unzipped it. "Yes, we." She pulled out a black suit and laid it out. "I will explain everything, but first I need you to help me unzip my dress." She turned her back to him and held her hair up in a bunch. Harry did not hesitate to take the zipper that sat at the base of her neck and pulled it down. When her full back was exposed Harry respectfully turned around and let her dress in private. He heard her shuffle for several moments and then heard the zip of the bag. Harry looked over his shoulder to see her fully dressed in a form-fitting black blazer and slacks, with a low cut black shirt beneath. She sat on the couch and tied the laces of her Oxfords. When she stood Harry was taken slightly aback. Harry all of a sudden felt like he had met his equal. In strength and in style. "I must say, that is a handsome suit. Who do you go to?" Guinevere smiled. "Wouldn"t you like to know?" That American accent was back as she walked past him, with her bag slung around her shoulder. "Alright, Mr. Galahad. Follow me." Guinevere had led Galahad three blocks away from the hotel to a secluded parking garage. There she unlocked a black 1990 Maserati. Harry internally smiled, always in style-never laying it low. Once they left city limits Guinevere sighed, glancing around her mirrors, checking her surroundings. "Alright, I"ll get right to it." She said, her French accent more apparent. Harry sat back, watching the fields pass by, waiting for her to speak. "I haven"t been completely honest with you. Or I"ve at least withheld very important information. As you may have heard from that man I threw over the balcony back there my real name. Yes, my real name is Guinevere, my last name is Kelly-Grimaldi. I am the youngest daughter of Grace Kelly and Rainier III." "You"re shitting me." Harry didn"t know how to react. Right here, in this car, the woman he"d been chasing after for months, this woman that so very much reminded him of Grace Kelly was a Princess of Monaco. He mentally berated himself and Merlin for not seeing it. "And I"m so sorry, I"m afraid I"ve caught you up in my terrible mess." She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Who is Rene Teshigahara?" "Rene is-or more aptly, was the man that..." She paused, struggling with her words, "He was a very bad man, a murderer and the leader of a gang that wiped out our close friends and family just to get to my mother. But she died before he got the chance. By then he was the most powerful gang leader of all of Monaco and France, perhaps of Europe and Asia. After that he turned his attentions to me and my sisters. After years of being stalked by this man I killed him. It was then when I decided to become a spy for Monaco Secret Service. But that"s besides the point...I thought Teshigahara was dead. I could have sworn..." "And yet, he is alive and is not only in pursuit of you, Princess of Monaco, but myself as well." Harry said pointedly, letting all the information sink in. "I know-I know it sounds completely far fetched. But this man, if he"s after me he most likely hopped onto your trail when you were looking for me. I"m sure he now sees you as an obstacle between himself and me." "And now, I am within the midsts-brilliant." Harry sighed, only blaming himself. "I really am sorry, Galahad. This man, he"s dangerous and insane. I think it"s best if we stay together-out on your own, I"m afraid you wouldn"t stand a chance." Harry scoffed, "You know I am a Kingsman after all-I am quite capable of taking care of myself." Guinevere glanced from the road for a moment at Harry, "Are you, Galahad?" Harry rolled his eyed and sighed, "Fine. We figure this out together...in the meantime you might as well call me by my real name...it"s Harry." Guinevere smiled gently, "I know." Harry stared at her for a moment before sighing. Of course she knew. "I am very fond of you, Mr. Hart. Which is why I told you my real name. It just happened to fit within your Kingsman mythology." Harry nodded, checking his watch. "So, what"s the plan, grab a quick steak and kill the most powerful gang leader in Europe by dusk?" Guinevere smiled a genuine smile, "That sounds quite alright with me." Please, please let me know what you think! Guinevere led Harry three blocks away from the hotel to a secluded parking garage. There she unlocked a black 1990 Maserati. Harry internally smiled, always in style-never laying it low. Once they left city limits Guinevere sighed, glancing around her mirrors, checking her surroundings. "Alright, I"ll get right to it." She said, her French accent more apparent. Harry sat back, watching the fields pass by, waiting for her to speak. "I haven"t been completely honest with you. Or I"ve at least withheld very important information. As you may have heard from that man I threw over the balcony back there my real name. Yes, my real name is Guinevere, my last name is Kelly-Grimaldi. I am the youngest daughter of Grace Kelly and Rainier III." "You"re shitting me." Harry didn"t know how to react. Right here, in this car, the woman he"d been chasing after for months, this woman that so very much reminded him of Grace Kelly was a Princess of Monaco. He mentally berated himself and Merlin for not seeing it. "And I"m so sorry, I"m afraid I"ve caught you up in my terrible mess." She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Who is Rene Teshigahara?" "Rene is-or more aptly, was the man that..." She paused, struggling with her words, "He was a very bad man, a murderer and the leader of a gang that wiped out our close friends and family just to get to my mother. But she died before he got the chance. By then he was the most powerful gang leader of all of Monaco and France, perhaps of Europe and Asia. After that he turned his attentions to me and my sisters. After years of being stalked by this man I killed him. It was then when I decided to become a spy for Monaco Secret Service. But that"s besides the point...I thought Teshigahara was dead. I could have sworn..." "And yet, he is alive and is not only in pursuit of you, Princess of Monaco, but myself as well." Harry said pointedly, letting all the information sink in. "I know-I know it sounds completely far fetched. But this man, if he"s after me he most likely hopped onto your trail when you were looking for me. I"m sure he now sees you as an obstacle between himself and me." "And now, I am within the midsts-brilliant." Harry sighed, only blaming himself. "I really am sorry, Galahad. This man, he"s dangerous and insane. I think it"s best if we stay together-out on your own, I"m afraid you wouldn"t stand a chance." Harry scoffed, "You know I am a Kingsman after all-I am quite capable of taking care of myself." Guinevere glanced from the road for a moment at Harry, "Are you, Galahad?" Harry rolled his eyed and sighed, "Fine. We figure this out together...in the meantime you might as well call me by my real name...it"s Harry." Guinevere smiled gently, "I know." Harry stared at her for a moment before sighing. Of course she knew. "I am very fond of you, Mr. Hart. Which is why I told you my real name. It just happened to fit within your Kingsman mythology." Harry nodded, checking his watch. "So, what"s the plan, grab a quick steak and kill the most powerful gang leader in Europe by dusk?" Guinevere smiled a genuine smile, "That sounds quite alright with me." Guinevere and Harry drove from Italy into France. It was a long drive and they didn"t talk much. But when the moments hit them they shared a few very meaningful conversations about France and the countryside, and they both spent a good hour discussing bees and their presence in Europe, and how Harry was allergic to them. Harry was comfortable, despite the impending doom he felt. He didn"t know this Rene Teshigahara, but based on Guinevere"s reaction to his current status of liveliness, he had much to worry about. But riding in the car with this woman he had hated, but was now partnered with, he struggled with the aching feeling of attraction, emotional attraction that is, towards her. Ever so slightly. She was beautiful, he could not deny that even when he hated her. But she was beautiful and incredibly resourceful. Harry wouldn"t have been able to get out that hotel half as easily as he did with Guinevere by his side. From what little he"s seen of her, she"s a brilliant agent. Practical, tactical, and another word he couldn"t quite put his finger on but was something akin to...admirable. Though, Harry being an English man of his age, and his stature-to admire a woman ten years his junior, and a Frenchwoman on top of that. It was madness. Pure absurd madness. Guinevere yawned as the sun was setting and Harry was speaking to Arthur on the phone, assuring him of their situation. "Merlin is conducting a search on this Teshigahara as we speak, to assess the danger you"re in. Though I cannot condone a partnership with this woman, seems far too risky." "I think the word you"re looking for is fishy." Guinevere smirked from the driver"s side, obviously eavesdropping on their conversation. "As I said, Arthur, there"s nothing to worry with her. She"s trustworthy. Besides, if she wanted me dead she"s had the last 15 hours to do so." Guinevere rolled her eyes as Harry got of the phone. "Your commander"s code name is Arthur?" She held in a chuckled. "Yes it is." She smiled but kept her eyes on the road, "You Englishmen and your traditions." "Oh yes, coming from a princess-"our" traditions are ridiculous." Harry rolled his eyes, "How much longer?" "Not too long now." After another hour the sun had completely set and she pulled into a long drive way up to a small house hidden away in the trees. "What is this place?" Harry slowly stepped out. Guinevere grabbed their bags and walked up to the door. "It"s a safe house." She twisted the deadbolt over and it revealed an LED screen. Guinevere placed her thumb on it. After a moment her thumb was scanned and three locks clicked within the door. The lights turned on when they stepped in. Harry glanced at a wine and cheese basket on the table, "Courtesy of Monaco Secret Service?" Guinevere chuckled, "How could you tell?" She looked through the kitchen and smiled, "Thank god they stocked the kitchen, I"m starving." She grabbed an orange and began to peel it while Harry still took a cautious look around. "You can relax, Harry. We"re safe here for the moment." "For the moment." Harry repeated back to her, walking over to her in the kitchen. Guinevere placed the orange down and stood in front of him. Gently she took the umbrella from his hand and placed it on the counter. Then she removed his glasses, and placed her hands on his arms and maneuvered him to a seat at the island. She slid a bowl of grapes his way. "Now you eat those grapes, and you relax. I can"t work with someone with a stick up their ass the whole time." Harry narrowed his eyes at her. "I do not have a stick up my ass." He popped a grape into his mouth and chewed, tasting the sweet and tart flavor. Guinevere smiled, feeling accomplished. After a moment she wandered around the other cabinets. "Holy shit." Harry stood quickly at Guinevere"s panicked statement. "What is it?" Guinevere turned around with a large bottle in her hand, "In the mood for some brandy?" "Oh, fuck, yes." Harry said with an exasperated tone. Harry sat at the fire the following morning, Guinevere sat at the breakfast table, tire stricken across their faces. Harry, upon insisting Guinevere take the single bed upstairs had slept on the couch the night before and was regretting the decision. Though he be damned if he let her know. Guinevere took a sip of her tea and read through the few files the safe house had in the basement. A small collection of Monaco Secret Service intel. They had dealt with Rene Teshigahara before. Harry took a sip of his own tea and watched her. She was dressed in an elegant gray suit, Harry remembered this was the suit he first saw her in. A blue and red bandana was tied around her neck, and underneath that bandana he could see a bulge from under her dress shirt, very small, but unnatural. It was the necklace. "Why are you staring at me?" She said, still flipping through the pages of the files. "Sorry, just thinking." "About?" She inquired, still meandering through the pages. Harry paused for a moment, dare he ask? Guinevere adjusted the glasses on her nose and opened another file. And after a minute or two he spoke. "I was actually, thinking about...the diamond..." "What about it?" "Why did you take it?" He asked softly, in an attempt to not offend. Then Guinevere set the file down and looked at him. "Because it was my mothers." Harry narrowed his eyes, "I thought it was the Queen"s diamond." He pondered, perhaps there was more to this story than he realized. "It was stolen from my family in the seventies, some how it ended up within the Queen"s treasury, as stolen items tend to do." "Hey now." Guinevere hardly displayed a smirk. "When my mother died I made it a mission of mine to retrieve it and return it home to her, any matters necessary." Harry nodded, she was caring and she was loyal. "I see." He said, "Do you think Teshigahara showing up might have something to do with the diamond?" "It"s unlikely, but I"m not ruling it out completely...apart from you and I no one knows I have it, and the decoy was sold through the market in Madrid I think." "Yes, you are right." Guinevere smirked and went back to her tea and her files. A smirk that bespoke the words "I"m always right." Harry struggled to say anything else, and honestly Harry felt completely useless in the situation. "These files are nothing but bad reported non-sense." She sighed, "What about your guy? Last night he said he was looking into it?" "Yes, I spoke with Merlin this morning. Nothing that our databases could discern unfortunately." Guinevere chuckled, "What?" "Merlin..." She stood, shaking her head, and refilled her cup of tea with coffee. "Guinevere, can you tell me what exactly you know about this man? I feel we are on unequal playing ground at the moment." Guinevere sighed at the question. "I was hoping these files would act as a sort of background but alas...can"t count on your fellow agents for shit..." Guinevere walked over to the living room and sat adjacent to Harry in front of the fire. "Well I am all ears, darling." Guinevere smiled so gently Harry could hardly make it out over the pained look on her face. Harry knew this conversation was going to be difficult. But she sighed and began to speak. "Rene had a lot of power in Monaco, in the underground. More power than you could realize. He was obsessed with our family. Kind of like a Rasputin situation, but my parents were not fooled by him. He never wanted to kill any of us, except for maybe my father. I feared him when my mother told me who he was, the man that always seemed to be wherever we were. He would send threatening messages to my father, threatening to kidnap me and my sisters. He was deranged. And in the end he killed my mother." "I thought your mother died of a stroke?" Guinevere sucked in a breath, "She was in the hospital for heart problems. But Rene got into her room and overdosed her on medications that caused a stroke in her brain. I was there when he did it, I was twelve years old and I watched him kill my mother. And as dramatic as it sounds my mother"s last words to me where to kill that man. And I did. It wasn"t hard to kill him, in the end, he was actually quite weak and feeble-I was only sixteen after all. What proved more difficult was the body guards he surrounds himself with, and his hired help. Like we encountered in Milan. We"ll probably going to experience a lot of that. But if we can get to him..." "Cut off the head of the snake." Harry finished her thought. "Exactly." Guinevere looked at the fire with a pensive look on her face. Harry felt now more than ever; ill-prepared. That afternoon Harry watched Guinevere call every contact in Paris and the outside region she trusted, inquiring about Teshigahara in the area. "Bonjour, bonjour, ca va? Écoutez, je m"interroge sur un homme appelé Rene Teshigahara?" She listened for several moments and the slightest smile appeared on her face, "Oui, oui, je peux être contacté à ce numéro. Merci, merci." Guinevere hung the phone up and smiled. "Am I to interpret that smile as a positive thing?" Harry asked and in response Guinevere sighed happily. "We"re finally getting somewhere. That was one of the foreign curators of the Louvre, we go way back, says she might have seen him in the museum just yesterday and is going to look back at security footage." "Fantastic." Harry agreed. "Now we wait." Guinevere sat at the couch. "If you"ll excuse me I"m going to wash up." Harry said standing, and she nodded at him. Harry led himself to the shower room and quickly washed up. Harry didn"t particularly need a shower, as he hadn"t really done anything all day, but he needed something to distract his thoughts-if only for twenty minutes. He stared at himself in the mirror and held in a sigh. Then he spoke to himself. "Harry you"re being ridiculous." He said, glaring at his reflection. "She tried to kill you two months ago. Stop with the sympathy bullshit." He felt for her, the pain she had been through and the strength she was forced to adapt to and exert. After a moment of hard stares at himself Harry sighed and dressed himself. As he was straightening his tie he heard a piano being played downstairs faintly. He opened the bathroom door and stepped down the hall silently. He glanced down the stairs and spotted Guinevere at the upright piano gently plucking away "Gnossienne No. 1" by Erik Satie. He paused there for several moments just listening to her. "Fuck." He said to himself, remembering something they"d briefly spoken of in the hotel room about the word "gnossienne." He shouldn"t expect to understand her, so why was he trying? Other than the obvious beating and drugging, Guinevere had been nothing but kind, polite, and considerate toward him. Harry knew in the back of his mind-a thought that was quickly pushing its way to the front of his mind-that she was only doing what she felt she had to do to survive. And he admired her for that. Suddenly she stopped playing piano and answered the phone. Harry walked down the stairs and watched her curiously as she spoke in a hushed tone. Guinevere noticed Harry walk down the steps and hung up the phone quickly with a soft "goodbye." She smirked at him and went back to the piano and began to pluck at Le Piccadilly, which was a happy and upbeat, whimsical song. "Ha ha, very clever." Harry rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the reference to his home country. Guinevere"s fingers slowed to a quieter melody, more repetitive and gentle. "You play very well." Harry said softly. "Thank you. My mother taught me." She responded and Harry nodded, leaning against the side of the piano. "Do you know how to play?" Harry nodded once more. "Yes my parents both insisted. Though I am not as practiced as you are." Guinevere kept playing the small tune as she shifted to the end of the bench where she sat, and motioned for Harry to sit next to her. And when he did he could have sworn he saw her intake a breath, out of what emotion he did not know. Guinevere began to play a few notes on the higher end, a song he recognized. Johannes Brahms" "Hungarian Dance No. 1" but an incredibly slowed down version. While still playing she grabbed his hand and put it over the lower notes. Her hand, while on top of his played those lower notes. Then she lifted her hand off and nodded for him to continue. She placed both her hands on the keys and began that light, sweet melody he remembered so fondly. The sound and the speed were...intoxicating. And while she kept it extremely slow Harry felt like it had ended far too quickly.

He then started with an apology, "I"m sorry-" "Does your nose hurt?" She asked, trying to see the bruise she"d left behind, interrupting him. Donny watched her for a moment, "I"ve had worse..." He trailed off, wondering why she hadn"t let him express his empathy with her, Donny didn"t usually empathize with anyone. She nodded, leaning back. "You have one hell of an arm though." "I know." She said, smirking. Donny smirked too, knowing full well she used it to her advantage every moment she got. Mara yawned, running her fingers through her hair. "I"m going for a walk." She stood. Donny stood, pulling a gun from his belt and threw it to her. "Don"t be too long," She mumbled as she caught it, "and don"t wander too far off." Mumbled again and Donny chuckled, standing and walking to the far edge of the small clearing and leaned against a tree, watching Mara hold the shot gun up on her shoulder as she looked up at the night sky. Donny sighed, still uncertain what to think of her just yet. But what he did know was that she was slowly redeeming herself in his mind far from his first impression of her. He still had a strange feeling, but he knew he would have to get over that soon. Aldo had taken a liking to her and they"d be spending the next two months with her amongst the Basterds, so Donny had to get used to her sooner rather than later. I hope you all realize it"d be ridiculous for me to claim that I actually own Inglourious Basterds. Also, enjoy this chapter! Please do tell me what you think, it does inspire me so. Between the hours of three and five there wasn"t a single Basterd on look-out outside the tents. Mara sat perched on a log, tugging at the end of her wool cardigan. She"d sat there watching the fire dwindle to embers trying to keep her mind focused on what her mission was and what she needed to do in the process. She poked at the embers with her gun and sighed, watching a bit of smoke smolder and embers die. They reminded her of the coals they used to heat the crematory rooms back in Bergen-Belsen and Mara had to close her eyes until she pictured stars in her eyelids to forget momentarily what had happened not two months ago. Mara sniffed as she realized she"d begun to cry and immediately rubbed her face clean of all tears as she heard a rustling behind her. The sun had just begun to rise leaving the air around cast in a gentle orange light just bright enough to see Aldo stumble out from his tent with a blanket in his arms. He looked at her and nodded. "Figured you"d be out "ere." Aldo said, his voice gruff from his first words of the day. He draped the blanket around her and rubbed her shoulder a bit. "I didn"t sleep." "Figured you didn"." Aldo said as he sat next to her. "We got "bout thirty minutes before my men wake up and we leave for Périgueux." "Okay..." "In the meantime, I have a few questions for you, if"n you don"t mind answerin" "em." He said kindly, Mara nodded and he went on, "First things first, I need to know your full name, age, and previous occupation if you had one." "My name is Mara Rothko, I am...twenty four, and I was an artist-or tried to be." Mara tried to shake off the fact that she"d almost forgotten how old she was, and she could tell that Aldo saw it too but chose to ignore it. She felt silly for saying she was an artist, she"d only had one exhibition and it was a complete flop. Mara considered herself a failure after that. "All right then, next question..." Mara braced herself for the intruding question she knew he was about to ask. "How many Nazis have you personally killed?" Mara looked up at him, confused. "Um...I"d say no less than two-hundred since I escaped." Aldo"s eyebrows shot up. "And when was that?" "Five weeks ago." "Weapons?" "Shotgun mostly, a few knives, a bomb, an-and my hands once." "Two-hun"red Nazis in five weeks," he mumbled, "...after escapin" from the work camps you killed more than two-hun"red Nazis in five weeks?" "That is what I said." Aldo watched her unwavering gaze he held with her and smiled slightly. He stuck out his hand and shook hers. Aldo completely believed her tale. He saw experience in her. "When we found ya, how"d you get yourself into Nazi occupied France as a leader of that kraut squad?" Mara sighed, "When I escaped it took me a couple weeks to gather my strength and a little bit of muscle mass was built with excessive eating, exercising, and padding in the right places. It was easy to weasel myself into the Third Reich. I just had to act like I belonged, like the men I spent everyday staring at with hatred while they starved and beat and antagonized me and everyone else. It was easy...After I was moved to captain status I was sent on location with a few new high ranked officers in Bordeaux. That was a week ago. Five days ago I"d planned on killing all three of them given the right opportunity, but you all showed up, did the job for me. Thank you for that." Aldo nodded. "I"m impressed." Mara gave a small sarcastic smile and held the blanket tighter around her. "And I ain"t impressed too often," he said. "Now that I know your full story, or at least the good bits, I"ve got one last question for you. Actually it"s a bit more like an offer. If we still keep that deal "bout takin" you to Germany d"you think you"d be able to spare an extra month or two, working with a US secret service guerrilla unit?" Mara looked at him like he was crazy. But she thought about it, and figured she probably would have pitched in anyway, might as well be recognized for it. So she nodded. "But-" she began, holding her hand up, "I do not owe you anything. I will help and I will be a part of the team but I will still be able to focus on my own agenda whilst accompanying you and the Basterds through this war." Aldo eyed her and nodded, against his wishes but he had to make a peace. "All right then, I think I can accept that. And I"m gonna let you keep that agenda to yourself for now, but soon I"m gonna be askin" you "bout it and if you think you can get away without answerin" by poutin" them pretty pink lips and flappin" them thick lashes, you gotta "nother thing comin"." Mara laughed, charmed by his words and feeling herself grow more comfortable around him. "So. Do we have a deal Miss Rothko?" Aldo stuck out his hand. "We have a deal, Lieutenant." She shook his hand and Aldo smiled brightly at the use of his title. He just keeps finding reasons to like her even more. The men had begun to slowly trickle out of their tents and soon they were all on their way to Périgueux. A few of the men had tried to talk to Mara as they walked but she was content in her silence at the front of the group. Donny walked behind her as close as he could without stomping over her just because he didn"t like how far she was walking ahead. She noticed this but didn"t say anything about it. She liked that he was still slightly suspicious of her. She felt he should be, they all should be. After several hours of walking Aldo had everyone stop at a nice, secluded lake for a break. Mara sat down against a tree next to one of the men, Utivich. He smiled at her and asked her how she was. Mara paused before answering, trying to remember which one he was. She recalled him being the only one willing to give her a smile prior to this morning. "I am fine. And you?" "I"m good." He replied, watching Mara lazily run her fingers through her hair, snagging on knots and cringing. "Wait." He began to dig around his bag and smiled as he pulled out a sterling bristle brush. "You might have more use of this than I ever could." Mara took it slowly and smiled slightly. "Thank you." She said as she brushed her hair, "Why do you have a woman"s hairbrush in your possession?" "I found it a month ago and was going to bring it back for my mother but..." Utivich stopped and looked down. "But she died a few weeks ago from the flu." Mara set the brush on her lap and put her hand gently over his, he looked at her and chuckled. "I don"t know why I kept it though. Perhaps I was meant to give it to you." Mara chuckled, "Well, thank you. It means a lot." He nodded and stood after a moment to leave her to her thoughts. She watched all the men doing various things, talking, eating, writing, smoking all around a small fire. Mara saw all the men except for one who they had previously had to slow down, if only slightly, for. Mara silently walked over to Hugo who sat on a log smoking a cigar with his foot elevated upon another log. He looked up at her when he noticed her walk up and looked back onto the lake. "What do you want?" "Ich bin traurig, dass ich auf dich geschossen. Ich wollte nicht, um tatsächlich erschießen. Ich wusste nicht, dass mein Ziel war so gut. Bitte akzeptieren Sie meine Entschuldigung, Hugo. Obwohl ich kann verstehen, wenn du nicht kannst." (I am sorry I shot you. I did not mean to actually shoot you. I didn"t think my aim was that good. Please accept my apology, Hugo. Though I can understand if you cannot.) Hugo sighed and looked at her. He popped the cigar in his mouth and held his hand out, nodding for her to shake. Mara shook his hand firmly. "How can you speak German so well?" He asked in English. "My parents and I lived in Berlin with my grandmother for a while before the war started." Hugo nodded, looking out onto the lake. "I sincerely hope you know that I did not mean any offense either when I yelled at you." "No offense taken, Miss Mara." Mara smiled, glad that Hugo wasn"t upset with her and also intrigued by the way he said her name. It was odd, the way Germans usually said her name it was with such disdain and disgust, but with Hugo it seemed to roll off his tongue, like it was natural. "I think we"re about to head off. Do you need any help?" He shook his head, finishing his cigar. Mara nodded and made her way back to the men. She stopped next to Donny, picking up her bag. He watched her adjust the straps and narrowed his eyes at her as she looked up at him. "Yes?" He asked. "Um...If you do not mind, I would like to walk with you the little ways we still have until we reach the vehicles, is that all right?" His eyes widened slightly and he nodded. "Yeah sure, just...don"t make any sudden movements." Mara chuckled as she started walking next to him. One month later There was a growing comfort amongst the men concerning Mara Rothko and even she had begun to grow comfortable with the Basterds fighting with them, talking with them, learning about their lives. She refrained from becoming too close to any of them, but Donny was the one that also seemed to ask her questions rather than answering hers. Mara found this irritating and often refused to answer if it meant telling him too much about her life before the camp. She felt that was all he needed to know since Aldo so sneakily told him when she specifically asked him not to. Bu thankfully she kept the secret from the rest of the Basterds, but she knew they suspected something, though none were willing to even ask. Mostly Mara was silent, but when faced with curiosity, it was hard to fight. And in some strange, obscure fashion Mara began to care about the men she fought amongst. She learned of their families, their passions, their sweethearts. All except Donny. Mara and the Basterds raided several German squads daily and it was the most exhilarating thing Mara had ever experienced. The Basterds were impressed by the utter brutality she expressed against the Germans they faced, but Donny was more impressed by the amount of animosity she obviously coveted on their down time. He thought her extremely peculiar in these moments. "You want somethin" to eat?" Donny asked Mara as she sat with her sketchbook, huddled in a wool blanket by one of the three fires they had going. "Hmm?" She looked up at him. "Food. Would you like some?" "Oh. No thank you." She went back to drawing and Donny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well," he sat next to her, "when I asked I was just being kind. You need to eat." He pushed the metal plate under her nose and she sighed, grabbing it and complying with his demands. "What cha drawin"?" She closed her book and muttered, "Nothing." "Mm-hmm..." Donny mumbled as he ate a spoonful of beans and watched her place the book in between them. He gently opened to a page as Mara ate slowly, watching the fire. But before he could see anything she grabbed the book and stuffed it in her coat. He smiled as she rolled her eyes. "When are we leaving?" She asked as she pushed the beans around her plate, pretending to eat. Donny noticed this but didn"t say anything. He cleared his throat. "Aldo wants to head out tomorrow morning, says he has word of a small Nazi base in some factory outside of Poitiers." Mara nodded, setting her plate down and snuggling deeper into her blanket. She noticed Donny looking at her with sadness in his eyes. She hated when he did that, he did it often. "What?" Donny shook his head as he picked her plate up and looked at her once before getting up and walking back to Omar and Aldo, leaving her to sleep. "She still not eatin"?" Aldo asked as Donny dumped the beans back into the pot. "Nope." He sat next to Omar and looked at Aldo who shook his head. "Well...she"s gonna have to eat sometime, but we can"t force her to." Aldo finished his plate and sighed, leaving to his tent for the night without another word. "D"you think they poisoned her food?" Omar"s question hung heavy in the air. Ever since Donny had let the beans spill to his closest mate Omar had relentlessly brought it up, confusion filling him just as it filled Donny himself. They both hoped soon that Mara would tell the rest of the Basterds herself what had happened. "Ain"t got a doubt in my mind they did..." Donny muttered. He decided it best not to think too much about it and go to bed. After the raid in Poitiers "Donny-Mara go scout the perimeter for any scragglers will ya?" Donny nodded as Mara sighed. She slipped her coat back on and she followed Donny out of the factory. They end up finding and killing two within the first few minutes but Donny urged Mara to go out a little further, just in case. Now about thirty minutes from the factory, Donny and Mara walked slowly when they suddenly heard the distant sound of leaves crunching under synchronized marching footfalls. They both looked at each other and then around them wildly before Donny"s eyes widen. As Mara clutches her gun tight, ready to attack Donny grabbed her by the waist and clapped a hand over her mouth as he drug her behind a large tree trunk. Then around about twenty Nazi soldiers march through the woods not twenty feet from where they hid. They were headed for the factory they had just raided. But then they all stopped to take a small break. Donny knew that Aldo had most likely gotten everyone out of the factory and back to the camp site so the other thing he was worried about was getting himself and Mara passed the camped out Nazis. It"d be suicide to try and attack all of them right there with only two people, a gun, and a bat. So they sat there, Donny"s hand still over Mara"s mouth as he held her as close to him and the tree as possible. He looked at Mara and she was looking at him with a slightly frightened and panicked look in her eyes. He brought his hand from her mouth and she breathed out slowly, the cold creating a gentle cloud out of her shallow breath. "What are we going to do, Donny?" She asked, looking around the tree quickly and spotting all the Nazis sitting not ten yards from them. "The first thing we need to do is get out from behind this tree." "How the hell are we going to do that? There"s about twenty Nazis blocking the way back to camp. We can"t just walk past them like frolickers in the woods caught by surprise." Donny clinched his jaw knowing she was right. "Then we"re gonna to have to go around." He said quickly. "What if we get lost?" "We won"t get lost, I"m good with directions." Mara looked at him unsure as he looked at her with a blank, but determined look. "Okay. All right. Are we just going to make a dash for it?" Donny shook his head. "No. We need to wait till it gets a bit darker, then we"ll slowly ease ourselves North." Mara nodded as she looked back once more. It looked as though they were setting up camp and started large fires to fight away the cold. He sighed as she looked back at Donny and pushed herself closer against him. When the sun was nearly three hours from setting Donny and Mara made a stealthy break for it. When they got nearly ten minutes out from the Nazis they were suddenly surprised with four Nazis on the side of the road trying to fix their truck. They crouched behind a tree, quickly realizing what they"d have to do. "You take the ugly one, I"ll take fat-ass over there and then we"ll come together for the other two." Mara nodded, checking her gun for bullets and content with the six it still held. Donny mouthed a count down and Mara"s vision blurred as they ran out, killing the four in what seemed like seconds. But before they could catch a breath they saw headlights not to far down the road and sprinted for the woods to hide. Mara wheezed and clutched Donny"s sleeve to help her keep his pace. After several minutes of running they both stopped and caught their breath, Mara heaving herself onto the ground, Donny struggling to stand. After several moments of dense breath after breath they both got back on their feet. "Fuck..." Donny muttered, looking around, running his hands through his hair. He had no idea where they were. Mara closed her eyes, sighing and mimicking his same movements. Her hand caught in her hair though, making her realize that the both of them were completely covered in blood. "We need to get ourselves cleaned up. There has to be a lake or stream somewhere around here. We can"t go back into the city looking like we just murdered four people." Donny chuckled and nodded. It took them very little time to locate a small stream, France"s woods were full of them. Donny watched Mara unbutton her shirt and clinched his teeth as the evening light clung to the slight muscles in her arms and the shadows between her breasts. Her skin looked soft; soft like velvet. Through the thin cotton camisole she wore Donny could see the lace brassiere she wore beneath it and suddenly fought the pressure he felt in his gut. Mara pulled her hair up and tied it at the top of her head with a piece of fabric leaving her completely exposed as she began dabbing her skin with a wet cloth. Donny had almost forgot of the blood the both of them were completely covered in. Donny began washing himself sloppily as Mara padded her cheeks in just the right places like she was looking in a mirror. Donny was overwhelmed by the femininity she exposed at times like this. Sure she was obviously feminine any other day but when she was tending to herself, brushing her hair, clipping her nails, washing her face; Donny couldn"t hardly fathom what he would be seeing. She looked at him suddenly and Donny didn"t even bother looking away. "What?" He just shook his head. "Nothin"." She eyed him and continued to wash herself and he himself. She looked at him again and moved over to him. She grabbed his cloth from his hand and began cleaning the dry streak of blood that went over his eye and into his hair. Donny clinched his jaw as he watched her place her hand on the side of his face to steady him as she dabbed his eye. "Not that I"m complainin" but I am capable of cleaning myself." Mara just smirked as she gently wiped his eye once more. "You wouldn"t have gotten it all." She replied as she dropped the cloth in his hands. Donny grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him and kissed her quickly. Mara"s eyes widened as he held her in place. Donny closed his eyes and relished in her soft lips suddenly kissing him back. His hands ran through her hair, releasing her locks from their hold. Mara pulled back slowly and watched him as he watched her. Neither of them said anything. Donny hoped he hadn"t overstepped some sort of boundary but he did not regret it. And as Mara walked back over to her bag and smiled he felt a calmness he hadn"t felt in a long time. Mara looked out onto the lake and folded her sweater and coat over her arm. "It"s gonna to get cold tonight." Donny said as he watched her nod and slip her sweater back on. Donny and Mara created a small fire and sat close to it as the sun began to set. The temperature was quickly dropping and Mara tried not to shiver too much in her thin coat. Donny noticed though and put his arm around her. She jumped but slowly eased into his arms and leaned into him. Within the hour Mara had fallen into a gentle sleep as Donny held her and kept a look out. But as the fire began to go out Donny sighed as he tried to stay awake. "Mara?" He shook her slightly. "Mara, wake up." "Hmm?" She mumbled as her eyes fluttered open gently. "I"m gonna lay down." She nodded as she followed him onto her side and pushed her chest against his. Donny wrapped his arms around her as they attempted to share each others warmth. Mara awoke with a hot breath tickling her nose. She opened her eyes and nearly jumped when she saw Donny"s face so close to hers. His breath was deep, not shallow, and smooth. The comfort she felt then when she realized Donny had a near death grip around her was an unwavering warmth. Her hands were clutching his lapels and Mara wondered how their limbs kept conscious of the danger they were faced with with the cold. But they had survived the bitter night. The sun was slowly rising but the cold had yet to lessen.

There was a silence between them that they both enjoyed. Just looking at each other every now and then in between eating. They both felt it unimportant to talk about what had happened the night before as they had both been there. Suddenly Harry"s glasses tinged with a ring and he slipped them on. "Harry?" He heard Merlin ask. "Good morning Merlin." Guinevere sat up straight suddenly and Harry could tell she was listening. "Morning, Harry. I was wondering if you had seen Guinevere around, she wasn"t in her room yesterday and missed her physical therapy session." Harry took a sip of tea, should he tell Merlin about Guinevere? He"d hate to hide anything from his dear friend. "Not to worry, Merlin, Guinevere"s with me. Though I"m afraid I was unaware of the physical therapy session so I apologize." "Oh don"t worry I received plenty of physical therapy last night." Guinevere muttered loud enough for Harry to hear and sputter the gulp of tea he"d just taken. Guinevere in turn chuckled and continued to eat her breakfast. "Can you make sure she returns to head quarters for her session this evening?" "Yes I"ll make sure she"s there." Harry said, glaring at Guinevere in a playful manner. "Fantastic. Thanks." "Of course." Harry took his glasses off and gave Guinevere a look of tire. Guinevere suddenly stood and slipped her leg over Harry"s lap and straddled him. "You are intolerable...and beautiful..." She kissed his neck and made him sigh out. "Which is it, Mr. Hart?" Harry ran his hands through her hair and smiled, "Both." Guinevere and Harry drove to the shop in a Kingsman ordered taxi. Guinevere chuckled when she got in and saw the wood panelling, cigars, brandy, and the like. But Harry knew she loved it all the same. In the cab Harry and Guinevere sat exactly seven inches from each other. They had a secret and they were going to keep it, for now. No need shouting it from the rooftops, even though Harry wanted to, with all his strength we wanted to. But they both agreed to keep quiet for now. When they arrived at the shop Harry helped Guinevere out of the cab and up the steps to the door and let go of her arm. Harry led her to the back and up the stairs to the dining room. But when they walked in they spotted Arthur and another man Harry had never seen before. A tall, well dressed man in a full black suit and slicked back black hair. The man stood as they entered. "Jacques?" Guinevere said, stepping up. They shook hands and Guinevere stood aside, "Harry this is Jacques Renoir, head of Monaco Secret Service. Jacques this is Harry Hart." They shook hands, "Pleasure," Harry said and Jacques only nodded. "Madame Grimaldi, un mot?" Jacques said to Guinevere and she nodded, confusion laced through her expression. She glanced at Harry and he could have sworn he saw a brief look of alarm in her eyes. They left the room to talk in the hallway and Harry took a seat next to Arthur. "Brandy?" He asked. Harry looked at him for a moment, without having heard him. "Galahad, drink?" "Oh, yes." Harry said and adjusted himself in his seat and glanced at the door. "Odd man, that Jacques Renoir, though how would I know? All Frenchmen seem the same to me." Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes. There Arthur goes again, showing his money like old age. "What?" Harry heard Guinevere say from the hallway, then hushed French from Jacques. Harry and Arthur sat in silence for another minute before the doors opened again by Jacques who walked in and shook Arthur"s hand and then Harry"s. ""Till next time, Renoir." Arthur said and he nodded. Harry looked at the door and saw Guinevere standing with her back to the room, still in the hallway. Jacques walked briskly past her and she still stood, unmoved. After another moment she turned around and stepped into the room slowly. There was a distant and vaguely threatening look on her brow. She breathed slowly and stared at the floor. "Excuse me." She muttered and turned swiftly down the hall. Harry began to stand when Arthur"s hand brought him down. Harry saw Arthur shake his head. "Do you know what that was about?" Harry asked. "Yes I do." Arthur said, taking a drink, "Why do you care?" Harry paused for a minute and didn"t have answer for him, smug bastard. Harry gave him a look of disappointment and left the room. He found Guinevere quickly, sitting on the steps outside of the shop with her head in her hands. Slowly he stepped down and sat next to her, forgetting the seven inches and brushed her shoulder with his. She sighed loudly and looked up ahead. "I was just fired." She said. "You"re fucking kidding me." She shook her head. "Well technically I just resigned." She rolled her eyes and sighed again. "And why were you forced to resign?" Harry asked. "Why do you think?" She said with antipathy, "I am a "loose cannon" for Monaco. They don"t trust me to follow orders anymore. And being a Grimaldi was already a risk." Harry sighed and brushed his knuckles against her knee. "I"m sorry Guinevere, I feel like this is all my fault." "No." She said and turned to him, "You didn"t force me to disobey orders. The only mistake I made was aligning myself with a corrupt secret service in the first place. It"s fine, I promise Harry." He nodded and leaned closer to her. "On the bright side you"ll have a lot more free time." Guinevere laughed and leaned into him, putting her head on his shoulder. They watched the cars drive by, a few people strolling along for several minutes. Guinevere had closed her eyes and held onto her stomach in mild pain, she breathed out heavily. Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulder in an attempt at comfort. "Guinevere?" "Hmm?" She hummed, eyes still closed. "I know I can"t promise anything as this was just an idea spawned thirty seconds ago and I"ll have to have a talk with Arthur-" "Harry what is it?" She interrupted him, still not bothering to open her eyes. "Would you be interested in becoming a Kingsman?" London, EnglandThe next day. Harry sat pensively in the dining room of the Kingsman shop, waiting for Arthur to make his appearance. He was at odds with himself. Never before had he been beaten so easily and so quickly in the midst of a simple recon and retrieve mission. He just could hear Arthur say it, "How could you have let the package get away so easily, and by a girl no less? You are a Kingsman, not a Kingsboy." He sighed, drowning himself in his third glass of brandy. Arthur entered the room quietly, an equally contemplatively look upon his brow. He silently sat down at the end of the table next to Harry and sighed, pouring himself a glass of brandy. "Well...what are you going to do to fix this?" Harry internally sighed with relief. At least he wouldn"t receive the ridicule he expected. "I"m going to find the woman who intercepted the package and return the diamond back to the Queen"s treasury like the original plan." "You have a week before we should expect that diamond to end up on the black market." Arthur said simply, curtly. And left the room. Harry stood and hastily made his way back to the base. "Caucasian, blond hair, short, just above the shoulders, a slight curl at the ends. Dark blue eyes, with a fleck of green in the left iris. She was 160 centimeters, roughly 50 kilograms-athletic build. And I think her ears were pierced." Harry stared intently at Merlin as he typed everything out. "Any markings, tattoos, scars, or otherwise?" Harry sighed, trying to remember. But he could not. He could really only remember her face. "She did say something but I was so out of it I can"t remember the accent...she looked European. But that"s merely speculative." "Right. Well I"ll try my best with FBI and MI6 most wanted, might come up with something. For now try to remember what she said; country of origin is of upmost importance in tracking her down." Merlin said, typing away at his computer. Harry sighed, feeling utterly useless. And exhausted. He needed some sleep. And maybe if he slept he could remember what she sounded like, just maybe. Harry made himself a large cup of tea and indulged himself in a short, but restful nights sleep. He awoke rested and enlightened. He remembered what she had whispered. She called him handsome. But more importantly she called him handsome in an American accent. And suddenly he remembered her hand, that touched his cheek ever so gently. It was soft, and caring. Harry felt like the woman hand done so out of impulse, perhaps regret. But maybe she didn"t, as she had just perviously kicked the living daylights out of him. Harry grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down. "It"s always the handsome ones that give the most fight." And beneath that "American, soft hands." And he began to attempt a sketch of her, but in the end it just ended up looking like the former Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly. Harry had thought himself crazy and delusional with pain when he thought he saw Grace Kelly but by god that"s all he could remember of her. Suddenly Harry"s phone went off, calling him to base immediately. ... Harry rushed through the halls looking for Merlin. When he reached his office he found Merlin with mounds of paper around him and his computer screens. "Harry!" He said excitedly, "I have great news." "What is it?" Merlin clicked through a few screens and pulled up a collection of data on a spreadsheet. "Last night I found traces of an online ad for a contact collector, five hundred thousand pounds for one black Queen"s diamond. Posted one week ago and was taken down just two days ago when you met Grace Kelly in Berlin. I retraced the IP address to a city block in none other than Queens, New York City." "She"s American." Harry smirked. "I"ll leave for New York in ten." "Best of luck, I"ll be here every step of the way." They nodded in farewell. New York City, USAThe next morning. Harry had been to New York City three times in his life. The first time was when he was a child and he went on vacation with his family. He did not remember the trip too well, only his mother griping about Americans and their supposed entitlements. The second time was when he had just graduated from University, he and a couple friends decided to go on what you would call a "bender," and for obvious reasons he also did not remember too much of his second trip to New York City. And his third trip, currently, wasn"t living up to the hype. Full of Americans, traffic, loud noises, unfortunate smells-which he supposed then and there that was probably the full package of the great Big Apple. Much to his disappointment. He walked down a street in Queens, following the navigation Merlin programed into his glasses. It saved him from focusing too much on his environment. "Next turn and you"ll be in front of the building." "Got it." Harry turned the corner and saw the building. It was old, made of limestone and brick, and 14 floors high. Harry assessed the environment and walked across the street. "There"s a cafe right across the street, I"ll be able to survey easily from that vantage." "Notify me when you"ve identified our suspect." "If." Harry corrected to himself. He sighed and ordered an espresso and a water and waited at a table outside. To any passerby he would look like a business man enjoying the nice spring weather. Hardly out of the ordinary. Thirty minutes passed and nothing. Not even a single person came to or from that apartment building, which was odd considering how many units it held. Very odd. Suddenly the lobby door opened and a woman walked out. "Merlin." Harry spoke, hopefully catching his attention back to Harry"s camera feed. He tapped his lens and it zoomed into the woman. "Merlin it"s her." Her hair was up in a neat bun, she wore nothing but black with a tan wool overcoat and nude colored heels. Elegant. "Galahad my feed is displaying interference, are you by any radio towers?" "Merlin I"m in bloody New York City, of course I"m by a radio tower." Harry stood slowly and watched the woman across the street, inserting a manila envelope into her inner coat pocket. She slipped on a pair of sunglasses and began to walk down the road. "Merlin, I"m pursuing." "Pursue with caution Galahad, I"m completely blind here." "Noted." Harry jogged across the street and began to follow the woman at a pace that matched her own. He noticed she was walking exceptionally slow, though that could be attributed to her heels. She glanced over her shoulder momentarily and Harry quickly stepped into a bakery entryway. The woman began to walked again, and Harry followed suit. Harry followed her for thirty minutes through Queens, over a bridge and into Manhattan. He was surprised she could walk so long in those heels, though she was endlessly surprising him. Violence, elegance, stamina. The woman suddenly stopped in front of a large government building and checked her watch. After a moment a man walked out of the building and briefly nodded at the woman, and handed her a pamphlet. And a ticket. The Met Gala. Harry smiled. That is where she would be on Friday. He followed her for a few more blocks before she glanced over her shoulder and Harry could swear she smiled right at him as she turned the corner. Harry quickly turned the corner and she was no where to be found. "Merlin, I lost her. She just...disappeared." "Just as I gained back full quality. Perfect." "No need to worry, Merlin. I know where she"ll be tomorrow. "And where is that?" "Where every important person this side of the hemisphere will be." "Wimbledon?" "The Met Gala." Harry smiled. "I"ll be needing a tuxedo. Merlin, know any good tailors in the area?" Hey guys! Sorry for the late update but here"s a long one for you! I just saw The Golden Circle and I"ve got lots of ideas! Definitely not as good as the first but still FUCKIN SPECTACULAR AY! I"d love to know what all you guys thought, for those that have seen it! Leave a review and let me know! After this chapter things will be speeding up to the events of The Secret Service and into The Golden Circle, hopefully! I hope you enjoy and always, let me know what you think! That evening Guinevere changed into her sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt. Her side was aching more than usual so she grabbed her crutch from the side of the bed and used it to help her walk to the circular room down the hall she had been going to for physical therapy the past week. She spotted Merlin with his clipboard standing in front of the door. "Good evening Guinevere, nice to see you." She smirked at him but didn"t respond. "Alright, in you go." Merlin held the door open for her and she limped through. Guinevere placed her crutch off the side and grabbed a yoga mat to start her exercises. And the exercises were easy for her. Too easy. She needed to be challenged more, pushed further so she could get back on track with how she used to be. After about thirty minutes Guinevere sat up and sighed. Merlin wrote away in his clipboard sitting on a bench against the wall. "Merlin?" "Yes?" He kept his head down but when she didn"t respond he looked up. "What is it Guinevere?" She sighed again and rubbed her face. "Do you like what you do?" Merlin set his clipboard down on the bench next to him. "Yes I do. Without me everyone would be lost." He said with much assurance, making Guinevere smirk. "Why do you ask?" Guinevere stood and began to roll the yoga mat up. "Harry, um-Harry asked me if I would be interested in becoming a Kingsman since I won"t be working for Monaco any longer." "Huh." Merlin said with a slight smirk, letting what she just said sink in. "Are you considering?" "I said I would think about it. I"m just not sure." "Well I can tell you it"s the best job I"ve ever had." Guinevere smirked, "As compared to?" "A bakery in Edinburgh when I was sixteen." Guinevere laughed and set the mat next to the others. "If I means anything I think you would make a fine Kingsman agent." She smiled, "Thank you Merlin. Same time tomorrow?" "Same time tomorrow." Guinevere turned to leave, "And Guinevere, leave the crutch." She nodded and winked at him. When she got back to her room she pulled her suitcase from the closet and dressed in something a little nicer than sweatpants. Long sleeve button down and high waist slacks, with her new oxfords. She packed up everything she had thrown about her room and packed it away. When she was finished she stepped out of the room and made her way to the basement. Guinevere walked out the back of the building and spotted a Mercedes parked outside, keys in the seat. She threw her bag in the back and slipped into the drivers seat. Harry sat at his desk in his study on his laptop. He was still pondering the response he got from Guinevere when he asked if she wanted to be a Kingsman. He knew she wouldn"t have agreed right away but her response didn"t seem all that interested. "I"ll have to think about it." She had said. Harry knew she would fit right in with the Kingsman crew, she was professional, elegant, well-skilled, and the Kingsman could use a feminine presence like hers. All he had to do was convince Arthur to consider a woman. In all the years Kingsman have been an agency there had been 4 women to try out for a position, but none had gotten through, much to the digression of Arthur. Suddenly Harry heard a click downstairs. He quietly shut his laptop grabbed his gun from his shoulder holster and stepped to the entrance of his study. He listened again and heard more shuffling around downstairs. Cautiously he stepped down the steps but paused when he heard his record player start up and Frank Sinatra echoed through his home. Harry sighed and put his gun back in his holster. He should have known. He walked down and found Guinevere in front of the record player looking through a stack of records she had in her arms, swaying with the music. "I didn"t realize Frank Sinatra had so many albums." She chuckled to herself and Harry smiled. He stepped up to her and grabbed the records from her arms. Then he grabbed her head and kissed her softly-tenderly. "I almost shot you, darling." Guinevere smiled as Harry took her hand and waist and began dancing with her. "What"s one more bullet?" She said. Harry held her closer and sighed. He never wanted her to be in any way of danger again. But at the same time he blindly suggested she become a Kingsman. But he said it because that was who she was. She looked happiest when being active. But then again, she looked pretty happy right now too. "Have you thought more about what I asked?" Harry asked cautiously. Silently hoping. "Yes I have." She said simply, hugging her arms around his waist. "And?" Guinevere leaned back and sighed. That did not bode well. "I think I need some time." Guinevere pulled away from Harry and slowly ushered herself into a chair. "I"m still healing and I think I...I just need a break before I get back into the game, you know?" "That"s not a "no.'" Harry said hopefully. "Not exactly a "yes" either darling." She sighed and smiled weakly. "I think I need to go home." Harry looked at her and sighed. He knew she would leave. And he had to be okay with that. They had only really been intimate for a short while so it wasn"t a life altering statement. "Will you come with me?" She asked and Harry looked at her again. "Guinevere I can"t leave England." She stood slowly and held his hands. "My commitment to the Kingsman is-" Guinevere kissed him slowly and softly. "I know Harry. I should not have even asked, that wasn"t fair of me." Harry kissed her again and sighed, grasping her hips desperately. "Guinevere if I could drop every responsibility and uproot my very stabilized life here in London I would, for you." Guinevere smiled sadly and ran her hands through his hair. "But you won"t." She said, her voice equally melancholic. "I can"t, Guinevere." Harry replied and buried his head into her neck and hair, smelling her soft scent. Harry gently kissed her neck where he knew she loved. Guinevere purred quietly and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. When Harry woke up the next morning the bed beside him was empty and cold. He sat up slowly, stretching out the muscles stiff from sleep and spotted a note on the pillow. He picked it up and read. "Harry, I"m sorry I had to leave this way but it was for the best, I"m not very good at in-person farewells. All the same, I do hope to see you again, soon or not soon. Downstairs I left a bottle of my wine, and attached to it is my address. You can write to me if you like, or you can visit me-if you like. I wish you the very best on your next mission and the hundreds after that. Be safe, I love you. Yours, Guinevere" Harry sighed and placed the note on his nightstand. He wished he could have convinced her to stay. But he understood why she left, he just wish he had been enough for her. That thought alone killed him. Was he not enough for her? No, certainly not, she never said that. But she needed to be home, he understood that well enough. He would have been the same way. If stuck in France he would have wanted nothing more than to return to England, to his home. But now, picturing himself in her shoes as they were, he could potentially see himself leaving England, his home, his butterflies, the Kingsman...for her. But what would he do instead, in France? Help her run the vineyard? Work for the French Military, oh that thought alone nearly made him gag. No, no French Military.

"So, what"s the plan, grab a quick steak and kill the most powerful gang leader in Europe by dusk?" Guinevere smiled a genuine smile, "That sounds quite alright with me." Please, please let me know what you think! Guinevere led Harry three blocks away from the hotel to a secluded parking garage. There she unlocked a black 1990 Maserati. Harry internally smiled, always in style-never laying it low. Once they left city limits Guinevere sighed, glancing around her mirrors, checking her surroundings. "Alright, I"ll get right to it." She said, her French accent more apparent. Harry sat back, watching the fields pass by, waiting for her to speak. "I haven"t been completely honest with you. Or I"ve at least withheld very important information. As you may have heard from that man I threw over the balcony back there my real name. Yes, my real name is Guinevere, my last name is Kelly-Grimaldi. I am the youngest daughter of Grace Kelly and Rainier III." "You"re shitting me." Harry didn"t know how to react. Right here, in this car, the woman he"d been chasing after for months, this woman that so very much reminded him of Grace Kelly was a Princess of Monaco. He mentally berated himself and Merlin for not seeing it. "And I"m so sorry, I"m afraid I"ve caught you up in my terrible mess." She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Who is Rene Teshigahara?" "Rene is-or more aptly, was the man that..." She paused, struggling with her words, "He was a very bad man, a murderer and the leader of a gang that wiped out our close friends and family just to get to my mother. But she died before he got the chance. By then he was the most powerful gang leader of all of Monaco and France, perhaps of Europe and Asia. After that he turned his attentions to me and my sisters. After years of being stalked by this man I killed him. It was then when I decided to become a spy for Monaco Secret Service. But that"s besides the point...I thought Teshigahara was dead. I could have sworn..." "And yet, he is alive and is not only in pursuit of you, Princess of Monaco, but myself as well." Harry said pointedly, letting all the information sink in. "I know-I know it sounds completely far fetched. But this man, if he"s after me he most likely hopped onto your trail when you were looking for me. I"m sure he now sees you as an obstacle between himself and me." "And now, I am within the midsts-brilliant." Harry sighed, only blaming himself. "I really am sorry, Galahad. This man, he"s dangerous and insane. I think it"s best if we stay together-out on your own, I"m afraid you wouldn"t stand a chance." Harry scoffed, "You know I am a Kingsman after all-I am quite capable of taking care of myself." Guinevere glanced from the road for a moment at Harry, "Are you, Galahad?" Harry rolled his eyed and sighed, "Fine. We figure this out together...in the meantime you might as well call me by my real name...it"s Harry." Guinevere smiled gently, "I know." Harry stared at her for a moment before sighing. Of course she knew. "I am very fond of you, Mr. Hart. Which is why I told you my real name. It just happened to fit within your Kingsman mythology." Harry nodded, checking his watch. "So, what"s the plan, grab a quick steak and kill the most powerful gang leader in Europe by dusk?" Guinevere smiled a genuine smile, "That sounds quite alright with me." Guinevere and Harry drove from Italy into France. It was a long drive and they didn"t talk much. But when the moments hit them they shared a few very meaningful conversations about France and the countryside, and they both spent a good hour discussing bees and their presence in Europe, and how Harry was allergic to them. Harry was comfortable, despite the impending doom he felt. He didn"t know this Rene Teshigahara, but based on Guinevere"s reaction to his current status of liveliness, he had much to worry about. But riding in the car with this woman he had hated, but was now partnered with, he struggled with the aching feeling of attraction, emotional attraction that is, towards her. Ever so slightly. She was beautiful, he could not deny that even when he hated her. But she was beautiful and incredibly resourceful. Harry wouldn"t have been able to get out that hotel half as easily as he did with Guinevere by his side. From what little he"s seen of her, she"s a brilliant agent. Practical, tactical, and another word he couldn"t quite put his finger on but was something akin to...admirable. Though, Harry being an English man of his age, and his stature-to admire a woman ten years his junior, and a Frenchwoman on top of that. It was madness. Pure absurd madness. Guinevere yawned as the sun was setting and Harry was speaking to Arthur on the phone, assuring him of their situation. "Merlin is conducting a search on this Teshigahara as we speak, to assess the danger you"re in. Though I cannot condone a partnership with this woman, seems far too risky." "I think the word you"re looking for is fishy." Guinevere smirked from the driver"s side, obviously eavesdropping on their conversation. "As I said, Arthur, there"s nothing to worry with her. She"s trustworthy. Besides, if she wanted me dead she"s had the last 15 hours to do so." Guinevere rolled her eyes as Harry got of the phone. "Your commander"s code name is Arthur?" She held in a chuckled. "Yes it is." She smiled but kept her eyes on the road, "You Englishmen and your traditions." "Oh yes, coming from a princess-"our" traditions are ridiculous." Harry rolled his eyes, "How much longer?" "Not too long now." After another hour the sun had completely set and she pulled into a long drive way up to a small house hidden away in the trees. "What is this place?" Harry slowly stepped out. Guinevere grabbed their bags and walked up to the door. "It"s a safe house." She twisted the deadbolt over and it revealed an LED screen. Guinevere placed her thumb on it. After a moment her thumb was scanned and three locks clicked within the door. The lights turned on when they stepped in. Harry glanced at a wine and cheese basket on the table, "Courtesy of Monaco Secret Service?" Guinevere chuckled, "How could you tell?" She looked through the kitchen and smiled, "Thank god they stocked the kitchen, I"m starving." She grabbed an orange and began to peel it while Harry still took a cautious look around. "You can relax, Harry. We"re safe here for the moment." "For the moment." Harry repeated back to her, walking over to her in the kitchen. Guinevere placed the orange down and stood in front of him. Gently she took the umbrella from his hand and placed it on the counter. Then she removed his glasses, and placed her hands on his arms and maneuvered him to a seat at the island. She slid a bowl of grapes his way. "Now you eat those grapes, and you relax. I can"t work with someone with a stick up their ass the whole time." Harry narrowed his eyes at her. "I do not have a stick up my ass." He popped a grape into his mouth and chewed, tasting the sweet and tart flavor. Guinevere smiled, feeling accomplished. After a moment she wandered around the other cabinets. "Holy shit." Harry stood quickly at Guinevere"s panicked statement. "What is it?" Guinevere turned around with a large bottle in her hand, "In the mood for some brandy?" "Oh, fuck, yes." Harry said with an exasperated tone. Harry sat at the fire the following morning, Guinevere sat at the breakfast table, tire stricken across their faces. Harry, upon insisting Guinevere take the single bed upstairs had slept on the couch the night before and was regretting the decision. Though he be damned if he let her know. Guinevere took a sip of her tea and read through the few files the safe house had in the basement. A small collection of Monaco Secret Service intel. They had dealt with Rene Teshigahara before. Harry took a sip of his own tea and watched her. She was dressed in an elegant gray suit, Harry remembered this was the suit he first saw her in. A blue and red bandana was tied around her neck, and underneath that bandana he could see a bulge from under her dress shirt, very small, but unnatural. It was the necklace. "Why are you staring at me?" She said, still flipping through the pages of the files. "Sorry, just thinking." "About?" She inquired, still meandering through the pages. Harry paused for a moment, dare he ask? Guinevere adjusted the glasses on her nose and opened another file. And after a minute or two he spoke. "I was actually, thinking about...the diamond..." "What about it?" "Why did you take it?" He asked softly, in an attempt to not offend. Then Guinevere set the file down and looked at him. "Because it was my mothers." Harry narrowed his eyes, "I thought it was the Queen"s diamond." He pondered, perhaps there was more to this story than he realized. "It was stolen from my family in the seventies, some how it ended up within the Queen"s treasury, as stolen items tend to do." "Hey now." Guinevere hardly displayed a smirk. "When my mother died I made it a mission of mine to retrieve it and return it home to her, any matters necessary." Harry nodded, she was caring and she was loyal. "I see." He said, "Do you think Teshigahara showing up might have something to do with the diamond?" "It"s unlikely, but I"m not ruling it out completely...apart from you and I no one knows I have it, and the decoy was sold through the market in Madrid I think." "Yes, you are right." Guinevere smirked and went back to her tea and her files. A smirk that bespoke the words "I"m always right." Harry struggled to say anything else, and honestly Harry felt completely useless in the situation. "These files are nothing but bad reported non-sense." She sighed, "What about your guy? Last night he said he was looking into it?" "Yes, I spoke with Merlin this morning. Nothing that our databases could discern unfortunately." Guinevere chuckled, "What?" "Merlin..." She stood, shaking her head, and refilled her cup of tea with coffee. "Guinevere, can you tell me what exactly you know about this man? I feel we are on unequal playing ground at the moment." Guinevere sighed at the question. "I was hoping these files would act as a sort of background but alas...can"t count on your fellow agents for shit..." Guinevere walked over to the living room and sat adjacent to Harry in front of the fire. "Well I am all ears, darling." Guinevere smiled so gently Harry could hardly make it out over the pained look on her face. Harry knew this conversation was going to be difficult. But she sighed and began to speak. "Rene had a lot of power in Monaco, in the underground. More power than you could realize. He was obsessed with our family. Kind of like a Rasputin situation, but my parents were not fooled by him. He never wanted to kill any of us, except for maybe my father. I feared him when my mother told me who he was, the man that always seemed to be wherever we were. He would send threatening messages to my father, threatening to kidnap me and my sisters. He was deranged. And in the end he killed my mother." "I thought your mother died of a stroke?" Guinevere sucked in a breath, "She was in the hospital for heart problems. But Rene got into her room and overdosed her on medications that caused a stroke in her brain. I was there when he did it, I was twelve years old and I watched him kill my mother. And as dramatic as it sounds my mother"s last words to me where to kill that man. And I did. It wasn"t hard to kill him, in the end, he was actually quite weak and feeble-I was only sixteen after all. What proved more difficult was the body guards he surrounds himself with, and his hired help. Like we encountered in Milan. We"ll probably going to experience a lot of that. But if we can get to him..." "Cut off the head of the snake." Harry finished her thought. "Exactly." Guinevere looked at the fire with a pensive look on her face. Harry felt now more than ever; ill-prepared. That afternoon Harry watched Guinevere call every contact in Paris and the outside region she trusted, inquiring about Teshigahara in the area. "Bonjour, bonjour, ca va? Écoutez, je m"interroge sur un homme appelé Rene Teshigahara?" She listened for several moments and the slightest smile appeared on her face, "Oui, oui, je peux être contacté à ce numéro. Merci, merci." Guinevere hung the phone up and smiled. "Am I to interpret that smile as a positive thing?" Harry asked and in response Guinevere sighed happily. "We"re finally getting somewhere. That was one of the foreign curators of the Louvre, we go way back, says she might have seen him in the museum just yesterday and is going to look back at security footage." "Fantastic." Harry agreed. "Now we wait." Guinevere sat at the couch. "If you"ll excuse me I"m going to wash up." Harry said standing, and she nodded at him. Harry led himself to the shower room and quickly washed up. Harry didn"t particularly need a shower, as he hadn"t really done anything all day, but he needed something to distract his thoughts-if only for twenty minutes. He stared at himself in the mirror and held in a sigh. Then he spoke to himself. "Harry you"re being ridiculous." He said, glaring at his reflection. "She tried to kill you two months ago. Stop with the sympathy bullshit." He felt for her, the pain she had been through and the strength she was forced to adapt to and exert. After a moment of hard stares at himself Harry sighed and dressed himself. As he was straightening his tie he heard a piano being played downstairs faintly. He opened the bathroom door and stepped down the hall silently. He glanced down the stairs and spotted Guinevere at the upright piano gently plucking away "Gnossienne No. 1" by Erik Satie. He paused there for several moments just listening to her. "Fuck." He said to himself, remembering something they"d briefly spoken of in the hotel room about the word "gnossienne." He shouldn"t expect to understand her, so why was he trying? Other than the obvious beating and drugging, Guinevere had been nothing but kind, polite, and considerate toward him. Harry knew in the back of his mind-a thought that was quickly pushing its way to the front of his mind-that she was only doing what she felt she had to do to survive. And he admired her for that. Suddenly she stopped playing piano and answered the phone. Harry walked down the stairs and watched her curiously as she spoke in a hushed tone. Guinevere noticed Harry walk down the steps and hung up the phone quickly with a soft "goodbye." She smirked at him and went back to the piano and began to pluck at Le Piccadilly, which was a happy and upbeat, whimsical song. "Ha ha, very clever." Harry rolled his eyes, trying to ignore the reference to his home country. Guinevere"s fingers slowed to a quieter melody, more repetitive and gentle. "You play very well." Harry said softly. "Thank you. My mother taught me." She responded and Harry nodded, leaning against the side of the piano. "Do you know how to play?" Harry nodded once more. "Yes my parents both insisted. Though I am not as practiced as you are." Guinevere kept playing the small tune as she shifted to the end of the bench where she sat, and motioned for Harry to sit next to her. And when he did he could have sworn he saw her intake a breath, out of what emotion he did not know. Guinevere began to play a few notes on the higher end, a song he recognized. Johannes Brahms" "Hungarian Dance No. 1" but an incredibly slowed down version. While still playing she grabbed his hand and put it over the lower notes. Her hand, while on top of his played those lower notes. Then she lifted her hand off and nodded for him to continue. She placed both her hands on the keys and began that light, sweet melody he remembered so fondly. The sound and the speed were...intoxicating. And while she kept it extremely slow Harry felt like it had ended far too quickly. "You aren"t as bad as you think, Harry." She said to him, looking into his eyes, softly playing the last few notes. "Shall I add it to my resume?" He asked, lightening up the tension between their bodies. "I"m surprised it"s not already on there." Harry smirked at her response. Then she stood up from the bench and walked into the living room. "Harry, would you like to see what Rene looks like?" She grabbed a laptop from the coffee table and opened it. He cleared his throat and nodded, "Yes." Guinevere clicked through a few emails and ended up on a single photo of a man with long black hair and sunglasses wearing in a moderately tailored black suit walking down a hallway of the Louvre. "Jenny, my contact at the museum thinks he"s there conducting business transactions. Assigning things, paying contracts, and the like." Guinevere zoomed into the photo as far as she could without distorting the image, which wasn"t much, but it was enough. Harry saw the man and memorized his face. "Alright, when do we leave?" Harry asked, turning to Guinevere. She glanced at him, and held his stare for several moments-as if she could hardly believe what was in front of her. "I think three am would be good. That will give us enough time to travel into Paris, set up a safe location and gather weapons, so we can be at the Louvre when it opens. We"ll need a cover up of some sort, disguise ourselves, think of a story." Harry nodded, completely understanding. "You"ll have to get rid of this." Harry pointed to her hair vaguely. "What, my face?" "Don"t be ridiculous, I meant your hair-the blonde is a dead give away for someone that knows you. And I"ll have to stop in Paris to find something a tad less, conspicuous." Harry gestured to his suit. "I agree, I know a place we can stop by on the way." She glanced at her watch, then at the sun which poured in through the windows. That hazy and hot essence of midday. "It"ll be getting late soon, best we eat and turn in early." Harry stood and walked over to the kitchen, feeling rather silly himself-how comfortable he suddenly felt going into the kitchen to make them both dinner. How domestic of him. Guinevere sat at the kitchen island and watched him for a moment before taking out a notebook to write in. Harry grabbed a few pots and pans to begin making a quick dish of carbonara for them. Then Harry pulled his blazer off his shoulders and placed it on a back of a chair by the island. And if he had been more observant he would have seen Guinevere watch him as he rolled his sleeves up over his forearms and tighten the cuff just below his elbow. And if he had noticed her watching him out of the corner of her eye he would have also seen the visible intake of breath that came from deep within her gut, a breath that shook her as it exited her lips. And the moment Harry turned to glance at Guinevere, her head was down in her notebook as if she hadn"t looked up since she pulled it out. Harry looked away from her and began to heat up two tablespoons of grape seed oil in the cast iron skillet. Suddenly Guinevere"s head shot up in way that was not sly or shy, but inquisitive. "Did you hear that?" She asked, closing her notebook and glanced around the living room behind. Harry listened carefully but did not recall a sound. Then there was a click-a very quiet click from upstairs. Guinevere and Harry shared a sudden glance. Guinevere quickly pulled a gun out from under the island counter and cocked it as Harry pulled his jacket back on and took out a gun of his own. Harry gestured for her to stay put as he slowly stepped up the stairs to investigate. Guinevere waited. Suddenly the next thing she saw was a man tumbling down the stairs in a heap, landing at her feet unconscious. This man was not Harry. Guinevere looked up at Harry at the top of the stairs. "Fuck." She said. Sorry for the shortness, but I hope you liked it either way! Again, please let me know what you think! Guinevere looked up at Harry and began to say something when the front door lock was shot and kicked open by six men who ran in from outside. Harry ran quickly down the stairs, shooting two of them immediately and punched another as he tried to shoot Harry himself. Guinevere shot one in their knees, causing a cry of agony while she ran into the kitchen to gain a better vantage to shoot him in the head. Harry followed Guinevere into the kitchen. One man started shooting at them and Harry quickly grabbed Guinevere to shielded her from the bullets as they hit his jacket. She glanced up and nodded toward him. Harry nodded in return and ran back into the living room. Two more men ran in from the front door and sprinted toward the kitchen, one with a large knife who immediately gave Guinevere a deep cut in her arm, which made her drop her gun with a clank. But Guinevere did not respond vocally to the pain as she resourcefully grabbed the steaming cast iron skillet and hit the two men in the head back and forth until they both fell to the ground in a heap. Guinevere ran over to Harry who quickly dispatched the last man with his gun and breathed out heavily, his hair tousled and his glasses askew. It had happened so fast the two hardly had time to process. And when Harry spotted Guinevere, who"s arm had become nearly engulfed in blood he thought that particularly true of her, she acted on impulse and was still so on alert she had yet to register her injury.

Aldo sat down with Mara at the fire and spoke to her about his conditions and she told him of hers. All Aldo really wanted to do was help this girl do whatever she wanted, but he wanted to know more details. She said she"d tell him later, a promise actually and Aldo accepted that. Mara was also to help the Basterds with their hunts, she had to be useful or else there was no reason to keep her around. After their talk Aldo told her she could share his tent and she followed him slowly in, leaving Donny at first watch. Please let me know what you think! Hey readers! I hope you"re liking the story so far, or at least a much as I am enjoying writing it! Please do let me know what you think, I"m going to try to update as much as I can. :) Mara slid out of the tent slowly, tired but unable to rest. She sat by the small fire, relishing in the warmth and obviously in deep thought. Donny watched her from a tree not three yards away and wondered what she could be thinking about. He watched her run her hands through her hair and push up the sleeves of her sweater. She looked down at her arm and rubbed lightly over a small part of it, Donny had an idea of what was there. It was unusual to see a woman like her in the midsts of the war they were in. Donny hadn"t seen a woman like her in months, a woman so beautiful but so mysterious it made her possibly more dangerous than the Nazi captain they originally thought she was. Donny shuffled over to her and she jumped again, only this time she hid it well. He huffed as he sat down near her. "So you"re a limey," he said, trying to bring her from her mind, even if it wasn"t the best way to start the conversation. Mara nodded and then articulated; "British-Jew...I"m not all limey." Donny nodded and said nothing, surprised by her gentle accent. "You"re from Boston aren"t you?" Donny smiled slightly a confused smile. "Yeah I am, how"d you know?" "I visited there not too long ago, the accent is unmistakeable." Mara smiled slightly and toyed with her fingers and Donny wondered why she had been in Boston. But he quickly forgot about it when she started up again. "I apologize for hitting you...and for shooting you." Donny nodded, trying to forget the slight pain he still had in his leg and nose. He nodded, but did not accept her apology. She didn"t expect him to. Mara looked back at her arm and sighed. Donny watched her eyes sadden and he felt himself grow cold despite the fire that was so close to them. Mara looked up at him suddenly and pulled her sleeves down over her hands. She made a point not to look up at him. Donny sighed, balancing his shotgun across his knees and looking out into the darkness that surrounded them, the trees that seemed comforting but he knew that at any moment there could be a group of Nazi"s right behind them. He looked at Mara again even though she did not look back. It was then, though he did not know why, that he finally felt like he trusted her and her story. Entrapped Jews, they had a look to them. Donny twice had the misfortune to encounter men and women who had been sent to those camps, and just like his Bostonian accent, the look in their eyes was unmistakeable. "Can I see it?" He blurted out, forgetting himself completely and Mara clinched her jaw and was completely silent for several moments. But then she rolled her sleeve up slowly and displayed the seven numbers on her forearm. 0389421. Donny"s breath caught in his throat and he felt a sudden mix of anger and sadness and helplessness simultaneously as he imagined Mara having to go through each and every one of those horror stories he"s heard. He rubbed his hands over his chin and through his hair, feeling chills erupt through his whole body. Donny"s fingers traced over the inked scars and had the uncontrollable urge to brutally murder every Nazi that had anything to do with her entrapment. "How long has it been?" He managed to choke out. "Since I escaped or when they took me in?" "Since you escaped." She was silent for a moment, counting the days in her head. "...About five weeks." Mara hadn"t talked to anyone about what had happened to her in the camp and she felt it terribly difficult to do so, but it also felt comforting to release some of the emotion she"d coveted and built up. "How long were you there?" Donny asked, curiosity taking hold of his words but he noticed Mara seemed to be more at ease with him. "I was there for six months. It may not seem like a long time, but most do not make it past the second." "I"ve heard stories...awful stories of the shit those fucks do. I almost don"t want to believe it...it makes me sick." "I suppose that is why you are here. It is why I am here, it is why I will be here until the entire Third Reich is extinct, murdered for their merciless and demented crimes." Donny smiled at her. She was like him; a believer, an enforcer. "Donny?" She asked, almost uncertain if that was his name. But he nodded her on, "Do you keep count of the Nazis you"ve killed?" Donny chuckled, "No, m"am, that"d be a number too high for me to remember." She huffed in amusement. Humble, she thought, he was slightly humble. "I do, however, keep these..." He unbuttoned the top two buttons of his coat and pulled the strings out by his thumb, "...for the best kills." Mara looked at them, the pieces of metal glinting silver orange from the fire"s light, "Nazi dog-tags..." She grabbed a few of them and ran her fingers over a few of the names, lots of "Sgt." "Col." "Ln." amongst them. She stopped at one. General Dietfried Kramer. Mara sucked in a breath. "What is it?" Donny looked down at the tag she held. "You killed this man? Dietfried Kramer?" "Sure did. Why?" She cleared her throat and dropped the tag, "Dietfried Kramer was the younger brother of The Beast of Belsen." Donny narrowed his eyes, and she clarified; "Josef Kramer, the...commandant of the camp I was held, Bergen-Belsen." Donny grew sad but then felt a sort of pride in himself, "He said he worked in the camps-I beat him till his skull was as flat as a pancake." Mara smiled slightly at Donny, "He got what he deserved...They were a cruel pair. Dietfried was Josef"s right hand man. How troubled Josef must be without his brother to do his dirty work." Mara spoke with more spite than he expected from her. "Dirty work?" "Killed many Jews that Josef did not like, brought the especially hated ones to him so he could beat them to death...brought women to him...killed most the women after...even did some of the tattooing-did mine in fact." Donny clinched his jaw and breathed heavily through his nose. If he had known who exactly Diefried Kramer was he would have made him suffer more. Then a thought forged itself into Donny"s mind. He didn"t want to ask if Mara had been one of the women that was brought to Josef, but the way she spoke with such disdain and sorrow Donny didn"t have to ask. He would have felt incredibly invasive if he would have anyway so he kept silent. He then started with an apology, "I"m sorry-" "Does your nose hurt?" She asked, trying to see the bruise she"d left behind, interrupting him. Donny watched her for a moment, "I"ve had worse..." He trailed off, wondering why she hadn"t let him express his empathy with her, Donny didn"t usually empathize with anyone. She nodded, leaning back. "You have one hell of an arm though." "I know." She said, smirking. Donny smirked too, knowing full well she used it to her advantage every moment she got. Mara yawned, running her fingers through her hair. "I"m going for a walk." She stood. Donny stood, pulling a gun from his belt and threw it to her. "Don"t be too long," She mumbled as she caught it, "and don"t wander too far off." Mumbled again and Donny chuckled, standing and walking to the far edge of the small clearing and leaned against a tree, watching Mara hold the shot gun up on her shoulder as she looked up at the night sky. Donny sighed, still uncertain what to think of her just yet. But what he did know was that she was slowly redeeming herself in his mind far from his first impression of her. He still had a strange feeling, but he knew he would have to get over that soon. Aldo had taken a liking to her and they"d be spending the next two months with her amongst the Basterds, so Donny had to get used to her sooner rather than later. I hope you all realize it"d be ridiculous for me to claim that I actually own Inglourious Basterds. Also, enjoy this chapter! Please do tell me what you think, it does inspire me so. Between the hours of three and five there wasn"t a single Basterd on look-out outside the tents. Mara sat perched on a log, tugging at the end of her wool cardigan. She"d sat there watching the fire dwindle to embers trying to keep her mind focused on what her mission was and what she needed to do in the process. She poked at the embers with her gun and sighed, watching a bit of smoke smolder and embers die. They reminded her of the coals they used to heat the crematory rooms back in Bergen-Belsen and Mara had to close her eyes until she pictured stars in her eyelids to forget momentarily what had happened not two months ago. Mara sniffed as she realized she"d begun to cry and immediately rubbed her face clean of all tears as she heard a rustling behind her. The sun had just begun to rise leaving the air around cast in a gentle orange light just bright enough to see Aldo stumble out from his tent with a blanket in his arms. He looked at her and nodded. "Figured you"d be out "ere." Aldo said, his voice gruff from his first words of the day. He draped the blanket around her and rubbed her shoulder a bit. "I didn"t sleep." "Figured you didn"." Aldo said as he sat next to her. "We got "bout thirty minutes before my men wake up and we leave for Périgueux." "Okay..." "In the meantime, I have a few questions for you, if"n you don"t mind answerin" "em." He said kindly, Mara nodded and he went on, "First things first, I need to know your full name, age, and previous occupation if you had one." "My name is Mara Rothko, I am...twenty four, and I was an artist-or tried to be." Mara tried to shake off the fact that she"d almost forgotten how old she was, and she could tell that Aldo saw it too but chose to ignore it. She felt silly for saying she was an artist, she"d only had one exhibition and it was a complete flop. Mara considered herself a failure after that. "All right then, next question..." Mara braced herself for the intruding question she knew he was about to ask. "How many Nazis have you personally killed?" Mara looked up at him, confused. "Um...I"d say no less than two-hundred since I escaped." Aldo"s eyebrows shot up. "And when was that?" "Five weeks ago." "Weapons?" "Shotgun mostly, a few knives, a bomb, an-and my hands once." "Two-hun"red Nazis in five weeks," he mumbled, "...after escapin" from the work camps you killed more than two-hun"red Nazis in five weeks?" "That is what I said." Aldo watched her unwavering gaze he held with her and smiled slightly. He stuck out his hand and shook hers. Aldo completely believed her tale. He saw experience in her. "When we found ya, how"d you get yourself into Nazi occupied France as a leader of that kraut squad?" Mara sighed, "When I escaped it took me a couple weeks to gather my strength and a little bit of muscle mass was built with excessive eating, exercising, and padding in the right places. It was easy to weasel myself into the Third Reich. I just had to act like I belonged, like the men I spent everyday staring at with hatred while they starved and beat and antagonized me and everyone else. It was easy...After I was moved to captain status I was sent on location with a few new high ranked officers in Bordeaux. That was a week ago. Five days ago I"d planned on killing all three of them given the right opportunity, but you all showed up, did the job for me. Thank you for that." Aldo nodded. "I"m impressed." Mara gave a small sarcastic smile and held the blanket tighter around her. "And I ain"t impressed too often," he said. "Now that I know your full story, or at least the good bits, I"ve got one last question for you. Actually it"s a bit more like an offer. If we still keep that deal "bout takin" you to Germany d"you think you"d be able to spare an extra month or two, working with a US secret service guerrilla unit?" Mara looked at him like he was crazy. But she thought about it, and figured she probably would have pitched in anyway, might as well be recognized for it. So she nodded. "But-" she began, holding her hand up, "I do not owe you anything. I will help and I will be a part of the team but I will still be able to focus on my own agenda whilst accompanying you and the Basterds through this war." Aldo eyed her and nodded, against his wishes but he had to make a peace. "All right then, I think I can accept that. And I"m gonna let you keep that agenda to yourself for now, but soon I"m gonna be askin" you "bout it and if you think you can get away without answerin" by poutin" them pretty pink lips and flappin" them thick lashes, you gotta "nother thing comin"." Mara laughed, charmed by his words and feeling herself grow more comfortable around him. "So. Do we have a deal Miss Rothko?" Aldo stuck out his hand. "We have a deal, Lieutenant." She shook his hand and Aldo smiled brightly at the use of his title. He just keeps finding reasons to like her even more. The men had begun to slowly trickle out of their tents and soon they were all on their way to Périgueux. A few of the men had tried to talk to Mara as they walked but she was content in her silence at the front of the group. Donny walked behind her as close as he could without stomping over her just because he didn"t like how far she was walking ahead. She noticed this but didn"t say anything about it. She liked that he was still slightly suspicious of her. She felt he should be, they all should be. After several hours of walking Aldo had everyone stop at a nice, secluded lake for a break. Mara sat down against a tree next to one of the men, Utivich. He smiled at her and asked her how she was. Mara paused before answering, trying to remember which one he was. She recalled him being the only one willing to give her a smile prior to this morning. "I am fine. And you?" "I"m good." He replied, watching Mara lazily run her fingers through her hair, snagging on knots and cringing. "Wait." He began to dig around his bag and smiled as he pulled out a sterling bristle brush. "You might have more use of this than I ever could." Mara took it slowly and smiled slightly. "Thank you." She said as she brushed her hair, "Why do you have a woman"s hairbrush in your possession?" "I found it a month ago and was going to bring it back for my mother but..." Utivich stopped and looked down. "But she died a few weeks ago from the flu." Mara set the brush on her lap and put her hand gently over his, he looked at her and chuckled. "I don"t know why I kept it though. Perhaps I was meant to give it to you." Mara chuckled, "Well, thank you. It means a lot." He nodded and stood after a moment to leave her to her thoughts. She watched all the men doing various things, talking, eating, writing, smoking all around a small fire. Mara saw all the men except for one who they had previously had to slow down, if only slightly, for. Mara silently walked over to Hugo who sat on a log smoking a cigar with his foot elevated upon another log. He looked up at her when he noticed her walk up and looked back onto the lake. "What do you want?" "Ich bin traurig, dass ich auf dich geschossen. Ich wollte nicht, um tatsächlich erschießen. Ich wusste nicht, dass mein Ziel war so gut. Bitte akzeptieren Sie meine Entschuldigung, Hugo. Obwohl ich kann verstehen, wenn du nicht kannst." (I am sorry I shot you. I did not mean to actually shoot you. I didn"t think my aim was that good. Please accept my apology, Hugo. Though I can understand if you cannot.) Hugo sighed and looked at her. He popped the cigar in his mouth and held his hand out, nodding for her to shake. Mara shook his hand firmly. "How can you speak German so well?" He asked in English. "My parents and I lived in Berlin with my grandmother for a while before the war started." Hugo nodded, looking out onto the lake. "I sincerely hope you know that I did not mean any offense either when I yelled at you." "No offense taken, Miss Mara." Mara smiled, glad that Hugo wasn"t upset with her and also intrigued by the way he said her name. It was odd, the way Germans usually said her name it was with such disdain and disgust, but with Hugo it seemed to roll off his tongue, like it was natural. "I think we"re about to head off. Do you need any help?" He shook his head, finishing his cigar. Mara nodded and made her way back to the men. She stopped next to Donny, picking up her bag. He watched her adjust the straps and narrowed his eyes at her as she looked up at him. "Yes?" He asked. "Um...If you do not mind, I would like to walk with you the little ways we still have until we reach the vehicles, is that all right?" His eyes widened slightly and he nodded. "Yeah sure, just...don"t make any sudden movements." Mara chuckled as she started walking next to him. One month later There was a growing comfort amongst the men concerning Mara Rothko and even she had begun to grow comfortable with the Basterds fighting with them, talking with them, learning about their lives. She refrained from becoming too close to any of them, but Donny was the one that also seemed to ask her questions rather than answering hers. Mara found this irritating and often refused to answer if it meant telling him too much about her life before the camp. She felt that was all he needed to know since Aldo so sneakily told him when she specifically asked him not to. Bu thankfully she kept the secret from the rest of the Basterds, but she knew they suspected something, though none were willing to even ask. Mostly Mara was silent, but when faced with curiosity, it was hard to fight. And in some strange, obscure fashion Mara began to care about the men she fought amongst. She learned of their families, their passions, their sweethearts. All except Donny. Mara and the Basterds raided several German squads daily and it was the most exhilarating thing Mara had ever experienced. The Basterds were impressed by the utter brutality she expressed against the Germans they faced, but Donny was more impressed by the amount of animosity she obviously coveted on their down time. He thought her extremely peculiar in these moments. "You want somethin" to eat?" Donny asked Mara as she sat with her sketchbook, huddled in a wool blanket by one of the three fires they had going. "Hmm?" She looked up at him. "Food. Would you like some?" "Oh. No thank you." She went back to drawing and Donny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well," he sat next to her, "when I asked I was just being kind. You need to eat." He pushed the metal plate under her nose and she sighed, grabbing it and complying with his demands. "What cha drawin"?" She closed her book and muttered, "Nothing." "Mm-hmm..." Donny mumbled as he ate a spoonful of beans and watched her place the book in between them. He gently opened to a page as Mara ate slowly, watching the fire. But before he could see anything she grabbed the book and stuffed it in her coat. He smiled as she rolled her eyes. "When are we leaving?" She asked as she pushed the beans around her plate, pretending to eat. Donny noticed this but didn"t say anything. He cleared his throat. "Aldo wants to head out tomorrow morning, says he has word of a small Nazi base in some factory outside of Poitiers." Mara nodded, setting her plate down and snuggling deeper into her blanket. She noticed Donny looking at her with sadness in his eyes. She hated when he did that, he did it often. "What?" Donny shook his head as he picked her plate up and looked at her once before getting up and walking back to Omar and Aldo, leaving her to sleep. "She still not eatin"?" Aldo asked as Donny dumped the beans back into the pot. "Nope." He sat next to Omar and looked at Aldo who shook his head. "Well...she"s gonna have to eat sometime, but we can"t force her to." Aldo finished his plate and sighed, leaving to his tent for the night without another word. "D"you think they poisoned her food?" Omar"s question hung heavy in the air. Ever since Donny had let the beans spill to his closest mate Omar had relentlessly brought it up, confusion filling him just as it filled Donny himself. They both hoped soon that Mara would tell the rest of the Basterds herself what had happened. "Ain"t got a doubt in my mind they did..." Donny muttered. He decided it best not to think too much about it and go to bed. After the raid in Poitiers "Donny-Mara go scout the perimeter for any scragglers will ya?" Donny nodded as Mara sighed. She slipped her coat back on and she followed Donny out of the factory. They end up finding and killing two within the first few minutes but Donny urged Mara to go out a little further, just in case. Now about thirty minutes from the factory, Donny and Mara walked slowly when they suddenly heard the distant sound of leaves crunching under synchronized marching footfalls. They both looked at each other and then around them wildly before Donny"s eyes widen. As Mara clutches her gun tight, ready to attack Donny grabbed her by the waist and clapped a hand over her mouth as he drug her behind a large tree trunk. Then around about twenty Nazi soldiers march through the woods not twenty feet from where they hid. They were headed for the factory they had just raided. But then they all stopped to take a small break.

Between the hours of three and five there wasn"t a single Basterd on look-out outside the tents. Mara sat perched on a log, tugging at the end of her wool cardigan. She"d sat there watching the fire dwindle to embers trying to keep her mind focused on what her mission was and what she needed to do in the process. She poked at the embers with her gun and sighed, watching a bit of smoke smolder and embers die. They reminded her of the coals they used to heat the crematory rooms back in Bergen-Belsen and Mara had to close her eyes until she pictured stars in her eyelids to forget momentarily what had happened not two months ago. Mara sniffed as she realized she"d begun to cry and immediately rubbed her face clean of all tears as she heard a rustling behind her. The sun had just begun to rise leaving the air around cast in a gentle orange light just bright enough to see Aldo stumble out from his tent with a blanket in his arms. He looked at her and nodded. "Figured you"d be out "ere." Aldo said, his voice gruff from his first words of the day. He draped the blanket around her and rubbed her shoulder a bit. "I didn"t sleep." "Figured you didn"." Aldo said as he sat next to her. "We got "bout thirty minutes before my men wake up and we leave for Périgueux." "Okay..." "In the meantime, I have a few questions for you, if"n you don"t mind answerin" "em." He said kindly, Mara nodded and he went on, "First things first, I need to know your full name, age, and previous occupation if you had one." "My name is Mara Rothko, I am...twenty four, and I was an artist-or tried to be." Mara tried to shake off the fact that she"d almost forgotten how old she was, and she could tell that Aldo saw it too but chose to ignore it. She felt silly for saying she was an artist, she"d only had one exhibition and it was a complete flop. Mara considered herself a failure after that. "All right then, next question..." Mara braced herself for the intruding question she knew he was about to ask. "How many Nazis have you personally killed?" Mara looked up at him, confused. "Um...I"d say no less than two-hundred since I escaped." Aldo"s eyebrows shot up. "And when was that?" "Five weeks ago." "Weapons?" "Shotgun mostly, a few knives, a bomb, an-and my hands once." "Two-hun"red Nazis in five weeks," he mumbled, "...after escapin" from the work camps you killed more than two-hun"red Nazis in five weeks?" "That is what I said." Aldo watched her unwavering gaze he held with her and smiled slightly. He stuck out his hand and shook hers. Aldo completely believed her tale. He saw experience in her. "When we found ya, how"d you get yourself into Nazi occupied France as a leader of that kraut squad?" Mara sighed, "When I escaped it took me a couple weeks to gather my strength and a little bit of muscle mass was built with excessive eating, exercising, and padding in the right places. It was easy to weasel myself into the Third Reich. I just had to act like I belonged, like the men I spent everyday staring at with hatred while they starved and beat and antagonized me and everyone else. It was easy...After I was moved to captain status I was sent on location with a few new high ranked officers in Bordeaux. That was a week ago. Five days ago I"d planned on killing all three of them given the right opportunity, but you all showed up, did the job for me. Thank you for that." Aldo nodded. "I"m impressed." Mara gave a small sarcastic smile and held the blanket tighter around her. "And I ain"t impressed too often," he said. "Now that I know your full story, or at least the good bits, I"ve got one last question for you. Actually it"s a bit more like an offer. If we still keep that deal "bout takin" you to Germany d"you think you"d be able to spare an extra month or two, working with a US secret service guerrilla unit?" Mara looked at him like he was crazy. But she thought about it, and figured she probably would have pitched in anyway, might as well be recognized for it. So she nodded. "But-" she began, holding her hand up, "I do not owe you anything. I will help and I will be a part of the team but I will still be able to focus on my own agenda whilst accompanying you and the Basterds through this war." Aldo eyed her and nodded, against his wishes but he had to make a peace. "All right then, I think I can accept that. And I"m gonna let you keep that agenda to yourself for now, but soon I"m gonna be askin" you "bout it and if you think you can get away without answerin" by poutin" them pretty pink lips and flappin" them thick lashes, you gotta "nother thing comin"." Mara laughed, charmed by his words and feeling herself grow more comfortable around him. "So. Do we have a deal Miss Rothko?" Aldo stuck out his hand. "We have a deal, Lieutenant." She shook his hand and Aldo smiled brightly at the use of his title. He just keeps finding reasons to like her even more. The men had begun to slowly trickle out of their tents and soon they were all on their way to Périgueux. A few of the men had tried to talk to Mara as they walked but she was content in her silence at the front of the group. Donny walked behind her as close as he could without stomping over her just because he didn"t like how far she was walking ahead. She noticed this but didn"t say anything about it. She liked that he was still slightly suspicious of her. She felt he should be, they all should be. After several hours of walking Aldo had everyone stop at a nice, secluded lake for a break. Mara sat down against a tree next to one of the men, Utivich. He smiled at her and asked her how she was. Mara paused before answering, trying to remember which one he was. She recalled him being the only one willing to give her a smile prior to this morning. "I am fine. And you?" "I"m good." He replied, watching Mara lazily run her fingers through her hair, snagging on knots and cringing. "Wait." He began to dig around his bag and smiled as he pulled out a sterling bristle brush. "You might have more use of this than I ever could." Mara took it slowly and smiled slightly. "Thank you." She said as she brushed her hair, "Why do you have a woman"s hairbrush in your possession?" "I found it a month ago and was going to bring it back for my mother but..." Utivich stopped and looked down. "But she died a few weeks ago from the flu." Mara set the brush on her lap and put her hand gently over his, he looked at her and chuckled. "I don"t know why I kept it though. Perhaps I was meant to give it to you." Mara chuckled, "Well, thank you. It means a lot." He nodded and stood after a moment to leave her to her thoughts. She watched all the men doing various things, talking, eating, writing, smoking all around a small fire. Mara saw all the men except for one who they had previously had to slow down, if only slightly, for. Mara silently walked over to Hugo who sat on a log smoking a cigar with his foot elevated upon another log. He looked up at her when he noticed her walk up and looked back onto the lake. "What do you want?" "Ich bin traurig, dass ich auf dich geschossen. Ich wollte nicht, um tatsächlich erschießen. Ich wusste nicht, dass mein Ziel war so gut. Bitte akzeptieren Sie meine Entschuldigung, Hugo. Obwohl ich kann verstehen, wenn du nicht kannst." (I am sorry I shot you. I did not mean to actually shoot you. I didn"t think my aim was that good. Please accept my apology, Hugo. Though I can understand if you cannot.) Hugo sighed and looked at her. He popped the cigar in his mouth and held his hand out, nodding for her to shake. Mara shook his hand firmly. "How can you speak German so well?" He asked in English. "My parents and I lived in Berlin with my grandmother for a while before the war started." Hugo nodded, looking out onto the lake. "I sincerely hope you know that I did not mean any offense either when I yelled at you." "No offense taken, Miss Mara." Mara smiled, glad that Hugo wasn"t upset with her and also intrigued by the way he said her name. It was odd, the way Germans usually said her name it was with such disdain and disgust, but with Hugo it seemed to roll off his tongue, like it was natural. "I think we"re about to head off. Do you need any help?" He shook his head, finishing his cigar. Mara nodded and made her way back to the men. She stopped next to Donny, picking up her bag. He watched her adjust the straps and narrowed his eyes at her as she looked up at him. "Yes?" He asked. "Um...If you do not mind, I would like to walk with you the little ways we still have until we reach the vehicles, is that all right?" His eyes widened slightly and he nodded. "Yeah sure, just...don"t make any sudden movements." Mara chuckled as she started walking next to him. One month later There was a growing comfort amongst the men concerning Mara Rothko and even she had begun to grow comfortable with the Basterds fighting with them, talking with them, learning about their lives. She refrained from becoming too close to any of them, but Donny was the one that also seemed to ask her questions rather than answering hers. Mara found this irritating and often refused to answer if it meant telling him too much about her life before the camp. She felt that was all he needed to know since Aldo so sneakily told him when she specifically asked him not to. Bu thankfully she kept the secret from the rest of the Basterds, but she knew they suspected something, though none were willing to even ask. Mostly Mara was silent, but when faced with curiosity, it was hard to fight. And in some strange, obscure fashion Mara began to care about the men she fought amongst. She learned of their families, their passions, their sweethearts. All except Donny. Mara and the Basterds raided several German squads daily and it was the most exhilarating thing Mara had ever experienced. The Basterds were impressed by the utter brutality she expressed against the Germans they faced, but Donny was more impressed by the amount of animosity she obviously coveted on their down time. He thought her extremely peculiar in these moments. "You want somethin" to eat?" Donny asked Mara as she sat with her sketchbook, huddled in a wool blanket by one of the three fires they had going. "Hmm?" She looked up at him. "Food. Would you like some?" "Oh. No thank you." She went back to drawing and Donny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well," he sat next to her, "when I asked I was just being kind. You need to eat." He pushed the metal plate under her nose and she sighed, grabbing it and complying with his demands. "What cha drawin"?" She closed her book and muttered, "Nothing." "Mm-hmm..." Donny mumbled as he ate a spoonful of beans and watched her place the book in between them. He gently opened to a page as Mara ate slowly, watching the fire. But before he could see anything she grabbed the book and stuffed it in her coat. He smiled as she rolled her eyes. "When are we leaving?" She asked as she pushed the beans around her plate, pretending to eat. Donny noticed this but didn"t say anything. He cleared his throat. "Aldo wants to head out tomorrow morning, says he has word of a small Nazi base in some factory outside of Poitiers." Mara nodded, setting her plate down and snuggling deeper into her blanket. She noticed Donny looking at her with sadness in his eyes. She hated when he did that, he did it often. "What?" Donny shook his head as he picked her plate up and looked at her once before getting up and walking back to Omar and Aldo, leaving her to sleep. "She still not eatin"?" Aldo asked as Donny dumped the beans back into the pot. "Nope." He sat next to Omar and looked at Aldo who shook his head. "Well...she"s gonna have to eat sometime, but we can"t force her to." Aldo finished his plate and sighed, leaving to his tent for the night without another word. "D"you think they poisoned her food?" Omar"s question hung heavy in the air. Ever since Donny had let the beans spill to his closest mate Omar had relentlessly brought it up, confusion filling him just as it filled Donny himself. They both hoped soon that Mara would tell the rest of the Basterds herself what had happened. "Ain"t got a doubt in my mind they did..." Donny muttered. He decided it best not to think too much about it and go to bed. After the raid in Poitiers "Donny-Mara go scout the perimeter for any scragglers will ya?" Donny nodded as Mara sighed. She slipped her coat back on and she followed Donny out of the factory. They end up finding and killing two within the first few minutes but Donny urged Mara to go out a little further, just in case. Now about thirty minutes from the factory, Donny and Mara walked slowly when they suddenly heard the distant sound of leaves crunching under synchronized marching footfalls. They both looked at each other and then around them wildly before Donny"s eyes widen. As Mara clutches her gun tight, ready to attack Donny grabbed her by the waist and clapped a hand over her mouth as he drug her behind a large tree trunk. Then around about twenty Nazi soldiers march through the woods not twenty feet from where they hid. They were headed for the factory they had just raided. But then they all stopped to take a small break. Donny knew that Aldo had most likely gotten everyone out of the factory and back to the camp site so the other thing he was worried about was getting himself and Mara passed the camped out Nazis. It"d be suicide to try and attack all of them right there with only two people, a gun, and a bat. So they sat there, Donny"s hand still over Mara"s mouth as he held her as close to him and the tree as possible. He looked at Mara and she was looking at him with a slightly frightened and panicked look in her eyes. He brought his hand from her mouth and she breathed out slowly, the cold creating a gentle cloud out of her shallow breath. "What are we going to do, Donny?" She asked, looking around the tree quickly and spotting all the Nazis sitting not ten yards from them. "The first thing we need to do is get out from behind this tree." "How the hell are we going to do that? There"s about twenty Nazis blocking the way back to camp. We can"t just walk past them like frolickers in the woods caught by surprise." Donny clinched his jaw knowing she was right. "Then we"re gonna to have to go around." He said quickly. "What if we get lost?" "We won"t get lost, I"m good with directions." Mara looked at him unsure as he looked at her with a blank, but determined look. "Okay. All right. Are we just going to make a dash for it?" Donny shook his head. "No. We need to wait till it gets a bit darker, then we"ll slowly ease ourselves North." Mara nodded as she looked back once more. It looked as though they were setting up camp and started large fires to fight away the cold. He sighed as she looked back at Donny and pushed herself closer against him. When the sun was nearly three hours from setting Donny and Mara made a stealthy break for it. When they got nearly ten minutes out from the Nazis they were suddenly surprised with four Nazis on the side of the road trying to fix their truck. They crouched behind a tree, quickly realizing what they"d have to do. "You take the ugly one, I"ll take fat-ass over there and then we"ll come together for the other two." Mara nodded, checking her gun for bullets and content with the six it still held. Donny mouthed a count down and Mara"s vision blurred as they ran out, killing the four in what seemed like seconds. But before they could catch a breath they saw headlights not to far down the road and sprinted for the woods to hide. Mara wheezed and clutched Donny"s sleeve to help her keep his pace. After several minutes of running they both stopped and caught their breath, Mara heaving herself onto the ground, Donny struggling to stand. After several moments of dense breath after breath they both got back on their feet. "Fuck..." Donny muttered, looking around, running his hands through his hair. He had no idea where they were. Mara closed her eyes, sighing and mimicking his same movements. Her hand caught in her hair though, making her realize that the both of them were completely covered in blood. "We need to get ourselves cleaned up. There has to be a lake or stream somewhere around here. We can"t go back into the city looking like we just murdered four people." Donny chuckled and nodded. It took them very little time to locate a small stream, France"s woods were full of them. Donny watched Mara unbutton her shirt and clinched his teeth as the evening light clung to the slight muscles in her arms and the shadows between her breasts. Her skin looked soft; soft like velvet. Through the thin cotton camisole she wore Donny could see the lace brassiere she wore beneath it and suddenly fought the pressure he felt in his gut. Mara pulled her hair up and tied it at the top of her head with a piece of fabric leaving her completely exposed as she began dabbing her skin with a wet cloth. Donny had almost forgot of the blood the both of them were completely covered in. Donny began washing himself sloppily as Mara padded her cheeks in just the right places like she was looking in a mirror. Donny was overwhelmed by the femininity she exposed at times like this. Sure she was obviously feminine any other day but when she was tending to herself, brushing her hair, clipping her nails, washing her face; Donny couldn"t hardly fathom what he would be seeing. She looked at him suddenly and Donny didn"t even bother looking away. "What?" He just shook his head. "Nothin"." She eyed him and continued to wash herself and he himself. She looked at him again and moved over to him. She grabbed his cloth from his hand and began cleaning the dry streak of blood that went over his eye and into his hair. Donny clinched his jaw as he watched her place her hand on the side of his face to steady him as she dabbed his eye. "Not that I"m complainin" but I am capable of cleaning myself." Mara just smirked as she gently wiped his eye once more. "You wouldn"t have gotten it all." She replied as she dropped the cloth in his hands. Donny grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him and kissed her quickly. Mara"s eyes widened as he held her in place. Donny closed his eyes and relished in her soft lips suddenly kissing him back. His hands ran through her hair, releasing her locks from their hold. Mara pulled back slowly and watched him as he watched her. Neither of them said anything. Donny hoped he hadn"t overstepped some sort of boundary but he did not regret it. And as Mara walked back over to her bag and smiled he felt a calmness he hadn"t felt in a long time. Mara looked out onto the lake and folded her sweater and coat over her arm. "It"s gonna to get cold tonight." Donny said as he watched her nod and slip her sweater back on. Donny and Mara created a small fire and sat close to it as the sun began to set. The temperature was quickly dropping and Mara tried not to shiver too much in her thin coat. Donny noticed though and put his arm around her. She jumped but slowly eased into his arms and leaned into him. Within the hour Mara had fallen into a gentle sleep as Donny held her and kept a look out. But as the fire began to go out Donny sighed as he tried to stay awake. "Mara?" He shook her slightly. "Mara, wake up." "Hmm?" She mumbled as her eyes fluttered open gently. "I"m gonna lay down." She nodded as she followed him onto her side and pushed her chest against his. Donny wrapped his arms around her as they attempted to share each others warmth. Mara awoke with a hot breath tickling her nose. She opened her eyes and nearly jumped when she saw Donny"s face so close to hers. His breath was deep, not shallow, and smooth. The comfort she felt then when she realized Donny had a near death grip around her was an unwavering warmth. Her hands were clutching his lapels and Mara wondered how their limbs kept conscious of the danger they were faced with with the cold. But they had survived the bitter night. The sun was slowly rising but the cold had yet to lessen. She snuggled closer into Donny"s coat and felt his arms wrap tighter around her. Mara looked up at his face quickly to see him smile gently, but only slightly as he was still asleep and wrapped his arms around her as a reflex. Her eyes closed slowly and she found herself drifting off again for another hour. When she woke up again Mara"s eyelids struggled against the frost that had completely immersed the both of them. She looked up at Donny to see him watching her with a silly grin on his face as she rubbed her eyes and chuckled. "Morning, sunshine." "How long have you been awake?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes still. "I was up most of the night. I dozed off a few times but not for very long." Mara suddenly became self-conscious. Donny had most likely watched her sleep for the entire night. She sincerely hoped that she hadn"t had any nightmares or said anything in her sleep. But the more she thought about it, she realized she didn"t really remember any of her dreams last night. She looked up at Donny and smiled gently. "Thank you." She said quietly. He nodded. "Didn"t feel comfortable going to sleep with the threat we were facing. I also didn"t want you to freeze." Mara rested her hand on his cheek and kissed him gently. It was a "thank you" for watching over her, Donny understood that very well but it didn"t make him any less excited by it.

She threw the shards into the trash and began to run her hand under cold water. "Goddamnit." She cursed at herself. How could she be so stupid, how could she have shown such a lack of control? Guinevere watched the blood fall from her hand, the red mixing with the water down the drain just like her hair dye earlier this morning. Guinevere watched the blood and remembered the bomb and Rene and suddenly her emotions took the better of her and she let of a soft sob. She fell to her knees slowly, her arm still in the sink. People where dying because of her. That poor man with the bomb, and whoever its reach had caught. Innocent agents in Europe and America had died because of her. She tried to control her breathing and paused, what if she just went to Rene, what if she turned herself in? She would rather die than cause the death of another innocent person. Especially Harry, she had gotten him roped into this. Guinevere would never be able to forgive herself if Harry died because of her. She thought of Rene, she thought of his face and how fantastic it would be to put a bullet in it. Guinevere squeezed her injured hand and tried to imagine that pain all over her body. That"s what giving herself over to Rene would be like, she told herself over and over. It would be utter hell, because she knew that he would not kill her at first, he did not want her dead. It would be pain upon every inch on her body. No. She would not give up. She squeezed again and let out a small grunt in pain. She stood up, her legs rickety and jello-like. She leaned against the sink and wiped her hand with a paper towel. After it was relatively clean she wrapped a clean paper towel over it as a make-shift bandage and held it in place. Guinevere looked at herself in the mirror one last time and nodded, as though she was nodding in encouragement to herself. Then she walked out of the bathroom. Harry felt like he had checked every single corner of the space looking for Guinevere. Her curator friend would not leave him alone and Harry was beginning to develop the sinking feeling of trouble, doubled with annoyance. Suddenly he spotted her stepping out of the bathroom and made a bee-line toward her. "Did you gather what you needed?" He asked. "Yes." She nodded, and hid her right hand behind her back. Harry glanced at it but made no fuss. "Fantastic, lets get a move on then shall we?" Guinevere nodded and followed him out the door. Harry noticed she was uncharacteristically quiet as they left the Louvre. And as they walked outside it began to rain gently. Guinevere looked up to the cloudy sky as Harry opened his umbrella gesturing for her to step beneath it. Guinevere all but rolled her eyes and stepped beneath it. "Did something happen in there that you aren"t telling me?" Guinevere shook her head and scratched her cheek with her right hand and Harry spotted the paper towel on her hand. "What happened to your palm?" "Nothing." She said coldly, looking out into the street very quickly becoming iridescent with the rain. Harry watched as her expression hardened and couldn"t help but relate to it. Everything was silent and all they could hear was the rain pelting the sidewalk. They stood still, watching the rain. "We have a long night ahead of us, Galahad." Harry nodded, and a slight confusion crossed him. She had referred to him by his code name. Why had she done that? He was overwhelmed at the moment with his thoughts. Something wasn"t right. Though he could be sensible and equate it to their predicament, but he couldn"t be so sure. "Then let us get started, shall we?" Harry held out his elbow and Guinevere paused for several moments before slipping her hand around it. Suddenly Guinevere sucked in a breath and sighed. She gripped his elbow tightly, protectively, and took the first step down the sidewalk to their hotel. When they reached the hotel Harry watched Guinevere as she threw her coat and the flash drive on the table and made a straight line to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Harry narrowed his eyes and waited for a moment. Harry would have never pegged this woman as easily temperamental. She was too smart to let little things put her off, whatever little thing may have set her off in the first place. After a while Guinevere exited the bathroom, now a bandage fitted to her palm. She sat at the table and pulled the laptop out. She plugged the drive in and queued up all the videos. Which was somewhere around 100-200 hours of footage from multiple cameras. "I"ll make some coffee then." Harry said as Guinevere began watching. Several hours had passed, well into the morning and Harry and Guinevere had begun shifts, switching every hour. It was 6 am and Guinevere was sitting quietly on her bed watching the laptop screen and chugging coffee. Harry slept in the other bed, still in his suit. Guinevere hoped they weren"t wasting their time, but Rene had to be on one of these tapes. He had to be. Around four pm Harry woke up with a grunt. He struggled to sit up and looked at his watch. "Why did you let me sleep so long?" He asked moving from his bed to Guinevere"s, glancing at the screen. "You looked far too comfortable for me to bother you. Besides, I don"t need much sleep." Guinevere said, ironically yawning through half the sentence. Harry grabbed the laptop and sat against the head board. Harry watched her out of the corner of his eye as she situated herself onto a pillow and closed her eyes. "Wake me in an hour." Harry nodded and tiredly watched the footage. "You know I could send a bit of this footage to Merlin, another pair of eyes would do us some good?" Guinevere nodded tiredly. "Sounds good Harry." Harry let Guinevere sleep for a few more hours than she said. But he and Merlin had gotten through several hours of footage. At 8 pm Harry had finally found something. He pushed Guinevere"s shoulder, nudging her awake. "Guinevere, wake up." She jumped and sat up. "Fuck, Harry." She rubbed her eyes and glared at him angrily. "What?" "Look at this. This is just before closing time." Harry rewound some of the footage and zoomed in. Guinevere watched as a bald man sat on a bench in front of a de Kooning painting. Slowly, stealthily he pulled a small, orange sized case from his jacket pocket and stuck it on the underside of the bench. "Holy-shit." Guinevere sat up fully and leaned against Harry to gain a better view of the screen. "Did you see anything else like this?" Harry clinched his jaw and sucked in a breath, losing his thoughts for a moment as she touched him. "Um, yes. Merlin found two separate shots in galleries P5 and P12, as well as the cafe. Placed during open and closed hours." "They"re rigging the whole museum." She said quietly, seemingly unfazed by their contact. Suddenly she stood and began to slip her jacket on. "Where are you going?" Harry asked, watching her as she picked through her bag. "Where do you think? I"m going to the museum after it closes to diffuse those bombs." Harry stood up quickly. "Do you think this is the smartest idea Guinevere? So hastily? We don"t even have a plan." Harry said, pleading with her lack of preparedness. "Then let"s make one. I"m not here to fuck around Harry." Guinevere began to pack her backpack with essentials. "Rene is going to get to us before we get to him if we don"t try to get ahead. Right now he doesn"t know we have this information, we have to get the upper hand." Harry stood and looked at the image of Teshigahara on the screen. "If these bombs are hidden throughout the museum and if we don"t get caught, how do you plan on getting out unscathed? Or alive at all for that matter? We need to establish a stance, come at them from a fair and high stand point." Guinevere smirked. "A Kingsman always counts on a fair fight. You are so naive-what if you fight someone like me again? Because I guarantee you Rene"s men will not fight clean." "I assure you I can handle myself." Harry struggled to gather his breath, a fight was definitely not what they need in that moment. "Can you? Because our first two experiences together beg to differ." She said curtly. Harry rolled his eyes. What was she on to? "Kingsman agents are trained to handle every situation that opposes them. Even plucky little French girls who think they"re spies." Guinevere tilted her head and clinched her jaw. Harry almost regretted the insult as he said it, almost. Guinevere eyed him, for a very long time. Honestly her gaze scared him a bit. And Harry briefly wondered if she was going to punch him in the face. "You"re right. You"re a dedicated Kingsman agent, and I"m just a plucky French girl working when she can for her country. You are...the better agent." Harry narrowed his eyes as well, "But I have very little to live for, and I am willing to die for what I believe in. Rene Teshigahara ruined my life, and I will kill him." She said gravely. "You can either come with me and defuse these bombs or sit here on your shiny little ass while I do so by myself." They stared at each other for several moments before Harry conceded. "Fine, what do you need me to do?" Guinevere breathed in, relieved. "Inventory bullets in this bag. And we"ll need a few tools; pliers, needle nose, tweezers, and the like." Guinevere said and Harry nodded, getting to work. Guinevere watched him for a moment and smirked, grabbing a pair of gloves and shoved them into her pocket. Harry looked at her then. "Guinevere..." Harry paused. "What?" "A Kingsman only condones the risking of a life to save another, I won"t let you go alone." Guinevere looked down at the pliers in her hands and sighed, a gentle smirk on her face. "I know." Harry watched Guinevere on the phone, trying to read her expression. She was speaking with Jenny, her curator friend. So far Harry could interpret her expression as mild frustration mixed with annoyance. Guinevere suddenly hung up the phone and threw it onto the table. "She can"t get us in. Fuck." Guinevere rubbed her face with her hands and sighed. "We"ll have to break in." Harry smirked. There we go. "Then let"s break into the Louvre." Harry smiled as Guinevere eyed him. Their terms were settled. Guinevere knelt at the basement entrance and Harry stood watch. Less than ten seconds had passed and Guinevere opened the door. "My word, you picked that lock in less than ten seconds?" "You"re acting like its hard." Guinevere winked at him as she shut the door behind her. "Alright, your man with us?" Harry clicked his glasses, "Merlin?" "Here, Galahad." "Are you close to breaking into the security feeds?" Harry asked. "Thirty seconds." "Thirty seconds." Harry told Guinevere as she took a peak through the basement entrance. She gave him a thumbs up. "Jenny said at night there"s only three guards. Which isn"t much trouble at all." "Very good." Harry glanced at his watch. "Alright, camera feeds are now subdued. You are now both invisible." Merlin said. Harry gave her a thumbs up and they slowly walked out of the basement. Merlin piped into Harry"s ear, "One guard on level three, the other two are in the control room, they shouldn"t be a problem." "Fantastic. Thank you Merlin." Harry watched as Guinevere felt beneath one bench and paused. She plucked a bomb from underneath and sighed. "One down." She dropped it into her bag. Harry himself felt beneath another and found another. This was going to be a long process. Harry and Guinevere walked through the halls of the Louvre-the quiet, dimly lit halls. Harry mildly wondered if he would ever get a chance again to walk through these halls like this. Quiet and calm. They were picking up bombs in every gallery. Between the two of them they had at least twenty bombs each. Guinevere glanced at a painting on one of the walls in the modern gallery and Harry glanced at it as well. It was a de Kooning piece. He"d never really cared too much for abstract expressionism but he could respect it all the same. The way Guinevere looked at art though, could make him respect anything. "I read about de Kooning in school. He once said "Flesh is the reason oil paint was invented.' And I loved that. My father owned one of his painting but I never got to look at it." Harry pondered for a moment on what she said. "Flesh is the reason oil paint was invented.' That had to be one of the most sensual sentences he"d ever heard. And it made sense. Flesh was oil, bodies where painted-it only made sense. It looked more real. And in that moment Harry looked at Guinevere and he wanted to touch her. Just to feel the flesh of her arm, or maybe her cheek, so he could see himself if flesh was like oil paint. Guinevere looked at him and smiled gently. "Sorry, I shouldn"t be so distracted." "I agree." Merlin said into his ear and Harry rolled his eyes. "No, it"s quite alright." Harry said, walked down the hall with her, "This is an experience unlike any other." Guinevere"s hand suddenly went up, signaling him to stop. She knelt down next to the entrance of a gallery and listened. Harry knelt down next to her. "Can Merlin see what"s in that gallery?" Guinevere asked. "Merlin?" "My feed is blank, I"m not picking anything up." "Well, well." Guinevere quickly turned and stood. Harry himself turned and saw a man with three other men flanked behind him. Harry recognized this man, the long hair-it was Rene Teshigahara. "You know I thought the little curator was joking..." He stepped forward very, very slowly, "When she told me the princess was going to break into my museum, and raid it for my bombs-and! With her little spy friend as well-I could have sworn she was pulling my leg!" Harry glanced at Guinevere who wore a hard and unbroken expression of concentration. Rene stepped up to her and smiled sickly, yet she remained unfazed. "Jenny told you we were here." Guinevere said, if only repeating it to herself. Suddenly in the gallery over a sharp tone echoed, the tone of a silenced gunshot. And a body hit the floor. "You didn"t have to kill her." Guinevere said with her eyes closed. "Oh yes I did. You see, Princess Guinevere, I did need to kill her because what else do I do with her-she is of no use to me anymore. She told me when you would come to me, and I needed nothing more. Nothing more." Rene leaned down, slipped his hands in his pockets and whispered in her ear something that was inaudible to Harry. Suddenly Guinevere got that fire in her eye and punched him across the jaw without a wind up. Pure, untested brut force. Rene groaned and his men stepped forward but he put a hand up. "You fucking bitch. You have been nothing but a pain in my ass ever since you were born." Rene said, spitting blood onto the marble floor. "Sorry." She shrugged. She glanced at Harry and he nodded. On her signal, she needed more information out of him first, so Merlin to could hear. "I sure do hate to be an inconvenience to you and your brilliant plan." Rene jumped and grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. Harry quickly jumped forward and two men grabbed him and held him back. But he let them, Guinevere had yet to give him the signal. Guinevere choked but smirked. Rene growled in her face, "France, New York, London, Los Angeles...KA-BOOM, sweetheart. And you"ll be there with me, at my side while I destroy this world. Then I will skin your little Kingsman and make you watch." "Jesus christ can you be more dramatic?" Guinevere choked out and smirked. Quickly she grabbed his wrist and twisted it. Rene let out a holler and Guinevere nodded to Harry who quickly punched the two men simultaneously. He grabbed ones lapels and smashed him into the other and they both fell to the ground in a heap. More men came out of the galleries into the hall and Guinevere and Harry huddled back to back. "I"m sorry Harry, I didn"t know this was a trap." "Fight now. Apologize later." Harry said and threw a punch at a man. They both fought for several minutes, but were struggling. Rene was obviously no where to be found. Harry had one in a headlock but faltered when he heard Guinevere groan and hit the floor. Then he was punched hard in the face and hit the floor with a hard thud. Another kicked his stomach and head and then it all went black. Please let me know what you think! The light through the window beat down on Harry"s face. He struggled to open his eyes, but he felt the warmth from the sun on his face. When he opened his eyes he felt the pressure in his skull. He sighed and looked around the room. They were in a hotel room, different than their own. Large and luxurious. Great, more bloody hotel rooms. Harry twisted his head around and noticed he was alone. Where was Guinevere? He looked down at his hands and noticed he was tied to a chair that was bolted to the ground. Fucking great. He suddenly heard someone outside the door. Two men barged in lugging and body behind them. They threw it on the bed and cuffed their hands to the bannister of the bed and left. It was Guinevere. She was bleeding from both her nostrils and had a pretty intense black eye. At least, from what he could see. She was still wearing clothes, thankfully. She was barefoot and bore bruises around her ankles and feet. And she was passed out. For a moment Harry wondered if she was dead. But her eyelashes stirred, if only slightly. Harry breathed out a sigh of relief. Thank god. "Guinevere?" He said, his voice hoarse. She didn"t move. "Guinevere wake up." She didn"t move. Harry was beginning to worry. He waited for several minutes and sighed. What could he do? He looked around but he didn"t see anything that could possibly help him. Another several minutes passed and Harry felt useless. Suddenly Guinevere sucked in a breath, but didn"t wake up. "Guinevere!" Harry said, "Come on, wake up darling." She shuttered in her sleep and jumped up, her chained arms stopped her pulled her back down. "Oh thank god." "What the fuck?!" She yelled, her voice just as hoarse as his. "Guinevere are you okay?" Harry asked, desperation in his voice. She started breathing heavily, but her lungs heaved and wheezed painfully. She groaned in response and closed her eyes. "Fuck..." She groaned again and pulled at the ties on her wrists, her elbow pulling into her chest in pain. Were her ribs broken? "Guinevere, are you okay?" Harry asked with emphasis on each word. He noticed there was blood from her ears and bruising around her neck. "Guinevere, answer me please." "Yes I"m fucking fine Harry." She cried, "...Are you fine?" "Yes, I"m a little banged up but I"m fine." "Good," she breathed out and looked at the ceiling. "Fuck Harry." Harry looked around again, trying to ignore the thought of her neck and the bruises around it. "What did they do to you?" Guinevere turned her head and looked at him. "Nothing I can"t handle, darling." Harry breathed out and didn"t believe her, that small smirk she gave him was filled with nothing but pain. But he nodded and let it go. "We need to get out of here." Harry said, still looking around for a way out of his binds. "We can"t." Guinevere said quietly. "What did you say?" Harry asked. "I said we can"t get out. We can"t..." She started coughing, her chest wheezed and Harry knew immediately that she had at least one broken rib, but she was taking it like a champ. "Guinevere, stop that this instant. I need you to buck up, young lady." Guinevere chuckled at his nickname and turned her whole body to face him. "Then tell me, since you"re so optimistic on getting out of those binds, and me out of these cuffs in the condition I"m in-out of this hotel room and-" "Okay, okay, no need to get snarky." Harry said rolling his eyes. He started to wiggle the arms of the chair and noticed a slight looseness but he paused. "You can"t think that way, Guinevere, we have to think positively. We"ll get out of this-I"ll get us out of this...somehow." "Fine, I trust you." Harry clinched his jaw, he couldn"t handle her sudden lack of interest now-not yet-not in this situation. The front door was suddenly opened and Rene waltzed in with two men behind him. Harry sneered internally upon seeing him. This was ridiculous, this man was ridiculous. Guinevere sighed as he walked past her on the bed but refused to look away from him. Harry wondered if what she was doing had an ulterior motive. If her pessimism was a double-agent of sorts. Then Rene turned to Harry and smiled softly. "This is beautiful." He looked between Harry and Guinevere, "I had a feeling there was something between you two, and the look on your face when my men threw this one in here-priceless." Harry bit his tongue but Guinevere did not. "What the fuck are you talking about?" She asked, making Rene turn swiftly toward her but he didn"t say anything regarding her question. "You know I had half a mind to chain you two together and let you both loose, just to see what would happen." He laughed to himself, "Disaster I"m sure would ensue. Our Princess here was not made to be subtle, as I"m sure we"re all aware, that"s why I love her so much." "Fuck off, Rene." Guinevere groaned but Rene ignored it. Rene continued but Harry zoned out, this man was completely insane, speaking incoherent nonsense. He had to figure out a way to get Guinevere and himself out of this mess.

she kind of went a little ka-ka." "Well what does Ziggy know?" Sam questioned impatiently. Al sighed, "You"re not going to like it Sam." "Try me," Sam stated bluntly. Again Al took a deep breath before speaking, "According to what Ziggy can figure out, you have two choices. One is that you make sure that Beth and you-- and Dirk-- get together and that she marries him. If you do that, then Ziggy says there"s a 93.6 percent chance you"ll leap out of here just like before," Al paused, "The other choice is that you convince Beth not to get together with Dirk and to wait for me to come home. But if you do that--" Sam swallowed hard, "You disappear again." To Be Continued... A/N: Haha, I"m having way too much fun with this story. There was also some fluff there between Sam and Al which I hope you guys don"t mind. Oh, and another thing; I wasn"t sure if car alarms were around back in 1969, but when I asked my Dad, he said probably not... which frankly doesn"t mean too much. Haha... so I made it so they weren"t. I hope you all continue to read this story and let me know what you think! ThAnKs! A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter took a bit; I lost my internet, so couldn"t post it. I"m actually almost done the story; there"s only one more chapter after this. I"m happy with the way my first Quantum Leap fic is going; it"s been so much fun! I hope you enjoy this chapter; lemme know! ThAnKs! "Yeah," Al"s voice softened as Sam sat down on an old couch, "It"ll go back to the way it was before," Al paused and studied his friends distressed look, "Sam, listen to me. I want you to make sure that Beth gets together with Dirk." "What?" Sam looked up at Al, "No. I can"t make that mistake again. I won"t." "Sam, do you even remember what it was like for the past two years?" Al questioned harshly, "You had no one. Do you really want to go through that again?" "If it means that you"ll have someone, then yes," Sam stated. Al laughed and turned his back to Sam, "You"re something else there Sam." Sam could tell that the conversation was getting far too emotional for Al, so he decided to stop it, "Listen Al, why don"t you go back. I"m going to get some sleep, and then tomorrow I"m having brunch with Beth." The portal door opened and Al wordlessly stepped in and closed it. Sam smiled to himself as he slowly undressed; Al was his best friend and he"d do anything for him, but Al just didn"t seem to understand that. "If you"re lucky, life is going to give you one shot at true love.' Al"s words loured Sam to sleep that night as he enjoyed the first night in over two years in a bed that he could call his own. ... "Dirk!" Bang! Bang! "Dirk, wake up!" the voice was that of a female and Sam struggled to think of a female he knew. "Dirk, it"s me Beth, your Mom sent me over with the truck to pick you up!" "Beth!" suddenly the memories of the previous day occurred to him, "I-I"m coming!" Practically falling out of bed, Sam stumbled around the room. The image in the mirror caused him to jump and he put on the first cloths that he could find. It wasn"t even five minutes later when he flew to the door and opened it; completely out of breath. "Hi," Sam gasped, forcing a smile. "Hi," Beth looked suspiciously at him, "Are you alright?" "Fine," Sam nodded, "I"m just fine. I was--" "Sleeping?" Beth giggled, "It"s nearly noon. What were you doing up so late?" "Umm, nothing," Sam closed the door as he stood out on the small porch, "Come on, we can still grab something to eat." "Alright," Beth said, "I can show you a beautiful place at the corner of Harvest Street. My--" Beth paused, "Husband used to take me there all the time." Bells rang off in Sam"s head and he paused in mid-motion of opening the passenger door for her, "Oh. Well if it"s a special place for just your husband and you, I don"t want to ruin it." "Don"t be silly Dirk," Beth shook her head, "Al and I dined at this place at least once a week when he was here, but we also went with other people as well." "Alright," Sam glanced around in a vein hope that Al might be somewhere close by, "If you"re sure Al won"t mind." "He won"t," Beth shook her head, "Come on." Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up on the side of Harvest Street. Nervously Sam opened Beth"s door and she got out; hooking her arm around Sam"s. It made Sam scared how comfortable that it felt and his heart pounded with every move; fearing it would be the move to cause him to leap. Before he knew it, they had arrived to their destination at the corner of the street and they stood in front of a large, old brick building with a sign reading "Silver Table" above it. They walked the two stairs to the double doors and were greeted in the dim lobby by a hostess. "Hello there Mrs. Calavicci, how are you doing today?" the lady smiled warmly and Sam admired her pristine appearance in a black pleated skirt, a white shirt and red sash. "Hello Sally," Beth smiled back just as warmly, "I"m doing good. Just for two today." "Very good," Sally smiled and looked at Sam, "May I take your hat Sir?" "Uh, yeah," Sam took off his hat and handed it to her, "T-Thank you." Sally held the hat in her hand and lead them into the main dinning area. It took Sam"s breath away as they walked through the area scattered with about a dozen other people chatting quietly while eating. The floor was covered with a dark navy carpet that was accented by a slightly lighter blue coloured wallpaper that was covered with different pieces of Navy nostalgia. There was nearly thirty tables through the room; each covered with a white cloth table cover, and pre-set with red cloth napkins and a vase with flowers to match. Each table seemed to have its own personal light above it, giving a sense of intimacy at any time of the day. Sam spotted a large wishing fountain off in the far right hand corner that made soft sounds of water as an old wooden spinning wheel circulated the water that had been wished upon so many times. The left side of the room held the sitting bar which was furnished with a dozen stools covered in burgundy leather; Sam envisioned the crowd that would gather there in the evenings with their brandy"s and cigars. A light jazz music filled the room leaving a pleasant atmosphere to eat a late brunch by. "Is this seat suitable Mrs. Calavicci?" Sally asked as they finally got to one of the tables near the back. "This is great Sally, thank you," Beth nodded approvingly and Sam helped her into the seat. "This place is amazing," Sam said quietly, "It"s so classy." Beth laughed, "Classy? I suppose. I guess I"m just used to it by now." "Yeah," Sam looked around some more; spotting a picture on the wall of a Navy Officer. "Your ice water Mrs. Calavicci," just as suddenly as they sat down, another lady; dressed in the same uniform walked over and placed two glasses of ice water on the table, "And menu"s." "Thank you Karen," Beth took a menu, "I"d like you to meet my friend here; Mr. Simon." "Hello Mr. Simon," Karen did a small curtsey, "It"s a pleasure to meet you." "Thank you," Sam repeated the words he"d said to Sally. "Now," Beth started to talk as Karen walked off, "You can order whatever you like. Don"t worry about the bill; they know me very well here; Al and I have an account." "Alright," Sam nodded his head and opened up his menu, staring at the assortment of foods-- every one of them looking good. "Ohh Sam! You have to the try Eggs Benedict; they"re unbelievable!" suddenly Al"s voice sounded beside Sam. "Al!" Sam blurted out, his eyes wide in excitement. "What was that?" Beth looked at Sam. "Umm," Sam cleared his throat, "I"ll... be right back. I didn"t have time to wash up this morning. Order me the Eggs Benedict"s." Beth smiled, "That"s what Al always used to order." "Yeah, I heard it"s really good," Sam nodded and got up. Not quite sure where the bathrooms were, Sam head towards the back of the room. Al was nowhere in sight, so he quickly assumed that his friend was currently waiting in the bathrooms. He quickly got his answer as he spotted his destination through a door just beside the sitting bar. "Al," Sam grinned widely seeing him standing unreflectively in front of the large mirror, "It"s good to see you." "If you"re going to do this mushy stuff every time I come back, I"m going to start wearing bells," Al commented, "Listen Sam, Ziggy says that you have until the end of today to convince Beth either way." "Ziggy"s got more information?" Sam asked, highly interested. "Sure," Al smacked the hand link a few times, "I gave her a few bribes and she started kicking out information." Sam smirked, "Al, how can you give a computer a bribe?" Al raised his eyes brows, "I give fed her some downloads of last years firemen calender and she--" "Alright, alright," Sam shook his head, not wanting to hear anymore, "Just tell me what she told you." "Well," Al stared intently down at the hand link, "According to what she"s brought up, and... well-- what I remember, I went MIA in Vietnam, then, on November 28th, 1969 she married you-- err-- Dirk Simon. But the thing that throws her over the edge happened," again Al smacked the hand link; cussing to himself quietly as he did so, "--happened this last weekend, on the eleventh. Three people who were listed MIA over seas were found," Al sighed, "Dead. Beth was really distraught over that, and used Dirk as a comfort tool. They fell in love, got married, and-- well, we all know the rest." "Ask Ziggy what will happened if I make sure they don"t get together," Sam questioned. Al waited a few moments, "There"s a 97.5 percent chance that you"ll leap out of here. But... the same thing will happen as before where you"ll leap as yourself and will sort of be lost in the universe. I"ll have never met you, Star Bright will have never happened, and Project Quantum Leap will never have been thought of." "And--" Sam took a deep breath, "And if I make sure they do get together?" "Uhh--" Al paused, "92.5 percent you"ll leap. But you"ll go just like you used to, and I"ll still be around." "But you won"t have Beth," Sam spoke slowly. "Sam, I don"t care," Al shook his head stubbornly, "I have Tina right now. Tina is--" "Tina has been with pretty much everyone but Ziggy," Sam frowned, "Al, you said so yourself that a person only gets one true chance at love." "A person only gets one chance to have a best friend like you too," Al"s voice bore that of a person who had seen heartbreak far too often, "And even though I won"t even have known you otherwise, I know you now. And I don"t want to loose you." "But there"s no way," Sam turned into the mirror and stared at the reflection; frustration overwhelming him, "How can we have it both ways?" "We can"t Sammy," Al spoke softly, "You have to do it. Make sure she gets together with Dirk. Don"t go back to the way it was." "Al," Sam took a deep breath, "I can"t do that to you. Not again." Without another word, Sam walked out of the bathroom door and back into the dinning area. His mind was running away with idea"s of how he could possibly figure out a way to make everyone happy, and before Sam knew it, brunch was over. "Did you have a good time?" Beth asked as they made their way back to the truck. "Y-Yeah," Sam nodded. Beth frowned, "You seemed a little distracted. Is there anything wrong?" "No," Sam opened up the passenger side door, and yet Beth remained standing outside it. "I remember," a far away look came to Beth"s face as she spoke, "With Al... whenever one of us was upset about something, the other one would leave a note for them to read. One that would say how much we loved each other and that everything would be ok as long as we had each other." Select tears rolled down Beth"s cheeks. "Notes?" Sam"s breath caught in his throat. "Yes," Beth nodded. A large grin came to Sam"s face, "Beth, will you join me for dinner tonight? There"s something very important I have to talk to you about." Beth reached inside her hand purse and took out a tissue to dab at her eyes with, "Of course I will." "It has to work!' were Sam"s last thoughts as he helped Beth into the vehicle and took off down the street. To Be Continued... A/N: So there it was! Sam knows what he"s going to do, but will it work? What do you think so far? What do you think it is that Sam is going to do? lol, it"s not too hard to figure out! You"ve read, now review! ThAnKs! A/N: Yay! It"s the last chapter. Ok, so this is kind of a sad occassion. I had a lot of fun writing this story, and was actually surprised when I found myself writing a Quantum Leap fanfic. This chapter wraps it up nicely, though I did put a few little "facts" in which I highly doubt are true at all. Just ignore them, or smile, and realize this is an AU. Haha, well, here it is; the last chapter. I hope you all enjoy it! Read and Review! ThAnKs! "Sam, what are you doing?" Al asked sternly from beside Sam; who sat at a small desk writing furiously. "What do you mean?" Sam asked, not tearing his eyes away from the paper. "I mean the date you have with Beth," Al stated, "You should be there by now. You have to make sure she falls for Dirk, and she"s a real stickle about time." "I know Al, I"m almost done," Sam said, and sure enough, finished writing. "What are you writing?" Al questioned, "A love letter?" "Not quite," Sam grinned, "You"ll find out though." "What are you talking about?" Al tried unsuccessfully to see what was written on the paper. "You"ll see eventually," Sam laughed and quickly folded up the paper, "Are you going to be at the Silver Table for the dinner?" "Of course," Al"s voice became soft, "I want to say good-bye to her." A half hour later, Sam still hadn"t lost the grin on his face as he was seated at the table which Beth sat at; dressed in a beautiful red dress and white shawl. Sam was startled to see Al standing beside her, his white Navel Uniform on with all the decorations. "Hi Beth," Sam smiled and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "Very good Sam," Al encouraged, "Don"t go on too strong; she-she doesn"t like that." "How are you doing?" Sam continued on; ignoring Al. "I"m doing good," Beth returned the grin, "I was worried about you this morning." "There was nothing to be worried about," Sam shook his head, "I had a problem, and I needed to figure out an answer to it." "And did you?" Beth questioned. Sam took out the piece of paper, "I did." "The note?" Al looked suspiciously at Sam and took a step towards him, "Sam, what did you write on that piece of paper?" "Now Beth, I have something that I want to tell you, but you have to believe me," Sam began, "Alright?" "Someone told me that once before," Beth"s voice became soft suddenly and distant. "I know," Sam nodded, "But before I can tell you, you have to make me a promise." "What?" Beth"s eyes shone with unshed tears at the direction her heart knew the conversation was going. "The letter," Sam placed the neatly folded piece of paper in Beth"s hand, and then placed his own, soft hand overtop of hers, "This letter is very important--" "Sam, I don"t like this," Al swallowed hard. Sam did his best to ignore Al as he continued on, "This letter is to your husband. To Al," Sam heard his best friend gasp slightly from beside him, "And you have to keep this letter, and make sure that Al reads it. And whatever you do, never let him forget it." "Sam, what are you doing!" Al screamed from beside Sam. "Al..." tears clearly came down Beth"s face now as she held the paper in her hand. "That"s the thing that I wanted to tell you," Sam swallowed hard, praying his plan would work, "Al is still alive Beth. He will be coming home to you. I promise you that." Beth"s hands moved to her face, and a quiet sob escaped from her mouth. "Sam, what the hell did you do!" Al cried out. Sam stared at Al a moment as Beth continued to cry to herself in the seat across from him, "Don"t forget the letter Al..." ... Something was wrong! The noises were so loud and indistinct. Sam knew that there was words being spoken, but he just couldn"t understand them. Slowly he opened his eyes and saw nothing but a reflective blue. "The letter..." Sam"s voice mumbled out as the memories of his last leap occurred to him, "Did it work?" His head spun and pounded and the distinct feeling of wanting to vomit enveloped Sam, causing him to have to close his eyes again; remaining in a half hunched over position on the cool ground. He remembered giving the letter to Beth then looking at Al and then... Did he leap? Yes, of course he did. Sam was sure he"d leaped; he"d recognize the feeling anywhere. But something was different this time. He didn"t feel like this when he"d leap usually. And the noise! The noise was so loud. "Ziggy, tell me what the hell is going on!" suddenly the loud, angry shout of Al could be heard as Sam heard a chamber door opening. "Al..." Sam mumbled; hardly loud enough for his own ears over the siren which wailed. "It appears that Dr. Beckett is no longer leaping.' "Ziggy!' Sam"s mind screamed out at the familiar voice, "Why can I hear her!' "Then who the hell is in here?" Al yelled; seemingly completely oblivious to the fact that Sam was now awake, "And would you turn that damn siren off!" "Al?" slowly new memories immerged within Sam"s brain, "Al... where am I?" Suddenly everything was quiet as the wailing siren stopped and Al"s ranting cessed. Sam"s head still spun viciously as he forced his eyes open to look towards the door. Al stood just a few feet in, wearing vibrant red pants and a yellow shirt. He held the hand-link and was looking wide-eyed towards Sam. "Ziggy, whose is in the waiting room?" Al called out, and yet didn"t loose eye contact with Sam. Sam"s heart lurched into his throat for a moment in fear that maybe he"d stumbled into some alternate universe where his best friend had no idea who he was. That thought quickly left his mind, however, when he remembered that whoever was in the waiting room at Project Quantum Leap looked like him; Sam Beckett. That in turn lead to another, heart lurching thought. "I"m home," Sam"s voice was hoarse and quiet, "I-It worked." "What did you say?" Al took a suspicious step forward. Memories that Sam didn"t even know he had washed through his head and he looked up at Al from his position on the floor, "W-Who"s Alexandria?" "How the hell do you know my daughter?" anger flashed through Al"s eyes as he yelled again, "Ziggy! Who the hell is in the waiting room, and where the hell is Sam!" "I believe, Admiral Calavicci, that you will get both of your answers from in front of you.' Al groaned and smacked the side of his hand-link, "Enough of the damn riddles!" "There is a 99.8 percent chance, Admiral, that the man crouching before you is Dr. Samuel Beckett.' Sam"s eyes widened as he forced himself to his feet, "It worked," tears slowly crept down his face, "My God... it worked." "Sam?" Al looked at the hand-link to verify that the man was, in fact, his best friend. Sam grinned widely and made a large sniffling sound, "Hi Al." Al"s hand flew up to his face to cover his gapping mouth. Any formality training he had learned; any training in keeping his emotions in tact, now left him as he took a large step forwards. All the times he"d come into the waiting room and saw Sam Beckett there, he knew it wasn"t really him. He knew that his best friend was off somewhere in time making right which once went wrong. But now. The person that he saw was really him. "Sam--" Al choked on his words. Silently Sam took a step forward to meet him. He put his hands out hesitantly, fully expecting the man he"d seen so many times to continue to be a hologram. For all of this to be some evil trick from God. Finally the moment came and Sam"s hand brushed up against Al"s light cotton shirt. "Al," Sam laughed. Seconds later he had his arms wrapped tightly around the Admiral, letting the tears of joy, love and relief wash down his face. Al returned the hug with tremendous force; the hand-link lighting up in his hand as he held his friend in his arms for the first time in so many years. All too soon they broke apart and Sam half collapsed onto the small table in the centre of the room. "Sam--" Al tried feebly to wipe his own tears from his face, "Sam, are you ok?" "I-I"m home," Sam breathed deeply, "I finally made it home." The distinct role of Project Observer and keeper of Sam took over Al, "Alright Sam, we need to get you to see Doctor Laura. She needs to look over you." "Why?" Sam"s mind was still fuzzy as his memories swished and bounced around in his head, "What"s wrong?" Al smiled, "We"ve been waiting for this day for nearly ten years Buddy. We have it planned to a tee, and the first step it to make sure that swiss-cheesed brain of yours isn"t going to go completely bonkers on us." "O-Ok," Sam nodded. Al hooked Sam"s arm around his shoulder as he helped his wobbly feet make their way to the door. It automatically opened and the two of them were greeted by a long hallway. "Y-You have four daughters," Sam spoke quietly; just loud enough for Al to hear. "Yeah," Al encouraged the conversation, "Do you remember their names?" "Alexandria," it was a struggle for Sam to think through his, so poetically titled, swiss-cheesed mind, as they continued their trek down the corridors, "She"s... sixteen. Then there"s," Sam paused to think, "Elizabeth w-who is eighteen and--" Sam gasped as he stopped in mid-stride, "and you have twins Al!"

Erin. "Who"s Erin?" Alan finally whispered to himself. "Huh?" this time is was MJ who woke from Alan, "What are you saying?" "Oh, sorry MJ," Alan wasn"t in the mood for arguing, so tried to quickly close the conversation. "No," MJ was fully up now, "You said something about an Erin." "Yeah," Alan gave in, "I woke up and the name Erin was in my head. Why?" "That"s my kids name," MJ"s voice was suddenly soft in contrast to the usual bitterness. "Oh," Alan perked up at the thought of getting more memories back, "How old is she?" "He," MJ"s voice was back to it"s usual bluntness, "This is my SON we"re talking about. And not that it"s any of your business, but Aaron is two." "Sorry," Alan said, and got up and walked out the door. Once outside, Alan walked slowly. The cool air nipped at his bare arms which stuck through his tank-top. His legs were just as cold, as his shorts clung to him, making his body do things that on any other day would make him embarrassed. But not on this night. Too much was on his mind. His head still hurt, and trying to sort out the wondering thoughts that were charging through it didn"t help. There were certain things that just wouldn"t leave his mind. He"d only been at this camp for just over a week, and already things seemed eerie familiar. This Loretta she seemed- so- familiar. Alan felt like he knew her body, her every crevice. From her dirty-blond hair to her perfect toes, he felt an attraction to her that you wouldn"t normally feel towards someone you"d known for a week. On the other hand all the people here were strangers. With the newly arising memories that surfaced in his brain, none of them brought the feelings of knowing these people. The person just recently in his dream- Erin. She seemed so real, like someone he actually knew all about. But, there was no one there by the name of Erin. And MJ"s son was Aaron. Through the pounding of these thoughts through Alan"s brain, he didn"t even notice the jeep charging towards him... "Suction Margaret, I need suction!" BJ"s voice barked as he worked frantically to get the bleeding under control inside the Korean man"s stomach. "I"m trying Sir," Margaret"s voice rang out from underneath the white mask on her face. "Oh no," Klingers voice came up from the end of the surgical table. "What? What is it?" BJ asked. "No heart rate," Klinger said, and silence fell to the room. Alan woke up. The air was cold, and when he moved his limbs, everything hurt. His mind tried to register where he was, but all he could remember was a jeep coming right towards him, then nothing. He was now laying in the middle of a field. In the distance dropping bombshells could be heard. "I thought Potter rung to them to stop the midnight bombshell showing," he mumbled as he slowly sat up. He stopped in mid movement as his brain clicked in his previously stated sentence. "Potter," he said slowly as he strained his mind to remember, "Uhh, Colonel Sherbert Potter? No! Colonel SherMAN Potter! I remember!" He jumped up- ignoring all pain that rushed through his body, "I remember now! Oh my God. I am- I"m... Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce- also known as Hawkeye. Serial Number is US1283643! BJ is my best friend, Frank Burns is ferret face, and Klinger has worn more dresses than Margaret has. Margaret." Hawkeye paused momentarily as the blond haired wonder flashed into his mind, "I never had met a person with hotter lips than Hotlips." The memories flooded back, and it overwhelmed Hawkeye. He didn"t know where he was other than the mere fact that he was at 1829 Mash. He had no clue as to where that was in relation to his home of the 4077th. He decided one thing though. "I have to find out who this Alan Alda is." Sherman came up behind BJ and put a hand on his shoulder, "It"s ok Son, you tried your best. There was nothing that anybody could have done. The infection inside of him had already gotten to him long before we did." "He-he was the only link we had to where Hawk was. N-Now we"ll never know," his voice cracked as he spoke. "Listen," Sherman said trying to keep his voice under control, "Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce is missing. Now missing does not mean dead, and then again does not mean alive. It means he is gone, and whether you save a man does not mean that he will all of a sudden die or live. Hawkeye is a strong man- much stronger than lots of the people in this unit. I miss him, you miss him, and so does every other Tom, Huck and Mary. But that does not mean we all have the right to sulk around and wallow in self pity. There is still a war going on, and it will continue to go on whether I die, you die- or Pierce does." BJ looked at him, "But what if it does?" "But what if what does?" Sherman looked at him questionably. "What if this man dying does mean the death of Hawk," BJ"s voice was a whisper, "Then- I killed my best friend." "Alda, Alda," Hawkeye mumbled as he thumbed through the files inside Colonel Morgan"s office. Hawkeye quickly found out that his place in the field had not been far from the 1829th. Now as he skimmed through the names in the file he prayed that he found the name before someone found him. "Yes!" Hawkeye cried as he pulled out a file with the name "Alda, Alan" clearly printed on the side, "Now to see who this guy is." Hawkeye was startled to see that the picture inside closely resembled him, with minimum differences. He quickly read through the papers, and found that he had gone missing just a day after he himself had, and they had him written down as being found when Hawkeye had been taken by them. "A few cuts. Banged head. Possible amnesia?" Hawkeye read from the report, "Seems to not know too much, but can"t be sure of cause. Will retrain. These bastards don"t care who the hell they have on their side, just as long as they can stick a gun in their hand and aim their brain, they got themselves a solider." It was becoming more and more difficult for Hawkeye to keep his voice down, so he decided to leave. It was gonna be a long teak back home, and Hawkeye knew that. "Incoming wounded people, the shows back on!" BJ rolled over in hopes that the voice was just a dream, but the kick in the feet indicated it wasn"t. "You"re going to have to get up," Franks voice could be heard vaguely through the pillow that was currently over BJ"s face, "you can"t kill yourself now and leave me to treat these people." Reluctantly BJ got up and went to pre-op to prepare. It didn"t take long for people to notice how quiet BJ was. "Why don"t you go scrub down BJ, I think we can handle it from here," Colonel Potters voice broke the silence that had been looming in the room. With a nod of his head BJ agreed gratefully, and left. "That boy is taking this really hard," Sherman shook his head as he worked on closing up a belly wound. "I know," Margaret said sadly, "I wish there was something we could do to help him." "So do I," Sherman sighed, "so do I." BJ took out some paper and a pen as he sat on his cot in the Swamp. He was going to write two letters. One to his wife- Peg, and one to Hawkeye. He decided to write to Peg first... Dearest Peg,Hi Darling, how is it going? How"s Erin? Is she walking now? The last time you wrote to me you were saying how she liked to grab onto furniture and try and walk holding onto to that. Does she do that anymore, or can she actually walk on her own? Oh God how I miss her.And what about you? How are you holding up Sweetheart? I promise it won"t be much longer until they call peace and I can come back home. This place is a hell hole, and I can"t wait to go back to Heaven- home with you and Erin. Is you"re flu any better. Was it just a flu. You told me before that you were going to be going to the doctors, how did that go? I hope you are feeling better.Tragedy has struck the 4077th. My best friend Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce- or Hawkeye as we all call him- is gone. He went missing some time ago- I can"t even remember precisely how long because the time has all gone by in such a blur. He went on a simple outing to get some supplies, and got in a wreckage. We never found his body and he"s been gone since. Oh Peg, it"s so hard. He was my only link to sanity, and now he"s gone. My best friend- someone who I thought was invincible to all harm is a casualty of war. I just can"t believe it, and it hurts me every time I think that he won"t be around to give one of his snide remarks, make a joke about the food, or even insult old Frank Burns. A man was brought in the other day that looks somewhat like Hawkeye, and who we were sure knew something about where he was, but he died while I was operating on him. That hit me hard, and I can"t help thinking that if only I was a better surgeon I could have saved him, and my best friend.Well, as much as I hate to end this letter that way, I think I have to. Frank just got in, and is yelling at me to turn off the light. Sweat dreams my Peg. Kiss Erin for me. I love you both with all my heart.Love, BJ BJ sighed, put the letter on his end table, turned out the light and went to sleep. Hawkeye froze on his tracks. "No," he whispered tears coming to his eyes, "it can"t be." The early dawn light his a large sign in front of Hawkeye, and he was scared to believe it. He ran as fast as he could, until he was only a few yards away from the sign. "Oh my God!" Hawkeye cried as he stared at the sign. In bright white letters it read "Welcome to the 4077th MASH". BJ sat on his cot-- the early morning light shinning through, as he wrote out a letter... To HawkeyeI don"t know what to write to you, or how to write it. I also know it doesn"t really matter because you will never read this letter. You went missing about a month ago. We"ve had hundreds of wounded go through here, Frank has asked Margaret out at least twice a day, and Klinger continues to try and get out of the army any way possible. The war continues to go on, and people try their best to forget the past. I think that"s what scares me the most- that I"ll forget the past. And that I"ll forget you. You were, are my best friend I"ve ever had. Always there to put in a joke, or listen to me when I talk about Erin and Peg.The new replacement comes in two days. His name is Dr. Jack Lee Forest. I already hate him. Oh God how I wish you were here. I"d do anything to for you to come ba- "War"s a funny place ain"t it," BJ swung his head around to see none other than Hawkeye standing at the door, "sometimes it swallows people up, and sometimes it spits them out. Guess it didn"t like me." Tears were immediately running down BJ"s face as he sat up, "We"ll take you here any time Hawk." BJ stood up, and the two meet in the middle for a long awaited hug. "Oh God Beej I missed you," Hawkeye said hoarsely as pulled himself away. BJ quickly wiped the tears away from his eyes, "I missed you too Hawk-- more than you"ll ever realize." It was only then that BJ did a quick up and down review of his friend to look for any damage, "You look horrible Hawk!" "Thanks I try." "No," BJ smiled slightly, "I mean you have so many bruises on you, you"re starting to look like a purple and blue polka-dot person! And you face. You got a nice gash above your right eye. Hawk, I"m taking you to get looked over." "We don"t have to do that," Hawkeye said with a sly grin, "Give me about ten minutes in the nurses tent, and I"m sure I"ll be feeling better." BJ grinned and put an arm around Hawkeyes shoulder as they walked out the tent, "It"s good to have you back Hawk, it"s good to have you back." "Colonel, I really think you may want to help me examine this patient," BJ spoke to Colonel Potter once he fished him out of the mess tent. "Blast it BJ, there are no wounded expected in for quit some time, and I plan on enjoying myself for a while this morning. What could possibly be so important about this patient that you need me there?" "Trust me," was all BJ said as he led the way to the examination room. Once in Colonel Potter looked around, and saw Hawkeye sitting on the table. "Well I"ll be a pickled cucumber!" Sherman cried as he made two large steps to the table, "Pierce!" "The one and only," Hawkeye grinned. Sherman did a quick hug to Hawkeye, then looked at him- tears brimming in his eyes, "My God Son, what happened?" "It"s a long story," Hawkeye said. "Which I suggest," BJ interrupted, "we all listen to after we examine him." "Right," Sherman nodded his head. It took a mere half hour before they had completed the exam, and came to the conclusion that his worst injuries he had was the gash on his head which had started to get infected, a sprained wrist, three broken ribs and countless cuts and bruises. Immediately after that they went to the intercom where Sherman made an announcement. "Ladies and Gentlemen of 4077th. This is your CO speaking, and I would like to say a few things. First of all, immediately proceeding this announcement all major officers will come to my office for a meeting. Second of all, I would like to say in front of everyone how happy, and overjoyed I am to announce that our very own Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce is back with us. That is all." So much noise was clouding through Colonel Potters office, that none could be recognizable as any sort of words. Most of it was sobbed "oh my God"s" and "I can"t believe it". And in the middle of it was Hawkeye- enjoying every second of the pampering from the people that meant so much to him. "Ok, Ok! Hold it everyone!" BJ was the one that called it all to order. Everyone stood still and looked at BJ. Hawkeye took that moment to look around. Father Mulcahy stood in the back. His hand was clutching the golden cross around his neck, and his face supported the biggest grin that Hawkeye had ever seen on him. Klinger was sitting on the end of a desk to his right. A grin on his face, and a fur coat on his back. Next Hawkeye noticed Frank. He was standing to his left, and was smiling- tears actually brimming in his eyes. Just behind Frank was Colonel Potter. His arms over his chest, and grinning proudly. BJ was beside him, his arm around his shoulder as he spoke. Sniffles every few seconds proved to show that the tears weren"t over yet with him. Then Hawkeye noticed her. Margaret. She was standing in the back of the room, tears flowing freely down her face as she continuously attempted to wipe at them to keep them under control. She was looking directly at Hawkeye, and for a moment they both just stared at each other. Taking in each others feelings, and seemingly having a conversation with no words. Hawkeye was brought back to reality when BJ continued on. "Hawkeye, I"d like to say a few things to you, on behalf of everyone," BJ said as he looked over at his friend, "Hawk, to see you here, means so much," BJ"s voice cracked and he looked down. Hawkeye put a hand on his shoulder and patted his back, "And," BJ continued after a quick wipe of his eyes, "I, we, want you to know, that you mean so much here at the 4077th. When-when you were gone, there was a part of everyone that was missing. The part that makes us laugh, the part that makes us feel better about ourselves, and even the part that makes getting drunk fun! And now, you"re back. It"s such a relief that you are ok, and are safe. We all love, and care for you Hawk, and- and if anything ever did happen-" BJ stopped there, staring at his shoes. A few moments of silence went by before another voice rang through the still room. "Here, here," Sherman grinned, and the whole room burst out into applause, people shoving their way to hug Hawkeye. "Margaret, sponge," Hawkeye said as he worked on a patient. "Anytime doctor," the admiration shone in Margaret"s voice. Hawkeye gave a quick look at her, "How about my tent at ten?" "In your dreams Buster," Margaret tried to make her voice stern, but couldn"t help smiling as she realized how much she"d missed him. "We"ll see about that," Hawkeye replied slyly. "Right," Sherman spoke up from the other end of the operating room as he finished up with a patient, "Pierce. I almost forgot. We"re running low on gloves and caps, and someone needs to go to the 8063rd to pick them up tomorrow, how"d you like-" Before another word could be spoken, the whole room rang out in a chorus of "NO!" THE END Hush Little Baby "Ok," Hawkeye spoke into the phone, "So it"s all set, you two will be here tomorrow?...yeah, and then it"s off to Tokyo for you guys for a week...ok, see ya then. Bye-Bye...yeah, I know he"ll be surprised...Bye Hun." Klinger grinned at Hawkeye when he hung up the phone, "Everything going through as planned?" "Yup," Hawkeye said, "and he"ll be none the wiser until tomorrow." "All good Pierce?" Colonel Potter asked as he came out of his office. "How are the preparations going there Hawkeye?" Charles asked as he too walked into the room. "Klinger, I told you not to tell anybody, what"d you do, send the news out in the stars and strips?" Hawkeye glared at Klinger. "I"m sorry Sir, but Colonel Potter caught me on the phone talking to the guys at East Wing, and I had to tell him, and then I needed Major Winchester"s help to pull some strings back in LA." Hawkeye gave looks to both Charles and Colonel Potter, "BJ doesn"t know?" Both shook their heads and Hawkeye sighed, "Good, that"s all I need after four months of planning." Hawkeye waited at a small rest-stop where he"d been told by the person on the phone the day before was the meeting spot. A private airplane had taken its passengers to a small camp, and then some friends of Klingers were going to be giving them a lift the ten miles to the present place were Hawkeye was waiting nervously. "She should be here any minute," Hawkeye said as he took a deep breath, and looked himself up and down. He was in his greens. He was going to be wearing something a little more formal, but BJ had decided to skip breakfast that morning and write a letter to his wife Peg. He"d just gotten a letter from her, and was eager to write back to ask about his two year old daughter Erin and how everything else was, and so he was in the tent all morning up until when Hawkeye had to actually leave, and he didn"t want to arouse any interest by dressing fancy. Hawkeye then paused as he realized something. "I"d gotten a letter from Dad," he shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a white envelope with the words "Ben Pierce" written neatly on the front. He hadn"t even started to open it up when he saw another jeep drive up. Hawkeye quickly shoved the letter back into his pocket, and watched as the army green jeep came to a halt a few feet in front of him. Once it had come to a complete stop he watched as a blond hair lady-- about five foot eight-- with shoulder length blond hair stepped out of the vehicle. She was wearing a long flowing dark blue skirt with a white tank-top. She bent into the back seat of the jeep, and helped out another person. A small girl-- around two and a half. She had hair that matched her mothers, and wore dark blue jean overalls and a yellow t-shirt. She had her hair pulled in little pigtails, and she was the cutest thing that Hawkeye had seen in a long time. The lady walked over to Hawkeye, the little girl holding onto her hand. "You must be Hawkeye," she smiled at him. Hawkeye grinned, "Hi Peg." He reached over and scooped her into a hug, "God, I feel like I already know you so well." They moved apart, and Peg looked at him, "I think I do know you. BJ writes and tells me about you all the time." Hawkeye laughed, then caught eye of the little girl half hiding behind Peg"s skirt. He bent down to her level. "And you must be Erin." She nodded and hide further behind her Mom. "Oh come on Sweetheart," Peg picked her up, "You don"t have to be scared or shy. This is Uncle Hawkeye. He"s Daddy"s friend." Hawkeye grinned, but the girl still curled up to her mother. "I"m really sorry," Peg apologized, "I don"t know what it is, but she always seems to scared and shy around strangers." "That"s ok," Hawkeye said still smiling, "I"m sure she"ll get used to me. Most people do." It was Pegs turn to laugh as she looked at Hawkeye, "Ok, so what"s the plan?" "Alright," Peg smiled, "Lemme see if I got this straight. Myself and Private Jordan over there are going to be jeeping over to the 4077th. I"ll see BJ and surprise him. Meanwhile you are going to take Erin in your jeep, be not far behind, and just as BJ is asking about Erin, you"ll spring the second surprise of her being here. Am I right on all of that?" "Yup," Hawkeye smiled, "BJ has been so upset lately. Especially since he missed Erin"s second birthday. All he does it talk about you and here, and since we"re at a very slow time in the war, I talked with everyone"s friend Klinger and managed to pull this off." "I really appreciate this," Peg whispered, "This will be just like a second honeymoon for us." All Hawkeye did was smile before he realized the time, "Well, we better get going if we want to get there in time for lunch." "Ok," Peg grinned then looked at her daughter who was still curled in her arms, "Are you ready sweetie? You"re going to be riding with Uncle Hawkeye for a little bit, but Mommy will be just a little ways up. Then when we stop, you get to see Daddy!" Erin"s eyes brightened at the word and she spoke the first words Hawkeye had heard yet, "Bee-bee?" Peg smiled and grabbed a small stuffed teddy-bear out of a bag from the back of the other jeep, "Here"s your Bee-bee Erin. Now,

Jack nodded understandingly, glancing back to Fitzy and watching as she made scribbled notes in her blue police notebook. "When did the violence start?" he probed again. She closed her eyes tightly, letting out a heavy sigh of frustration. She didn"t want to be there anymore. She was wondering why on earth she"d ever agreed to this stupid idea of Tony"s. But just the touch of his skin of hers was enough to keep her grounded. "He asked me to marry him. And I did. Big mistake number one. He asked me to give up my job as a chef at a local restaurant. And I did. Big mistake number two. Then one day we were arguing. He wanted to buy some expensive car, saying that he couldn"t possibly live without it. I told him that it didn"t matter." She shook her head thoughtfully. "When you"ve lost everything you own, haven"t got a cent to your name and have nearly been burned to death in your own home...well, expensive Mercedes don"t really tend to rate very highly. So he hit me." "Where?" Jack asked, his eyes beginning to fill with tears of sympathy. "How badly were you hurt?" "My cheek at first," Jazz explained, raising a hand to it almost as though it still hurt years later. "Then he really laid into me. My shoulders, my arms...anything he could reach really. It was just bruises, but...I nearly left. I very nearly walked out the door that night, but I had nothing. All the money I had was now in his bank account and I had no house and no job. I had to stay. He started hitting me more often after that. Sometimes it"d be because I disagreed with him; sometimes he was angry about work...sometimes he"d just be bored and need something to do. He didn"t even stop when I told him I was pregnant." She looked up to Tony, almost one hundred percent certain that she had heard him swear under his breath at this, threatening to rip Jacob"s "bloody arms off". Jack cleared his throat loudly at this - his slightly unsubtle way of silencing his father. As soon as Tony had muttered an apology under his breath, Jack turned back to Jazz. "What prompted you to leave him now?" "I stayed through most of the pregnancy," she continued softly. "I"d pretty much had to bring up Drew with absolutely nothing and I didn"t want to do the same thing with this one. But last night...we were arguing while I was cooking dinner. He picked up the knife I was using to prepare the vegetables and...and he tried to stab me in the stomach with it. I managed to knock him out with the chopping board and I just grabbed my handbag and bolted. He"d tried to kill the baby. Before it had just been hitting me around the head a bit. But last night, he really tried to kill my baby and I couldn"t let him do that..." She trailed off, a sudden pain shooting through her body. She let out a loud groan, leaning forward as she grasped at her stomach. She almost blacked out in agony as the pain came again, sending her crashing to the floor. Tony leapt to his feet, crouching at her side. He rubbed her arm encouragingly as he glanced back over his shoulder to Jack and Fitzy, who were now on their feet and checking Jazz over. "Her waters have broken," Jack called, grabbing Fitzy"s shoulder. "Get on the phone to the hospital; let Rachel know that we"ve got a heavily pregnant woman in labour." Tony paced the hospital corridor, his hands curled up into fists in the pockets of his shorts as he waited impatiently for news. They"d taken Jazz through to a hospital room, saying nothing more than that she was definitely in labour. He"d wanted to go with her. He"d promised to look after her and her child and he wanted to be there, but Rachel had told him that it simply wasn"t possible. He wasn"t her husband, he wasn"t the baby"s father - it was as simple as that. So he had to content himself with waiting outside, listening to Jazz"s cries of pain. "You shouldn"t be worried, you know. This is just about the most natural thing in the world." He spun to face the source of the soft, female voice, finding himself face-to-face with his daughter-in-law, Sam. She was wearing her favourite purple polo top and a pair of old, faded jeans and leaning back against the wall of the corridor, her arms folded across her chest. Even her eyes seemed to smile at him from beyond her wild, vivacious curls. He chuckled half-heartedly as he finally stopped pacing and flopped back into a nearby hospital chair. "Yeah, I know," he conceded, offering her a weak smile. "It"s just..." "You love her and you always have and you"ve missed her over the last five years?" Sam finished, giggling at the stunned look on Tony"s face. "Come on, don"t you think Jack talks to me or something? He knows you better than anyone else on this planet and he knows that you"ve been hung up on Jazz Curtis ever since she left Summer Bay." Tony found himself laughing at the look on Sam"s face. He hadn"t even begun to think about what his pining must have looked like to Jack or anyone else for that matter. He wouldn"t have been surprised if half of Summer Bay had worked out that he was still in love with Jazz. It would certainly explain why Drew talked to him a lot less these days, if anything. "Yeah," he told Sam, unable to hold back a smile. "Maybe I do." Tony had been so preoccupied with his conversation with Sam that he had been completely oblivious to the end of Jazz"s screams until the hospital room door opened and Rachel Armstrong emerged, a grin spread across her face from ear to ear. He jumped to his feet, staring at her expectantly. "Is Jazz alright?" he demanded hurriedly. "Is the baby okay?" "It was a textbook labour," Rachel told him, clapping him on the shoulder reassuringly. "It"s a beautiful baby girl. You can go in and see them if you"d like." She shot him an encouraging wink before dragging Sam away to the nurse"s counter, most likely for a gossiping session about the true nature of Tony and Jazz"s friendship. But Tony didn"t care. He entered Jazz"s room tentatively just as the last of the nurses left, smiling at the sight of her sitting up in bed. She was propped up with a large number of fluffy white pillows and wearing a horrible bleached hospital gown. Jazz offered him the brightest smile he had seen on her lips in days as she gazed down lovingly at the infant in her arms. She looked up to him as the child stirred in the baby pink blankets that she was wrapped in. "You can come over if you"d like," she told him with a tired chuckle. "She doesn"t bite." He approached the pair hesitantly, perching himself on the edge of Jazz"s hospital bed as he looked at the child in her arms. He reached out, combing at the baby girl"s fine dark hair. It was the exact same shade of dark brown as Jazz"s and Drew"s. "She"s gorgeous, Jazz," he told her with a wide grin. "She"s simply gorgeous." "Isn"t she?" Jazz replied as she looked down once again to her daughter. She stirred against Jazz"s chest, her eyes closed tightly. Jazz watched as Tony reached out to the baby again and she closed her tiny fingers around his. "I think she likes you." "I think she might," Tony agreed with a light chuckle. "Even Jack and Lucas screamed their heads off if I went anywhere near them when they were born." Jazz laughed at Tony"s comment, once again finding herself staring at her new baby daughter. "I think she needs a name," she told him quietly. "I was so busy trying to protect myself from Jacob that I completely forgot about thinking of a name." "Well, how did you choose Drew"s name?" Tony asked her, changing position so that he was now sitting cross-legged on the bed. She sighed, tightening her grip on the baby slightly as she thought of her son, whose life she had so often ruined with what he had described as her "toxic influence". "Would you believe that I drew the name Andrew out of a hat?" she replied, sighing with regret. "I stuffed up everything with Drew...I mean, not telling Peter, off-siding everyone who could have helped me, putting myself before him...then trying to rip him off...I don"t want to do that to her, Tony. I don"t want to screw up her life like I screwed up mine. Or like I tried to screw up Drew"s. I want to be a good mum this time. The one Drew should have had." Tony nodded with understanding as he continued to stare at the little girl in Jazz"s arms. "You"ll be a great mum," he assured her softly. "You made mistakes with Drew, but you must have done something right. He"s a great bloke, he"s doing great work with Noah"s Bar and his marriage with Belle is just about as stable as they come. You can"t have screwed up too badly." Jazz returned his smile as she returned to staring lovingly at her daughter. "I like the name Elsie," she told him softly. She looked up to him, staring inquiringly into his eyes. "What do you think?" He nodded, his grin broadening. "Elsie Jacinta," he agreed as he once again began to let the child told hold of his finger. "I think that"s a perfect name." "You stupid bitch!" Tony leapt off the bed in fright at the sound of shouting from the door, moving closer to Jazz"s bedside as she recoiled in fright, holding baby Elsie closer to her chest. He surveyed the man standing in the doorway critically, not even needing to ask who he was. He was wearing a neat black suit with his cropped blonde hair gelled down onto his scalp. His steely grey eyes were absolutely livid. "Jacob!" Jazz gasped, shaking her head in fright. "W...What are you doing here?" Jacob was breathing heavily. Tony was half expecting to see steam coming out of his ears as he stood in the doorway to the hospital room. "What did you tell those pigs?" Jazz"s eyes narrowed in misunderstanding as she stared at him, continuing to shake her head. "Pigs?" she queried. "The frigging cops, you stupid cow!" Jacob yelled, making a dive for her hospital bed. Tony moved in front of him, using every bit of his considerable muscle to push Jacob back. "Easy, mate," he warned him calmly. "She"s just had a baby; maybe you should give her a little space..." He stepped back, regarding Tony doubtfully. "And who exactly the hell do you think you are?" he spat cruelly. "Someone who loves your wife and daughter a heck of a lot more than you do," Tony retorted quickly. The comment was enough to infuriate Jacob as he dived for Jazz"s hospital bed once again. Once again, Tony through himself into Jacob"s path, grabbing his wrists roughly and struggling to move him as far away from Jazz as possible. In the struggle, Jacob made a swing for Tony"s face which collided, sending him crashing to the ground. Jacob straightened himself up, grinning broadly. "Stupid jerk," he mumbled as he turned back to Jazz. She looked absolutely distraught as she stared at Tony"s form as he struggled to pick himself up off the floor. "Tony!" she screamed, Elsie awaking in her arms and beginning to scream. "Tony!" Almost as though the alarm in Jazz"s voice was powering him, Tony leapt to his feet, grabbing Jacob from behind and managing to grab him in a headlock. Jacob was just about to break free when the door burst open and Jack and Fitzy entered, guns drawn. "Police!" Jack roared, silencing Jazz and Elsie instantly and causing both Tony and Jacob to freeze mid-motion. "Don"t move!" Tony laughed in relief as he relinquished his grip on Jacob, allowing his son to take over. "Perfect timing, Jack," he observed, earning a poked out tongue from Jack in response. He backed away, watching as Jack and Fitzy dragged Jacob out of Jazz"s hospital room and out towards the police car in the car park. He turned back to Jazz, offering her a weak smile of relief. "Didn"t I tell you?" he told her as he sat back on the edge of her bed. "I"d look after you." Martha was so busy scrubbing at a stain on one of the tables at Noah"s Bar that she didn"t even notice Tony Holden walk inside until he was tapping her on the shoulder to snatch her attention. She spun around, so surprised she almost attacked him. "Tony!" she gasped in relief at the sight of her one-time father-in-law. "You surprised me!" "You look like you were off on another planet," he observed, arms folded across his chest. She nodded, brushing at her hair thoughtfully as she headed back to the bar. "Yeah, I think I was," she agreed with a chuckle. "I was just thinking about dinner tonight. Michael"s offered to take me over to this beautiful picnic spot on Geoff and Annie"s farm and he"s promised me a really romantic night..." She trailed off, finally noticing the way Tony was grinning at her. "And why are you grinning like a Cheshire cat, eh, Tony?" she asked, offering him a sly smile. "I haven"t seen you so happy since you became a grandfather." He ran a hand back through his hair nervously as he leant back against the bar. "Well, Jazz had the baby a little while ago," he explained, his hands trembling slightly with excitement. Little Elsie wasn"t his, but it sure felt like it. "It"s a baby girl." "Oh my God!" Martha exclaimed, covering her mouth in surprise. "I mean, Drew said she was pregnant, but I didn"t realise she"d actually have the baby this soon..." She paused, simply shaking her head. Like Tony, she really wasn"t quite sure why the birth of Jazz"s child excited her so much. It was almost as though it was Tony"s child. "So Drew"s got a baby sister?" Tony nodded. "Yep," he continued. "Elsie Jacinta Curtis. She"s an absolute cutie. I was ducking home to grab a camera for Jazz when she asked me to find Drew for her...is he here?" Martha nodded off in the direction of the car park. "He"s helping the delivery man with some unloading," she told him, smiling. "So, I take it you and Jazz are pretty close again?" He nodded again, his smile becoming less of one of excitement and more of one of contentment. "Yeah, you could say that," he replied. "And that isn"t going to be getting back to Jack from you, is it?" "Oh, of course not!" Martha told him with a cheeky wink. "Why would I tell Jack?" "Why would you tell Jack what?" Drew demanded as he returned to the bar, arms folded across his chest as he regarded Tony in contempt. "I heard my Mum"s name. I can"t believe you"ve been so gullible as to be sucked back in by her again." Tony simply shook his head at Drew, shrugging helplessly. "She"s not sucking me in, Drew," he pointed out calmly. "Jazz has changed. She really has. You don"t understand half of what"s going on here, mate." "I understand more than you do, by the sounds of it," Drew retorted, while Martha kept switching her gaze between one and the other. "What"s going on here is that history is repeating itself. She"s gone and walked out on another marriage just because it suits her and come crawling back to us. Maybe she"s even got another inheritance she wants to rip me off for..." "Will you just shut up and listen to me for five minutes?" Tony demanded, raising his voice so much that a few people in the nearby pool room looked up. Realising that this situation was going to become very public very soon, Martha leapt forward, quickly closing the doors. She leant back against them, staring back at Tony in curiosity. "Your mother didn"t just walk out on another marriage because it suited her - she ran away because she and her baby were nearly stabbed to death by her husband." Drew"s jaw suddenly dropped open so far that Tony wouldn"t have been surprised if it hit the floor. "Stabbed?" he demanded. Tony nodded, approaching Drew slowly. "She changed all of her old ways," he explained gently. "She went to TAFE, she got herself a good job, but even Jazz Curtis can make mistakes under the influence of love. Her husband hit her and yet she stayed because she felt like she couldn"t even turn to you for help. It got so bad that last night, if she hadn"t been able to knock him out with the chopping board, she would have died. That"s why she"s here, Drew." "Oh, crap," Drew mumbled as he buried his face in his hands. He shook his head in disbelief as he began to peer through his fingers. "Where is she?" "The hospital," Tony replied. "She went into labour while she was reporting her husband to Jack. He attacked her just then too. If I hadn"t been there..." Drew"s eyes widened as he lowered his hands, staring at Tony solemnly. "Are they both okay?" "They"re both fine," Tony reassured Drew as his smile grew once again. "You"ve got a little baby sister. Her name"s Elsie Jacinta. And she"s the cutest little thing you"ve ever seen...except for maybe your Laura." He chuckled, before continuing. "She really wants to see you. And I think Elsie might want to meet you, too." Drew nodding, going to follow Tony out to his car, before pausing. "Do you reckon we could stop off at the day-care centre on the way?" he asked quietly. "I think that there"s someone Mum might want to meet too." Jazz slowly opened her eyes at the sounds of footsteps approaching her hospital room. She quickly pushed herself up in alarm, almost preparing herself to snatch Elsie from the cot next to her bed and run, only to flop back in relief at the sight of Drew standing in the doorway, cradling a little girl in his arms while Tony waited just behind his shoulder. "Drew," she whispered, a weak smile spreading across her face. "You don"t know how glad I am to see you." "I think I might," he replied, crossing the room to her slowly. Jazz watched in curiosity as Drew perched himself on the edge of her bed, craning his neck to get a good look at Elsie as she slept in her cot. "My baby sister," he gasped in awe, his eyes watering with hot tears of joy and disbelief. "Tony told me about what happened...you were so brave for fighting against that bastard..." "It wasn"t bravery," she confessed quietly in a voice that was barely audible. "It was instinct. I would have done the same thing for you, if I"d had to." She began shaking her head, tears springing up in her eyes as she reached up to run her fingers along Drew"s cheekbone. "I screwed up so badly...I still live with the guilt every day of the things I did to you. Everything that goes wrong in my life - the fire, Mum, Jacob - it"s all my punishment. The price I paid for everything I did wrong to you." Drew began shaking his head, surprised to find himself crying. He rarely cried - in fact, he hadn"t since Lucas had been killed years ago. "No," he told her, supporting Laura with one hand as he reached out to take Jazz"s hand with his other. "No. You didn"t deserve any of that." He squeezed her hand tighter, finally earning a smile from his mother. Jazz"s face suddenly lit up as she reached over, slowly and gently cradling Elsie in her arms and offering her up to Drew. "Do you want to have a hold of your baby sister?" she asked in softly, in a voice that reminded Drew more of a child than anything else. "Only if you agree to have a hold of your granddaughter," he told her with a chuckle. Carefully, Jazz and Drew swapped the babies over and Drew began to coo at Elsie. "You"re a gorgeous little thing, aren"t you?" he told Elsie, who slowly began to awake in his arms. She opened her eyes, exposing the brightest green that Drew had ever seen before in his life. "She"s got your eyes, Mum." Tony joined the group on the bed, craning his neck to get a good look at little Elsie"s eyes. "So she does," he agreed, smiling up at Jazz, only to find that she wasn"t paying any attention whatsoever. She was far too preoccupied with her little granddaughter in her arms. "You were right, Tony," she whispered, her eyes wide in awe. "I can"t have screwed up too badly after all." Drew, cradling his baby daughter in his arms, bowed slightly to kiss Jazz sweetly on the cheek. The pair shared a smile, as Drew combed his fingers back through Jazz"s fine dark hair. "I promise I"ll be back tomorrow," he told her softly. "And I"ll try to tear Belle away from the hotel protests, too. Then you can catch up with your daughter-in-law." Jazz"s smile grew as tears of joy continued to well in her eyes. She nodded tiredly. "I"d love that," she replied, before pausing momentarily. Finally, she dared to speak again. "I love you, Drew. I always have." He nodded, smiling back at his mother one last time before leaving. "I love you too, Mum." Tony watched as Drew left, grinning to himself. Beyond Jazz"s hospital room, the sun was setting, signalling the end of the day for the residents of Summer Bay. They"d all be starting to head home now. He found it increasingly difficult to restrain laughter at the thought of how different his life was now to what it had been that morning when he had wandered into the diner, tired and lonely and missing the company of those he loved. Jazz suddenly looked up to him as she set a sleeping Elsie back in her cot, her eyes glowing with the tiniest glint of hope. "You said something earlier," she began, watching as Tony snapped back to earth. He gave a mumble of interest as he sat down on the bed next to her, the pair so close now that their bodies were almost touching. "You said, and I quote, that you were "someone who loves your wife and daughter a heck of a lot more than you do"..." she paused, staring at Tony intently. "What did you mean by that?"

Evan stood in the centre of the room, the top of his right hand bloodied and one of the lockers on the bottom row now bearing the black scuff marks that indicated that the detective had brought his foot to it in anger. Alex looked his mate up and down, crossing the room to gently guide his old friend away. Surprisingly, Evan allowed Alex to lead him to the cupboard where the first-aid kit remained alone on its empty shelves. "Mate," Alex began, shaking his head for a lack of words. "Do you think Amy and Tom would want you to be acting like this?" The mention of Amy"s name seemed to make Evan even more downcast than he had been just seconds before. Alex"s expression softened further as he gently dabbed at his friend"s hand with a cloth from the first-aid kit. "I"m sorry," Evan apologised quietly, keeping his head lowered. "It"s just...I just..." He shook his head, his eyes misting over as the words refused to come. "I let this happen. I saw him pull out the gun...I let him shoot her..." Seeing Evan"s despair, Alex knew there was only one way to make him snap out of it. Swiftly and sharply, he brought his hand across Evan"s face; hard enough to leave a bright red mark but not hard enough to bruise. "This is not your bloody fault!" Alex snapped, his voice a little tougher on Evan than he really would have liked. "You couldn"t have done anything." Evan nodded, silently agreeing with Alex"s words. He couldn"t truly believe them, though. Not while he couldn"t truly tell himself that Amy would make it through. Not while everything was going on. Not while he couldn"t stop the horrible breaking of his heart in his chest. It just wasn"t fair. Tom dragged himself to his feet, trudging down the corridor to where he knew he could find a glass of water. Amy Fox was the best copper he had met in a long while - certainly in the leagues of PJ Hasham and Maggie Doyle. She embodied everything he believed in, everything he once thought he had been. She was the fighter - fighting to put her past behind her, fighting to find justice and now fighting to stay alive. The afternoon sun beyond the hospital windows showering in, casting long shadows on the floor. Tom found himself unable to quell the thoughts about what that day had done. It had already claimed one beautiful, if somewhat rebellious, life in Gina and now it threatened to take Amy as well. It was difficult to believe that one of his own officers - or to be more correct, former officers - had taken a gun to a police officer like Amy. They had often strayed down the wrong path, occasionally to places where even he couldn"t rescue them from, but they had always essentially been good kids. His kids. But Adam Cooper was different. Somehow, while others like Maggie, PJ, Dash and Nick had bloomed, Adam had disappeared into the woodwork. The forgotten son. He was the reason Adam had found this path of crime and self-destruction. The reason he had felt so threatened that he had found the need to shoot a young woman. In effect, he may as well have put the bullet in Amy himself. Suddenly, he was disturbed from his self-pity by the sight of several nurses pushing a bed along the corridor, a bed containing none other than Amy. He stopped in his tracks, the nurses stopped so that he had a chance to survey his younger colleague. Amy"s eyes were closed, her hair a mattered wreck over the pillow beneath her head. She was wearing one of those generic hospital gowns that only seemed to highlight how pale her face was. An oxygen mask had been strapped over her mouth and nose, occasionally clouding as her chest rose and fell. He reached out, taking her hand and giving it a fond squeeze. He couldn"t hold back the misty tears from his eyes. He stared at her, disbelief in his features. Amy had always carried herself with an impeccable air of strength and confidence, even if her heart was breaking deep inside - it made it impossible to ever imagine her helpless like this. And now she was. And he was to blame. Evan stepped out into the slowly disappearing sunlight of that afternoon, his gaze immediately falling upon a single blonde as she loaded up her old car with her belongings from the station. He approached her, the sound of a twig crunching beneath his feet catching her attention and causing her to spin to face him. "Jonesy," she mumbled in disbelief, having never expected to see him again before she climbed in her little car and disappeared from Mt. Thomas forever, the last three years having been little more than a painful memory. She gulped, trying to find some neutral ground. It was actually easier than she"d have thought. "How"s Amy?" He shrugged as he approached Susie, sticking his hands into the pockets of his blood-stained suit. "I don"t know," he replied, not even Susie able to deny the forlorn glint in his eyes at the mention of Amy"s name. "Tom"s with her now." "That"s where he needs to be." Susie agreed with a nod, nervously brushing hair back from her eyes and behind her ear. As she slowly lowered her hand, she found her eyes connecting with Evan"s uncomfortably. She tore her gaze away, kicking at a stone on the ground nearby with her foot. "What are you going to do now?" Evan sighed heavily, the tears still present in his eyes, as he looked around, shrugging. "I haven"t thought about it," he confessed quietly, "Amy and I have been so busy trying to clear the Boss that I guess I haven"t thought about it. I can"t leave now, anyway. Not till Amy"s right at least." Susie nodded, biting her bottom lip in silent thought. Finally, she reached out, giving him an awkward hug in farewell. After several seconds of surprise, Evan relented and wrapped his strong arms around Susie. After their friendship and disastrous romance, it seemed to be all they could manage to do. When they broke apart, she reached up, brushing the back of her hand along his cheekbone. A slight hint of a smile broke across her lips, something mirrored with far less strength in Evan"s face. "You"re a good man, Evan Jones," she told him as she turned to leave. Before she had climbed into her car, however, she decided to add something else. "Amy"s lucky to have you, you know." As Susie roared the car into life and disappeared down the street, Evan farewelled her with a stunned wave. He couldn"t believe that Susie Raynor had just said that. Did she think that he and Amy shared something, something so precious that he hadn"t even shared it with Susie? Did he even have a chance to act upon whatever was there, if Susie was right? Tom invited himself into Amy"s hospital room, each step slow and deliberate as he tried to accept the sight of her lying lifeless in a hospital bed, drip in her arm, mask over her face and machines surrounding her, their steady beeping the only sounds in her silent hospital room. He finally found his way across the cold hospital floor, taking her hand in his as he sat down in the chair at her bedside. The situation seemed awfully familiar to the bedside vigils he had maintained whenever Maggie Doyle had found herself admitted to hospital for whatever reason. Except that this situation had extra, far more sickening twists. Amy had been put into this position because he had failed one of his troops. There was still no guarantee that she was even going to survive that afternoon. And even if she did make it, there was a large chance that she wouldn"t walk again. Sophie had explained that the bullet had lodged itself dangerously close to her spinal cord. They couldn"t remove it, they couldn"t do anything. All they could do was wait and see and hope like hell that the swelling went down and nothing was damaged. The situation teetered terrifyingly close to the Jack Lawson situation years before, something that unnerved Tom greatly. He couldn"t bear to see someone else go through that same downward spiral that had led Jack to a manslaughter charge. As Amy lay in the hospital bed, her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling in time with the machines, Tom couldn"t help but wonder if she had any idea how close she had come. And how close she still was. The job came with risks, they all knew it. It was hard to forget whenever you pulled on the uniform. But they shouldn"t have come with these kinds of risks. Not the risk of being shot by a man like Adam Cooper. He rose her hand, kissing it lightly before holding it to his cheek. Amy was the sort of copper that the force was lacking these days. A brilliant investigator, a superb sympathiser and a damn good friend. She had been the only thing getting him through the cancer. And now the roles were reversed and it was his job to get her through this. Evan leant against the doorframe of the CI office, watching sadly as Joss said his final farewells. Susie would be well on the way to Melbourne now, her words still echoing around his head, distracting him from the few logical thoughts he had had about finding Adam Cooper and bringing him to justice. Now Joss was leaving and Matt and Kelly wouldn"t be too far behind him. He knew that he ought to be happy for his colleagues, especially when they were finding themselves good positions that were going to make them happy in the long run. Susie had taken a promotion to Sergeant in Fitzroy, Joss was joining the Traffic boys and Kelly and Matt found positions at the same station where they could both easily find their way to a Senior Constable promotion when they became eligible. He couldn"t help but speculate if perhaps they had intentionally taken positions together and that Kelly and David wouldn"t be together for much longer. He and Alex hadn"t even considered new jobs yet. They were too busy saving their old ones. Alex had to coordinate the removal of furniture and he couldn"t even think about where his career would go, not when he couldn"t even tell if Amy was going to make it to a new job at all. Alex enveloped Joss in a blokey hug as the young Constable took one final look around the station and disappeared, off to a new job and a new beginning. Just as Alex had invited himself into the increasingly empty CI office, the phone rang, startling Evan back to earth. He dived for the phone, bracing himself on his desk, or what would be his desk until the removalists returned for it. "Hello, Mt. Thomas CI," Evan answered, his heart giving an unpleasant pang in his chest at the sudden thought that he probably wouldn"t be saying that again. As the person on the other end of the phone spoke, Evan"s brow furrowed deeper. Eventually, he returned the phone to its cradle, sinking back into the sole chair remaining in the office, looking up to Alex in total disbelief. "That was Homicide," he explained weakly. "They were looking for Amy." "And?" Alex asked, folding his arms against his chest curiously. "They wanted me to let her know that they"d been able to find two empty positions in the third floor of Homicide," Evan continued, his eyes wide in surprise. "Apparently they"d offered her a job in a higher position, but she refused to take it unless they could find a job for me as well." Alex cocked an eyebrow, unable to hide a laugh of surprise. "Wow," he mumbled, "she settled for less for you. That"s pretty big." "Yeah," Evan agreed, nodding slowly as he climbed to shaky feet, "I"m going over to the hospital. Tell Kel and Matt I said goodbye, okay?" Alex nodded, watching as Evan disappeared out the back entrance to the car park. As soon as his mate was out of sight, he ran a hand back through his hair, turning back to the muster room where Tom"s desk was being carried out. Slowly, everyone else was finding out where their lives stood without Mt. Thomas as a part of it. Everyone else except for himself, Evan, Amy and their Boss. Evan entered Amy"s hospital room tentatively, causing Tom to jump at the sound of the door creaking open. He slowly relaxed at the sight of the detective closing the door behind him, staring at the woman lying in the bed in pure horror. Just one look at Evan"s face told Tom that he had never been able to anticipate the sight of a weakened Amy lying still in a hospital bed. "How"s she doing?" Evan finally asked, his voice catching in his throat as he spoke. Tom nodded sadly, rising to his feet as he brushed strands of brown fringe back from Amy"s forehead. "The bullet lodged itself near her spinal cord," he explained in a shaky voice, "Sophie said they couldn"t get it out without risking further damage. Bloody hell Jones, she may never walk again." Evan closed his eyes, letting his head hang back as the tears threatened to overwhelm him. The day had started out fairly normal for all of them, yet had quickly changed from normal to downright awful in less time than he cared to consider. That morning, he and Amy had been on a simple surveillance operation. Now, she could be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. "I"m going to get something to eat before I pass out," Tom explained, clapping Evan on the shoulder as he headed for the door. "Look after her, Jones. She"s a fighter, but she needs someone here." He nodded, watching as his Boss left the room through the corner of his eye. Finally, he hesitantly dragged his gaze back to Amy, staring at her through wide eyes. The shooting played over and over in his head, much like he imagined the phone call would be doing for Tom, each feeling of terror magnified every single time. It had now become an overwhelming memory he couldn"t control. It scared him half to death, even though they were no longer being shot at by a fleeing Adam Cooper. He slowly crossed the room to her, leaning down to kiss her forehead softly, caressing her beautifully soft cheek. Something deep down inside him confirmed that Susie had been right, that there was something between him and Amy that he couldn"t afford to keep denying, especially now. Wheelchair or no wheelchair, she was still the same strong, beautiful and intelligent Amy Fox he had somehow fallen in love with. He was going to look after her, whether that was in Mt. Thomas, Melbourne or wherever the wind took their drifting lives in this age of uncertainty. Adam Cooper stood alone on one of the hills overlooking Mt. Thomas, the weight of the gun at his hip unfamiliar and unnerving. The light had all but gone, leaving a light orange glow over the small country town. It was bigger than he remembered it and darker too. But he somehow just knew that the coppers would never change. Maggie, PJ, Dash and the rest had all moved on to other things or to the great beyond, but the atmosphere still remained. As long as Tom Croydon was in charge, life in Mt. Thomas would continue to resemble a working museum. He had never intended to shoot Amy Fox. Just like he had never intended to become caught up in the world of crime. It had just been the easier option, it always had been. Keeping quiet about the car had been so much simpler at the time than going to the Boss and having to put himself through another lecture. Taking a swing at Tom had been easier than trying to answer for his actions. Shooting Amy had been the less painful option than years in prison for his involvement in everything. He sat down, letting himself lean back against a rock as he surveyed the Mt. Thomas sunset. He knew that he"d failed himself and everyone he knew. He didn"t want to know what Tom Croydon was going through right now, or Amy Fox for that matter. He"d been shot himself once, he still remembered how painful it had been. What got to him was how he had ruined the lives of not just Tom or Amy, but all of the Mt. Thomas police. Through his actions, he had directly caused the closure of the station and was forcing them away from a place where they were happy and to settle for second-best. He could still remember the intense panic that the station could be shut down; he"d had to face that before. He reached down into his pocket, drawing out his gun and a piece of paper. He looked down to the note, setting it underneath a small rock that would act as a paperweight. He then turned to his gun, closing his eyes as he took in his final moments. He wasn"t letting anyone else down ever again. A shot rang out over Mt. Thomas. Tom leant back in his chair in his office, closing his eyes as he let his mind drift away from the police station. It had been several months since Adam Cooper had set foot in the Mt. Thomas Police Station and changed the face of their team forever, before turning his gun on himself on a lonely hill in the last hours of the evening. He"d only left one thing behind that had righted all of his recent wrongs - a simple note. He cleared Tom of covering up the weapon and selling it, effectively closing Falcon-Price"s case against him. Tom had nothing to answer for. The station had been reopened, albeit downgraded to a sub-station of St. Davids, like Widgeree had been of Mt. Thomas for years. Only a handful of them had been allowed to stay on and all of them had faced a downgrade of some kind with the exception of Evan. He was the only able-bodied CI member left at the station. Tom had been almost happy to take the downgrade to Sergeant. While the position of Senior Sergeant had once brought him much pleasure and a sense of fulfilment, it had only served to become part of the noose strangling him in recent years. To be rid of the responsibility was a deep relief. He hadn"t felt so much like one of the troops in years. Alex had been returned to his position of Leading Senior Constable, happily surrendering the Acting Sergeant ranking. He had never wanted it or needed it. He preferred to be out in the field, solving crimes and getting dirty in the uniform, not sitting behind a desk filling out forms and writing rosters. With less members, he got the opportunity to spend more time out and about than he ever had. He knew that Rory always thought it was more impressive to hear about solving crimes in the community than to handle the paperwork. Evan was able to keep his rank of Senior Detective, much to Tom"s relief. CI had given Evan a new depth and ability to do his job that uniform never could. He had solid investigative skills that were becoming more and more sharp by the day. Evan had gone from a cowboy liable to lose his job at any time to the responsible young detective that the big city squads always chased. But Evan would never leave Mt. Thomas. Not when that would mean leaving Amy behind. Amy hadn"t been downgraded as such. In the aftermath of her shooting, she hadn"t been able to use her legs at all. Adam Cooper had effectively rendered her paraplegic. At first, the transition from therapy to work had been a rough one. No one could truly understand how difficult it was to see her colleagues out on the job and not be able to help them. But it was Evan"s care and love that kept her going, that gave her the inspiration to go on. And in time, they had come to find their own way of doing things that worked perfectly. She still helped out in the field when she could, manning the station when she couldn"t and always offering her usual, brilliant insight to any situation. She was a priceless member of the team. They couldn"t bear to lose her. Tom knew that Amy and Evan had become romantically involved. And at first, he had harboured some concerns. In fact, a hell of a lot of concerns. They"d never had much luck with in-office relationships in Mt. Thomas and Evan"s track record spoke for itself. But they had their own chemistry and their own connections. He"d known that whatever Amy and Evan shared was special from the moment Amy had awoken to see Evan at her bedside. He hadn"t left that hospital until the moment she did and then, they were rarely apart. Somehow, they had come to need each other as more than just the student/teacher type relationship they had originally bonded under. Their old colleagues still kept in touch from their new stations. Susie was still working away in Fitzroy, aiming for the stars in her career. And in her love life. She"d met a young man quite by accident while on the job and were now very steady in their relationship. Joss had left Traffic behind after just days and was now stationed to a suburban station, somewhere close to his mother"s house as Alex had pointed out with a laugh. And Evan had been right about Matt and Kelly and their motives in seeking a station together. It hadn"t even been three weeks after their move to Melbourne before Kelly had broken off her relationship with David to pursue one with Matt. And just weeks later, they were working together in a small country station, not unlike Mt. Thomas. Tom opened his eyes as he was brought back to earth by the sound of a phone ringing in the muster room. He watched as Alex leapt into life to answer it, nodding as the person on the other end of the line spoke. From his office, he could see Amy and Evan chatting in the CI office, perhaps over a difficult case or maybe just over their arrangements for dinner that night. He knew that they were never going to be completely rid of the people who doubted them or tried to change their way of life in Mt. Thomas. They were a unique station with a one of a kind way of running things. People would always doubt them and perhaps, someone else would one day come along and try to destroy them just like Adam Cooper had. But all Tom knew was that they would not go quietly. They would fight and fight against those who tried to rid Mt. Thomas of them until the very end.

six other people in front of him so he could sit down and take a break and figure out how he was going to try to bowl one last strike and not go down the lane with the ball. Sam heard a familiar whoosh sound and looked to up to see that Al had appeared through a door in midair. Sam"s hologram friend was dressed in his usual outrageous suits. This time he was wearing a black and yellow checker board suit, a yellow fedora topped his head. He took out the cigar that was always hanging out of his mouth and rested it between his fingers so he could clearly talk to Sam. "Oh boy the joy of the ball slamming into those beautiful innocent white pins." Sam rolled his eyes and gave his friend a disgusted look. "Don"t tell me, you used to be a world class bowler," Sam guessed sarcastically. "Is there anything you haven"t done?" "The Queen of England," was Al"s response. Sam gave his friend a look of absolute distain. "Sorry I asked." "Well to answer your question, my third no my fifth no make that my second wife got me into bowling. It seemed like bowling was the only thing besides you know what that we could do together without fighting. She made me quite the bowler." "I"m sure she did" "I once bowled the perfect game. I think I kept that score card." "When you are finished reminiscing can you tell me what I am here to do, so I can leap out of this nightmare?" "Hey Hanson," an attractive black girl with long flowing locks of curls called over to Sam, "What are you doing giving your ball a pep talk?" "Ah yea," Sam thought fast, This ball of mine needs to give me one more slammerino." Sam couldn"t believe what he was saying. "Well when you are done it"s your turn don"t keep us waiting." Sam could feel the sweat dripping down his face. "Hey man you don"t look so hot, you ok?" the oriental guy standing next to the attractive black girl asked Sam. "Ah" Sam stammered, "I"m ok I think I need to get a drink of water first," Sam said quickly getting up and looking around, he ran to the nearest water fountain leaving his teammates to wonder about their friends odd behavior. Sam looked around to make sure no one was looking at him. "Al you there?" "Yea Sam." Al"s head appeared out of the side of a wall. The wall Sam could see was the side wall of the woman"s restroom. "Al would you get your head out of the gutter and help me," Sam said half in disgust and half in exasperation. "Ok ok Mr. prudent prince who takes all the fun out of being a hologram." Sam rolled his eyes. "Well what am I here to do?" Al took out a lit up multicolored device and hit the side of it. "Well it seems like Ziggy thinks you are here to make sure this kid Tom Hanson bowls to perfect game?" Al looked at the contraption oddly. "What? What has that got to do with putting right what once went wrong? Don"t tell me let me guess, this kid made a bet with some lowlifes and if he doesn"t bowl the prefect game he"s going to get his ass kicked. Am I hot?" "Well" Al said continuing to give his hand link a puzzled look. "Ziggy doesn"t say anything other than that you are here to bowl the perfect game." "Al I can"t bowl another strike, it takes everything I got to make sure the ball doesn"t take me down the lane." "Ok let me think," Al said putting his finger on his temple. "Ok I got it," Al said pointing his index finger up in the air. "Remember when you leapt in to that pool shark and Ziggy gave you laser readings of the pool tables angles and you were able to see where to hit the cue ball?" Sam shook his head. Al continued, "What if I could get Ziggy to give you a laser reading on the lane of where to aim the bowling ball? All you got to do is let go of the ball and aim it to go right down the middle of the laser light. And Sam," "Yea" Sam answered his friend. "Do remember to pull your fingers out of the ball"s holes before you release. You know that would eliminate the problem of going down the lane with the ball." "Ha Ha very funny Al," Sam said taking a swipe at Al but since Al was a hologram his fist swooshed through midair at nothing. "Hey man what is up with you?" A big guy in a ripped up jean vest and a long sleeved white shirt asked Sam as he approached him. "Oh nothing just getting myself prepped for one more slammerino," "Dude you got issues, and I thought Clavo was the only one with an imaginary playmate," the big guy said shaking his head and walking away. Sam hadn"t the slightest idea who Clavo was but he guessed he was a child, since he had an imaginary playmate and a young child at that. He always got weird looks when he talked to Al since he was the only one who could see or hear him. Sam slowly approached the group he had been bowling with. He picked up the ball and slowly walked to the tip of the lane, he looked around in desperation. "Come on Al," he said to himself little too loudly. "Hey Hanson are you such a bowling geek that you named your ball?" laughed the big guy in the ripped up jean vest. Sam gave the guy a sheepish grin and walked slowly towards the tip of the lane, that"s when he saw a thin straight red line and all he had to do was make sure the ball went straight down the line of the laser"s light. Sam lifted the ball up and one two three he swung back and released it. Sam was proud of himself he had remembered to pull his fingers out of the holes. The ball shot down the middle of the laser light"s line straight down the middle. Sam hoped he hadn"t thrown the ball too hard, he closed his eyes and hoped for the best. He suddenly heard the attractive black lady with long curly hair scream as she rushed towards him throwing her arms around Sam giving him a kiss on the cheek, "You did it you won the tournament!" Sam opened his eyes. He had gotten a strike all the pins were lying on their sides, not one was left sitting up. Sam pumped his fists in the air and screamed, "Another Slammerino!" expecting to leap at any moment but he just remained there with his hands in the air. Sam looked around for Al, he caught him by the woman"s bathroom peeking his head in and out of the wall. Sam rolled his eyes and excused himself to use the bathroom. "Al would you quit being a pervert for once in your life and help me." "There"s nothing better than a public woman"s bathroom, that"s where you hear all their secretes, the key to unlocking the woman"s psyche." "Al I"m going in here," Sam said pointing to the men"s bathroom, "the only thing you will be unlocking will be the mystery of why I"m really here." Sam locked the door so that no one could get in and see him talking to himself. "Ok Al what"s Ziggy got? Why am I really here?" "Ziggy doesn"t know yet he had a slight malfunction this morning, that"s the only reason I can think of for him giving you false leap information." "Yea well I knew it was too good to be true that I"d leap so fast. " "The only thing Ziggy can come up with is that in the next week or so Tom Hanson, the guy you leapt into, will loose his job and spend the rest of his life being a rent-a-cop and lead a miserable single life." "So what"s wrong with being a rent-a-cop? It"s a decent job." "Not when you get thrown off the police force." Sam looked in the mirror, he saw a young looking man with dark hair in a kind of punk spike style. "This guy"s a cop?" Sam said in astonishment staring at the reflection that was looking back at him. "He still looks like he"s in high school." "He"s with an undercover unit that primarily goes undercover in high... high" Al hit the side of his multi colored contraption, "schools, high schools. The idea behind the program is they get young looking officers too young looking to be taken seriously as real cops and they put them undercover in various high schools to bust young offenders before they commit the big crimes when they are adults." "Well I guess then being a ret-a-cop after being a real one would be a low blow," Sam said feeling sorry for the real Tom Hanson. "I don"t know how he looses his job, all Ziggy can come up with is that there is some sort of violence involved and that another officer is seriously hurt or killed. Ziggy has reason to believe the officer who is hurt or killed is a female officer." Sam"s heart sank. A Leap for Judy and Tom By Heather Samantha Beckett Chapter 2: Return of the Prep Sam had a sinking feeling who the female officer was. He figured it was the attractive black woman with the oversized off the shoulders pink sweater and denim jacket. She also had on tight rolled jeans, slouch socks, and hot pink high-tops. By the way the woman was dressed Sam figured he was sometime in the eighties. "Ok all I need to do now is figure out where I live and how to get to work tomorrow. So what year am I in Al?" Al looked at his multicolored hand link and punched in some buttons. "Ok you are officer Tom Hanson and you live in Metroville, New Jersey and it is Sunday March 1, 1990." "How do I get home?" "Maybe you"ll get lucky and you will be dating that bodacious babe with the cute tight..." "Al don"t say it," said Sam interrupting Al. He knew how Al"s perverted mind often worked. "Jeans. Tight Jeans. You think you know me so well," Al continued trying to prove to Sam that he had just thought the wrong idea. Of course Al knew he had a perverted mind. He just didn"t like Sam thinking that all he thought about was sex because he often wanted Sam"s respect. Al walked through the bathroom wall and stared at Judy. Sam walked out of the bathroom the normal way since he wasn"t a hologram. He may have often wanted Sam"s respect but he also loved getting a rise out of Sam. "Who knows maybe you guys are living together and she is going to take you home so you can do the vertical tango." Sam shot Al a dirty look. "Is sex all you think about?" Al gave Sam a sheepish grin and was about to answer Sam but he answered for him instead. "Don"t answer that." Al threw his hands up in the air and tried to put on his most innocent expression, "What?" "Ah yea especially when you get dumped by your girlfriend and haven"t had any in a long time," the big guy in the ripped at the sleeves jean shirt said to Sam as he approached him, he figured Sam was talking to him since he couldn"t see Al. "Right," said Sam. "Ok pal you ready?" "Ready for what?" Sam asked the big guy who was giving him a quizzical look. "What do you mean ready for what?" The big guy said playfully punching Sam"s arm. "Your mustang is in the shop and I gave you a ride in the pickup. I"m taking you home and tomorrow I"m giving you a ride to work. You do know the place? The place where you go to earn a living?" The big guy said sarcastically. "Ah yea I know dude. Thanks for the lift man." Sam said trying his best to sound hip. Was he a punk? From the reflection in the mirror it would appear so, but Sam just couldn"t fathom the idea of a police officers looking like hoodlums. Then again didn"t Al say something about these cops going undercover in high schools? So maybe Tom was just getting off a case when he and his friends went to the bowling tournament. About ten minuets later the big guy"s yellow pick up pulled up to a nice looking apartment complex. Sam was quite impressed with Tom"s apartment, it was small but quaint and it gave off a feeling of warmth. Sam figured Tom"s apartment was going to be like most bachelors pads, full of dirty dishes in the sink, and clothes, and empty pizza boxes on the floor, but Tom"s apartment was neat and organized. Sam chuckled to himself, he remembered his first bachelor"s pad back at his MIT days., his place looked like a mad scientists lab and a regular bachelors pad full of dirty dishes in the sink and clothes all over the floor, but instead of pizza boxes all over the place it was usually empty Chinese take out boxes. Sam picked up a photo on Tom"s dresser. It was a photo of a teenage Tom and a man in a police uniform standing next to him with his arm around his shoulder. This must have been Tom"s father Sam figured. Tom looked at a line of photos on top of Tom"s entertainment center in Tom"s living room. The big guy who had given him a ride home, the attractive black woman, the oriental guy, a skinny guy with an afro of black hair and glasses, and an older black gentlemen were in all of the photos. These must have been Tom"s fellow officers and more than likely his best friends. They were probably like family to him. Sam heard the usual swoosh and electronic beeps that followed. "Oh good you found out where you live," came Sam"s greeting. "Yea I got a ride home with this guy," Sam said pointing to the picture of the guy who had given him a ride home. "Yea that is your best friend and fellow officer, Doug Penhall. The attractive black woman is Officer Judy Hoffs, the oriental guy or rather Vietnamese guy is Officer H.T. Ioki, and the older black gentleman is their captain Adam Fuller." "Quite a close knit bunch from what I can see," said Sam. "Did Ziggy find out why I am here?" "Ziggy says that there is a 90.5 percent chance that you are here to make sure this tom Hanson guy doesn"t get fired from the police force for..." Al"s voice trailed off and he had a look of concern on his face. "What Al?" Sam said anxiously, "what did he get fired for?" "He got fired for killing a prime suspect in a case he and Miss Hoffs were on. History says that he shot the unarmed suspect but Ziggy can"t yet tell me why or what the case was about, but we still have reason to believe that Miss Hoffs is seriously injured." Sam"s heart sank. The thought of that beautiful woman being seriously hurt was more than he could bear. Sam shook his head like he was trying to sake off a bad feeling. He had hardly met this woman and already he was developing feelings for her? This couldn"t be right. Was it possible? Sam didn"t believe in love at first sight. Maybe it could have been that fact that Judy Hoffs was so beautiful how could any man not be mesmerized in her presence? "Well in any case stick to Miss Hoffs as close as possible." Al said breaking Sam"s trance and bringing him back down to earth. "In the original history Miss Hoffs was forced to retire from the force when she was injured and spent the rest of her life in an unhappy marriage and in 2006 at the age of 41 she commits suicide and officer Tom Hanson spends the next 20 years in the pen but gets off in 10 for good behavior. There was evidence that he may have shot the suspect in self defense, but his life is already ruined and he takes a job as a rent-a-cop, and after hearing the news of Judy"s suicide he himself commits suicide. After Tom Hanson and Judy Hoffs leave the Jump Street program it looses funding and shuts down and crimes involving teenagers skyrockets and the rest of the officers involved in the program never get taken seriously as police officers and all end up with boring desk jobs. "Wow it looks like I got my work cut out for me. I can"t believe that one act of violence could have such an impact and ruin so many lives, that"s why I am a pacifist." Sam said looking up at the clock on the living room wall. "Well Al I got to get to bed. Doug will be here in 6 hours to take me to work. Oh boy." "Well pacifist or not you are a cop and you are going to have to act like it even if that means getting violent, you think that a young criminal is going to take it easy on you cause you are all into peace and love? This isn"t the 60"s Sam" "I know Al I"ll do my best that"s all we I can do and hope for the best." "And I will help you as much as possible. I"m going now. I will work with Ziggy so we can get you more info." Al pressed some buttons on his hand link and a door appeared in midair and Al disappeared through it. Before Sam knew it Penhall was ready to pick him up and take him to work. Penhall"s pick up pulled up to old an looking run down chapel on the corners of 8th and Jump Streert. Were he and Penhall supposed to be here? This seemed like the kind of place criminals would hang out. Sam found himself in an ally a dingy ally at that and the chapel seemd to Sam to be a perfect hideout for dope dealers. Sam lookd at the chapel apprehensively. Al hadn"t prepared him for this. If he was on a case he figured that he would have gotten prepped ahead of time by his captain. Maybe he was on an unfinished case from before he leaped. Sam now wished he hadn"t worn kahkis, a sweater vest, and had his hair neatly combed over to the side. He had seen photos of Tom dressed like this and figured this is how Tom dressed when he wasn"t undercover, and Sam wanted to make a good impression at work for Tom"s sake. He didn"t want to come across too weird so that no one could suspect that there was something definitely different about Tom Hanson. "What? are you just going to stare at the door?" Doug said pointing to the front door of the chapel. "What did you get in trouble with Fuller and now you are afraid to go into work this morning? The perfect Tom Hanson in trouble? OHHHHH what did you do?" Swoosh beep beep beep. "Oh yea Sam this is Jump Street Headquarters. The Program is called 21 Jump Street. It is at this old abandoned chapel so their location can remained undisclosed." Sam looked up at Al, "Oh is that it? And for a second I thought I was undercover and on a drug bust, and look at how I am dressed, I would have stuck out like a sore thumb so much for being good at my job." "Well Tom you have always been a goody goody nerd and you do need a new wardrobe, but what in Zeus"s but hole were you thinking we were doing here? You really thought we were on a drug bust? What are you going to do bust Ioki for taking his daily pain pill? It isn"t his fault he got shot and has to take a daily dose of pain killers." "Oh no," Sam thought real fast, "I was just thinking out loud of what kind of assignment the captain will give us today." "Good save Sam," Said Al. "Well whatever kind of assignment we get I hope I get to sit behind a desk today. Last night while I was at the tournament with you the dumb ass babysitter decided to let Clavo watch elm street and he stayed up all night hiding under the covers in my bed. I didn"t get a wink of sleep." Sam couldn"t imagine Doug Penhall being a father, but he dare say nothing because he was afraid Doug would get suspicious. "Hey wait a minuet, aren"t you still on that preppy case?" Doug said after a minuet. Sam looked at Doug uncomfortably. "I don"t know" he said, entering the chapel as quickly as possible He was quite impressed with the operation. Everyone had their own little cubical with a desk and there were a few video arcades in one end of the room and a pool table and ping pong table at the other end. The place reminded Sam of some fun hang out club rather than a police headquarters, and most of the officers were dressed in wild outfits and reminded Sam of teenagers, but then again that was the general idea. Sam looked around for Tom"s desk. He saw an unorganized desk topped with a few pizza boxes and a picture of an attractive Latin woman. There was a punching bag beside it. This defiantly wasn"t Tom"s desk it was far too messy. Sam finally spotted Tom"s desk because there was a name tag on it that read Tom Hanson. Sam made his way towards the desk and when he arrived he took a seat. Sam looked around some more he saw a large room off to the side with a desk, this must have been the captain"s office and sure enough the older black gentlemen from Tom"s photos emerged from the desk and entered the main room of activity. Sam saw the skinny guy with an afro of dark curls and glasses on a ladder changing a light bulb, he was wearing coveralls. Was this guy going undercover as a janitor? Sam assumed he was a fellow officer. "Hey blowfish I"m in need of a good laugh," an officer said to the janitor. Blowfish what kind of name was that? Sam thought to himself. Poor guy his parents must have been stoned hippies to give their kid a name like that. The afro topped guy walked over to the near by janitor"s closet. So he is a janitor. Thought Sam. Wonder what his real name is. The janitor took out a square piece of glass from his closet and put his face on it and took a big blow his mouth was wide open and his cheeks puffed out like balloon. Wow he really does look like a blowfish, thought Sam chuckling. "Sal quick playing and get to work," Fuller said and he turned to Sam looking him up and down. From the look on Fuller"s face Sam could tell that Fuller was impressed. He turned to face the other officers. "Is Hanson the only one who knows how to dress the part for an assignment?" "He"s not dressed for an assignment," Penhall said his mouth full of cold pizza. "It"s return of the prep. This is how Hanson loves to dress." "This is how Sam loves to dress too captain, he"s a total geek," Al said suddenly appearing besides Sam"s desk. "What are you doing here?" Sam asked Al in an annoyed tone of voice. "Um I work here," Said Judy giving Sam a weird look. "Hey Hanson is it return of the Jack F Kennedy haircut, too?" Ioki snickered. "Well I don"t care what you guys think I think he looks quite handsome," said Judy. She too was dressed preppy in a kaki knee length skirt and whit polo shirt with a tan suede blazer. "You would," said Penhall rolling his eyes. "Ahem." Fuller cleared his throat interrupting the current topic of conversation. "No matter how you normally dress, Hanson you and Hoffs are dressed for your assignment. You two are still undercover as a preppy couple at Jackson High. Another girl was found attacked in the girl"s bathroom Friday. She

"She isn"t the only one," Said Al pointing to several kids. "Over there is Ezra Freidkin he"s a habitual drug user mainly huffing, he is adopted and his parents went through a verynasty divorce and he was caught in the midle of the crossfire. When he get out of Horizon he has to decide who to live with. Over there you got Daisey Lipenowski who likes to be called Daisey Graves. She is a tarot reading gothic girl whose father physically abused her. She beat him to a pulp with a golf club and almost killed him. Her mother died a while back while Daisey was at Horizon. Over there you got Katherine Cabot. She has been here the longest 3 years. Her sister drowned right in front of her. The hispanic guy is Augusto Ciseros he was gang member and a drug user and dealer and the girl and guy who walked past you," Al said as he hung his head. "What Al?" Sam said afraid to hear the answer. "Thart was Shelby Merrick and Scott Barringer. Shelby"s stepfather molested her and she ran away and lived on the streets for a long time protitiuting herself to survive before her mom found her and sent her to Horizon and Scott was a promising football star who got kicked off the team for drug use and his dad sent him him to Horizon. He told Shelby and Peter Scarborrow the director of Horizon how his stepmother would come into his room whenever there was a storm and would sleep with him. Oh the hot woman is one of the councelors here. her name is Sophie Becker. I think her and Peter are an iemI wonder if they"ve done the deed already." Sam stared at Al in disbelief he didn"t know what to say. "Al quit thinking with yuo you know what." Sam felt tears welling up at the corner of his eyes. How could any kids go through what all these kids went through? Sam fel like someone stabbed his heart. He chocked back his tears. "There"s so much pain here Al. It"s un real it"s its"s," Sam couldn"t finish his sentence. "Some of it is sick is what is is," Al finished Sam"s statement. Sam was taken aback he hadn"t seen so much anger in Al"s eyes before. "All thse low life parents and step parents need to strugn up by their toes." "Al what am I here do do?" Sam asked solemly. He didn"t really want to hear. He was afraid to hear what Al would say. "What do you mean what are you here to do?" Peter asked Sam a quizzical expression of concern etched on his face. "Oh I meant what am I supposed to do now," Sam asked Peter. "Juliette you sure you are ok?" "Yea why?" Sam lied. The fact was he wasn"t ok. First he was leapt into a teenage girl. (Sam hated being leapt into females those were the worse leaps for Sam. He was onced leapt into a pregnant teenager now that was a challenging leap!). Then he heard about all the deamons these kids were carryingand it and it tore his heart to pieces, and he didn"t know why he was here. "You just seem out of sorts why don"t you go with Sophie and get something to eat. Did you thorw up breakfast this morning?" Peter asked Sam. Sam did his best not to cringe. "Um no. No I didn"t." "Well then go to class." "Come on Jules," Auggie said grabbing Sam"s hand. Sam cringed. "What"s wrong?" Auggie asked Sam. "Um nothing," Sam stammered. "Oh yea Sam I forgot to tell you. Juliette and Auggie are an item as is Shelby and Scott," Al told Sam. Oh you could have told me sooner," Sam hissed at Al. "Told you what Jules?" Auggie asked Sam. "Oh nothing," Sam said glaring at Al. Al shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk besides Sam while Auggie had him by the hand walking him to class. He dare not let go because he didn"t know where he was going and he couldn"t let on that he didn"t know where he was going but holding a teenage boys hand really crept him out. He knew Auggie saw Sam as Juliette but Sam knew even though if he looked in a mirror and Julette"s refection stared back at it was still Sam"s soul in Juliette"s body and he was holding hands with a teenage boy. "Ziggy says you are here to," Al said punching buttons into his multi colored handlink. The corlor drained from Al"s face. Sam"s heart sank. What ever he was going to say he knew it wasn"t going to be terrible. "You here to make sure Juliette doesn"t get killed." "What Juliette gets killed?" Sam said a little too loudly. "Of course Juliette gets killed. You"ve read Romeo and Juliette before," sais Auggie shanking his head in wonder at his girlfriend"s odd behavior. "Yes of course," Sam said quickly. "I was reviewing the play in my head. " "Good save Sam," said Al. "Well anyway ziggy says there is an 85 chance you are to here to prevent Juliette from getting killed by her mother"s new husband when Juliette goes home on a three day leave. History says Juliette"s body is found in the harbor and the autopsy rules she dies form multiple blows to the head and her mother comes clean and confesses that she came home from work one day and found her husband beating Juliette striking her herad multiple times with a baseball bat and when Juliette became unconcious she panicked and suggested her huband put her daughter in a bag and later that night they would dump the body bag into the harbor." Sam face tuned green. "Jules yuo don"t look so hot," said Auggie. "I got to use the bathroom, Sam thought fast. "Over there," Auggie pointed to a nearby door. Sam rushed to the bathroom and locked the door so no one could in and see him talking to himself. Sam looked in the mirror so he could see who he had leapt into. he saw Juliette"s reflection staring back at him. "She"s sop beutiful Al why would her parents want to harm her like this. I just don"t get it. It sickens me." "It sickens me too Sam" "I can"t breath, Sam said out of breath. He turned the sink faucet on and splashed cold water on hs face. "Why is this bothering me so much? What deamon am I carrying?" Sam slapped his hands on the mirror in anger. "Damn this swiss cheese brain of mine." "Well uh," Al stammered. Al didn"t know what to say. He felt his friends pain but he knew Sam"s rules for Quantum Physics. He wasn"t allowed to supply Sam with information about his life no matter how swiss cheesed his brain was. It was the hardest thing about being Sam"s partner. Seeing his friend loose his memory and not having the ability to fill him in on his missing life. "It just seems so familiar," said Sam splashing more water on his face.Sam felt a wave of naussia and when he looked up in the mirror he swooned a bit. "My sister went through this Al. I remember." Al was hoping Sam didn"t remember anymore. usually he loved it when Sam, rememberd something but he didn"t want Sam to remember this. "She married that bastard who beat her everyday. I can"t handel leaps like this Al." "I know these leaps are tough on you Sam but you got into this business to save lives and if anyones life needs saving right now it"s Juliette. You got to make sure you do whatever you can to not go on that 3 day leave." "Like what Al?" "Well I don"t think kids have to go if they don"t want to but they usually have to give a good reason.Up to this point Juliette has been psyched about going home. It"s all she talks about so it would come across strangely that she changes her mind all of the sudden. What are you going to say? My hologram friend predicted my future and told me I was going to die? Sam tunred to look at Al and he had an expression his face that told Al he had just had a sudden flash of brillence. "Well maybe not my hologram friend, but I know someone who might be able to help me predict a future." Al hated when Sam came up with a hair brained scheme usually that was his deparment. Quantum Leap: Vertical Herizon By Heather Samantha Beckett Chapter 3: Predictions After English class Sam looked all over the campus for the goth girl what was her name? Dee Dee, no that wasn"t it. Diane? No that wasn"t it either. When Al mentioned the name why did he suddenly think of the Dukes of Hazard and very short shorts? OH yea that was it, Daisey her name was Daisey. If he could only remember what she looked like. If she had looked gothic it would have been very easy to figure out but as Sam recalled she looked like any of the girls here at Horizon no distinguishing gothic features. Sam guessed they made her get rid of the goth look when she arrived at Horizon. There was something else Sam tried to remember. Al pointed out a boy that Daisey hung around with a lot and he had somewhat of a distinguished feature. Sam racked his brains to remember. The boy he recalled had very curly hair almost an afro but he was a white boy and he didn"t have the kind of afro Sam would have remembered when he was in college in the 70"s. Usually only black guys wore afros then. Here he was in the new millennium and a white guy had an afro. That shouldn"t have been too weird to Sam, after all even white guys had really curly hair but the white guys he knew with really curly hair usually kept it very short to avoid the afro look. What was his name? He had kind of a different name. Was it Biblical? Sam remembered being reminded of a book in the Bible when that boy"s name was mentioned to him by Al. Ezekiel? No Ezra? Yea that was it he had to find Ezra then he"d be able to find Daisey. It just so happened that as Sam was looking for Ezra Al popped up out of nowhere like he usually did startling Sam half out of his wits. Sam didn"t usually get startled by Al"s sudden appearances but he had just happened to be deep in thought when Al suddenly popped into view. "Penny for your thought," said the hologram. Sam jumped nearly 2 feet. "Al how many times do I have to tell you, DON"T DO THAT?" "Well excuuuuuse me," came the response. "I just thought you might be interested to know that your little gothic girlfriend is reading tarot cards right now in the Cliffhanger girl"s dorm. You didn"t think Id figure it out did you?" "Figure what out?" Sam asked. "Figure out your little scheme." "Al I don"t know what you are talking about," Sam said like he was hurt his friend would think so little of him. "Sam don"t give me that look. I know how your genius mind works. For once I think your plan will work out brilliantly." Sam made a sudden face of disgust. He had just realized something. "Al do I really have to go to the girls" dorm?" "Don"t worry I already checked it out for you," Al said matter of factly. Sam gave Al a very suspicious look. "What I had to check for you didn"t I?" "Al you can never give up an an opportunity for a chance to maybe see females now it seems females of any age either naked or at least in their underwear. Al you are something else. These are teenager girls for goodness sake. Don"t you have at least one ounce of respect for woman?" Al had to think about that for a second. "You have to think about that?" Sam said in mock disbelief. Al hung his head Sam rolled his eyes. "I guess you wouldn"t be you if you did," Sam said after a while. "Well for your information the girls are all dressed it is the middle of the day after all and why would they be in their pjs? It is safe for you the prudent prince to go in there and get your fortune read." "Thanks Al. Um Al where is the girl"s dorm?" Al let out an excited giggle. "Right over here follow me." Sam followed Al to a cabin that read Cliffhanger Girls. Al started to follow Sam in. Sam stopped him. "Um Al I think I better do this alone." "Oh fiddle sticks. Aw come on Sam. You are such a bore." Sam continued to give Al a stern look of warning. "Ok Ok I get the picture," Al said getting out his multicolored hand link, he pressed some buttons and out of nowhere a door suddenly appeared out of thin air and Al disappeared behind it. Sam took a deep breath. "I"m going into a girl"s dorm I haven"t done that since MIT. OH boy." Sam opened the door and walked in. Sam saw the mean spirited blonde girl who was always calling him well Juliette Queenie sitting on a bed with a brown headed girl who had cards spread out on the bed. That must be Daisey Sam guessed because she was the one giving the blonde girl a prediction of the future Sam slowly walked up to the bead took a deep breath and said in a quiet voice, "Ah Daisey can I talk to you for a minuet," Daisey rolled her eyes obviously annoyed that she was being interrupted and ignored Sam continuing to give Shelby the prediction. "Well it seems like there is going to be an unpleasant change coming for you." It was Shelby"s turn to roll her eyes. "Oh please since when isn"t my life an unpleasant change?" "Sorry you asked," replied Daisey. "If you didn"t want to know you shouldn"t have had your cards read." "I know," said Shelby "But I seem to have a fascination with finding out the inevitable. I guess I am hoping one of theses days you will read me a good fortune." Shelby turned to face Sam giving him a dirty look. "What do you want?" "I was wanting Daisey to read me my fortune," said Sam quietly. Shelby and Daisey exchanged shocked glances. "Since when do you believe in tarot card reading?" Daisey said looking Sam up and down making sure he was being serious. "She probably wants to know if her and Auggie are going to be doing it anytime soon," Shelby mockingly laughed. A sudden chill went up Sam"s spine. That thought just creeped him out. Daisey sensed something was bothering Sam."Juliette you have a bad feeling don"t you? I can always tell. It"s like I almost have the gift of mind reading," said Daisey shuffling the tarot cards. "Yes" Sam replied. "I need you to give me a reading because I have a very bad feeling something bad is going to happen to me." Sam knew this wasn"t because he believed in having his fortune read and the outcome being bad. Sam was a scientist after all and he didn"t believe in all that mumbo jumbo as he put it. Al on the other hand did believe in the supernatural and always drove Sam crazy because he just couldn"t accept the fact that Sam would always find a rational scientific explanation for everything. No Sam had something else in mind when he came into the girls dorm and asked Daisey to give him a prediction for the future. "OH please," said Shelby rolling her eyes. "This out to be good." Daisey gave Shelby a disapproving finger. She ignored the comment she knew when someone had a bad feeling she needed to take them seriously even if that person was Juliette who always in the past made fun of Daisey"s fascination with the supernatural. Daisey spread out the cards face down on the bed. She ran her fingers over each of them 2 or 3 times before settling on one card. She flipped it over and gave Sam a very concerned look. "What?" Said Sam, "I can handle it." "You got the death card." Quantum Leap: Vertical Herizon By Heather Samantha Beckett Chapter 4: Waterworks "OH thank you, you don"t know what this means to me," said Sam jumping up quickly. "Dude you got the death card," Shelby said looking at Sam as if he were insane. She wasn"t the only one. "You just had to do it didn"t you?" Daisey said getting up and facing Sam her faces inches away from his and she had a look of disgust on her face. "Do what?" Sam asked innocently. "You just had to come here pretending you were interested in having your cards read and now you are acting like what I do is just a childish game and you are making fun of me. Well I don"t appreciate it." "No you don"t understand and I"m sorry butI really can"t explain it. Actually you are going to be a big help. Trust me. What you"ve done for me is for the greater good," Sam said trying to sound convincing. Sam was half telling the truth. True his plan was coming along quite nicely and Daisey had something to do with that but he didn"t believe for a minuet that the catastrophe to come could be predicted by Tarot cards. "The greater good?" Shelby asked snootily. "I"m sorry I can"t explain it. I wish I could but I can"t. Just trust me. You are helping me out a great deal. Gotta run," Sam darted out the door as quickly as possible. "Is it just me or has Juliette gone off the deep end?" Daisey asked herself out loud. "You think?" Shelby said rolling her eyes. "I wonder what she"s up to." "It"s probably some Queenie atention getting scheme," said Shelby lying down as if she were exhasperated from trying to fathom the world of Juliette. Sam ran past Auggie so fast he didn"t hear the boy calling after him. Sam didn"t have time to past go or collect 200 dollars he needed to get to Peter Scarbrow as fast as he could. Al guided Sam through Horizon"s main building and pointed to a door that said Peter Scarbrow Director. Sam banged on the door repeatedly. Peter opened the door and saw the out of breath Sam. "Juliette what"s wrong?" Peter asked sounding very concerned. "I ah I ah I I I," Sam panted. "Sam calm down and take deep breaths," Al instructed. "I"m trying to," Sam answered. "Trying to to what?" Peter asked sounding confused. "Come in and have a seat," Peter said leading Sam into his office and closing the door behind him, he pointed to a seat for Sam to sit in. Sam sat down and took a minuet to catch his breath when he was calm and collected he was ready to talk to Peter. "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Peter asked Sam. "Yes," Sam answered. "You know how I am supposed to go home on leave?" "Yes," answered Peter, "what about it?" "I don"t think I should go. In fact I don"t want to go." Peter gave Sam a strange look. "It"s all you been talking about for two weeks what"s mad you change your mind.?" "I just had Daisey read my tarot cards and I got the death card," Sam explained thinking that would be good enough reason to keep Juliette from having to go home and this is what he had been planning but by the look on Peter"s face he knew he had said the wrong thing. Sam figured he must have just finked out Daisey and more than likely Daisey wasn"t allowed to have Tarot cards. "Please don"t say anything to Daisey or she will think I was a fink," Sam pleaded. "I am not going to say anything she could be doing worse things but I just don"t understand it. I never took you for a Tarot card believer," said Peter still giving Sam a look like he didn"t believe Sam. "Usually I"m not but I have had a bad feeling for a few days now and that was just icing on the cake. Please don"t make me go." "Sound really upset like going would be unbearable for you," suggested Al. "Sound real scared well you should be scared because if you go on that trip you may end up in a body bag." "Don"t you think I know that Al I"m doing the best I can," Sam hissed. "What was that?" Peter asked suspiciously giving Sam a strange look and looking around the room for whoever Sam was supposedly talking to. "Please I can"t go. You know my mother. I"m just not comfortable with her I don"t want her to hurt me. Please please please don"t make me go. You just can"t you just can"t," Sam cried. "Use tears Sam. Tears always work. How about some shaking. Shaking is good. Act crazy, they are used to crazy around here. Turn on the waterworks" said Al. Sam shook a little and started to cry actually he sobbed. Sam used to do theater when he was in college and he was a very good actor, he could put on the waterworks with ease. "I don"t want to die. I don"t want to die." "Oh Sam that"s beautiful. What a performance. Oscar here we come," Al laughed. "Juliette you are not going to die," said Peter trying to sound comforting but firm at the same time, he got up and put his arm around Sam and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Just please don"t make me go Peter. You don"t know what will happen to me if I go. I mean you or Sophie won"t be around and I just wouldn"t feel safe. Horizon is my ah my ah," Sam tried to think. "Safety zone, safe haven," Sam said after a while. "How about if I call your Mom and ask her to come see you here? How would that be? I mean you need to have your mom in your life while you are here and you can"t cut her off completely because when you leave Horizon you will be going home and you need to work on your relationship with her while you are here and work out the kinks." Sam looked over at Al. Al punched in the buttons on his multi colored hand link. "No good Sam. Ziggy says that Juliette still dies but this time she is found on the bottom of a mountain near Horizon." "Al what can I do? I gotta compromise with this guy," Sam said pretending to cough and cupped his mouth to talk to Al. "I don"t know Sam this is your leap I"m just the holographic informant." "OK Peter that"s fine anything but going home is fine with me." "OK I"ll make the call today and let you know what your mom said. Now get to lunch," Peter said escorting Sam out of the door. Peter didn"t have to ask Sam twice he was more than happy to leave and head for the cafeteria, he was starving. Sam had read the cafeteria menu earlier and rembered that he would be having fried chicken and mashed potatoes so he walked even faster. Too bad Al was a hologram he didn"t know what he was missing. Sam couldn"t remember the last time when he had fried chicked or mashed potatoes. Leaping around swiss cheesed his brain so he couldn"t remember much from leap to leap, he was sure he ate well because he didn"t feel like he was wasting away. Sam hoped that the food wouldn"t be like normal school cafeteria muck. The thought made him shiver. When Sam arrived in the cafeteria he noticed that Scott and Shebly were in the middle of a heated argument. Wonder what that"s all about, Sam thought to himself.

I didn"t know how to reply. Soon I started coughing. The locket wiggled its way up my throat and resulted a mess on the floor. We both stared at it. It just lay in between us. We look up from the locket and into each other"s eyes. "Hey, Kim?" "Jack?" "I love you." I looked down at the locket for a minute. Soon, 7 and 8 came in and picked Jack up. He struggled, but failed to escape. Right as the door was about to close... "I LOVE YOU TOO!" Tears welled up in my left eye also, and they leaked onto the floor. He probably didn"t even hear me. I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling, and sobbed harder, whispering to myself: "I love you too, Jack..." Jack"s POV I was dropped in a white room, with 3 walls white and 1 a window. The window showed into Kim"s room. Kim was rolling on the ground, crying, and screaming my name. I scooted over to the glass and pressed my nose against it. I hated watching her suffer. But what could I do? "KIM!" I screamed. She didn"t hear me. She just continued to cry. Soon, 3 walked in. "It"s a one-way mirror. You can see and hear her, but she can"t see or hear you." "KIM!" I screamed again. "Kid, calm down! I"ll do my best to get her to you, but I have to obey my boss"s orders," 3 said. He picked me up, and attached me to the wall. "I can"t bear to see this, but 1, 8, and 10 are coming in. Good luck, kid." I gave a small nod, wondering why 3 was being so nice to me. All of the numbers other than 1 wore a mask, hiding their faces. 1, 8, and 10 soon came in. "What do you want?" I said sharply. "Loosen your tone," said 1. "I"m going to ask you some questions." "About what?" I said. "You"ll see. Question one: Do guns scare you?" I shook. A spitting image of one came into my head. I shuddered at the sight and barely muttered, "No." "Yeah, right," said 1. "Hook him to the lie detectors." Soon I felt a metal plate on my head, and two tubes going into my ears. "I"ll ask again, gun; you afraid of "em? "No!" Suddenly, I felt an electric shot course through my brain, and down to my arms, lower to my legs. I yelled at the feel of it. Something I never want to feel again. "And that was only setting two; you do NOT want to have to go to setting ten." I shook my head. "So! Question two: Did you find out about the girl"s... injury?" "Her name is Kim! And yes! She"s suffering a lot, so stop hurting her!" "Mmm, protective." "Right." I had no idea why he was asking about Kim, and I hoped that they weren"t gonna shake me for all of the information I know about her and use it against her. "How about more about this "Kim", Question 3: Do you love this girl?" "Yes." "Okay, question 4: What would you do if we were to hurt her?" "I"d kill you." No shock. I don"t lie about protecting Kim. She"s like a baby shark. She CAN fight for herself. But sometimes, it"s too hard. She gets trapped, outnumbered, and she suffers because she needs a hero. "Great to know. Question 5: Has anyone ever... done anything to Kim, romantically?" "What do you mean by that? She has had past boyfriends, but none of them..." "You know what I mean, so tell me." "Why are you asking questions this personal?" "Because I can, now answer." "We have... tried to. We always got interrupted by our friend, Jerry. OH! Also, I"m pretty sure that Jerry wants to do "it" to her, but there"s no way I"m letting that happen." "Interesting. Question 6: Do you know where this "Jerry" is right now?" "Yes, he came here with me. He"s the one with the darker hair and something wrong with his brain." "Okay," 1 said as he got up he whispered something to 10 and gave something to 8. 8 soon pried my eye open and put something inside of it. He did the same with the other eye. Soon, I felt more comfortable keeping my eyes open. It felt impossible to close them. I thought this was some sort of contact that kept you staring without your eyes getting irritated, or vision becoming hazy. 8 left and untied Kim completely, but made sure that she didn"t get out. She was too weak to move. She had used her energy on crying and screaming, and I"m pretty sure that when I was getting asked questions, 9 did something to her. I wasn"t sure what, but it seemed like she found it hard to stand up. Soon, Jerry was pushed into Kim"s room. Jerry raised his eyebrows and neared towards Kim. "Finally, WOOOO!" Kim used her remaining energy to run to the door. It was locked on the outside. Jerry soon removed the sweatshirt, and pushed her down to the ground. She wasn"t bare; she still had her same clothes on from Sunday morning. I watched in shock as Kim ran out of energy and wasn"t moving. She wasn"t dead... I knew it... but Jerry didn"t stop there. He began to inch down her shorts, little by little. Then I remembered: She wasn"t wearing underwear. Oh no... Hi guys! So about the whole voting thing, I"ve decided to NOT write that story until I finish this one, or at least get further. Then I"ll look at the votes, so please VOTE! And if you can, vote on the Chapter 8 page! I am so amused by your reviews. :D Jack"s POV When I realized that Jerry must have planned this whole thing to get Kim to... do it with him... was when he yanked her shorts down and she did a muffled scream. My eyes were completely open, and I couldn"t close them. I was too engaged in thought to turn my head. I watched as Jerry picked up Kim and tore her bra literally to pieces. What a desperate boy. Then I realized: What if I could make it so she could hear me? So she could see me? So I could be her hero? All this time, had I forgotten how well I knew karate? Even if my arms and legs were binded, I could still do almost anything I could do without them together. I swung my arms around a few times, then hit them towards the glass. I shut my eyes to protect them from the result. My arms were cut entirely, and Jerry and Kim"s shocked faces danced across my eyes. I ran over to Jerry and swung my bloody arms at him. We soon got into a battle, and I shoved him towards the mirror. More glass broke, and he ran towards a door and knocked repeatedly. Soon, the door opened and he ran out. It shut again, locking me inside. I ran over to Kim. Naked, bruised, cut, bleeding. I chuckled as I looked down at her. "Why do I always find you like this?" She didn"t reply and grabbed onto my feet. "Kim, what are you doing?" She ignored my gaze and started to loosen the ropes on my legs. I lay on my stomach, getting the message, and she did the same for my arms. "Jack..." Kim said. I looked over at her. "Yes, Kimmy?" the she said two words I"d never heard her say. "I"m scared." I shook my head and pulled down my shorts, leaving me with some boxers. I didn"t care. "...Jack?" I also took off my shirt. Yes, I might have forgotten to wear something under that day, but I still had my boxers. I soon slid my shorts up Kim"s legs and tightened them, then placed her shirt over her head. "Be strong, Kimmy." But by the look in her eyes, she was trying to hold back for me. I could tell she was in pain. I grabbed the hem of my(her) shirt. "You mind?" Kim shook her head "no", and I slowly lifted my(her) shirt. I examined the top half of her for any new injuries. There was still a large hole, a few pricks of glass in her skin, and one of her breasts had a large cut. "Ow... looks like that hurt," I said, pointing to it. She nodded. I knew that her shirt would soak up the slight amount of blood it took up. I yanked the shirt back down, as something triggered something in my head. Kim gasped a little in pain. "Gosh, Jerry"s such an idiot! I"m already half naked with cuts everywhere thanks to that son of a-" "Jack, look at me," Kim said. "NO KIM! I"m sick of this stupid place and I need to know how we-" She grabbed my chin and turned it towards her. She put her small fingers into my eye and took out the contact, and did the same with the other. I closed my eyes as she examined the contacts. "Feel better?" she asked. "YES!" I screamed. "THAT WAS THE WORST THING I"VE EVER FELT!" I grasped Kim in my arms and playfully tackled her. I nuzzled my head into her stomach then looked back at her. "Thank you, Kimmy!" She chuckled a little. I lay down beside her and cuddled her in my arms. "Jack, why are we here?" "Because of Jerry"s stupid plan to try to get into you!" "Jack, Jerry isn"t smart enough to plan any of this." Honestly, I soon realized that she couldn"t be any more right. "Jack?" Kim said, resting her head on my chest. "Do you think we"ll ever get out of here?" "...Anything"s possible, Kimmy." Before I knew it, we both fell asleep, and the minute I awoke, I was in a brown room with Kim, Jerry, and Milton. We were all strapped to lie detectors. I"m so sorry that I didn"t update yesterday! I was supposed to! D: Wellz, here be another chappy :D Jack"s POV We were strapped onto lie detectors and attached to the wall. Everyone took one side. "Okay..." I said, trying to process this. "Dude. We"re attached to lie detectors. Even I can figure that out," Jerry said. I ignored my desire to break his face off of his body. "Where are 1-10?" Jerry asked. "Oh, like you don"t know!" I scoffed. "No, seriously. Is there any point of why we"re here attached to these?" "FIRST QUESTION," I announced, making Kim and Milton jump. "Jerry; did you plan all of this?" "You seriously think I did this?" "ANSWER THE QUESTION!" "...No." No shock. I was surprised. If Jerry didn"t do this... then who did? "Milton, was it you?" "No." My heart stopped. Thinking this was Kim would be extremely unbearable and impossible, but it could be... then again, she wouldn"t have hurt herself and had Jerry do all that to her while I was looking... Wait... what if she was mad at me and wanted to make me jealous?! "Kim? Was it you?" She frowned up at me. Then, she looked like I had betrayed her or something. I wasn"t the best at reading emotions, especially off of Kim. She"s unpredictable. "Jack... you honestly think I did it?" Her voice was cracking, like she was about to cry but was holding it in. "...Anything"s possible..." "Then you"re an idiot." "Excuse me?" "You"re an idiot. And so am I." "Answer the freaking question, Kim!" "NO JACK!" Kim said, looking like she wanted to strangle me. "I DID NOT SET UP THIS STUPID KIDNAP." So none of them did. Humph. "Wait... I have a question..." Jerry said. "Do any of you know... who did this?" We all groaned. "Really, Jerry, really?" said Milton. "Just curious..." Jerry muttered. "How about you, Jack?" Kim said. "Was it you? You seemed okay with hurting me a few days ago, I don"t see why you wouldn"t now." "No, it was not me!" "Have any of you ever peed yourself?" Jerry said. "...What?" I whispered. "So Jacky did, huh?" "I have," said Milton. "When Frank and the dragons harassed me." "Me too..." Kim said, blushing. "Jack"s really good at stuff like that..." "Oooooooh!" Jerry said. "Shut it!" Kim replied. "I may have a little... but I haven"t since I was like, one." SHOCK That one hurt. "Okay, I lied. But I"m not telling you when I did last." "Whatevs," Jerry said. "Okay... do you like anybody currently?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at Kim. "Yes," Jerry said. "Yes..." "I did," Kim said. "But now, I"m not so sure..." she glared at me. "What about you, Jack?" "Yes," I said. "But I don"t like her. I"m in love with her. And I hope she"ll forgive me..." I said, looking into Kim"s big, brown eyes. Kim looked at me and blushed. "She"s the most beautiful girl in the planet and the sweetest girl in the galaxy, and I"ve loved her for as long as I can remember. I"m asking her to forgive me now. Please..." "Who is she, Jack, WHO IS SHE?!" Jerry yelled. Oh, Jerry... Kim bit her lip. "Yes, yes I forgive you!" I laughed at how dramatic that was, what we both said. But it was worth it, right? "Okay," Milton chuckled. "What"s the meanest thing you"ve ever said about... Jerry?" "He"s an idiot," Kim said. "He"s a son of a b-" "Easy there, tiger," Milton said to me. We continued to ask questions for hours, and I learned a lot about everyone. 1 came in. "Having fun?" he said. "So listen, we felt like you were gonna eventually kill each other because you didn"t know who planned it. "We thought we"d bring the man in charge to meet you." "Oh, thank you, George!" a voice said. George..? I recognized that voice. But I couldn"t tell whose it was. Then, he walked in. Black boots with blue silky pants. A white undershirt with a black leather vest. Blonde hair spiked a little at the top. I knew who this was. I was about to say it, but Kim beat me to it. "...Ricky... Weaver?!" OH MY GOSH, guys, 100 REVIEWS! Thank you SO much! I love ya"ll! Kim"s POV Ricky Weaver set this up?! "I bet you people want explaining," said Ricky. I rolled my eyes. "Okay, so here goes; Jack betrayed me, Kim flipped me, all for love that they will never have. Kim"s feisty. I like that. But Jack," Ricky said, nearing towards Jack. "Decided to be Kim"s bodyguard. The thing is, Jack, is that I can get any girl that I want." "Kim doesn"t like you, Ricky, and she never will!" Jack spat. I like how he stuck up for me whenever things went wrong. "That"s where you"re wrong, Jack. You see, I can get any girl to like me, as I said before." "Exactly. Maybe if you stopped being a Justin Beiber wannabe, then you could," Jack said. Ricky scoffed. "Jack, I don"t think you"ve realized that you"re the one tied up. So I suggest that you shut your yap." "Don"t talk to him like that!" I screamed. I didn"t even realize I had until the four guys stared at me. "Kim, it"s okay," Jack said. "I can fight my own battles for now." "For now..." Ricky said. "So, Kimmy-" "DON"T call me Kimmy." "Whatevs. So, how would you like it if I did..." Ricky kicked Jack"s nose and it began to bleed. I watched in horror. "...This?" "JACK!" I screamed. "Don"t worry, Kim," Jack said. "This punk is no match for me." "Actually, I am. When I have ten body guards and a gun in my pocket-" "Wait- a gun in your pocket?" Milton said. "Yes, dork. Did you not hear me the first time?" Milton shut himself up as I turned back to Ricky. "What do you want from me? All you"re gonna do is dump me!" "Exactly. Therefore, I have to make the best out of it. Right, Jack?" Jack wiggled in his binds, trying to escape. "You won"t get away with this, Weaver!" Jack yelled. "Actually, Jack, I will," said Ricky. "Not with me to protect her, you won"t!" "Yeah... about that," Ricky said, grabbing the gun out of his pocket and putting it up by Jack"s head. "No... no..." I muttered. "Take me instead, don"t hurt Jack..." "Sorry, princess, I gotta do what I gotta do." "NO!" I screamed. Jack seemed to be struggling, but became still. "If you kill me, you won"t touch Kim." "What?" Ricky sneered. "Sorry, but I make the rules, not you. I can touch her however and wherever I want." I gasped a little, and looked over at Jack. That really set him off. He wriggled in every way. It was cute. But knowing that he might die in a matter of seconds died my focus down. "Don"t hurt him, please, Ricky..." I said. Ricky picked up the gun and put it to Jack"s head. "Kim, just let him go," said Ricky. I growled at him. "Yeah right. No matter what happens to him..." I looked directly into Jack"s eyes. "...I"ll never let you go, Jack." Jack smiled. I smiled too. It was like it was just him and I. BOOM I closed my eyes and began to cry. It was a gunshot. BOOM Another gunshot. And I didn"t dare open my eyes. OH MY GOSH! Another chapter is complete. Ask this to yourself: 1) Was Jack the one who was shot? 2) How will Kim react to Jack"s (possible) death? 3) Will Ricky be arrested? 4) Will the gang ever get out of there? So I"m leaving you with a slight cliff-hanger. AND I WILL NOT CONTINUE THIS STORY UNTIL... PLEASE vote on the chapter 8 page! I still need more votes! Please, guys! Hi guys! So, I checked fanfic today and saw that there was a story on my page that I didn"t upload..? I only do Kickin" It stories, to clarify. So I talked it over and realized it was my obnoxious sister. Anyways, sorry if that story offended you. I, myself, love the couples that people invent and the stories about them make me laugh. So as soon as I can figure out how, I"ll take that so called "story" down. As for this story, PLEASE vote! In case I worded it wrong last chapter, I really want more votes on chapter 8 to find out which Crossover I should write about next. Then, I"ll continue the story. Thank youuuu reviewerrrs, love ya"ll! Hi guys! I am SO VERY SORRY for my writer"s block! I did, however, decide that this is most likely going to be the last chapter. Anyways, I looked at the reviews, and SOMEONE figured out some of the storyline! Some of it. But you"ll see who did in this chapter. And, to my first negative review from a "Guest", I did not rate this M because most teenagers are indeed mature enough for this story. Sorry that you"re not. Kim"s POV I kept my eyes squinted shut, not even daring to open them, risking the worst possible scenario. Is Jack dead? "Get up," a deep voice echoed in my head. "GET UP!" "No..." I shook my head and sobbed. "Kim?" That edge of familiarity to his voice kept tempting me to wrench my eyes open. So I did. Jack stood there. Cloaked in white, but clean and unharmed. I looked around and saw we were no longer in the dusty brown room, but in a bright place. Not quite a room, but not outdoors. I couldn"t make it out, and I didn"t understand. "Where are we? What happened?" "We"re nowhere," Jack responded, his calm, soothing voice forming waves that circled around me. "What happened?" I repeated. "Ricky"s dead. Gunshot right to the heart," Jack said. "How...?" "3. He came in and shot him. One shot was all it took. He rallied the other numbers up and set them free, then called the cops." I gave a small nod. "Kim?" "Yeah?" He said nothing. He thrusted a hard, metal object into my hands, which was a mirror. "Look at yourself." I did so, and saw something... it wasn"t me. It was a gorgeous young girl. She had perfect golden hair with perfect natural curls cascading down her back. Dark blue eyes with a glowing smile. Flawless and clean. Nothing was wrong with her. She was perfect. "Jack, who is this?" He chuckled at me. I didn"t know how exactly to respond. "Jack?" "That"s you, Kim." "No, it"s not," I said. "This girl looks nothing like me. She"s... beautiful. She"s perfect." "She"s what I see whenever I look at you," said Jack. I looked at him and noticed he didn"t look the same. He was paler. But I didn"t care. I just smiled at him. He smiled back. No life is perfect... I looked at the floor, and back up to him. He had no smile and was fading. He was fading. Slipping into the white. A rocket went through his brain. Not a rocket. A bullet. I ducked and watched as it passed me. And he just slipped away. When you"re not here... "Jack?" I said. No reply. "JACK!" I yelled, this time. Still, no reply. I watched as my hands wiggled by my sides. The second gunshot was Jack. Or the first. If 3 killed Ricky, then Ricky killed Jack, but Jack was alive when he was talking to me. Was he? Was this a dream? I shook my head, and tried to wake myself. I did all that I could. But I couldn"t. This isn"t a dream. This isn"t real. "Hello?" No walls. "Anybody?" No floors. What was I even standing on? I sat down and cried. All I could do. I wanted to leave here. Something grabbed me. "It"s time to go home." Where"s home? Then I realized. I"m dead. So... that ends another chapter! If you didn"t figure it out, swagmasterlol figured out that it was 3 who shot Ricky. *CLAPS* Also, thank you autumn1999 for being a constant reviewer from the beginning. I love your reviews! I decided that this is a terrible ending, and I will do one more chapter. So stay tuned. Hello, dear reviewers! If you"re still wondering about this story, I"ve decided to post the last chapter. But, re-reading the story again, I"m finding a lot of dumb mistakes... Okay, let"s clear some things up before we start. 1, please note that I had just turned twelve when I began to write this. That being said, I did make many errors and felt like if the story was mature enough for me, it was for my readers. I apologize now for not rating the story Mature and thinking that this was mature enough for all teenagers, because reading this again, it"s a bit overboard. 2, this one I laughed at, for chapter 5, I know now that it takes more than a small cup to get you drunk. I apologize for that, also. 3, on chapter 10, I have no idea what a tracking website is, or if there even is such thing. I think when I was writing this, I wanted it to kind of be like that one iCarly episode where Sam is in the mental hospital and Freddie and Carly track her on the computer with her phone. 4, this has been asked about a lot, the video of Kim. I might mention that here, but if I don"t, I guess just Jack did it to get money that he needed, and Jerry didn"t share the video because of the whole "saving Kim" fiasco that changed his mind. But, maybe, JUST MAYBE, if I write a sequel to this, which I might not based on how this ends, the terms of the video will appear again. Anyways, when did I write the last chapter? Was it September? Well, I don"t know. But, out of curiosity, do you guys remember when I wanted to make a crossover? I still might, I"ll tally up the votes in a moment. EEE, one more thing! I officially have over 20,000 reads! That is so big for me, and I want to say thanks!

"What did the total end up being?" Ondina asked, interrupting Sirena. Both Mimmi and Sirena turned towards Ondina and glared daggers at her, in which she innocently replied, "Sorry, just wondering..." to. "I just... I thought finally having family would be fun! But he treats me like dirt..." "He doesn"t mean what he says, Mimmi, he doesn"t," said Sirena. "Then why does he say it?" Mimmi asked, though it came out more like a statement. "Well, Aquata and I used to fight. She"d always steal my comb and I"d get really mad. I"d say things I didn"t mean. Maybe it"s because I knew that no matter what, she wouldn"t be able to ditch me like friends could. Overall, though, we"re still family. We still love each other a lot," Sirena said. "Yeah. I guess," Mimmi said. "I"m going to try to clear my mind for a bit." "Ooh, wanna go to the café with Ondina and I?" "Sure, that sounds nice," said Mimmi, offering a small smile. "...Actually... I don"t think I"ll be going. Not for a while," Ondina said, not looking up from her nails. "Nobody who works there knows what I like anymore." Sirena and Mimmi exchanged a look, but shrugged it off, linking arms and leaving. ~.x.x.x.~ Mimmi and Sirena sat at a table outside, looking out at the sea. Mimmi"s happy mood began to fade as soon as her thoughts landed on Zac. She knew he didn"t mean what he said to hurt her, but nobody from the pod had ever called her names or treated her badly at all. "Oh, hey Sirena, Mimmi!" Carly called, bouncing from table to table. "I"ll be with you guys in a second." "That"s alright, take your time," Sirena said kindly, waving her hand dismissively. Mimmi sat upright, still staring out at the sea. Her eyes moved to the dock and she saw a group of children running around, and a teenage boy who was very tan and built standing on a corner, probably looking after the kids. Suddenly, she heard a voice in her ear. "Hey, Mimms," said her brother with a wide smile. He sat in the open seat of the girls" table. Mimmi continued looking out at the sea as if he wasn"t even there. "Oh, so you"re giving me the silent treatment, huh?" Zac said, face cringing up. "How mature." "You"re trying to talk to me about maturity?" Mimmi snapped, standing up and facing her brother. "You still play with your stupid land toys! You"re the most childish person I know!" Zac also stood up. "At least I have a girlfriend! That makes me much more mature than you, girl who"s never even kissed a guy!" "What I do with boys is none of your business," Mimmi said, disgusted. "And me knowing that my personal affairs are none of your concern is quite mature! You flaunting off the fact that you"re dating someone is extremely immature!" At this point, the sibling"s bickering had cause attention from neighboring customers. "Not here, guys, please," warned Sirena. At this, Mimmi nodded and sat back down. Zac stood his ground. "So now you"re just giving up? I have such a coward for a sister. Stop being such a brat," Zac sneered. Mimmi immediately stood up and marched away from her friends and towards the dock, avoiding any kind of contact with anyone else. Mimmi plunged into the water and sped away towards Mako. Little did she know that there were a pair of eyes who watched her dive into the water, and watched her grow a tail. ~.x.x.x.~ Zac lay on his bed, hands on his forehead. Mimmi was posing a real problem for him. Of course, he was excited to finally not be an only child, but now he knew having a sibling wasn"t all it seemed. Zac and Mimmi argued more than they talked. What was her problem? He"d tried to talk to her earlier and all she did was ignore him. Zac"s mouth scrunched up at the thought of her. He"d never understand girls and their screwed up logic. He heard his open door creak and he sat up. There stood his best friend, Cam. He sighed and lay back down. "What"s up with you?" Cam asked. Zac gave another long sigh and sat up. He looked at Cam with a smile. "Nothing. Hey, wanna do something?" ~.x.x.x.~ Mimmi floated atop the mysteriously blue waters of the moon pool, looking up at the day-lit sky. She sung quietly to herself a song that Sirena taught her. After a while, she swam over to an edge of the pool and lay against it. She stared at the water as if it was endless, like her thoughts. Sometimes, when she was alone, she"d wonder about her mother. Sometimes all she could ever think about was how badly she wished she could meet her. She had so many questions. Suddenly, she heard a rumble behind her. Quickly, she turned to the source of the sound. On the land part of the cave stood the teenage boy she had seen at the dock earlier. He was staring right at her. She was now exposed to him as a mermaid, and her face was tied to the tail. She contemplated leaving, swimming out of the cave and back to Rita"s. But what would that do? What if this boy grew curious and searched for more mermaids? There were plenty all around Mako since the pod had returned, Mimmi knew. Plus, now that he had a face, he could easily expose her for what she was. Everyone could know her greatest secret. So she stood her ground and stared up at the boy, thinking of what to say. "Please don"t leave," the boy said quietly. As she"d noticed earlier, he was very tan and muscular, but along with that came a pair of amber eyes and golden-red hair. "Who are you?" Mimmi asked. "Hayden. Might I ask you the same question?" the boy said, squatting down to Mimmi"s level. "I"m Mimmi..." Mimmi said. "It"s a pleasure," Hayden said. Mimmi stared up at him, and he stared down at her. "I"m sorry, this is probably weird for you..." she said. "No need for an apology. Believe it or not, I"ve come across quite a lot of weird things in my time," he said. She gave a small nod. "How did you get in here? I thought the only entrance was through the underwater tunnel," Mimmi asked. "Well, I-I found another one," said Hayden hesitantly. "Had to clear some rocks to get in..." Mimmi, not having explored the island too thoroughly, believed this. "So you also have legs? Can you turn into a mermaid at will?" Hayden asked, desperate for a change of subject. Mimmi shook her head. "I WISH it was at will! No, it"s once you hit water, then you"re bound to transform," she said. She looked down, and then back up at the boy, concern in her eyes. "Please," she said. "You can"t tell anyone else about this, about me. Believe it or not, you"re the first that"s caught me like this..." "I won"t tell..." he said, scooting closer to her. "If you answer a few things. Are there more of you?" "Mermaids..?" she said. "Yes." "Are there mermen too?" "Yes." "Locally?" "...Yes." "How many?" "A lot all around here, but their power relies on this island. I have a few friends who are like me, though, who live on land too." "...Who are they?" "Their names are Sirena, Ondina, Evie, Zac, and Rita..." Mimmi said quietly. She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Please don"t tell. About me, about any of us." Hayden smiled. "I wouldn"t dream of it." ~.x.x.x.~ Sirena and Ondina stood on Rita"s porch, admiring the scenery from the tall view. Sirena turned to Ondina. "What are you thinking about?" she asked. Ondina looked down, then back up at the world in front of them. "I don"t know." Sirena leaned over to Ondina and put her arm around her back, side-hugging her. Behind them, there was the sound of a door opening, and Sirena and Ondina broke apart and span around. There stood Zac and Cam, a fishnet and a jug of temporary blue dye in their hands. "We want to prank Mimmi," the two said with big smiles. Ondina and Sirena looked at one another, then back at the boys, eyebrows raised higher than anyone could have ever remembered them to be. ~.x.x.x.~ "So how did you become a mermaid?" Hayden asked, standing across the room from Mimmi. Mimmi, now in her land form, leaned up against the moon pool cave"s walls. "I was always a mermaid," she responded, looking up at Hayden. "I used a ring to grow legs, though. It"s kind of confusing, but I already told you about my ring. I mainly live on land now." He nodded. The pair had been talking for hours about Mimmi, her powers, her friends, and mer-people in general. Hayden walked over to Mimmi. "Mimmi?" he started. "Yes?" she responded. Hayden smiled and grabbed her hands. "Do you trust me?" he asked. She nodded. "Yes, of course. Especially since I told you all of this." "Good, that"s good," he said, nodding. He moved her hands behind her back and pressed her closer to the wall. "W-what are you doing?" Mimmi said, voice quivering as he got closer. "I really like you, Mimmi," Hayden said, still smiling, as he leaned down and touched his lips to hers. He pulled away around five seconds after leaning in. He could feel Mimmi become less tense. "...Wow..." she said slowly, smiling. "Yeah," he said. "Mimmi... if you trust me, don"t move a muscle. I want you to close your eyes." "...Okay..." she said, closing her eyes, remembering briefly when she asked another guy to do the same for her. Hayden removed his hands from hers, backing away slowly. He reached into his right pants pocket and pulled out a lighter. Careful not to let the flame go out as he lit it, he set his finger on fire. For a second, his entire body glowed a mix of red, orange, and yellow, but then his body returned to its original hue. He slipped the lighter back into his pocket. He braced his legs and held his hands up. Slowly, he began pulling the oxygen from the room. He wasn"t going to kill the girl, but merely knock her out for a while. He noticed her breathing becoming quicker and more unsteady as he sucked away more oxygen. "Everything alright?" he asked, taking a moment to look in her direction. Her eyes were still closed. "Yeah, I"m just a little... lightheaded..." And just as she spoke, Mimmi fell to the ground. Hayden stopped removing the air and grinned. He slowly approached her limp body, retrieving sections of long rope from the loops of his shorts. ~.x.x.x.~ "Okay, aaaaaaaand... there," Zac said, successfully tying a bucket of temporary blue dye to the net. "So, how"s it work?" asked Cam, admiring the finished product. The fishnet was draped all across the top of Rita"s pool so it covered any way of entrance; tied to it was the bucket. "So, when she comes in later, she"ll get caught in the net, and pulling on it will tip over the bucket so the whole pool will fill with blue dye! She"ll turn blue!" "You do realize that, if this stupid plan works, she"ll only be blue in her mermaid form, right?" Ondina snapped. "Ah. Didn"t think about that. Oh well. A blue mermaid"s better than a regular one!" Zac said, laughing. "But what will happen when the water gets filled with dye? How long will it be like that?" Sirena asked. "Not long," Cam responded. "After a bit, it"ll just dissolve, fade. Probably overnight." "I really don"t think this is a good idea..." Sirena said quietly. "Think? It"s a horrible idea!" Ondina said, walking over to the two laughing boys. "Oh, shut up. Call me when it backfires on you like it"s bound to." She walked up the stairs and out of the room. ~.x.x.x.~ "Hello, Mimmi," Hayden said when Mimmi opened her eyes. She was laying on the ground, hands and feet bound so that they were unmovable. It took her a minute to remember what had happened. She shifted herself to lean against the wall. "Why am I tied up?" Mimmi asked innocently. "Don"t you get it, Mimmi?" Hayden said. "I did this. So glad you decided to trust me, because now, you"re going to help me." "H-help you do what...?" asked Mimmi, now tensing up in fear. "Eliminate all of the mer-people around Mako. If you play your cards right, you"ll be the last to go." Mimmi"s scared eyes moved into a frown. "Why are you doing this?" Hayden chuckled. He put his hands behind his back, and suddenly, a ball of fire rested in his right palm. He threw the ball over his shoulder to his left hand, and from there, tossed the ball into the moon pool. "Woah..." Mimmi said quietly, scooting further away from the boy. "You see, Mimmi, all I want is to rule the world. For a teenage boy, there aren"t many options right now, but what I can do... is rule Mako. It"s an island with all sorts of powers that I will use to rule everyone locally, and then I"ll move up to becoming the leader of the world! "See, the problem, though," Hayden said, stepping closer to Mimmi. "Is that mer-people like you are all over, living at this island. The only way for me to claim the island as my own is for all of you to either leave... or die. And since they"re obviously not going anywhere..." "No," Mimmi said. "I"m not going to help you. Please, if you could just let me go and I"ll tell the pod to leave-" "Oh, Mimmi," Hayden said, laughing once more. "I believe that"s not possible. Your friends will want to fight for their island. Normally, I"d be able to take on quite a few mermaids, but with all of them attacking me, I"ll lose. That"s why I"m going to kill them, one by one. It"ll take a while, but with your help, I"ll have the island in no time." "I"m not going to help you," Mimmi repeated more sharply than before. "Hmm hmm hmm, now that won"t do..." said Hayden, kneeling down to face Mimmi. "If you don"t help me, I"ll target your closer friends first. Maybe Evie... or Rita... Sirena... Ondina, didn"t you say she was your best friend? Or Zac... your brother." "NO! NO! DON"T YOU LAY A HAND ON THEM! LET ME GO!" Mimmi shouted, squirming around in her binds. Hayden laughed devilishly. "So here"s what"s going to happen," he said. More fire appeared on his hand, and he held it like it was an object. He began to move it close to Mimmi"s face. Right before it touched her, he pulled back. "I"ll give you ten minutes to make up your mind. Either you help me... or this," he said, holding up his fiery hand. "Is your other option." ~.x.x.x.~ As Zac sat on Rita"s porch with Cam, Sirena, and Ondina, he couldn"t help but wonder where Mimmi was. He hadn"t checked the trap in ten minutes, but he had a feeling she still hadn"t shown up yet. He looked over the scenery from Rita"s porch. Suddenly, he saw something that didn"t belong. He jolted back. He was in the cave inside of Mako. He saw a boy who seemed to be around his age kneeling down in front of him. The boy was holding fire as if it was an object. He neared it closer and closer to Zac"s face, and all Zac could feel was fear... He blinked and saw the familiar view of Rita"s home. He immediately stood up, realizing that this vision had to be his sister"s if it wasn"t his. "Zac? What"s wrong?" Sirena asked, standing up as well. Their other two friends followed suit. "Mimmi"s in trouble. I"m going out to save her. Nobody come along," Zac said, heading back inside the house and down the stairs to the front door. "Wait! What if something happens to you?" asked Sirena. "Sirena, Ondina, if I"m not back in around half an hour, come to Mako," Zac said hurriedly. He looked out at the water, then back to his friends. "Hopefully it doesn"t come to that." Zac began running, plunging into the sea of water nearby. "I"m always so important in situations like these," murmured Cam. Ondina smacked him on the back of his head, and he whispered a sharp, "Ow." ~.x.x.x.~ "Time"s up," Hayden said, moving to the bound Mimmi. She sat, defiantly staring up at him. Mimmi kept her glossy blue-gray eyes set on Hayden. She let out a long sigh. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. "What"s your decision?" asked Hayden, re-spawning a fireball in his hand. "My friends... my brother..." she said quietly. "I"ll will not let you hurt them! They... they"re my family. I love them so much. So... if that means you kill me right here and now, that"s okay. But you"re not going to kill them." "What makes you so sure?" Hayden laughed, tossing a fireball at Mimmi"s head. It hit the area right above her head, causing a small part of her hair to singe. Her eyes were closed tightly as she embraced what was going to happen to her. Suddenly, Hayden was lifted high into the air. He moved up to the top of the dormant volcano where it opened, and then he dropped hundreds of feet into the pool below. Mimmi, wide-eyed, rolled herself over to the pool to see where Hayden wound up. He floated gently on the water. She was unsure if he was still alive, especially since he was kind of made up of fire. Zac twisted his hand, causing him to be visible again. He grinned up at his sister from the water. "Zac," Mimmi said, smiling. "You"re here." "I heard what you said, about me and our friends. It"s amazing that you"d do something like that for us. Thank you, Mimmi." "No, thank you. I wouldn"t be alive if you hadn"t shown up," Mimmi said, eyes becoming slightly watery. Zac stretched up and hugged his sister, who couldn"t return the hug due to her hands being bound. The hug had gotten Mimmi slightly wet, so quickly, Zac untied her feet and helped her slide into the water. Once she was in the water and in her mermaid form, Zac undid her hands. Mimmi noticed a lighter lingering halfway out of Hayden"s pocket. She grabbed it and banged it against the wall several times, breaking it. "What do we do now?" Mimmi asked, looking over at Hayden. "He might still be alive, so I"ll keep him here for a while. I want you to go back to Rita"s and find Sirena or Ondina-they"re at her place. Then, I need you to go warn the pod, talk to the mermaid council about the situation. I"m sure they"ll sort everything out. For now, someone has to stay here and make sure he doesn"t get away, but I don"t want to leave you alone with that guy again." Mimmi nodded, giving Zac a smile. "Thank you. I couldn"t ask for a better brother." The pair exchanged another hug, and once they broke apart, Mimmi gave Zac another smile and exited the pool. As Mimmi swam back to Rita"s, she almost reached Rita"s grotto entrance, but she ran into Ondina and Sirena before she could get there, who were heading to Mako on Zac"s request. She signaled for the girls to surface. "What happened?!" Ondina said immediately when they were exposed to air. "There"s a guy... he can control fire. He"s out to destroy all mermaids so he can rule Mako, and one day, I guess, the world. Zac"s holding him down at Mako right now-don"t worry, Zac"s fine-but we should go to Veridia and tell her about him. Maybe she"ll be able to take care of it so nothing like this happens again." Mimmi"s two friends nodded in unison. The trio swam out to where the pod usually floated around this time of day. The three girls spotted the mermaid council and made their way over. "Hi, Veridia, we have a situation," said Mimmi. "What is it?" asked Veridia sternly. Mimmi opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted when a smaller mermaid pounced on Ondina. "Hi, big sister!" Neppy squealed, clinging on to the girl she grew closet to in her land stay. Ondina couldn"t help but smile, wrapping her arms around the young girl. "Hey, Neppy, it"s great to see you," she said. Neppy released her and looked over at the three girls. "What brings you here again? I know you guys sometimes pop in and out but I thought you said you"d be gone for the week!" the younger mermaid exclaimed. "Yes, we were planning on staying on land this week, but something bad happened that we need taken care of," Ondina said. "Ooh! Can I help?!" asked Neppy. "Well," said Ondina, turning from Neppy to Veridia. "If it"s okay with Veridia, I think we could really use the help of a brave, strong girl like you." ~.x.x.x.~ Zac, Mimmi, Sirena, and Ondina swam to Rita"s, but swam above-water instead, doing doggy-paddles so they could all converse. "I wonder where they took him," said Mimmi. "I"m more surprised that Neppy could cast a spell on him like that! She"s learned a lot," Ondina chuckled. "Guess she took your advice to take mermaid school seriously," Sirena shrugged. "Well, wherever he is now, I"m sure they"re making sure he"s never going to harm another person again," Zac said, smiling. "I"m ready to go back to the grotto," said Mimmi. "Can we race?" "Sure!" Zac said, smiling. Ondina and Sirena exchanged a look, remembering Zac"s trap and realizing he must have forgotten about it. "Actually," interjected Ondina. "I wanted to show Sirena and Mimmi something at the café. We"ll meet you back there really soon, though!" Sirena had a wide smile, and Mimmi just looked confused, but Ondina gestured for the girls to follow her. Zac shrugged and began to swim to Rita"s. "What do you have to show us?" asked Mimmi when Zac left. "Nothing," Ondina said. "But we"re going to want to be inside the grotto before Zac gets there, but we have to use the land entrance. Come on." ~.x.x.x.~ As Zac entered the grotto, he was suddenly trapped underneath a net. Blue dye made its way around the pool. Zac groaned, only just remembering he was the one who set this up. Looking down at him were the three girls, all giggling, and Cam, smirking. "Zac"d intended for that to be for you," Cam said to Mimmi. Mimmi began to laugh even harder. "I guess this is why we need to stop fighting as much. Right, Zac?" Mimmi said, giggling again at her brother. "Right," Zac groaned, helplessly looking up at his friends. Please leave your thoughts on this one, and, as always, don"t forget to keep requesting!

This time I punched him. He stood up, and dug through his wallet. He pulled out 498 dollars, a pass to the girl"s bathroom, answers to every upcoming Social Studies test, and a keychain of a stuffed bear. "All this... for a video of her beautiful naked body. Deal?" I thought for a moment. It would be unfair to Kim... then again, I"ve always wanted to see a girl"s bathroom, and the money could help pay for the house. "Deal," I said. We shook hands and he gave me the stuff. I left the room. "What"s that?" Kim asked, motioning towards the stuff. "Jerry gave it to me for something in return." "Oh..." Kim said. We headed back to our place. Eventually, I had the perfect plan to get the video for Jerry. I honestly didn"t feel comfortable about this, but Kim wouldn"t know. It was about 9:00 at night. "Wanna drink?" I said, offering her a small, plastic cup. "I can"t drink "till I"m 21, you know that." "Come on, if you do, I will too." "You promise?" I nodded. I grabbed her hand. "Ready... 1... 2... 3!" We both tilted our heads back. I made sure that none of the liquid got into my throat, whereas I could tell that Kim had swallowed her entire cup. She quickly fainted onto the couch. I shook her awake, and murmured her name multiple times. She wrapped her arms around my neck to contain herself. "Kiss meeeee..." she mumbled. I pecked her lips and she smiled at me. She took off her skirt and shirt, and then rubbed herself against me. She got off and grabbed a blanket. This was when I got my phone out, and began recording. She tied the blanket around her neck and ran around the room. It was hilarious seeing Kim drunk. She then twirled five times, and leaned against the wall. "Yack... Mack..." "JACK!" she screamed. "COME OVA HERE." I grabbed my phone and walked over to her. She removed her bra and poked one of her breasts. I zoomed in. "What"s this, Jack?" I smiled down at her, then her body. "You don"t know Kimmy?" "Mm-nnn." She said. She tore off her underwear and examined it. I zoomed out to see her body in full. "Blehblkmiaomm..." she mumbled. She put the underwear on her head, and I laughed. "DAAAANCE PAAAARRTY!" she announced. She bounced up and down, did a terrible cartwheel, and a sideways summersault. "Yay!" She approached me. "Jack! Truth or dare?" I thought for a minute. "Uh... truth." "Pick dare! PIIICK DARE!" "Okay, dare." "Kiss meeee for ten seconds!" I had no excuse to not do what she asked. I toppled on top of her, and kissed her for ten seconds. "Hooooray! My turn!" "Okay, truth or dare?" "DARE! DARE!" "We got a little daredevil tonight!" I announced. She giggled. "I dare you to..." I ran into our room and grabbed a giant teddy bear. "Have sex with this ol" guy." "YAAAY!" she screamed. She grabbed the bear and thrust it on her opening. Then, she kissed it, more and more. "SEEEEXY BEARRR!" "Oh no!" I exclaimed. "Kim, it"s past your bedtime!" She curled up in a ball and rubbed her eyes. She outstretched her arms. "Carry me!" I grabbed her, and she wrapped her legs around my back and leant her head on my shoulder. I put her into her side of the head, and she completely blacked out. "Goodnight, Kimmy," I said, and I kissed her head before I stopped recording and left the room. I reviewed the video, which made me blush. I immediately sent it to Jerry, saying, "When Kim"s drunk..." I turned my phone off and went into my room. Kim was sucking on her thumb. I climbed onto my side of the bed, and held Kim close to me. She turned to face me and cowered under my weight. I held her back and placed my head on hers. Soon, I fell into a deep sleep... Hey guys! In this chapter, we will realize the truth about Jerry... Thanks BOTH reviews! Two, I know, but I HOPE that there are more people reading! Again, thank you SO much reviewers! And favoriters and followers! :D I"ll try and update every day! If I don"t, I"ll post a reasonable explanation of why I didn"t. ENJOY! Jerry"s POV Today was Saturday. Everyone at the dojo practiced for three hours, and then we played truth or dare. "Okay, Jerry, truth or dare?" Rudy asked. "Dare." "I dare you to take off your clothes except for your boxers, run outside, and scream "I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD!'" "I chicken out." "There goes your last chicken out, Jer," Jack said. We each had three chicken outs; Milton had none left, Rudy had two left, Kim had one left, and Jack had all three, because he never chose dare. "Okay, my turn, who"s the lucky person..." I looked in my pocket to see my phone. Blackmail time! Kim always chose dare. "Kimmy! Truth or dare." She frowned. "Don"t call me Kimmy... and dare." She said, biting her lip. Jack started to look guilty. I got up and brought over a mannequin. "Get completely naked, jump onto the mannequin, and make out with it." All of the guys smiled. "No way!" Kim screamed. Their smiled faded. "Kim, a word?" I said smirking. I brought her into Rudy"s office. "Do the dare." "No!" "Do it... or this gets sent to everyone at school." I held up my phone and played the part of the video where Kim was humping the bear. She automatically went into panic mode. "I didn"t do that!" "This video says differently. So what do you say, do the dare and have us see you naked, or DON"T do it and have everyone in the school see you naked. Choose, princess." She stuttered a bit, and then frowned. "T-that"s blackmail!" "Remove the gi, sweetheart." "We"re supposed to be friends." "A boy"s hormones get past his feelings." She shook her head and removed her gi. Then, she removed everything underneath and blushed. "Look at you! Better without than with, I guess." "Come out in a second," I said to her. I came back out. "Kim"ll come out in a second, stripped down and everything." Jack stood up. "Jerry, I did you a favor! Don"t torture her because of my mistake!" "Sending me the video wasn"t a mistake, Jack. It was a dream come true," I said. "Rudy," Jack said. "You"re an adult, can"t you do anything to stop this?!" "Sorry, Jack, but I"ve never seen a girl"s body before!" Jack sat back down and stared sadly at the door. "KIIIIIIM!" I yelled. "COMEEE OUTTT!" The door peeked open and Kim, arms around her chest, came out slowly. Jack"s POV I felt terrible for Kim. I felt like this was all my fault and that I should have not done any of this. I don"t even know why I did it in the first place. Jerry pried her hands from her chest and she blushed more, as I shielded my face. "WOW! I"ve never seen the feminine body before!" said Milton. "Come, Kim..." Jerry said, leading her to the mannequin. "WAIT!" I said. I stood up and got a blanket for Kim, and wrapped it around her. "I wanna go home..." Kim said, sniffing. "Okay, we can go." I said. She jumped into my arms and wrapped her arms and legs around my back, pressing everything else to my chest. I made sure the blanket covered any exposing parts of her. I carried her out of the mall area and to the sidewalk leading to our house. Once we got in, she ran into our room and plopped herself onto the bed. "Kim, where are yo-" She was sobbing on our bed, hiding her face. I took the blanket I found for her and put it into the washer. Once I got back, I took off my shoes and crawled next to her. She cried even harder and I scooted her closer to me, stroking her hair. "My body isn"t something I should just show off... right?" she asked me. I was unsure how to respond. "No, Kimmy..." I say. "So I shouldn"t show my naked body to anyone?" I pulled her closer and made our faces level. "Anyone other than me, no." "Cause I can trust you..." she says, with a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Kimmy, just tell me if anything happens. If anyone tells you to strip, touches you somewhere or does anything unthinkable, tell me as soon as you can. I"m the only one who"s allowed to do that." "Yes you are, you"re my hero." I planted a small kiss on her lips. "We"ll hang out here until Monday, okay?" She bit her lip. "Okay." I massaged up and down her back and she cuddled against my shirt. Living with Kim has sure been crazy so far, and it"s only been a day. Hi guys! I am freaking obsessed with writing this story. I know, I may not be getting many reviews, but I look at what every one of you says, and I appreciate it! It"s about 3 in the morning, and I just HAVE to finish this chapter before bed. Kim"s POV I woke up, and Jack was already up. I peeked into the bathroom to see him singing in the shower. He caught my eye and smiled. I couldn"t help but feel a blush creep up my cheeks. I went through my drawers, coming to find out that I still had to do laundry. So, I put on a simple white bra, and found one of Jack"s hoodies. I put on some really short shorts (again, all I have at the moment) that was barely able to be seen because of how long the hoodie was. Jack came out of the bathroom and greeted me. "Gotten attached to my clothes now?" Jack said, wrapping the towel around his waist. I chuckled. "Laundry day!" I spat. He scooted past me and dropped the towel, and I stared a little. Then he put boxers on and a grey T-shirt. Then, he snuck up behind me and linked arms with me. "So, somewhat sexy companion, what is our mission for today?" "Sit around, laundry, multi-purpose room and maybe some video games?" He smiled down at me. "You forgot one thing: I need to make sure you stay away from Jerry so he doesn"t post that video." "Thanks Jack, you truly are my he..." I paused. "Wait a sec, how do you know about the blackmailing video? HE DIDN"T SHOW YOU, DID HE?!" "Calm down! You mumbled something about a video last night in your sleep." "Oh..." I sighed of relief. "Good to know, I would DIE if you saw that video." Jack chuckled. "Hey, I"m gonna try to make breakfast," he said. I pictured Jack making breakfast, and figured he might as well try. "Okay," I said softly. I went into the multi-purpose room and found a piano. I hooked up a microphone to it and played a fast song, slowing it down a bit. I random words just flew into my mind, and I wrote them down. Then, played it in the key of A, and sang along to it. I can feel you comin" from a mile away My pulse starts racing from the words that you say And you say so many of them like you don"t have a clue That I"m signed, sealed, delivered with a stamp on You don"t have to try too hard You already have my heart You don"t got a thing to prove I"m already into you Soo... Hold hold, hold hold me tight now "Cause I"m so, so good to go Don"t say, don"t say goodnight You know... You had me at hello I finished with an A. I wondered how good of a song it could turn out to be with just a few variations. "Kimmy!" Jack called. We agreed (In my head) that he was the only one who could call me Kimmy. "Breakfast!" I stood from the piano bench, but on my way out, I tripped over a jump rope. "JAAAACK!" I called. He poked his head through the door. "Yes, princess?" "Carrryyy meeee," I said, outstretching my arms. He laughed a little and picked me up. "C"mon, we"re gonna do a piggy-back." He transferred me from his front to his back and I played with his hair. We walked over to the table, and I saw the food. Honestly, I wasn"t sure what exactly it was. All I knew is that it looked and smelled terrible. "Hey, Jack?" "Ya?" "W-what is it?" He turned his head a little and shifted his eyes towards me. "Breakfast." I looked at it again. It looked like the food it served at school. Gross and uneatable. "Jacky?" "Yus?" he said. "I"m not hungry," I said. And it wasn"t exactly a lie. I kinda lost my appetite from just looking at Jack"s... creation. "Okay," he said. He looked up at me and raised his eyebrows. Then, he trotted for the door. "Jack! What are you doing?!" He ignored me and continued running. It took about half an hour for him to finally drop me. Into the sand. We were at a beach. I didn"t quite recognize it because our family really never went anywhere, and I normally didn"t explore more than fifteen minutes away from our home. Well, our old home. Jack grabbed both of my hands. "Where are we, Jack?" He just closed his eyes and chuckled under his breath. "Jack?" This time, he grabbed me by the waist and put his hand over my mouth. Then, he came closer to me. Knowing him and his crazy plans, he was trying to get me to do something. What if he had glue on his hand? Glue on his lips?! What if he planned to keep me here all night? Bury me into the sand? Whatever he was planning, I knew it wasn"t good. So I did what any normal person would do; backed away. Wrong move, Kim. He pushed me into the water, and held me under there for a few seconds. He wasn"t letting up, and karate fails underwater. So... YANK Jack"s POV I was holding Kim underwater, testing her breath. Then, she goes and pulls my boxers down! I take my hand off of her head and let her surface for air. I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks, even though the beach isn"t that crowded today. Kim smirked and held the boxers in front of my face, waving them around. "If you want them back, you have to grab them!" she chanted. She held them up high, and then swirled them and threw them on shore. I frowned. "You gonna get those?" I asked. She shook her head. "You want them back? Go get them." "Bad little Kimmy. I think you need a spanking." She blushed a little and I yanked her own shorts down, and threw them on shore, right next to my boxers. Then I lightly smacked her bare bottom, and she turned as red as ketchup. Boy, how she loves ketchup. "So, who"s gonna get them now?" she asked. "We just stay in here until everyone leaves, I guess," I said. I looked up at shore to see her sneakers buried in the sand, and the same with my flip-flops. "Wonder what happened to them," I said, noticing that she had seen them there too. "Mmmph," She muttered. I laughed at her cuteness, then planted a kiss right on her lips. I wrapped my legs around hers, kissing her even more. "MMMAAKKKKK" she muffled into the kiss. I broke from her. "What?" "Not here! In public!" I shook my head. "Oh, look at the time." I said, looking at my digital watch. 5:30. "Time flies when you"re having fun, I guess," I said, staring directly into her eyes. I pulled her underwater and kissed her more. Soon, she ran out of air and brought herself to the surface. "It"s starting to wrinkle..." she said, pointing downwards. "You need your shorts, then?" She squinted her eyes and nodded. "Okay," I said. "Then we"ll go together to get our pants." She laughed a little at the sentence, then looked me in the eye again. "But wait... there are still people here..." "No one we know," I reassured her. "But still. I don"t want them to see... It"s a total invasion of our privacy..." "Kimmy, do we really have privacy anymore?" She nodded. "Yeah, uh-huh, because I don"t want any strangers looking where they shouldn"t!" "Oh look," I said, motioning towards two people leaving. "The last pair left. Now we can go." I dragged her out and she quickly pulled on her shorts, not wasting any time exposing herself. I grabbed my boxers, and wiggled the sand out of them, then slowly put them on. Of course, Kim and her weird girly mind were staring. A lot. So I put them on very slowly to make sure she got a good glimpse. Her smile faded as I snapped them on. "Don"t worry," I say. "I"m not sleeping in this. Not after the sand and the chafing..." I uncomfortably tried to position my boxers. "...So you can stare all you want tonight." She stuck her tongue out and put on her sneakers. Sunset was just arriving and it reflected over the water. "Hey, Kimmy," I said. "Do you remember when I said that we weren"t anything, not yet anyway?" Kim nodded. "Well, I was waiting for the right time, and I think this is it." I got on one knee, and reached into my T-shirt pocket. OOOOH! A cliffy! You excited? For the next chapter? If you beg me enough, I"ll post it today :D Thanks for reviews, guys! I normally didn"t get this much in just a few days on my previous account. Keep reviewing, I love hearing everything you have to say! Hey guys! I bet I got your hopes up until you saw "Not a chapter", sorry :P 15 reviews! Thanks so much to: -lolstar99 -autumn1999 -jesshasswaggerlove -Phoenix2014 -fiftyshadesofkay -KarateGirl77 For inspiring me to continue the series! Weell, anyways, I was gonna wait until 25 reviews to update, cuz it"s such a huge cliffy. Yeeks. But I reeeallly want your feedback on what I should write about in my spare time. I was gonna do a Kickin" It crossover, and I was gonna lay out some choices and hope that you guys"ll tell me which I should write about. So here are a few ideas: 1) Kickin" It and Harry Potter - Basically, the KI gang goes to Hogwarts. (If you choose this option, PLEASE tell me if you want them to meet the HP cast. If you don"t say so, I"ll choose for myself!) 2) Kickin" It and Big Time Rush - BTR goes on tour to Seaford. Kendall has an accidental moment with Kim, and Jack and Jo are jealous. As Jack and Jo figure out a plan to split K and K apart, they just get closer together. 3) Kickin" It and Girl vs Monster - Kim moves to a new place to start over because of her huge fight with the warriors. But, the town ends up not allowing newcomers, so she temporarily changes her name to Skylar. Learning that the town is corrupted with ghosts, she tries to escape but cannot. Also, she starts a budding romance with Ryan, but Jack eventually gets the memo and figures out what is going on. 4) Kickin" It and Zoey101 - The KI gang goes to PCA and meets the Z101 gang also. But, in their "Future101" class, when they are assigned to be married, Chase is put with Quinn, Jack is put with Zoey, and Kim is put with Logan. Will their original relationships be put to the test, or even changed? 5) Kickin" It and H2O - The Wasabi Warriors have a big tournament in Australia. Kim"s luggage is missing and she discovers that it was stolen. She looks around for it, gets a ride from Zane to Mako Island, and finds the moon pool, where she soon becomes a mermaid. She finds her luggage at the bottom of the ocean the next day. But, what powers did she receive, and how will the whole mermaid situation affect her life? Those five! Vote as many times as you want, but not on the same account. If you use the same account as you did last, you may not vote for the same story again. The first story to 10 votes wins! If there"s a tie, I"ll either write both in two separate stories OR combine them! As for "I"m So Sorry", I will continue to update daily, but I won"t update until I get 10 votes on whatever story you choose! VOTTTE! Oh fine, I won"t be pushy. VOTTTE!..please? I felt terrible on keeping you guys waiting! I mean, it was only a few hours... but I still felt bad. I know you"re eager on what Jack has to say. Keep voting! Please! I"ll post the results in the next chapter! Jack"s POV I got on one knee, and reached into me T-shirt pocket. "First off Kimmy," I said, taking my hand out, wanting to tell her this before I showed her the thing inside the pocket. I looked up at her face, and she looked excited, smiling and biting her lip. "...Your shoe is untied," I said, reaching out and tying it for her. Her face fell suddenly. (OMGOMGOMG I"M CRACKING UP! At my own writing! I"m just trying to picture your faces as you just read that! AHHHHH! Okay, sorry for my immaturity, back to the story.) I realized what she thought I was about to do. "Don"t worry!" I said, smiling. "There"s still more I need to tell you." She raised her eyebrows. I frowned as I began to tell her how I really felt. "I know I"m confusing you a lot, with my kisses and "oh, can"t wait to see you naked" vibe, and it"s just because I want you so badly. I really have wanted to have sex with you since the locker incident where I was out of control. But other than that, my feelings for you have grown since I first saw you. You"ve been my best friend and I didn"t know if you liked me too. And there I was, forcing this all on you. "I"ve been trying to do things to ya, Kim, and it"s always interrupted. It"s not just my hormones, it"s because I really really like you, and I ignored your feelings this entire time. Look at us; we live together, getting naked every night! "I understand if you don"t like me either. But I can"t stop wanting you. And I won"t stop, even after I get you. I"ll keep wanting you until I can"t anymore. This has been all my fault, and I never took your feelings into consideration, and... I"m sorry," I finished. I pulled the gift out of my pocket. I shoved it to her, turned around, and headed home. Not to our home. My home. Kim"s POV I looked at the gift. It was a heart shaped locket, with the word, "KIM" etched onto it. Inside were pictures of me and Jack. On the left was our arms around each other and us holding hands, and on the right was us kissing. When I looked back up, he was gone. "Jack?" It took me a while to process what had just happened. And I just stand here, thinking: Jack feels like he"s forcing this onto me, and he"s leaving. He"s leaving?! "JACK!" I call out. I run down the street and turn left and right. He"s gone. And I don"t know where he went. "Jack..." I sniffed. "Jerk, JACK!" I screamed. "JAAACK!" I fell down, crying. "Jack... Jack..." I murmured. And then, I must have cried myself to sleep, because everything blacked out. Short chapter sorry, guys. But I"ll surely write more tonight or tomorrow. Review please, and keep voting!

The front door slammed shut. The impact echoed all throughout the house. Sirena groaned. Ondina continued to paint her nails, unaffected by the commotion. However, when she heard angry footsteps above her, she looked up in alarm. "Are they at it again?" Ondina asked Sirena. "Probably," Sirena sighed, grabbing a bubblegum pink polish. As suspected, the passageway to the grotto opened soon enough, and in came a fuming Mimmi. "Weird. Before Zac came along, she"d never really get angry about anything," Ondina murmured to Sirena, just quietly enough so Mimmi couldn"t hear. Mimmi stomped down the stairs and plopped herself onto a nearby ledge, folding her arms tightly against her chest. "Oh, what happened, Mimmi?" asked Sirena sincerely, putting down her nail polish to turn and talk to Mimmi. "He just always has to be right, it drives me mad!" "What did he do?" Sirena asked. "We were at the café, and David needed help totaling something. I got the answer first but he interrupted me! Obviously, I told him his answer was wrong and that David was asking me. He told me to stop being a brat and that the world didn"t revolve around me... so I left. David wound up having to total it himself." "Oh, Mimmi, I"m sor-" "What did the total end up being?" Ondina asked, interrupting Sirena. Both Mimmi and Sirena turned towards Ondina and glared daggers at her, in which she innocently replied, "Sorry, just wondering..." to. "I just... I thought finally having family would be fun! But he treats me like dirt..." "He doesn"t mean what he says, Mimmi, he doesn"t," said Sirena. "Then why does he say it?" Mimmi asked, though it came out more like a statement. "Well, Aquata and I used to fight. She"d always steal my comb and I"d get really mad. I"d say things I didn"t mean. Maybe it"s because I knew that no matter what, she wouldn"t be able to ditch me like friends could. Overall, though, we"re still family. We still love each other a lot," Sirena said. "Yeah. I guess," Mimmi said. "I"m going to try to clear my mind for a bit." "Ooh, wanna go to the café with Ondina and I?" "Sure, that sounds nice," said Mimmi, offering a small smile. "...Actually... I don"t think I"ll be going. Not for a while," Ondina said, not looking up from her nails. "Nobody who works there knows what I like anymore." Sirena and Mimmi exchanged a look, but shrugged it off, linking arms and leaving. ~.x.x.x.~ Mimmi and Sirena sat at a table outside, looking out at the sea. Mimmi"s happy mood began to fade as soon as her thoughts landed on Zac. She knew he didn"t mean what he said to hurt her, but nobody from the pod had ever called her names or treated her badly at all. "Oh, hey Sirena, Mimmi!" Carly called, bouncing from table to table. "I"ll be with you guys in a second." "That"s alright, take your time," Sirena said kindly, waving her hand dismissively. Mimmi sat upright, still staring out at the sea. Her eyes moved to the dock and she saw a group of children running around, and a teenage boy who was very tan and built standing on a corner, probably looking after the kids. Suddenly, she heard a voice in her ear. "Hey, Mimms," said her brother with a wide smile. He sat in the open seat of the girls" table. Mimmi continued looking out at the sea as if he wasn"t even there. "Oh, so you"re giving me the silent treatment, huh?" Zac said, face cringing up. "How mature." "You"re trying to talk to me about maturity?" Mimmi snapped, standing up and facing her brother. "You still play with your stupid land toys! You"re the most childish person I know!" Zac also stood up. "At least I have a girlfriend! That makes me much more mature than you, girl who"s never even kissed a guy!" "What I do with boys is none of your business," Mimmi said, disgusted. "And me knowing that my personal affairs are none of your concern is quite mature! You flaunting off the fact that you"re dating someone is extremely immature!" At this point, the sibling"s bickering had cause attention from neighboring customers. "Not here, guys, please," warned Sirena. At this, Mimmi nodded and sat back down. Zac stood his ground. "So now you"re just giving up? I have such a coward for a sister. Stop being such a brat," Zac sneered. Mimmi immediately stood up and marched away from her friends and towards the dock, avoiding any kind of contact with anyone else. Mimmi plunged into the water and sped away towards Mako. Little did she know that there were a pair of eyes who watched her dive into the water, and watched her grow a tail. ~.x.x.x.~ Zac lay on his bed, hands on his forehead. Mimmi was posing a real problem for him. Of course, he was excited to finally not be an only child, but now he knew having a sibling wasn"t all it seemed. Zac and Mimmi argued more than they talked. What was her problem? He"d tried to talk to her earlier and all she did was ignore him. Zac"s mouth scrunched up at the thought of her. He"d never understand girls and their screwed up logic. He heard his open door creak and he sat up. There stood his best friend, Cam. He sighed and lay back down. "What"s up with you?" Cam asked. Zac gave another long sigh and sat up. He looked at Cam with a smile. "Nothing. Hey, wanna do something?" ~.x.x.x.~ Mimmi floated atop the mysteriously blue waters of the moon pool, looking up at the day-lit sky. She sung quietly to herself a song that Sirena taught her. After a while, she swam over to an edge of the pool and lay against it. She stared at the water as if it was endless, like her thoughts. Sometimes, when she was alone, she"d wonder about her mother. Sometimes all she could ever think about was how badly she wished she could meet her. She had so many questions. Suddenly, she heard a rumble behind her. Quickly, she turned to the source of the sound. On the land part of the cave stood the teenage boy she had seen at the dock earlier. He was staring right at her. She was now exposed to him as a mermaid, and her face was tied to the tail. She contemplated leaving, swimming out of the cave and back to Rita"s. But what would that do? What if this boy grew curious and searched for more mermaids? There were plenty all around Mako since the pod had returned, Mimmi knew. Plus, now that he had a face, he could easily expose her for what she was. Everyone could know her greatest secret. So she stood her ground and stared up at the boy, thinking of what to say. "Please don"t leave," the boy said quietly. As she"d noticed earlier, he was very tan and muscular, but along with that came a pair of amber eyes and golden-red hair. "Who are you?" Mimmi asked. "Hayden. Might I ask you the same question?" the boy said, squatting down to Mimmi"s level. "I"m Mimmi..." Mimmi said. "It"s a pleasure," Hayden said. Mimmi stared up at him, and he stared down at her. "I"m sorry, this is probably weird for you..." she said. "No need for an apology. Believe it or not, I"ve come across quite a lot of weird things in my time," he said. She gave a small nod. "How did you get in here? I thought the only entrance was through the underwater tunnel," Mimmi asked. "Well, I-I found another one," said Hayden hesitantly. "Had to clear some rocks to get in..." Mimmi, not having explored the island too thoroughly, believed this. "So you also have legs? Can you turn into a mermaid at will?" Hayden asked, desperate for a change of subject. Mimmi shook her head. "I WISH it was at will! No, it"s once you hit water, then you"re bound to transform," she said. She looked down, and then back up at the boy, concern in her eyes. "Please," she said. "You can"t tell anyone else about this, about me. Believe it or not, you"re the first that"s caught me like this..." "I won"t tell..." he said, scooting closer to her. "If you answer a few things. Are there more of you?" "Mermaids..?" she said. "Yes." "Are there mermen too?" "Yes." "Locally?" "...Yes." "How many?" "A lot all around here, but their power relies on this island. I have a few friends who are like me, though, who live on land too." "...Who are they?" "Their names are Sirena, Ondina, Evie, Zac, and Rita..." Mimmi said quietly. She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Please don"t tell. About me, about any of us." Hayden smiled. "I wouldn"t dream of it." ~.x.x.x.~ Sirena and Ondina stood on Rita"s porch, admiring the scenery from the tall view. Sirena turned to Ondina. "What are you thinking about?" she asked. Ondina looked down, then back up at the world in front of them. "I don"t know." Sirena leaned over to Ondina and put her arm around her back, side-hugging her. Behind them, there was the sound of a door opening, and Sirena and Ondina broke apart and span around. There stood Zac and Cam, a fishnet and a jug of temporary blue dye in their hands. "We want to prank Mimmi," the two said with big smiles. Ondina and Sirena looked at one another, then back at the boys, eyebrows raised higher than anyone could have ever remembered them to be. ~.x.x.x.~ "So how did you become a mermaid?" Hayden asked, standing across the room from Mimmi. Mimmi, now in her land form, leaned up against the moon pool cave"s walls. "I was always a mermaid," she responded, looking up at Hayden. "I used a ring to grow legs, though. It"s kind of confusing, but I already told you about my ring. I mainly live on land now." He nodded. The pair had been talking for hours about Mimmi, her powers, her friends, and mer-people in general. Hayden walked over to Mimmi. "Mimmi?" he started. "Yes?" she responded. Hayden smiled and grabbed her hands. "Do you trust me?" he asked. She nodded. "Yes, of course. Especially since I told you all of this." "Good, that"s good," he said, nodding. He moved her hands behind her back and pressed her closer to the wall. "W-what are you doing?" Mimmi said, voice quivering as he got closer. "I really like you, Mimmi," Hayden said, still smiling, as he leaned down and touched his lips to hers. He pulled away around five seconds after leaning in. He could feel Mimmi become less tense. "...Wow..." she said slowly, smiling. "Yeah," he said. "Mimmi... if you trust me, don"t move a muscle. I want you to close your eyes." "...Okay..." she said, closing her eyes, remembering briefly when she asked another guy to do the same for her. Hayden removed his hands from hers, backing away slowly. He reached into his right pants pocket and pulled out a lighter. Careful not to let the flame go out as he lit it, he set his finger on fire. For a second, his entire body glowed a mix of red, orange, and yellow, but then his body returned to its original hue. He slipped the lighter back into his pocket. He braced his legs and held his hands up. Slowly, he began pulling the oxygen from the room. He wasn"t going to kill the girl, but merely knock her out for a while. He noticed her breathing becoming quicker and more unsteady as he sucked away more oxygen. "Everything alright?" he asked, taking a moment to look in her direction. Her eyes were still closed. "Yeah, I"m just a little... lightheaded..." And just as she spoke, Mimmi fell to the ground. Hayden stopped removing the air and grinned. He slowly approached her limp body, retrieving sections of long rope from the loops of his shorts. ~.x.x.x.~ "Okay, aaaaaaaand... there," Zac said, successfully tying a bucket of temporary blue dye to the net. "So, how"s it work?" asked Cam, admiring the finished product. The fishnet was draped all across the top of Rita"s pool so it covered any way of entrance; tied to it was the bucket. "So, when she comes in later, she"ll get caught in the net, and pulling on it will tip over the bucket so the whole pool will fill with blue dye! She"ll turn blue!" "You do realize that, if this stupid plan works, she"ll only be blue in her mermaid form, right?" Ondina snapped. "Ah. Didn"t think about that. Oh well. A blue mermaid"s better than a regular one!" Zac said, laughing. "But what will happen when the water gets filled with dye? How long will it be like that?" Sirena asked. "Not long," Cam responded. "After a bit, it"ll just dissolve, fade. Probably overnight." "I really don"t think this is a good idea..." Sirena said quietly. "Think? It"s a horrible idea!" Ondina said, walking over to the two laughing boys. "Oh, shut up. Call me when it backfires on you like it"s bound to." She walked up the stairs and out of the room. ~.x.x.x.~ "Hello, Mimmi," Hayden said when Mimmi opened her eyes. She was laying on the ground, hands and feet bound so that they were unmovable. It took her a minute to remember what had happened. She shifted herself to lean against the wall. "Why am I tied up?" Mimmi asked innocently. "Don"t you get it, Mimmi?" Hayden said. "I did this. So glad you decided to trust me, because now, you"re going to help me." "H-help you do what...?" asked Mimmi, now tensing up in fear. "Eliminate all of the mer-people around Mako. If you play your cards right, you"ll be the last to go." Mimmi"s scared eyes moved into a frown. "Why are you doing this?" Hayden chuckled. He put his hands behind his back, and suddenly, a ball of fire rested in his right palm. He threw the ball over his shoulder to his left hand, and from there, tossed the ball into the moon pool. "Woah..." Mimmi said quietly, scooting further away from the boy. "You see, Mimmi, all I want is to rule the world. For a teenage boy, there aren"t many options right now, but what I can do... is rule Mako. It"s an island with all sorts of powers that I will use to rule everyone locally, and then I"ll move up to becoming the leader of the world! "See, the problem, though," Hayden said, stepping closer to Mimmi. "Is that mer-people like you are all over, living at this island. The only way for me to claim the island as my own is for all of you to either leave... or die. And since they"re obviously not going anywhere..." "No," Mimmi said. "I"m not going to help you. Please, if you could just let me go and I"ll tell the pod to leave-" "Oh, Mimmi," Hayden said, laughing once more. "I believe that"s not possible. Your friends will want to fight for their island. Normally, I"d be able to take on quite a few mermaids, but with all of them attacking me, I"ll lose. That"s why I"m going to kill them, one by one. It"ll take a while, but with your help, I"ll have the island in no time." "I"m not going to help you," Mimmi repeated more sharply than before. "Hmm hmm hmm, now that won"t do..." said Hayden, kneeling down to face Mimmi. "If you don"t help me, I"ll target your closer friends first. Maybe Evie... or Rita... Sirena... Ondina, didn"t you say she was your best friend? Or Zac... your brother." "NO! NO! DON"T YOU LAY A HAND ON THEM! LET ME GO!" Mimmi shouted, squirming around in her binds. Hayden laughed devilishly. "So here"s what"s going to happen," he said. More fire appeared on his hand, and he held it like it was an object. He began to move it close to Mimmi"s face. Right before it touched her, he pulled back. "I"ll give you ten minutes to make up your mind. Either you help me... or this," he said, holding up his fiery hand. "Is your other option." ~.x.x.x.~ As Zac sat on Rita"s porch with Cam, Sirena, and Ondina, he couldn"t help but wonder where Mimmi was. He hadn"t checked the trap in ten minutes, but he had a feeling she still hadn"t shown up yet. He looked over the scenery from Rita"s porch. Suddenly, he saw something that didn"t belong. He jolted back. He was in the cave inside of Mako. He saw a boy who seemed to be around his age kneeling down in front of him. The boy was holding fire as if it was an object. He neared it closer and closer to Zac"s face, and all Zac could feel was fear... He blinked and saw the familiar view of Rita"s home. He immediately stood up, realizing that this vision had to be his sister"s if it wasn"t his. "Zac? What"s wrong?" Sirena asked, standing up as well. Their other two friends followed suit. "Mimmi"s in trouble. I"m going out to save her. Nobody come along," Zac said, heading back inside the house and down the stairs to the front door. "Wait! What if something happens to you?" asked Sirena. "Sirena, Ondina, if I"m not back in around half an hour, come to Mako," Zac said hurriedly. He looked out at the water, then back to his friends. "Hopefully it doesn"t come to that." Zac began running, plunging into the sea of water nearby. "I"m always so important in situations like these," murmured Cam. Ondina smacked him on the back of his head, and he whispered a sharp, "Ow." ~.x.x.x.~ "Time"s up," Hayden said, moving to the bound Mimmi. She sat, defiantly staring up at him. Mimmi kept her glossy blue-gray eyes set on Hayden. She let out a long sigh. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. "What"s your decision?" asked Hayden, re-spawning a fireball in his hand. "My friends... my brother..." she said quietly. "I"ll will not let you hurt them! They... they"re my family. I love them so much. So... if that means you kill me right here and now, that"s okay. But you"re not going to kill them." "What makes you so sure?" Hayden laughed, tossing a fireball at Mimmi"s head. It hit the area right above her head, causing a small part of her hair to singe. Her eyes were closed tightly as she embraced what was going to happen to her. Suddenly, Hayden was lifted high into the air. He moved up to the top of the dormant volcano where it opened, and then he dropped hundreds of feet into the pool below. Mimmi, wide-eyed, rolled herself over to the pool to see where Hayden wound up. He floated gently on the water. She was unsure if he was still alive, especially since he was kind of made up of fire. Zac twisted his hand, causing him to be visible again. He grinned up at his sister from the water. "Zac," Mimmi said, smiling. "You"re here." "I heard what you said, about me and our friends. It"s amazing that you"d do something like that for us. Thank you, Mimmi." "No, thank you. I wouldn"t be alive if you hadn"t shown up," Mimmi said, eyes becoming slightly watery. Zac stretched up and hugged his sister, who couldn"t return the hug due to her hands being bound. The hug had gotten Mimmi slightly wet, so quickly, Zac untied her feet and helped her slide into the water. Once she was in the water and in her mermaid form, Zac undid her hands. Mimmi noticed a lighter lingering halfway out of Hayden"s pocket. She grabbed it and banged it against the wall several times, breaking it. "What do we do now?" Mimmi asked, looking over at Hayden. "He might still be alive, so I"ll keep him here for a while. I want you to go back to Rita"s and find Sirena or Ondina-they"re at her place. Then, I need you to go warn the pod, talk to the mermaid council about the situation. I"m sure they"ll sort everything out. For now, someone has to stay here and make sure he doesn"t get away, but I don"t want to leave you alone with that guy again." Mimmi nodded, giving Zac a smile. "Thank you. I couldn"t ask for a better brother." The pair exchanged another hug, and once they broke apart, Mimmi gave Zac another smile and exited the pool. As Mimmi swam back to Rita"s, she almost reached Rita"s grotto entrance, but she ran into Ondina and Sirena before she could get there, who were heading to Mako on Zac"s request. She signaled for the girls to surface. "What happened?!" Ondina said immediately when they were exposed to air. "There"s a guy... he can control fire. He"s out to destroy all mermaids so he can rule Mako, and one day, I guess, the world. Zac"s holding him down at Mako right now-don"t worry, Zac"s fine-but we should go to Veridia and tell her about him. Maybe she"ll be able to take care of it so nothing like this happens again." Mimmi"s two friends nodded in unison. The trio swam out to where the pod usually floated around this time of day. The three girls spotted the mermaid council and made their way over. "Hi, Veridia, we have a situation," said Mimmi. "What is it?" asked Veridia sternly. Mimmi opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted when a smaller mermaid pounced on Ondina. "Hi, big sister!" Neppy squealed, clinging on to the girl she grew closet to in her land stay. Ondina couldn"t help but smile, wrapping her arms around the young girl. "Hey, Neppy, it"s great to see you," she said. Neppy released her and looked over at the three girls. "What brings you here again? I know you guys sometimes pop in and out but I thought you said you"d be gone for the week!" the younger mermaid exclaimed. "Yes, we were planning on staying on land this week, but something bad happened that we need taken care of," Ondina said. "Ooh! Can I help?!" asked Neppy. "Well," said Ondina, turning from Neppy to Veridia. "If it"s okay with Veridia, I think we could really use the help of a brave, strong girl like you." ~.x.x.x.~ Zac, Mimmi, Sirena, and Ondina swam to Rita"s, but swam above-water instead, doing doggy-paddles so they could all converse. "I wonder where they took him," said Mimmi. "I"m more surprised that Neppy could cast a spell on him like that! She"s learned a lot," Ondina chuckled. "Guess she took your advice to take mermaid school seriously," Sirena shrugged. "Well, wherever he is now, I"m sure they"re making sure he"s never going to harm another person again," Zac said, smiling. "I"m ready to go back to the grotto," said Mimmi. "Can we race?"

Hercules headed off out of the square. He simply assumed Iolaus followed along right behind him. He was wrong. Iolaus paused to study the coin in his hand. He clutched the coin tightly in his hand and looked to the sky before pitching it into the well. Hercules picked that moment to look back. "Are you coming or not?" he demanded. "Coming." A gong sounded loudly. "We"re coming. We"re coming!" Cupid huffed as he came into the room. "All right, Mother, you can come in now." Aphrodite popped in with a pink shimmer. She carried a small wrapped bundle. "Where"s my favorite grandspud? Where"s the cute little birthday rug rat?" "Good to see you, too, Mother." "Oh, pooh, Cupid. You know it"s a special occasion. Come on. I"m giving it a really good shot here. Can"t you cut me just a little slack? I actually brought the sprat a gift." Cupid softened a little. No one could stay miffed with Aphrodite for long when she was making a sincere effort. Especially when she stood there looking pathetic. "Come on, Mother, Bliss is with Psyche." "Who"s with me?" Psyche asked from the doorway. "Cupid, dear, have you seen the baby? I thought he was playing with you. Where"s your bow? I thought you left it by the door." "Not again." Not again. Iolaus" funk deepened as he followed his boyhood friend. It was his birthday, and no one really seemed to care. No one had even wished him a good day, and he didn"t feel like reminding people. Normally it wouldn"t even matter, except today he was feeling just so stinking old. "What"s the problem, Iolaus?" Hercules finally asked. "You"ve been moping all day." "Nothing," he replied, making a half-hearted attempt to make everything seem fine. "You might as well tell me what"s bothering you." "There was this girl in the market today..." he began. "You"re telling me this is all about a girl?" Hercules asked with a snort. "No, it"s not all about a girl. It"s just mostly about a girl. And it"s not what you think." "I stand corrected. What about the girl?" "Anyway, this girl in the market, she was absolutely beautiful, so I went up to her, struck up a conversation. You know, a little talking, a little flirting, maybe a little bit of dinner over candlelight...I was so good. Laid on the charm, and gave her my most devastating smile." "And?" Hercules prompted, trying to get the story over with. "I"m sorry my misery bores you, I won"t tell you any more," Iolaus said, lapsing into a sullen silence. "Come on, Iolaus, what happened then?" He heaved a deep sigh. "She said, "Can I help you, Sir?'" "What"s wrong with that? Sounds very polite." "You don"t see it?" "See what, Iolaus?" "It was the worst insult a person can give, Herc!" "What are you talking about?" "She called me, "Sir!'" Iolaus protested. "Sir! Me!" "What"s wrong with that?" "It means I"ve gotten...that I"m...that I"m...old!" "Iolaus, you are not old. You are the same age I am." "Your point being?" Hercules sighed. "At least we"re almost there." "Where is there, by the way?" "Here." Iolaus eyed the dilapidated old building suspiciously. It was ramshackle and dark. It didn"t seem like anyone had been there in a very long time, and when they"d left, they"d not gone gently. "An old tavern? Why here?" "No way of knowing until we go inside." Iolaus shook his head in resignation and headed for the door. He didn"t hesitate to yank open the sagging door and stepped inside. His eyes didn"t have time to adjust to the darkness before a torch flared off to one side and a hand gripped his shoulder. Instinct took over. He lashed out with one foot at the torch and then flipped the body attached to the hand over his shoulder. His efforts were rewarded with a grunt and a distinctive, "Ow!" Iolaus paused. Silence fell as more light filled the room. "Joxer?" Iolaus gasped as he recognized the man laid out at his feet, wrist bent painfully back. "Is that you?" "Uh, yeah, and ow," Joxer the Mighty yelped from the floor. "You know you can let go any time now." "Oh, sorry." Iolaus release Joxer"s arm and helped him to his feet. "If you"re on the floor, then who did I kick?" "Uh, that would be me." Iolaus turned and suddenly grinned. "Autolycus! Hey, man, sorry about the kick. Why are you guys here? What"s going on?" "SURPRISE!" He finally noticed the rest of the room. It was full of his favorite people and food. He was surrounded by his loved ones shaking off their shock and wishing him a Happy Birthday. He couldn"t believe it. Hercules had managed to plan a surprise party for him and actually pull it off! He wouldn"t have thought it possible. Suddenly everyone was singing. Xena and Gabrielle carried in a large cake with a seemingly improbable number of burning candles on it. Iolaus almost teared up with joy. Unseen by the other party goers, an uninvited guest joined the celebration. Baby Bliss, drawn by the noise and lights of the party, got into the spirit of the occasion. "Make a wish before you blow out the candles, studmuffin," another distinctive voice caroled. "Widow Twanky?" Sure enough, slightly behind him stood Widow Twanky near Salmoneous. Iolaus thought he"d caught a glimpse of the brash trader when the cake had been brought in. How had Hercules gotten all these people here without him getting some kind of hint? Iolaus took a deep breath and blew out the candles. Amid the cheering and laughing Baby Bliss let fly. The arrow flew straight and true. Unfortunately, just before the arrow hit its mark in Salmoneous, Iolaus came up from blowing out the candles. The arrow touched his shoulder in a gentle, glancing blow before thudding home in Salmoneous. Iolaus looked up from his cake into the eyes of his best friend. Hercules was handing him a knife to cut the cake and something in Iolaus snapped. "Happy Birthday, buddy. You didn"t think we"d really forget, did you?" Iolaus found he had to clear his throat before replying, "I wasn"t sure. But how did you...? How did you...? How...did you do this?" It wasn"t easy, but Twanky helped a lot. In fact, she did most of the work," Hercules admitted. "I propose a toast, to the Widow Twanky! A most remarkable woman!" Salmoneous cried out from the crowd. The partiers echoed the toast, punctuated with the widow, herself, twittering like a giddy school girl. Iolaus went through the rest the party being pulled from one conversation group to another, opening gifts and drinking. As much as he enjoyed talking with his friends, he felt his eyes always going back to Hercules. The son of Zeus was having a good time himself. Iolaus briefly wondered what was suddenly different. A tug on his arm broke his thoughts. He turned to see a bright eyed Salmoneous holding the hand of a blushing Twanky. The pairing caught him a bit off guard, but Iolaus hid it well. "Yes?" "Great party, Iolaus, really. Had a great time," Salmoneous said all in a gush. "We should really do it again. Soon." "I have another birthday coming up in a year." "Great. Fine. Wonderful. It"s a date. Well, so long. Come along, my sweet," Salmoneous said in one more long breath. Twanky resisted the pull on her arm just long enough to say, "I just love a man who takes charge, don"t you?" "Uh, yeah, sure," Iolaus said, wondering why his gaze went back to Hercules. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I wonder what they"ve been drinking." Later, on the way to the Little Warriors Room, Iolaus passed a bevy of young girls whispering and giggling in a corner. As much as it shamed him to admit it, he paused to listen. "Well, yeah, Iolaus is cute," one of them was saying. "I would love to run my fingers through some of those curls..." Her sentiment caused a burst of giggles. Iolaus didn"t know whether to be flattered or insulted. "But...Hercules! Now there is a man!" "If only his pants were just a little tighter, we"d know just how much a man," another said, causing whoops and hollers this time, rather than just giggles. Iolaus listened to the girlish gossip a moment longer before heading for his original destination. The last thing he heard was, "And the way his vest shows off his chest..." The rest of the evening went by in a blur. Before anyone knew it, it was very late. Most people either had rooms in the tavern or headed for their homes. Those who remained all pitched in to help clean up the mess the party had made. Iolaus, Joxer, and Gabrielle picked a section to clean. Somehow in the course of things, he found himself asking, "What do you guys think of Hercules...as a...man, not a hero?" "What"ve you been drinking?" Joxer asked, picking up some trash. "And why do some people think a party is a good excuse to act like pigs?" "I don"t know," Iolaus answered both questions with the single response. He turned to the young woman. "Gabrielle?" "Well, it"s awfully hard to separate the man from the hero, Iolaus," Gabrielle answered seriously. "They"re pretty much all part of the whole." "What do you think of him...physically?" "Well, hey, if I were a woman, I think I"d find him one very studly, hot hunk of man," Joxer answered. Then he amended quickly, "Which I"m not, so I don"t." "Joxer!" Gabrielle sighed in exasperation. She turned to Iolaus. "You"re trying to set him up, aren"t you? Iolaus, I didn"t think you guys went in for blind dates! Well, you tell whatever lucky girl you"ve found, that Hercules is one of the most handsome, smart, wise, caring, generous..." "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I...I get the point," Iolaus finally interrupted. "Thanks." The next morning everything went seemingly back to normal. Hercules and Iolaus were once more on the road about to find wrongs to right, injustices to fight, and people to help. Hercules seemed totally unaffected by the party the night before. Iolaus followed a few feet behind, trying to block out his friend"s cheerful whistling. Though Iolaus didn"t think he"d had all that much to drink, but the throbbing in his head begged to differ. Hercules did move like a Greek god, which was convenient since he was half of one. Iolaus wondered where that thought had come from. He shook his head and immediately regret the move. His brain tried to make a mass exodus through his ears with each motion. "How"re you doing back there, buddy?" Hercules called over his shoulder. "I"ll survive," Iolaus replied. "I think. What was in that punch anyway?" "I"m not sure," Hercules answered. "I think that"s why they call it punch. Never drink anything that sounds like it might hit you back." "Good advice," he responded. "I"ll try to remember that." They discovered a secluded village just in time for lunch. The villagers were excited to get travelers through their tiny town and welcomed them enthusiastically. When it slipped out one of the visitors was Hercules, the villagers began coming in some cases even touch him. After helping repair two roofs for widowed households and assisting an elderly farmer to mend a fence, Iolaus and Hercules finally bid the villagers goodbye. They still had a good hour of daylight left, and both men wanted to get on the road. Nor did they go empty handed, as they were given a hefty sack of food to take with them on their journey, a payment for their services even Hercules could accept. That night they made camp near a deep, but slow moving, stream. While Hercules gathered wood and built a fire, Iolaus filled the water bottles and set out dinner and bedrolls. They"d camp by the tree line near the stream. Close enough to the trees for protection, but far enough away to be able to see the clear night sky filled with millions of stars. Iolaus studied Hercules over a piece of chicken. Little details he was never aware of before now jumped out at him, the fine chiseling of his features, the silkiness of his hair, the hard lines of his muscles... Iolaus started to choke. Hercules looked up, immediately concerned. "Iolaus, are you all right?" "Uh, yeah, never better," Iolaus managed to sputter. He gestured wildly. "It...it just... went down the wrong way." "Okay, then, if you"re sure." "I"m...I"m fine," Iolaus gasped. "Good, then I"m going to take advantage of having running water handy. I"m going to get really clean after working all day." Hercules stood and started stripping off clothes. He turned to his friend. "You want to come?" Iolaus had to clear his throat before answering. "Uh, um, maybe later. I...I...I need to clean up dinner first." "Suit yourself." Iolaus got real busy, real fast. The very thought of Hercules naked, wet, and in the moonlight was almost more than he could bear. In fact, by the time Hercules got back from his bath, the campsite never looked better. "Wow, what got into you?" Hercules commented. "I wouldn"t have had the energy." "Amazing what a good meal will do," Iolaus said quickly. "How"s the water?" "Cold." "Perfect. I"ll be back." Iolaus all but bounded down to the stream. "What"s gotten into him?" he asked himself aloud. Then he shrugged and went on about his business. Iolaus sat neck deep in the cold running water, letting everything shrivel. He wished his thoughts would shrivel as easily as his skin. He"d always been a sucker for a pretty face and a great body, but when had his best friend fallen into that category? In one, last, vain attempt to drown his thoughts, Iolaus took a deep breath and went under. Hercules was starting to worry about his friend when Iolaus finally returned, shaking water out of his hair like a wet puppy. "Feel better?" Hercules asked. "Yeah," Iolaus responded. "Yeah, I do." "Good. It took you long enough. Come on, sit by the fire before you catch cold." Iolaus followed Hercules over to the fire. He sat off at an angle instead of next to his friend, hoping distance would help, though he watched the firelight play off the planes of the half god"s face. "By the gods..." Iolaus breathed. "How beautiful." "Did you say something, Iolaus?" "What?" Iolaus was startled. He hadn"t realized he"d spoken aloud. He covered quickly. "The night. It"s beautiful. I don"t remember the last time the stars looked so bright." Hercules glanced up at the sky, stretching his neck out. "Yeah, nice. Ow." "You okay, Herc?" his friend asked. Hercules rotated his neck. "Yeah, just a stiff muscle. I must"ve lifted something wrong back in the village. No big deal." "Bet you wish we were back in that spa town, huh?" "Actually, I wouldn"t say no to one of their massages," Hercules agreed. "Well, here, let me." "You?" Iolaus shrugged. "I may not be a professional masseuse, but I"ve been told I"m a very talented amateur. And if you want something done, I"m your only option." "I wasn"t arguing, Iolaus. It"s just that you"ve never offered before. I"m a little surprised, that"s all." "Oh, right, well?" "If you want to, then, yeah. It would be a big help." Iolaus moved over to Hercules" log as he pulled off his vest and turned his back on Iolaus. Hercules never saw his oldest and dearest friend pause before he even touched the finely muscled back. Slowly Iolaus reached out and lightly touched the skin. When he wasn"t struck deaf, dumb, blind or dead, he moved up to the shoulders and gently began to knead the tense muscles. Then feeling bolder, Iolaus dug in harder. "Wow. You really are tight.. You"d think you were carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders rather than Atlas." "Sometimes I feel like I am Atlas, Iolaus," Hercules admitted as he relaxed under Iolaus" touch. He let out a long, contented sigh which turned more into a moan of a pure pleasure. "By the gods, you are good at this." "I told you I had good hands. You didn"t believe me?" "This is definitely something you have to experience to believe. I knew there was some reason I kept you around." "You mean besides my razor sharp wit, amazing good looks, and unique fighting style," Iolaus asked, trying not to let the slight musky scent of Hercules distract him. "Yeah, right, whatever," Hercules mumbled. "You doing all right back there?" "Never better," Iolaus replied, unable to resist letting the silky strands of hair run through his fingers as he applied his talents to Hercules" neck. The vein in his neck throbbing gently with his heartbeat cried out to be kissed. Iolaus leaned in to surrender to the impulse. His hands slipped further down the front side of Hercules" shoulders, feeling the taught skin of well-defined pectorals. Suddenly Iolaus tore himself away. Hercules became more aware of his surroundings. "You okay?" Iolaus smiled gamely and lied through his teeth. "Hand cramp." He shook his hand in what he thought would be a convincing manner and went to sit on his own log. "Really?" "I"ll be fine, really." Iolaus yawned hugely and stretched. "Well, it"s been a long day. I think I"ll get some sleep. Good night." Before Hercules could blink, Iolaus rolled himself in his bedroll and pretended to go to sleep. "Good night." Hercules sat and watched the fire a while longer before turning in himself. Iolaus watched him through mostly closed eyelids, wondering why he was suddenly noticing these things about Hercules. What was he going to do with these feelings starting to well up, almost overwhelming him? Previously they"d only been addressed to nubile young women. It thrilled and frightened him at the same time. He drifted off to sleep, eventually. Almost immediately the dreams came, and they were almost exclusively revolving around Hercules. He awoke without having rested much at all. In fact, his dreams disturbed him so much he was jumpy and irritable all morning. Hercules never even commented on it. By noon they"d arrived at another good-sized town. One they"d helped out before, for they townspeople greeted them by name and warmly. They had friends here. Iolaus felt a stab of something uncomfortable as he watched people swarm lovingly around Hercules. It took him a moment to identify the feeling as jealousy, and not the normal jealousy of Sidekick to Hero. This was a different kind of jealously. The jealousy of a love... Iolaus broke off that thought pattern quickly. He hurried out of the square to find some place private. There was only one person he knew who could fix this and he needed some place quiet to make contact. Back in the square, Hercules turned to say something to his friend, but he was gone. "Iolaus?" he called out. When there was no reply, Hercules shrugged and went on with his business. Iolaus ducked into an alley on the edge of town, then, making sure he was alone, began calling out, "Aphrodite! Aphro - Dite - Eeee!" In a spectacular spray of pink glitter, the goddess of love made her appearance. "Hey, Curly, studmuffin! How"s it hanging?" "How"s it...? How"s it...? How"s it...?" Iolaus sputtered. "You should know, you did it!" "Did what?" Aphrodite asked innocently. "What"re you talking about?" "Don"t play dumb blonde with me, goddess!" he exclaimed in an intense whisper. "You know exactly what I"m talking." "Look here, Attitude Boy! Don"t take that tone with me!" Aphrodite spat back, waving her finger under his nose. "So chill and explain or I am out of here!" "Okay, okay, okay," Iolaus said, getting a hold of himself. "You"re the only one I thought of who could be responsible." "Responsible for what?" Aphrodite demanded. "Spit it out already, wouldya?" "The feelings I"m having, okay? Feelings of attraction. Feelings...of...oh, all right, I"m in love with my best friend, okay! You happy now!" "But your best friend is Hercules. Isn"t he?" "That"s my point!" "Oh." "It has to be a spell, Aphrodite," Iolaus persisted. "This...this...I like girls. You know I like girls." "Of course you do, sweetie," Aphrodite soothed. "But what does Hercules think of all of this?" "You think I had any intention of telling him? He doesn"t have a clue." "Ah, isn"t that just like my baby brother?" she giggled. "When it comes to love, he can be such a dunce." "Can we stay focused here?" he demanded. "Take the spell off me!" "Hold on, studmuffin. I can"t." "Can"t or won"t?" "Don"t get that attitude thing happening again, or I"m outta here. I mean it." Aphrodite made a move to leave, but Iolaus stopped her, pleading. "Please, Aphrodite! Don"t go." "Oh!" the goddess pouted. "I never could say no to you. Oh, okay. When did you first start noticing this?" "Excuse me?" "When did the feelings start?" "Oh, uh, well, let"s see, I guess it would"ve had to have been my birthday party." "When was that?" "Uh, the day before yesterday in the evening." "Okay, that"s...did you say the day before yesterday? Are you sure?" "Yeah, I"m sure. I know when my birthday is. Why?" Aphrodite looked a little sick. That did not instill Iolaus with any kind of confidence. "What? What is it? Aphrodite what have you done?" "Not me. Some...one...else, I think. Hang tight a little longer, Curly. I"ll take care of everything." Aphrodite paused a moment, then grinned. "But I guess hanging tight isn"t really your problem right now, is it? So, ah, hang loose and let "Dite take care of it." "And quick." "Trust me." And then she was gone. "Yeah, right, like that"s going to happen," Iolaus muttered. "I heard that!" Iolaus grimaced and headed back towards the center of town. He turned a corner and nearly ran smack into Hercules. "There you are! Where have you been?" he demanded.

"What"s with you Fawkes? What is it about this woman that"s got you so twisted up? And don"t tell me it"s just because she"s pretty." "No, it"s not that," Darien said slowly. "Then what? Explain it to me. Nothing you say can shock me." "Look, I haven"t had a decent, normal relationship since this gland was foisted on me..." "Did you sleep with her?" "What kind of question is that?" "Just answer it!" "NO! All right? No. I haven"t slept with her. There? You happy? And it"s still the best relationship I"ve had since..." "Since when?" "Since I blew it with Casey." "You"re not falling in love, are you?" "Geez, Hobbes, your romantic side is touching," Darien replied. "So what if I am? What business is it of yours anyway? We"re talking about my private life here." "No, actually, we"re not." Darien was taken aback. "Excuse me? You want to explain that?" "You"re classified Top Secret, my friend. Anything you let get close to you is a potential threat to national security. That makes it my business." "The hell it does!" Darien shouted. "I have a right to some privacy!" "Says who?" Bobby retorted. "The Constitution?" "Try again." Darien gave him a murderous look and went to the kitchen. A moment later he came back with a glare and a glass of water. Bobby thought he could see ice crystals starting to form. Darien was barely controlling the Quicksilver. His body temperature was dropping, but he was remaining visible. "Look, Fawkes, I"m just trying to look out for you," Bobby began. Then he hesitated. Darien didn"t even blink. "Go on. I really want to hear how you think this is looking out for me." "Come on, you"ve known this girl for what? Two - three days?" "Yeah? So?" "What can you possibly know about this girl in a few days." "You"d be surprised, and she"s NOT "this girl". She has a name. It"s Collette." "What"s her LAST name?" "Marroquin." "Where"s she grow up? Brothers? Sisters? Favorite food? Color?" "New Orleans. No brothers, just one sister - married with two kids. She likes German food and her favorite color is blue. Do you want her blood type and shoe size, too?" "Do you know them?" "A+ and nine medium." "Wow. I guess you guys have really talked," Bobby admitted. "Maybe you should have some faith in me," Darien retorted. "Just be careful, man. Remember, I know from experience how sour these things can go," Bobby headed for the door. "I"m not you." "You can say that again," Bobby muttered. "Say what?" the Keeper asked, looking over her shoulder at Hobbes. "Nothing. Hasn"t anything come in on this girl, yet? I"m telling you, there"s something just too convenient about all of this." "Nothing"s come back on the composite, and we"ve just put in her name," she answered. "If we had more to go on..." Bobby snapped his fingers. "How about this?" He gently pulled a photograph out of his coat pocket by a small corner. "Might be a little smudged, but there might be fingerprints on it." The Keeper gave him a disgusted look. "I"m a doctor, Hobbes, not a forensic analyst." "Come on, Doc..." "Oh, all right. Put it over there," she waved absently toward a lab table. "I"ll do my best." Bobby left the photograph and turned to go. He looked back once. "You"ll let me know what you find out, won"t you." "Of course." Darien was in a serious dream state when it happened. He"d been having an odd dream as it was, but the fingers tracing the planes of his face morphed it into something else. Until it finally dawned on both his unconscious and conscious minds that the fingers were not part of the dream, but actually flesh and blood. His eyes slowly opened and his head to focus on the intense face of Collette Marroquin. It took a few more seconds for his sleep fogged brain to register that she was perched on his bed. She didn"t seem to be wearing much either. "Collette?" he asked groggily. "Well, I hope you weren"t expecting another girl. That could be messy." "What...? How...? What time is it?" he managed to ask. "It"s about two a.m.," she purred in his ear. "Aren"t you glad to see me?" Darien tried to reply, but suddenly his tongue felt too big for his mouth. She was doing more with his ear than just purring in it. He rallied his forces enough to disengage and pull away. After a few deep breaths, he was able to say, "How...how did you get in here?" "I have many skills, or haven"t you figured that out by now?" Darien was edging away from her before she did something he"d regret. "Collette..." She came after him, like a lioness toying with her prey. "I got tired of waiting for you to take advantage of me. I decided to take the bull by the horns, or is it the other way around?" Collette lunged at him, and in a gut reaction, Darien retreated. Right off the edge of the bed. His head cracked on the night stand, then nothing else mattered. Hobbes slept in a chair, feet propped on the partially opened drawer of a desk. A touch on his arm made him sit bolt upright and reach for his gun. "Whoa, Hobbes, slow down. It"s just me," the Keeper said quickly, hands in plain view. Hobbes made a visible show of relaxing. "What time is it?" "Late, and we have a problem." Hobbes was instantly alert. "What?" "It"s about Darien. I think he"s in terrible danger. We"ve got to go." Hobbes didn"t need to be told twice. Darien woke up, but not in his apartment. His head ached where he thought there was a giant lump forming. He forced his eyes to focus on his surroundings. He hadn"t tried to move yet. Somehow he had the feeling if he tried he wouldn"t be able to. There was something odd about the walls, but the room was too dark to tell for sure. "Oh, good," Collette said from the doorway. "You"re awake." Darien sat up, surprised, in a way, that he could. He edged back as far as he could away from Collette. She appeared to be wearing some kind of negligee and holding a candle. "Where am I?" "Well, he"s not here," Hobbes snorted and he and the Keeper went through Darien"s apartment. The Keeper could see that. She was also filing away everything she saw in the back of her mind. She was getting to know more and more about the elusive Mr. Fawkes. For all of his bravado and brashness, he was just as reticent about parts of his life as she was about hers. She found the bookshelves and the magazines on the coffee table fascinating. The medical journals and texts specializing in neurology and neuroscience were to be expected, given his condition. The entertainment magazines and books on security systems and locksmithing were also something to be anticipated, given Darien"s previous occupation. What surprised her was the wide range of classic literature he possessed: Twain, Keats, Kipling, both Brownings, Shakespeare - sonnets and plays, Dickens, Stevens, several philosophers, and Doyle. She was most surprised by the Voltaire and the Baudelaire. "Our Mr. Fawkes is something of a romantic at heart," she murmured. "Excuse me, did you hear what I said?" "What? Oh, yes. So what now?" "Well, he was here," Hobbes said joining her. He ignored the books. "The bed"s been slept in, at least for a while. His clothes and stuff are still here. He didn"t plan on going wherever he went. "So what does that mean?" "Plan B." "There"s a Plan B?" "Doc, there"s ALWAYS a Plan B." Darien thought he would die screaming. It was still a possibility, but Collette seemed to be enjoying his torment - wherever she was. She"d finally turned on a lamp before leaving him alone again in the room with only the sofa he occupied, the lamp, and the hideous wallpaper. The wallpaper consisted of hundreds, even maybe thousands of photographs of him, in every part of his life. Only a small section of them had been since he"d met Collette. Some even looked like security camera prints, but from where? If she"d wanted to prove something, he discovered it was only that he"d not had a moment of privacy, had never been alone since getting the gland. "All right, lover, let"s get this over with," her voice came from outside the room. Darien was finally coherent enough to Quicksilver. If he could just get past her guard and through the door... Fortunately, he had not been bound to the sofa. Collette apparently wanted him to examine the photographs on the walls. However, she"d relieved him of his - apparently - bulky outer clothing and shoes. He was barefoot in his t-shirt and shorts. Fortunately, he"d just done laundry, so they weren"t the ratty ones. He"d hate to be killed and mutilated in ratty underwear, Aunt Celia would be horrified. The shoes bothered him most. He"d have to be careful when he made his move. Apparently, though, Collette wasn"t taken in by his disappearing act. She came into the room dressed in sensible dark clothes, hair pulled back from her face, carrying an industrial fire extinguisher. With a bored expression, she scanned the room and then began hosing it down. Darien returned to visibility. "I was wondering when you"d finally do that. I was really disappointed before, Darien. You controlled your emotions so well around me. I thought I"d get to see at least part of you go invisible before now. Shame too, the effect is very arousing." "Nice tick with the fire extinguisher. I"ve only seen it done one other time." "Not recently, I suppose," she sighed. The humorous twinkle in her eyes was gone, they were flat, almost dead. "No. It was a while ago, and a long, long way from here." "Not so long ago and not so far," a new, and very familiar voice said from behind Collette. Darien tried to focus on the new figure, but he didn"t need to see him to know who it was. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. "Arnaud." Arnaud DeTheil moved into the light and put his arm possessively around Collette. She leaned ever so slightly into his embrace to emphasize the point. She kept the fire extinguisher ready. Darien"s head spun. "Hobbes was right," he managed to say. "You did know his name without being told." "A minor slip, but apparently not a fatal one," she said with a shrug. "I don"t like making mistakes, but they happen." "And the last few days?" Arnaud answered this one. "A simple lure to separate you from your support net and set you up for the denouement. Trust works both ways you know. Though I can"t blame you for your little infatuation with Collette. She IS rather remarkable." "You won"t get away with it." "Famous last words, I"m afraid," Collette said with feigned innocence and no regret. "And so very, very wrong. I"ve gotten away with it a dozen times or more." "What? You? You"re the Bear?" Darien asked incredulously. "You"ve got to be kidding. HIM I"d believe..." "I could give you names, dates, places, position, and facial expressions," she answered casually. "If you like." Darien really didn"t want to know, but knew he had to ask. "How did you two...?" "Believe it or not, Collette is my childhood sweetheart," Arnaud answered with a proud smile at her. "You had a childhood?" Darien said, trying not to be sick at the fatuous look she returned. "Drool, Darien, very droll," Arnaud sneered. "Anything else you want to know before you die? Just for the record, I don"t have the same compunction as your precious Keeper to keep you alive after removing the gland. That way I win twice." "How come her accent is better than yours?" Darien asked, stalling for whatever time he could, if Arnaud was going to be magnanimously talkative. Though he was really trying hard to pretend he didn"t exist. He looked at Collette. "I take it you"re NOT from New Orleans?" "Actually," the hints of foreign accents began seeping through her speech as she let her cover go. "I"m from a small village near the Swiss/Italian/French border. I speak six languages fluently and can get by in four or five more." "Impressive. So really the last few days..." "A means to an end, Darien. Simply a means to an end." "She was thinking of me the entire time she was with you," Arnaud put in. "By the way, thank you for being such a gentleman. I really appreciate you taking the hands off approach with Collette. I really benefitted from your work, and I had no problems taking full advantage of it." To demonstrate his point, he yanked Collette around and kissed her roughly, but very passionately. Darien gave a strangled roar and launched himself at Arnaud. Collette was quicker off the mark. She put herself between Arnaud and Darien and brought up the fire extinguisher and shoved it into Darien"s gut. He went down in a fetal position and a woof of pain. Arnaud barely stopped her from doing further damage. "Not yet, my pet, not yet," he soothed. "Soon, though. Have a bit of patience." "But I"ve been so patient so far, Arnaud," she pouted. "Please, just let me kill him." Arnaud turned to Darien with a goofy, lovesick grin. If Darien"s abdomen hadn"t been plastered to his spinal cord, his stomach might have turned. "I do love a woman who loves her work, don"t you?" Darien climbed shakily to his feet. He was pretty sure nothing was broken, but it would be a while before he"d do effective sit ups. He"d survive his injuries if he survived the night - or day - he"d lost track of time. "Does it matter?" "Come, come, Darien," Arnaud soothed. "Don"t be like this. You didn"t LOVE her, did you? I know you didn"t sleep with her." "What is with everyone asking the stupid personal questions all of a sudden?" Darien exploded. "Suddenly everyone"s so interested in my love life." "Well, I have a vested interest. You were falling in love with the love of my life, granted it was just business... at least for her... but relationships change. And, sadly, so must yours and mine. Though I"ve had a lovely time messing with your mind, well, to be honest, lately the joy has been fading. I"ve enjoyed our adversarial relationship. Every good villain should have a good hero to attempt to foil their plans, but this is one time where the good guy doesn"t win." "I notice you haven"t asked about your brother," Darien said, changing the subject. Arnaud let Collette go and paced a few steps. She kept a careful eye on Darien, exchanging the bulky extinguisher for a lighter, but more lethal, dagger with an eight inch, razor sharp blade. It was beautifully and personally made, and Darien had the crazy thought it was probably Arnaud"s last Valentine"s gift to her. She was currently using it to clean her fingernails. "Neither have you," Arnaud said, regaining Darien"s attention. "You killed my brother," he shot back. "Did I?" Arnaud asked innocently. "Ah, but you didn"t kill mine, we"re not even yet. I had to change the deal." "There was no point in killing Huisclos!" Darien protested. "He took the blame for you!" "Sentimental fool! My brother is WEAK!" Arnaud all but screeched. "He deserves his fate." "At least MY brother did something to get me out. That"s more than Huisclos can hope for. Some brother you are." "Come on, darling, let me kill him," Collette all but begged. Arnaud barely controlled his anger. "No, not yet. Not here." "But I"ll leave his head undamaged..." "Soon, Collette, my love, soon," Arnaud soothed, calming himself as he calmed her. "I promise, but we can"t do it here. I need a better place than the kitchen table to take out the gland. Come along, Darien, and don"t bother to Quicksilver. No one knows where you are, where you"ll be going, or how much you"ve gone invisible. The madness isn"t that far off, is it?" "So?" "So? You either cooperate with me, or you get left behind to go mad alone. I don"t have any counteragent with me. I cannot help you. None of us wants to lose you to Quicksilver madness." Darien gave in, shrugging. He was rapidly coming up with alternatives for escaping when an unmistakable click got his attention. His plans radically changed when he saw the handcuff attaching him to Collette. "What"s this?" "You may be able to go invisible, but Arnaud assures me your body mass isn"t altered, so you won"t be able to slip away from us. These cuffs can withstand the change in your body temperature, and we"ve made sure you don"t have anything on you usable as a lock pick. We like to cover our bases." Darien sighed. The incredible weight of impending doom began to descend on him with the weight of a concrete truck. The days of boldly narrow escapes seemed to be over. Arnaud was going to win. The universe suddenly didn"t make sense any more. The odd trio exited the building, with Darien between them. They were immediately stopped by a bright search light blinding them in the early morning gloom. "Freeze! Everyone just freeze!" They froze. "Hobbes?" Darien asked, squinting into the light. "You okay, Fawkes?" "Oh, yeah, just peachy," Darien snorted. "How"d you find me?" "Remember what I said about national security?" "You"ve got me bugged?" "Do you think this is the best time of an argument? Bring it up later!" "That might be a problem," Darien said, holding up his cuffed wrist. "I think she ate the key. There"s a way to get iron into your diet." "So we"re at an impasse then," Arnaud finally said. "You want him. I want the gland. You shoot us, he dies. I get the gland, he may not die. We won"t be taken alive, so you might as well let us past." "Not going to happen," Bobby responded, turning off the light. They all blinked in the sudden gloom, readjusting to the darkness. Darien"s vision returned to normal more quickly than the others. It must"ve been a happy side effect of the gland. He"d have to remember to mention it to the Keeper. Speaking of the Keeper, there she was - near Bobby - pointing a gun at the trio. He just wasn"t sure if it was loaded with bullets or tranquilizer darts. Arnaud recovered first, pressing the barrel of a gun muzzle first into his left clavicle. "I have no compunction in killing him. The only thing I need is his head." "And I don"t have any compunction in killing you, Arnaud," Bobby answered. "And I don"t need any of you." "Again, we"re at a stalemate, but do you think your lovely assistant has what it takes to kill MY lovely assistant before she kills her? Yours is a doctor - she"s bound by the dictate to do no harm. Mine is a trained and professional killer. My bet is on Collette." Darien almost smirked. He still bore the scar of a puncture mark from his first encounter with his Keeper. She wasn"t as weak as Arnaud seemed to think, but to be pit against Collette. "She"s the Bear, Bobby," Darien heard himself say. "You"re kidding," Bobby snorted. "The Bear was coming to town to kill someone important. She"s not the Bear. No one"s been killed." "Yet, and thanks for the vote of confidence," Darien retorted. "I was the target." "True, though thanks for the party, Hobbes. Now I know what I"m against if I ever get a contract for one of those guys. It was quite amusing, and if you"re any example of what the Feds can field here, then working in the United States is going to be fun." "Over my dead body," Bobby growled. "If you insist," she said sweetly, bringing her semi-automatic 9 mm Browning up and firing. Bobby dove to the side as the bullet tore a hole in the car door near where he was standing. "Aw, crap, cop killers." "What does that mean?" the Keeper asked from the other end of the car. She"d dove with him, but in the other direction. "It means, my dear doctor," Collette answered in clear tones, "That whatever kevlar body armor you may have won"t protect you. I hope you"re ready to die." She turned to Arnaud. "Shall we go, darling?" "Are you sure you won"t be hampered with the dead weight on your arm?" Arnaud asked solicitously "What? Darien? No, I just consider him a growth soon to be removed. Hardly worth my consideration." Arnaud and Collette shared a private moment and suddenly the handcuff went slack and Darien Quicksilvered. Arnaud and Collette shouted in uncomprehending outrage, but not before Darien started getting pay back. His open manacle clicked on Arnaud"s wrist and tightened painfully, but not as painfully as when their two heads suddenly cracked together. They staggered and almost went down, but not before two tranquilizer darts landed in their chests. "You have not seen the last of us, Darien Fawkes," Arnaud managed to say before his eyes rolled up into his head and settled next to Collette on the sidewalk. Darien became visible again and looked at the two sleeping villains and then at his - well, okay - friends. "Why"d you wait so long?" "I had to make sure I didn"t hit you by mistake," the Keeper said practically. " Besides, Hobbes wanted to shoot you all just to make sure they went down." "Gee, thanks, Hobbes." "Sometimes you do what you gotta do," Bobby said unrepentantly. "Well, at least HE will get to see HIS brother again," Darien said a few moments later as the unconscious forms of Arnaud and Collette were loaded onto a medical paddy wagon bound for a maximum security hospital ward. "Maybe they"ll be in the same cell block." "What about the girl? Any regrets about her?" the Keeper asked. "You seemed to be quite taken with her." "How do you know?" "Hobbes brought in a photograph to scan for fingerprints." The Keeper handed him the photograph. "Figures. Yeah, well, that was a photograph, and about my regrets, well, that"s something I don"t want you to see." Darien took the picture and went to put it in a pocket when he realized he didn"t have one. "Can I get a ride home?"

Darien gave him a murderous look and went to the kitchen. A moment later he came back with a glare and a glass of water. Bobby thought he could see ice crystals starting to form. Darien was barely controlling the Quicksilver. His body temperature was dropping, but he was remaining visible. "Look, Fawkes, I"m just trying to look out for you," Bobby began. Then he hesitated. Darien didn"t even blink. "Go on. I really want to hear how you think this is looking out for me." "Come on, you"ve known this girl for what? Two - three days?" "Yeah? So?" "What can you possibly know about this girl in a few days." "You"d be surprised, and she"s NOT "this girl". She has a name. It"s Collette." "What"s her LAST name?" "Marroquin." "Where"s she grow up? Brothers? Sisters? Favorite food? Color?" "New Orleans. No brothers, just one sister - married with two kids. She likes German food and her favorite color is blue. Do you want her blood type and shoe size, too?" "Do you know them?" "A+ and nine medium." "Wow. I guess you guys have really talked," Bobby admitted. "Maybe you should have some faith in me," Darien retorted. "Just be careful, man. Remember, I know from experience how sour these things can go," Bobby headed for the door. "I"m not you." "You can say that again," Bobby muttered. "Say what?" the Keeper asked, looking over her shoulder at Hobbes. "Nothing. Hasn"t anything come in on this girl, yet? I"m telling you, there"s something just too convenient about all of this." "Nothing"s come back on the composite, and we"ve just put in her name," she answered. "If we had more to go on..." Bobby snapped his fingers. "How about this?" He gently pulled a photograph out of his coat pocket by a small corner. "Might be a little smudged, but there might be fingerprints on it." The Keeper gave him a disgusted look. "I"m a doctor, Hobbes, not a forensic analyst." "Come on, Doc..." "Oh, all right. Put it over there," she waved absently toward a lab table. "I"ll do my best." Bobby left the photograph and turned to go. He looked back once. "You"ll let me know what you find out, won"t you." "Of course." Darien was in a serious dream state when it happened. He"d been having an odd dream as it was, but the fingers tracing the planes of his face morphed it into something else. Until it finally dawned on both his unconscious and conscious minds that the fingers were not part of the dream, but actually flesh and blood. His eyes slowly opened and his head to focus on the intense face of Collette Marroquin. It took a few more seconds for his sleep fogged brain to register that she was perched on his bed. She didn"t seem to be wearing much either. "Collette?" he asked groggily. "Well, I hope you weren"t expecting another girl. That could be messy." "What...? How...? What time is it?" he managed to ask. "It"s about two a.m.," she purred in his ear. "Aren"t you glad to see me?" Darien tried to reply, but suddenly his tongue felt too big for his mouth. She was doing more with his ear than just purring in it. He rallied his forces enough to disengage and pull away. After a few deep breaths, he was able to say, "How...how did you get in here?" "I have many skills, or haven"t you figured that out by now?" Darien was edging away from her before she did something he"d regret. "Collette..." She came after him, like a lioness toying with her prey. "I got tired of waiting for you to take advantage of me. I decided to take the bull by the horns, or is it the other way around?" Collette lunged at him, and in a gut reaction, Darien retreated. Right off the edge of the bed. His head cracked on the night stand, then nothing else mattered. Hobbes slept in a chair, feet propped on the partially opened drawer of a desk. A touch on his arm made him sit bolt upright and reach for his gun. "Whoa, Hobbes, slow down. It"s just me," the Keeper said quickly, hands in plain view. Hobbes made a visible show of relaxing. "What time is it?" "Late, and we have a problem." Hobbes was instantly alert. "What?" "It"s about Darien. I think he"s in terrible danger. We"ve got to go." Hobbes didn"t need to be told twice. Darien woke up, but not in his apartment. His head ached where he thought there was a giant lump forming. He forced his eyes to focus on his surroundings. He hadn"t tried to move yet. Somehow he had the feeling if he tried he wouldn"t be able to. There was something odd about the walls, but the room was too dark to tell for sure. "Oh, good," Collette said from the doorway. "You"re awake." Darien sat up, surprised, in a way, that he could. He edged back as far as he could away from Collette. She appeared to be wearing some kind of negligee and holding a candle. "Where am I?" "Well, he"s not here," Hobbes snorted and he and the Keeper went through Darien"s apartment. The Keeper could see that. She was also filing away everything she saw in the back of her mind. She was getting to know more and more about the elusive Mr. Fawkes. For all of his bravado and brashness, he was just as reticent about parts of his life as she was about hers. She found the bookshelves and the magazines on the coffee table fascinating. The medical journals and texts specializing in neurology and neuroscience were to be expected, given his condition. The entertainment magazines and books on security systems and locksmithing were also something to be anticipated, given Darien"s previous occupation. What surprised her was the wide range of classic literature he possessed: Twain, Keats, Kipling, both Brownings, Shakespeare - sonnets and plays, Dickens, Stevens, several philosophers, and Doyle. She was most surprised by the Voltaire and the Baudelaire. "Our Mr. Fawkes is something of a romantic at heart," she murmured. "Excuse me, did you hear what I said?" "What? Oh, yes. So what now?" "Well, he was here," Hobbes said joining her. He ignored the books. "The bed"s been slept in, at least for a while. His clothes and stuff are still here. He didn"t plan on going wherever he went. "So what does that mean?" "Plan B." "There"s a Plan B?" "Doc, there"s ALWAYS a Plan B." Darien thought he would die screaming. It was still a possibility, but Collette seemed to be enjoying his torment - wherever she was. She"d finally turned on a lamp before leaving him alone again in the room with only the sofa he occupied, the lamp, and the hideous wallpaper. The wallpaper consisted of hundreds, even maybe thousands of photographs of him, in every part of his life. Only a small section of them had been since he"d met Collette. Some even looked like security camera prints, but from where? If she"d wanted to prove something, he discovered it was only that he"d not had a moment of privacy, had never been alone since getting the gland. "All right, lover, let"s get this over with," her voice came from outside the room. Darien was finally coherent enough to Quicksilver. If he could just get past her guard and through the door... Fortunately, he had not been bound to the sofa. Collette apparently wanted him to examine the photographs on the walls. However, she"d relieved him of his - apparently - bulky outer clothing and shoes. He was barefoot in his t-shirt and shorts. Fortunately, he"d just done laundry, so they weren"t the ratty ones. He"d hate to be killed and mutilated in ratty underwear, Aunt Celia would be horrified. The shoes bothered him most. He"d have to be careful when he made his move. Apparently, though, Collette wasn"t taken in by his disappearing act. She came into the room dressed in sensible dark clothes, hair pulled back from her face, carrying an industrial fire extinguisher. With a bored expression, she scanned the room and then began hosing it down. Darien returned to visibility. "I was wondering when you"d finally do that. I was really disappointed before, Darien. You controlled your emotions so well around me. I thought I"d get to see at least part of you go invisible before now. Shame too, the effect is very arousing." "Nice tick with the fire extinguisher. I"ve only seen it done one other time." "Not recently, I suppose," she sighed. The humorous twinkle in her eyes was gone, they were flat, almost dead. "No. It was a while ago, and a long, long way from here." "Not so long ago and not so far," a new, and very familiar voice said from behind Collette. Darien tried to focus on the new figure, but he didn"t need to see him to know who it was. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. "Arnaud." Arnaud DeTheil moved into the light and put his arm possessively around Collette. She leaned ever so slightly into his embrace to emphasize the point. She kept the fire extinguisher ready. Darien"s head spun. "Hobbes was right," he managed to say. "You did know his name without being told." "A minor slip, but apparently not a fatal one," she said with a shrug. "I don"t like making mistakes, but they happen." "And the last few days?" Arnaud answered this one. "A simple lure to separate you from your support net and set you up for the denouement. Trust works both ways you know. Though I can"t blame you for your little infatuation with Collette. She IS rather remarkable." "You won"t get away with it." "Famous last words, I"m afraid," Collette said with feigned innocence and no regret. "And so very, very wrong. I"ve gotten away with it a dozen times or more." "What? You? You"re the Bear?" Darien asked incredulously. "You"ve got to be kidding. HIM I"d believe..." "I could give you names, dates, places, position, and facial expressions," she answered casually. "If you like." Darien really didn"t want to know, but knew he had to ask. "How did you two...?" "Believe it or not, Collette is my childhood sweetheart," Arnaud answered with a proud smile at her. "You had a childhood?" Darien said, trying not to be sick at the fatuous look she returned. "Drool, Darien, very droll," Arnaud sneered. "Anything else you want to know before you die? Just for the record, I don"t have the same compunction as your precious Keeper to keep you alive after removing the gland. That way I win twice." "How come her accent is better than yours?" Darien asked, stalling for whatever time he could, if Arnaud was going to be magnanimously talkative. Though he was really trying hard to pretend he didn"t exist. He looked at Collette. "I take it you"re NOT from New Orleans?" "Actually," the hints of foreign accents began seeping through her speech as she let her cover go. "I"m from a small village near the Swiss/Italian/French border. I speak six languages fluently and can get by in four or five more." "Impressive. So really the last few days..." "A means to an end, Darien. Simply a means to an end." "She was thinking of me the entire time she was with you," Arnaud put in. "By the way, thank you for being such a gentleman. I really appreciate you taking the hands off approach with Collette. I really benefitted from your work, and I had no problems taking full advantage of it." To demonstrate his point, he yanked Collette around and kissed her roughly, but very passionately. Darien gave a strangled roar and launched himself at Arnaud. Collette was quicker off the mark. She put herself between Arnaud and Darien and brought up the fire extinguisher and shoved it into Darien"s gut. He went down in a fetal position and a woof of pain. Arnaud barely stopped her from doing further damage. "Not yet, my pet, not yet," he soothed. "Soon, though. Have a bit of patience." "But I"ve been so patient so far, Arnaud," she pouted. "Please, just let me kill him." Arnaud turned to Darien with a goofy, lovesick grin. If Darien"s abdomen hadn"t been plastered to his spinal cord, his stomach might have turned. "I do love a woman who loves her work, don"t you?" Darien climbed shakily to his feet. He was pretty sure nothing was broken, but it would be a while before he"d do effective sit ups. He"d survive his injuries if he survived the night - or day - he"d lost track of time. "Does it matter?" "Come, come, Darien," Arnaud soothed. "Don"t be like this. You didn"t LOVE her, did you? I know you didn"t sleep with her." "What is with everyone asking the stupid personal questions all of a sudden?" Darien exploded. "Suddenly everyone"s so interested in my love life." "Well, I have a vested interest. You were falling in love with the love of my life, granted it was just business... at least for her... but relationships change. And, sadly, so must yours and mine. Though I"ve had a lovely time messing with your mind, well, to be honest, lately the joy has been fading. I"ve enjoyed our adversarial relationship. Every good villain should have a good hero to attempt to foil their plans, but this is one time where the good guy doesn"t win." "I notice you haven"t asked about your brother," Darien said, changing the subject. Arnaud let Collette go and paced a few steps. She kept a careful eye on Darien, exchanging the bulky extinguisher for a lighter, but more lethal, dagger with an eight inch, razor sharp blade. It was beautifully and personally made, and Darien had the crazy thought it was probably Arnaud"s last Valentine"s gift to her. She was currently using it to clean her fingernails. "Neither have you," Arnaud said, regaining Darien"s attention. "You killed my brother," he shot back. "Did I?" Arnaud asked innocently. "Ah, but you didn"t kill mine, we"re not even yet. I had to change the deal." "There was no point in killing Huisclos!" Darien protested. "He took the blame for you!" "Sentimental fool! My brother is WEAK!" Arnaud all but screeched. "He deserves his fate." "At least MY brother did something to get me out. That"s more than Huisclos can hope for. Some brother you are." "Come on, darling, let me kill him," Collette all but begged. Arnaud barely controlled his anger. "No, not yet. Not here." "But I"ll leave his head undamaged..." "Soon, Collette, my love, soon," Arnaud soothed, calming himself as he calmed her. "I promise, but we can"t do it here. I need a better place than the kitchen table to take out the gland. Come along, Darien, and don"t bother to Quicksilver. No one knows where you are, where you"ll be going, or how much you"ve gone invisible. The madness isn"t that far off, is it?" "So?" "So? You either cooperate with me, or you get left behind to go mad alone. I don"t have any counteragent with me. I cannot help you. None of us wants to lose you to Quicksilver madness." Darien gave in, shrugging. He was rapidly coming up with alternatives for escaping when an unmistakable click got his attention. His plans radically changed when he saw the handcuff attaching him to Collette. "What"s this?" "You may be able to go invisible, but Arnaud assures me your body mass isn"t altered, so you won"t be able to slip away from us. These cuffs can withstand the change in your body temperature, and we"ve made sure you don"t have anything on you usable as a lock pick. We like to cover our bases." Darien sighed. The incredible weight of impending doom began to descend on him with the weight of a concrete truck. The days of boldly narrow escapes seemed to be over. Arnaud was going to win. The universe suddenly didn"t make sense any more. The odd trio exited the building, with Darien between them. They were immediately stopped by a bright search light blinding them in the early morning gloom. "Freeze! Everyone just freeze!" They froze. "Hobbes?" Darien asked, squinting into the light. "You okay, Fawkes?" "Oh, yeah, just peachy," Darien snorted. "How"d you find me?" "Remember what I said about national security?" "You"ve got me bugged?" "Do you think this is the best time of an argument? Bring it up later!" "That might be a problem," Darien said, holding up his cuffed wrist. "I think she ate the key. There"s a way to get iron into your diet." "So we"re at an impasse then," Arnaud finally said. "You want him. I want the gland. You shoot us, he dies. I get the gland, he may not die. We won"t be taken alive, so you might as well let us past." "Not going to happen," Bobby responded, turning off the light. They all blinked in the sudden gloom, readjusting to the darkness. Darien"s vision returned to normal more quickly than the others. It must"ve been a happy side effect of the gland. He"d have to remember to mention it to the Keeper. Speaking of the Keeper, there she was - near Bobby - pointing a gun at the trio. He just wasn"t sure if it was loaded with bullets or tranquilizer darts. Arnaud recovered first, pressing the barrel of a gun muzzle first into his left clavicle. "I have no compunction in killing him. The only thing I need is his head." "And I don"t have any compunction in killing you, Arnaud," Bobby answered. "And I don"t need any of you." "Again, we"re at a stalemate, but do you think your lovely assistant has what it takes to kill MY lovely assistant before she kills her? Yours is a doctor - she"s bound by the dictate to do no harm. Mine is a trained and professional killer. My bet is on Collette." Darien almost smirked. He still bore the scar of a puncture mark from his first encounter with his Keeper. She wasn"t as weak as Arnaud seemed to think, but to be pit against Collette. "She"s the Bear, Bobby," Darien heard himself say. "You"re kidding," Bobby snorted. "The Bear was coming to town to kill someone important. She"s not the Bear. No one"s been killed." "Yet, and thanks for the vote of confidence," Darien retorted. "I was the target." "True, though thanks for the party, Hobbes. Now I know what I"m against if I ever get a contract for one of those guys. It was quite amusing, and if you"re any example of what the Feds can field here, then working in the United States is going to be fun." "Over my dead body," Bobby growled. "If you insist," she said sweetly, bringing her semi-automatic 9 mm Browning up and firing. Bobby dove to the side as the bullet tore a hole in the car door near where he was standing. "Aw, crap, cop killers." "What does that mean?" the Keeper asked from the other end of the car. She"d dove with him, but in the other direction. "It means, my dear doctor," Collette answered in clear tones, "That whatever kevlar body armor you may have won"t protect you. I hope you"re ready to die." She turned to Arnaud. "Shall we go, darling?" "Are you sure you won"t be hampered with the dead weight on your arm?" Arnaud asked solicitously "What? Darien? No, I just consider him a growth soon to be removed. Hardly worth my consideration." Arnaud and Collette shared a private moment and suddenly the handcuff went slack and Darien Quicksilvered. Arnaud and Collette shouted in uncomprehending outrage, but not before Darien started getting pay back. His open manacle clicked on Arnaud"s wrist and tightened painfully, but not as painfully as when their two heads suddenly cracked together. They staggered and almost went down, but not before two tranquilizer darts landed in their chests. "You have not seen the last of us, Darien Fawkes," Arnaud managed to say before his eyes rolled up into his head and settled next to Collette on the sidewalk. Darien became visible again and looked at the two sleeping villains and then at his - well, okay - friends. "Why"d you wait so long?" "I had to make sure I didn"t hit you by mistake," the Keeper said practically. " Besides, Hobbes wanted to shoot you all just to make sure they went down." "Gee, thanks, Hobbes." "Sometimes you do what you gotta do," Bobby said unrepentantly. "Well, at least HE will get to see HIS brother again," Darien said a few moments later as the unconscious forms of Arnaud and Collette were loaded onto a medical paddy wagon bound for a maximum security hospital ward. "Maybe they"ll be in the same cell block." "What about the girl? Any regrets about her?" the Keeper asked. "You seemed to be quite taken with her." "How do you know?" "Hobbes brought in a photograph to scan for fingerprints." The Keeper handed him the photograph. "Figures. Yeah, well, that was a photograph, and about my regrets, well, that"s something I don"t want you to see." Darien took the picture and went to put it in a pocket when he realized he didn"t have one. "Can I get a ride home?" "You"ll have to talk about it sometime, you know," the Keeper said a couple of days later while giving Darien his shot. "Talk about what?" "About the fact the ambulance was empty when it got to the hospital. They"re still out there, and you"re still their target." "So what else is new?" Darien rubbed his arm where she"d given him the injection. The term "little prick" had a whole new meaning for him now. "We done here?" "I"m hear if you decide you do want to talk about it," she reiterated. "I know, Doc. Thanks, but no thanks." "All right, then. I found some promising research from a neurological team in Europe. They may actually be on to something that will be useful to us..." Darien tuned the Keeper out as he pulled out a picture. **Arnaud and Collette are still out there somewhere. They sent me a couple of pictures. One of them together on a beach somewhere. The other was from Kevin"s lab cameras. Arnaud made a still of me holding Kevin"s body. I guess he"s reminding me to keep looking over my shoulder. He shouldn"t have bothered, until I can get rid of Kevin"s little invention, I"ll always be looking over my shoulder. I don"t need pictures on my wall to see that"s never going away. Until then, we all go on. We all survive.**

"Uh, yeah, never better," Iolaus managed to sputter. He gestured wildly. "It...it just... went down the wrong way." "Okay, then, if you"re sure." "I"m...I"m fine," Iolaus gasped. "Good, then I"m going to take advantage of having running water handy. I"m going to get really clean after working all day." Hercules stood and started stripping off clothes. He turned to his friend. "You want to come?" Iolaus had to clear his throat before answering. "Uh, um, maybe later. I...I...I need to clean up dinner first." "Suit yourself." Iolaus got real busy, real fast. The very thought of Hercules naked, wet, and in the moonlight was almost more than he could bear. In fact, by the time Hercules got back from his bath, the campsite never looked better. "Wow, what got into you?" Hercules commented. "I wouldn"t have had the energy." "Amazing what a good meal will do," Iolaus said quickly. "How"s the water?" "Cold." "Perfect. I"ll be back." Iolaus all but bounded down to the stream. "What"s gotten into him?" he asked himself aloud. Then he shrugged and went on about his business. Iolaus sat neck deep in the cold running water, letting everything shrivel. He wished his thoughts would shrivel as easily as his skin. He"d always been a sucker for a pretty face and a great body, but when had his best friend fallen into that category? In one, last, vain attempt to drown his thoughts, Iolaus took a deep breath and went under. Hercules was starting to worry about his friend when Iolaus finally returned, shaking water out of his hair like a wet puppy. "Feel better?" Hercules asked. "Yeah," Iolaus responded. "Yeah, I do." "Good. It took you long enough. Come on, sit by the fire before you catch cold." Iolaus followed Hercules over to the fire. He sat off at an angle instead of next to his friend, hoping distance would help, though he watched the firelight play off the planes of the half god"s face. "By the gods..." Iolaus breathed. "How beautiful." "Did you say something, Iolaus?" "What?" Iolaus was startled. He hadn"t realized he"d spoken aloud. He covered quickly. "The night. It"s beautiful. I don"t remember the last time the stars looked so bright." Hercules glanced up at the sky, stretching his neck out. "Yeah, nice. Ow." "You okay, Herc?" his friend asked. Hercules rotated his neck. "Yeah, just a stiff muscle. I must"ve lifted something wrong back in the village. No big deal." "Bet you wish we were back in that spa town, huh?" "Actually, I wouldn"t say no to one of their massages," Hercules agreed. "Well, here, let me." "You?" Iolaus shrugged. "I may not be a professional masseuse, but I"ve been told I"m a very talented amateur. And if you want something done, I"m your only option." "I wasn"t arguing, Iolaus. It"s just that you"ve never offered before. I"m a little surprised, that"s all." "Oh, right, well?" "If you want to, then, yeah. It would be a big help." Iolaus moved over to Hercules" log as he pulled off his vest and turned his back on Iolaus. Hercules never saw his oldest and dearest friend pause before he even touched the finely muscled back. Slowly Iolaus reached out and lightly touched the skin. When he wasn"t struck deaf, dumb, blind or dead, he moved up to the shoulders and gently began to knead the tense muscles. Then feeling bolder, Iolaus dug in harder. "Wow. You really are tight.. You"d think you were carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders rather than Atlas." "Sometimes I feel like I am Atlas, Iolaus," Hercules admitted as he relaxed under Iolaus" touch. He let out a long, contented sigh which turned more into a moan of a pure pleasure. "By the gods, you are good at this." "I told you I had good hands. You didn"t believe me?" "This is definitely something you have to experience to believe. I knew there was some reason I kept you around." "You mean besides my razor sharp wit, amazing good looks, and unique fighting style," Iolaus asked, trying not to let the slight musky scent of Hercules distract him. "Yeah, right, whatever," Hercules mumbled. "You doing all right back there?" "Never better," Iolaus replied, unable to resist letting the silky strands of hair run through his fingers as he applied his talents to Hercules" neck. The vein in his neck throbbing gently with his heartbeat cried out to be kissed. Iolaus leaned in to surrender to the impulse. His hands slipped further down the front side of Hercules" shoulders, feeling the taught skin of well-defined pectorals. Suddenly Iolaus tore himself away. Hercules became more aware of his surroundings. "You okay?" Iolaus smiled gamely and lied through his teeth. "Hand cramp." He shook his hand in what he thought would be a convincing manner and went to sit on his own log. "Really?" "I"ll be fine, really." Iolaus yawned hugely and stretched. "Well, it"s been a long day. I think I"ll get some sleep. Good night." Before Hercules could blink, Iolaus rolled himself in his bedroll and pretended to go to sleep. "Good night." Hercules sat and watched the fire a while longer before turning in himself. Iolaus watched him through mostly closed eyelids, wondering why he was suddenly noticing these things about Hercules. What was he going to do with these feelings starting to well up, almost overwhelming him? Previously they"d only been addressed to nubile young women. It thrilled and frightened him at the same time. He drifted off to sleep, eventually. Almost immediately the dreams came, and they were almost exclusively revolving around Hercules. He awoke without having rested much at all. In fact, his dreams disturbed him so much he was jumpy and irritable all morning. Hercules never even commented on it. By noon they"d arrived at another good-sized town. One they"d helped out before, for they townspeople greeted them by name and warmly. They had friends here. Iolaus felt a stab of something uncomfortable as he watched people swarm lovingly around Hercules. It took him a moment to identify the feeling as jealousy, and not the normal jealousy of Sidekick to Hero. This was a different kind of jealously. The jealousy of a love... Iolaus broke off that thought pattern quickly. He hurried out of the square to find some place private. There was only one person he knew who could fix this and he needed some place quiet to make contact. Back in the square, Hercules turned to say something to his friend, but he was gone. "Iolaus?" he called out. When there was no reply, Hercules shrugged and went on with his business. Iolaus ducked into an alley on the edge of town, then, making sure he was alone, began calling out, "Aphrodite! Aphro - Dite - Eeee!" In a spectacular spray of pink glitter, the goddess of love made her appearance. "Hey, Curly, studmuffin! How"s it hanging?" "How"s it...? How"s it...? How"s it...?" Iolaus sputtered. "You should know, you did it!" "Did what?" Aphrodite asked innocently. "What"re you talking about?" "Don"t play dumb blonde with me, goddess!" he exclaimed in an intense whisper. "You know exactly what I"m talking." "Look here, Attitude Boy! Don"t take that tone with me!" Aphrodite spat back, waving her finger under his nose. "So chill and explain or I am out of here!" "Okay, okay, okay," Iolaus said, getting a hold of himself. "You"re the only one I thought of who could be responsible." "Responsible for what?" Aphrodite demanded. "Spit it out already, wouldya?" "The feelings I"m having, okay? Feelings of attraction. Feelings...of...oh, all right, I"m in love with my best friend, okay! You happy now!" "But your best friend is Hercules. Isn"t he?" "That"s my point!" "Oh." "It has to be a spell, Aphrodite," Iolaus persisted. "This...this...I like girls. You know I like girls." "Of course you do, sweetie," Aphrodite soothed. "But what does Hercules think of all of this?" "You think I had any intention of telling him? He doesn"t have a clue." "Ah, isn"t that just like my baby brother?" she giggled. "When it comes to love, he can be such a dunce." "Can we stay focused here?" he demanded. "Take the spell off me!" "Hold on, studmuffin. I can"t." "Can"t or won"t?" "Don"t get that attitude thing happening again, or I"m outta here. I mean it." Aphrodite made a move to leave, but Iolaus stopped her, pleading. "Please, Aphrodite! Don"t go." "Oh!" the goddess pouted. "I never could say no to you. Oh, okay. When did you first start noticing this?" "Excuse me?" "When did the feelings start?" "Oh, uh, well, let"s see, I guess it would"ve had to have been my birthday party." "When was that?" "Uh, the day before yesterday in the evening." "Okay, that"s...did you say the day before yesterday? Are you sure?" "Yeah, I"m sure. I know when my birthday is. Why?" Aphrodite looked a little sick. That did not instill Iolaus with any kind of confidence. "What? What is it? Aphrodite what have you done?" "Not me. Some...one...else, I think. Hang tight a little longer, Curly. I"ll take care of everything." Aphrodite paused a moment, then grinned. "But I guess hanging tight isn"t really your problem right now, is it? So, ah, hang loose and let "Dite take care of it." "And quick." "Trust me." And then she was gone. "Yeah, right, like that"s going to happen," Iolaus muttered. "I heard that!" Iolaus grimaced and headed back towards the center of town. He turned a corner and nearly ran smack into Hercules. "There you are! Where have you been?" he demanded. "I had something...to take care of," Iolaus answered. "Why? What"s up?" "Blacksmith"s going to let us use his shop to make that new knife we"ve been talking about." "Now? Today?" "Yes, now. Yes, today. Why? You have pressing business elsewhere?" "What? Me? No!" Iolaus protested quickly and dramatically. "What could I possibly have to do?" "All right then, let"s go." Hercules turned and headed down the street, trusting his friend was following. Iolaus rolled his eyes and followed, more slowly than his friend probably thought. As he walked, he muttered, "Yeah, great, this is just what I need. Blacksmith...hot...sweat... Aphrodite, whatever you"re planning, please hurry." On Olympus, Aphrodite was having trouble tracking down her son. Cupid was having a busy day, and catching him on the fly wasn"t the most effective use of her time. Finally, she finally cornered the archer. "Mother! What do you want that you tracked me down at work?" Cupid demanded. "Just how many arrows did you say were missing when we located Baby Bliss the other night?" "Just the one, and we reversed the spell on that trader and the widow woman. Why?" Cupid asked, somewhat suspicious. "I think someone else got hit by that arrow, and I promised to do something to help fix it." "Is it bad?" Cupid asked. "I"m really busy today." "Cupid, it could destroy a beautiful friendship, and that would be a total bummer." Cupid took one look at his mother"s patented pathetic expression and sighed. "All right, all right. But some day that look isn"t going to work on me." Aphrodite brightened like the sun coming out from behind a cloudbank. "Oh, cool. You so rock." Iolaus thought he was about to die or explode. He had no idea what was taking so long. If they didn"t come up with something soon, Iolaus was going to scream, or worse. The project in the smith was turning out to be just as torturous as Iolaus imagined. Both men had stripped to the waist almost from the moment they arrived. Now, with the forge heated up and the effort of running the bellows and shaping the iron, sweat flowed freely. Iolaus had to close his eyes and concentrate on the bellows he was working. "Iolaus?" Hercules" voice cut through his concentration. "Yeah?" "Take over for me here, would you? I need a break." Iolaus let go of the bellows, grateful not to have the continual up and down motion wearing on his consciousness. Unfortunately, spelling Hercules on the anvil required actual physical contact as Iolaus matched his rhythm of hammer strokes on the iron bar. They were at a critical stage in forging and couldn"t afford a mistake now. Iolaus came up behind Hercules, careful to let as little as possible actually touch the other man. Now would not be good time... "Come in closer." Hercules" voice broke into his thoughts. "We"ve got to get this right." Iolaus gulped silently, but followed directions. He tried not to think of the rhythm they were moving to, like some slow, primal dance. It kept going until Iolaus" hand reached for the hammer, and Hercules stepped out of the way, the next stroke hit without a stutter in the rhythm. Iolaus stepped in to fill Hercules" place. The man himself went over and threw open the door and stretched his entire body in almost feline proportions. Iolaus, catching a glimpse of the movement nearly lost the hammer, but recovered quickly and well. He bent to concentrate on his work. He didn"t notice Hercules leave and return, but he did see him pick up a bucket of water and pour it over his head. Iolaus tried hard not to wish he were the water, having such intimate contact... His thoughts were interrupted by a dousing of his own. He shivered against the shock of cold water suddenly cascading down his body. He sputtered. "What was that for?" "You looked hot." Iolaus" heart skipped a beat. "Thought you could use cooling off." Iolaus deflated. Where was Aphrodite? By the end of the day, the knife was completed and both men were totally exhausted. They ate a nice meal in the inn"s common room after taking long, hot baths, and relaxed in front of the fire with tankards of wine. Unfortunately, Iolaus kept wondering what was keeping Aphrodite, which made him antsy. "I"m going for a walk." "You want company?" "No, you stay here, you look comfortable." "Okay." Iolaus started off, then turned back, words burned to be said, and he couldn"t control it. "In case I"ve never really told you, I love ya, man." "No more wine for you," Hercules replied. "Sounds like you"ve had enough for one day. The walk"ll probably do you a lot of good." "If you only knew," Iolaus muttered under his breath as he walked out the door. He stopped in the first deserted alley he found and started calling for Aphrodite. After a long, agonizing wait, she finally appeared, this time with Cupid. "Where have you been, and why is he here?" "He"s here because he"s the one who can help you." Aphrodite explained. "So be nice." "How can Cupid help me?" "The day before yesterday, my son snuck out of the house while we were setting up his birthday party," Cupid explained. "He took my bow." "So I was hit by one of Cupid"s arrows? Is that what you"re telling me?" "Not quite," Aphrodite said. "What do you mean "not quite"?" "This has happened before," Cupid admitted reluctantly. "But this time we found him before he"d shot more than one arrow. We found that couple and reversed the spell." "One arrow? What are you talking about? Then I wasn"t hit by Cupid"s arrow?" "Not quite." "Would you stop with the "not quites" and get on with the quites?" "Okay, okay. You see that"s what took so long, tracing the routes and all," Aphrodite said. "But it looks like Bliss came to your party and shot a trader who was near a widow..." "Salmoneous and Widow Twanky?" "Yeah." "What has that got to do with me?" "Well..." "Well what?" "It appears the arrow that hit Salmoneous was really meant for Twanky," Cupid said slowly. "He missed?" "No. It was...deflected." "Deflected?" Iolaus asked, then the light of understanding went on. "By me? They were standing behind me. I moved. It deflected the arrow. So I"m infected too?" "Hey, studmuffin, we"re talking about love here," Aphrodite exploded, "not some communicable disease." "But why Hercules?" "He was the first person you saw after the arrow hit you." "How do we stop it?" Cupid waved his hand, a small dazzle descended on Iolaus. "There. Done." "That"s it?" "That"s it." "I don"t feel any different." "You will when you see Hercules." "Oh, okay, thanks." The two gods popped out. Iolaus returned to the inn, but Hercules wasn"t in the common room. The innkeeper was kind enough to tell him his friend had already retired for the evening. Iolaus thanked him and went up to the room they shared. Iolaus had wanted to suggest getting separate rooms this time, but they"d always shared accommodations before, so splitting up now would have only led to embarrassing questions. He opened the door quietly. The room was dark. All that he could hear was the slow, regular breathing of a sleeping man. He came into the room and eased the door shut behind him. Moonlight poured through the unshuttered window and spotlighted Hercules. Only a light blanket covered enough for decency, but left little or nothing to the imagination. He was obviously sleeping in the nude. The very sight of him lying there, peaceful and utterly relaxed, so softly illuminated made Iolaus" throat tighten and his heart pound. He couldn"t think. Couldn"t breathe, the room started to spin. He had to get out of there before he did something... "That you, Iolaus?" a sleepy voice asked. Iolaus had taken a step or two toward the door. He turned back to see Hercules, not quite awake, looking at him. Iolaus ached to reach out to him, take him in his arms, and stroke the sleep-tousled hair. "Coming to bed?" he asked, yawning widely. His mind screamed yes, but his lips said, "In a minute." Iolaus knew he couldn"t stay in that room. Another time, another place, another person, and Iolaus would"ve leapt at the implied invitation. "Okay, but get some sleep soon. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow." And Hercules rolled over and went back to sleep. Iolaus fled. All the way to Aphrodite"s temple. Whereupon his arrival, he began bellowing for Aphrodite and Cupid. A few moments later, two very grumpy, sleep deprived gods of love arrived. "This had better be good," Cupid said, glaring at Iolaus. "We just got the baby down and Psyche was in the mood. Do you know how often those two things happen at the same time?" "Ask me if I care. You didn"t hold up your end of the deal. You said you removed the spell. It"s not gone!" "Of course it"s gone! I removed it myself," Cupid retorted. "What are you talking about, Curly?" "When I went back to the inn, Hercules was asleep, and it was all I could do to keep from jumping him right there. You didn"t fix it." "All right, all right!" Cupid really wound up and let fly, the dazzle of power caused Iolaus to see spots. "Now, think about Hercules." "Like what? His eyes which are the color of a cloudless summer day? His flaxen hair? Or his rock hard, washboard stomach?" "This is worse than I thought," Cupid said to Aphrodite. "This isn"t the work of my arrow." "What are you saying?" Iolaus demanded before she could answer. Over the next several minutes, they retraced the events leading up to Iolaus being grazed by the arrow. "Wait? You made two wishes," Aphrodite pointed out. "What were they?" "If I tell you, then they won"t come true." "Darlin", you obviously have bigger problems than that. Now spill." Iolaus finally told them his wish. It was the same one both times. To find someone to love and grow old with, someone who"d love him in return. He didn"t want to grow old alone. Cupid and Aphrodite both groaned. "What?" he demanded. "You did this to yourself, Curly," Aphrodite explained. "Wishes and arrows don"t distinguished between different kinds of love. Your relationship with Hercules is a kind of love, but when you started wishing and then the thing with the arrow, well...it took all the yearnings and, zowie! It turned your friendship into romantic love. Happens all the time." "What are you saying?" "She"s saying it"s the real thing. We really didn"t have anything to do with it." "WHAT?!" "It happens." "So what...what...what do I know?" "Face up to the fact you"ve got the hots for my baby bro, suck it up and deal with it," Aphrodite told him bluntly. "What? He"s not good enough for you? Besides you got your wish. Hercules loves you for you. Like a brother, maybe, and probably not the way you were thinking just now, but he does, and he"s probably planning on growing old with you. I"d say on the scale of birthday wishes, you got "em, baby." "But..." "Who knows, it might all work out for you two. You make a cute couple." "Aphrodite!" She winked at him, then she and Cupid were gone. The next day, Hercules and Iolaus finally got out of town. It wasn"t until almost sunset and much later than they had anticipated, but they were on the road once more. Much to Iolaus" surprise, Hercules threw an arm around his shoulders. "You know, Iolaus, I never gave you your birthday present." "You didn"t? I thought the money pouch..." "Well...yeah..." "And the party..." "Will you shut up and let me finish?" "Sorry." "It occurred to me while you were gone last night that I haven"t told you lately how much you mean to me." "Excuse me?" "We"ve been through it all together, Iolaus. You have always stood by me. You"ve been more to me than a friend or even a brother." "Really?" "Really. I can"t imagine living the rest of my life without you in it." "Wow. I don"t know what to say." For a brief moment, Iolaus" hopes soared. "I love ya, buddy." And crashed. Again. "Yeah, me, too." "Happy Birthday, Iolaus." As they walked off into the sunset, Iolaus could"ve sworn he heard Aphrodite say in his head, "After all, unrequited love makes the best theater."

"It"s all right, Anatalia," Prozen said smoothly, completely unfazed by Karl"s outburst. Anatalia sat back down, but kept herself balanced on the edge of her seat. "Tell me, Karl, do you believe that the citizens of the Empire should be protected?" "Yes," the boy answered strongly. "Do you believe that someone who harms an innocent citizen should be punished?" Prozen asked. "Of course," Karl answered, unsure of where Prozen was going with this. "If you saw a person hurting another person, would you try to stop him?" "Yes." "And if you knew that someone was planning to harm an innocent citizen, but hadn"t taken any action yet, would you still try to stop him?" "...Yes," Karl answered slowly. He saw what Prozen was leading to, but couldn"t think of a good counter argument. His eyes narrowed, dark eyelashes obscuring his angry green eyes. "But I wouldn"t try to kill him!" he added. Prozen ignored his last statement. "Then wouldn"t you also agree that it would be best to take steps against the rebels now, before they kill any more citizens or soldiers?" Karl"s mouth pressed into a stubborn, thin line. "Soldiers such as your father?" Anatalia gasped, drawing her hand gracefully to her mouth. "Gunther, that was uncalled for. These past two months have been extremely trying, especially on my children, and I would thank you to-" "I apologize, Anatalia. You"re absolutely right, I should not have said that. I just wanted Karl to understand that our military offensive will be a peacekeeping act, not an act of aggression," Prozen explained. "But they weren"t rebels," Karl protested, a bit sullenly. "They were bandits and they were caught." "Karl..." Prozen said kindly, setting down his tea and leaning forward so he could look into Karl"s face, "they were rebel sympathizers. They were acting as bandits to support the rebels" cause. You must understand that these rebels, no, the vast majority of the people in the so-called "Republic" have been taught from birth to hate the Guylos Empire. If we allow this to continue, they will soon launch an attack against us. If we act first, then once the rebels have been dealt with we can unite the entire continent under one peaceful leadership. Don"t you see? The whole purpose of an offensive is to gain peace and save countless lives." Prozen smiled beatifically, having made his point. Karl closed his eyes and shook his head. "I don"t-" "Oh no!" a youthful voice cried out from up above them. All three heads jerked to attention to see a little silver device roll down the stairs. A loud noise reminiscent of a buffalo stampede followed quickly as a young boy stomped his barefoot way down the hardwood floor. "Get back here, you!" he shouted at it, almost tripping over the too-long cuffs on his pajama bottoms. "What in the-?" Prozen asked. "Oh, dear," Anatalia sighed. "Oh, brother," Karl groaned. "Gotcha!" the boy cheered as he pounced on the toy, sticking his rump into the air and obscuring his face with a mess of fuzzy blond hair. Anatalia pointedly cleared her throat. The boy looked up, and two bright green eyes finally noticed the three older people looking down on him. "Uh oh." " "Uh oh" is right, mister," Anatalia said sternly, though there was a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. The boy squeaked and dashed to Karl"s side, clutching onto his shirt. Prozen knelt down in front of the boy. "And who do we have here?" he mused, a smile on his face. He held out his hand. "My name is Major Prozen. And you are?" The boy buried his face in Karl"s side. Prozen blinked. Karl nudged the boy. "Introduce yourself," he prompted. The boy shook his head, still managing to hide his face in Karl"s shirt. "Come on," Karl whispered. "Kar-rul!" the boy whined, the fabric muffling the sound. Anatalia stepped forward. "This is Thomas, my youngest son. Thomas, say hello to the major." Thomas reluctantly turned his face away from Karl. ""lo," he mumbled, keeping his lips pressed together as much as possible. "It"s very nice to meet you, Thomas," Prozen said seriously, then smiled. "Look at those big green eyes," he cooed. "In a few years you"ll be breaking all the girls" hearts just like your brother, won"t you?" Thomas laughed delightedly, revealing a large gap where his two front teeth should have been. He immediately covered his mouth with both hands and hid his face in Karl"s shirt once again, blushing profusely. "Thomas, why aren"t you in bed?" Anatalia asked in that strange stern-yet-gentle tone only experienced mothers can manage. Prozen moved aside, giving her room to bend in front of Thomas. "Couldn"t thleep," Thomas murmured into Karl"s shirt. "Did you try?" she asked patiently, lightly grasping Thomas" chin and turning his face away from Karl"s shirt. Thomas nodded. "Uh-huh. Had a bad dream. Papa wath...Papa..." Thomas broke off his words. He sniffled a little and rubbed his nose with the cuff of his too-long sleeves. Anatalia"s eyes shone more brightly for a moment. To his credit, Prozen pretended not to notice the tears. Anatalia ran her free hand through her little boy"s tangled mess of hair. "It"s all right now, Thomas, it"s all over," she said, planting a soft kiss on the middle of his forehead. "Do you think you can go to bed now?" Thomas nodded his head mutely. "And if you have another bad dream, you come right down here, okay? No playing with your machines." Thomas nodded again. "Good boy," she said, and kissed his forehead again. She shifted her gaze to the right. "Karl, would you..." "I don"t mind," Karl said quietly, putting an arm around Thomas" shoulder and steering the little one toward the staircase. "Thank you. Good night, Karl, Thomas," Anatalia said, moving to regain her proper place in her chair. ""night, Mama," Thomas replied. "It was nice meeting you boys," Prozen said. A toneless "Hm" was Karl"s only answer. Prozen frowned and pursed his lips. "I hope you think about what we"ve discussed, Karl." "I will. Come on, Thomas, let"s get you to bed," Karl said wearily, turning his back to the adults. Thomas padded softly up the stairs, two steps ahead of his brother but already starting to slow. ""kay," he mumbled, only half-listening to Karl. He was fiddling with the runaway toy again. They reached the top of the stairs and headed down the hallway. Thomas stumbled when he stepped on his pant leg, but his interest in the device never faltered. "What"s that you"ve got?" Karl asked, keeping one arm positioned behind Thomas" back. He wanted to be prepared for the inevitable fall Thomas would take if he didn"t start paying attention to where he was going. "It"th my Command Wolf," Thomas said, holding it up in the air. "I fikthed it." "You know, the last time you "fixed it" it stopped working," Karl pointed out, already knowing the reaction he"d get and preparing himself for the onslaught of lisped words. Thomas pouted. "It worked," he insisted. "It"th jutht that the cathing prethed againtht one of the gearth. It wath a mechanical problem due to the cheap part"th the manufacturer uthed and had nothing to do with what I did. The new motor worked jutht fine." Thomas tripped over his pant legs, but Karl grabbed the back of his shirt and kept him upright. "Thankth," Thomas said, never missing a beat. "Thith time, I put the legth" thtabilitherth on the out-thide of the cathing and fed their wireth through a new thlot I put in the knee..." Thomas continued talking, but Karl tuned him out, eyes becoming distant as he struggled to hear the conversation the adults were holding. Vaguely, Major Prozen"s voice could be heard drifting up the stairs. "...worry, Anatalia. Karl will soon grow out of this phase and learn how things truly work in this world. I am certain that his teachers will set him straight, and one day he will become a highly decorated soldier..." Karl froze where he was. His hands closed into fists at his sides, fingernails digging into his palms. His jaw was clenched tightly shut and his lips thinned to the point where they could hardly be seen. Thomas walked on, oblivious. "...and with the new bearingth I added in each of the joint"th, thith Command Wolf can run five timeth fathter than any other oneth of thith model. Only, I didn"t ekthpect it to go that fatht, which ith why it kind of got away from me, and I...Karl?" Karl glared ahead, unseeing. His breathing was heavy, and each exhalation was slightly audible, as if he were restraining a growl. "Karl?" The dull thud of the Command Wolf dropping to the floor didn"t wake Karl from his preoccupation, but a soft noise, like a muffled hiccup, broke through the roaring storm of Karl"s thoughts. Another hiccup, then a sniffle, then the sound of fabric rubbing against skin, and Karl realized that his brother was crying. His eyes softened and his lips lost that hard line. "Oh, Thomas, what"s wrong?" Karl asked soothingly. This only made Thomas cry harder. "I"m-I"m-I"m thorry!" Thomas choked out, and rubbed his eyes roughly with the cuff of his sleeve. Karl spread his arms out and half-smiled. Thomas rushed forward and threw his arms tightly around Karl. The tips of his spiky hair barely grazed Karl"s chin. Karl rubbed Thomas" back. "Sorry for what?" he whispered, rocking Thomas back and forth. "I let the Command Wolf get away from me and embarrathed uth in front of Major Prothen and Mama made you leave tho you could put me to bed and now you"re mad at me and it"th all my fault and I"m thorry, Karl!" Thomas wailed into Karl"s shirt. "Shhhh....I"m not mad at you, Thomas." "You"re not?" Thomas looked up, directly into Karl"s eyes. "Then how come you were tho thcary-looking?" "No, I"m not mad at you. I was just mad at Major Prozen...and myself," he added upon reflection. Thomas" brow wrinkled. "How come?" Karl sighed. He hardly understood why himself. "Have you ever known that someone was wrong, but just couldn"t figure out why they"re wrong?" Karl finally asked. "Or maybe you think there"s a better way to do something, but you just can"t figure out how? And you try to tell people this, but they don"t even bother listening to you because you"re just a kid? Even though you know you"re right?" Thomas scrunched up his nose, and eventually nodded his head. "Kinda." "Well, that"s sort of how I feel about some of the things Major Prozen said to me," Karl explained, and loosened his arms around Thomas. "Now, no more distractions. Let"s get you to bed, all right?" ""kay," Thomas said, bouncing backwards and picking up his toy from where he had dropped it. He had that admirable talent most children his age possess-the ability to change emotions as easily as changing one"s socks. "Read me a thtory?" Karl groaned. "I said "no more dis...'" Thomas looked up at Karl, bright green eyes shining with hope, and Karl idly reflected that Prozen was probably right in one respect-with eyes like that, Thomas probably would be a real heart-breaker in about five years. Karl relented. "Fine. A short one. Hop into bed, I"ll be back in a minute." Thomas bounded into his room as Karl walked more sedately to his own. The elder brother glanced over his bookshelf before changing his mind and pulling a few loose sheets of paper from a satchel. Karl stepped into Thomas" room and headed for the bed, cautiously following a twisting path around the various piles of stuff covering the floor. Thomas had claimed one side of the bed; the covers were still thrown back and he was simply beaming at his older brother. Karl made an effort to ignore how that smile faded when he sat in a nearby chair. " "Once upon a time-' " "Karl?" Karl looked up from the sheets of paper to see his brother staring imploringly at him. "Can I, can I read it too? Over your shoulder?" Karl internally reflected that his brother was incredibly transparent sometimes. Wordlessly, he toed off his shoes, stood up, leaned over, and tucked the covers around Thomas before lying down on top of the sheets next to him. It took a bit of maneuvering, but eventually they managed a comfortable position. "Happy now?" "Yup!" Karl rustled the papers a bit, making sure they were still in the right order, then began to read. " "Once upon a time, many years before today-hundreds of years before humans first arrived on Zi-three ancient lifeforms ruled the planet. " "The first of these were the ancient Zoidians, a race very similar to humans. In fact, if you did not know any better, you would not be able to tell that they weren"t human. The only differences between ancient Zoidians and modern humans are their bright, jewel-like eyes and the colorful markings on their faces.'" Thomas twisted around under the covers so he could look his brother in the face. "But Karl: Nichlauth and Rebecca and Major Prothen all have markth on their fatheth. They"re not anthient Thoidianth, are they?" Karl smiled. "If they are, no one"s told me, so I don"t think so. I"m pretty sure they"re normal humans, just like us." "Oh." Thomas looked serious for a moment, but that was only temporary. A bright, excited expression crossed his face. "But wouldn"t it be neat if they were?" Karl"s smile widened, and he rubbed Thomas" fuzzy head. "Yes, it would be neat," he agreed happily. "Now, do you want to get back to the story?" Thomas looked like he wanted to keep talking with Karl, but decided that it was better to just agree with his brother. He nodded his head mutely. "Okay." Karl cleared his throat. " "The only differences between ancient Zoidians and modern humans are their bright, jewel-like eyes and the colorful markings on their faces. It is said that the ancestors of the ancient Zoidians stole magical gems from the heart of Zi and bound them to their own hearts, giving them long lives, marked faces, and small magical powers as well. " "The second of the lifeforms to rule planet Zi were the zoids, a race of large mechanical beings. Unlike other machines, however, these creatures were alive. They lived like tamed animals, working for the ancient Zoidians in exchange for protection and care. It is said that the zoids were originally unthinking machines until one day when ancient Zoidians took some of the larger, yet poorer quality, stolen gems and bound them to the machines, giving them hearts, and giving them life.'" "The thoid coreth!" Thomas exclaimed. "You"re probably right," Karl said, teasing lightly, "but remember that this is just a fairy tale. Don"t tell your Doc that zoids are alive because of magical gems." "I know," Thomas whined. "Doc ecthplained to me about the thybernetic net"th coupled to the pothitronic network inthide the thoid core"th power thellth. I"m not thtupid." Karl burst out laughing. "What?" "I agree, Thomas. If you understood half of what you just said, you"re certainly not stupid." "Thankth," Thomas said, and snuggled in closer to Karl, focusing his attention back on the printed pages. " "The third of the lifeforms to rule planet Zi were not truly organic like the ancient Zoidians, nor were they fully mechanical like the zoids. They were the organoids: the organic zoids. They were living machines which possessed the power to fuse with a zoid and control it. It is said that the ancient Zoidians had their own heart gems split in half, sharing them with the organoid. For each Zoidian born, an organoid was also born. They were always together, for only when they were together were their hearts complete. However, the organoids did not come into existence for a long time, not until a lonely boy faced a monstrous beast and changed everything. " "Since the beginning of their civilization, ancient Zoidians and zoids lived together in harmony. Life on Zi progressed peacefully for many, many years. However, things do not always go the way they should, and one day something happened that no one expected: a boy was born with only half of a heart gem. The people of the village searched everywhere for a whole heart gem, but the entrance to the heart of Zi had long been lost. They asked the people of the neighboring village to search, and they in turn asked their own neighbors, until the entire country was searching for the entrance. They searched the mountains and the valleys and the forests and the plains, but they could neither find a gem for the boy nor the entrance to the sacred holding place. " "Sadly, the ancient Zoidians eventually gave up the search and began waiting for the child to die, for who could live with half a heart? They had never heard of anyone living without a heart gem, and if a person"s gem were damaged, their death would soon follow.' " Karl glanced down at his little brother and noticed the sad expression on his face. Karl gave his shoulder a little squeeze, then turned back to the book. " "And yet, the boy did not die. Every day he grew a little bigger, and a little older, and a little sadder. Something was not quite right with him. His eyes were green, like his mother"s, but while hers were shining emeralds, his were flat and shadowed like unpolished jade. His left cheek was marked with a red bar, like his father"s, but while his father"s mark was thick and strong, his was only the thinnest of lines tracing the shortest of paths beneath his eye. His lips were soft and rosy, like his older brother"s, but he rarely spoke and never smiled. " "Many times, the boy"s brother found him staring off into space, as if he were trying to focus his eyes on something just out of sight. "What are you doing?" the brother would ask. " ' "Waiting," the boy would answer in a distant voice.' " "Waiting for what?" Thomas interrupted "Shhh, you"ll find out. ' "Waiting for what?" his brother would always ask, but the boy would only shrug his shoulders and turn away. He didn"t know what was missing; he only knew that he wanted it more than anything in the world. " "The boy never spent much time with the other children; he preferred the company of zoids. One can not count the number of nights his parents had to go out searching for him, frightened that something might have happened to him, only to find him asleep, curled up on a Helcat"s paw or lightly cradled by a Pteramander"s tail. Some of the villagers said he knew how to speak with the zoids. Some of the villagers said that he had a connection with the zoids because they shared the same sort of imperfect heart gems. The crueler villagers said that he spent his time with the zoids because they were as cold and unfeeling as he. Whenever his parents asked him why he spent so much time with the zoids, he would just shrug his shoulders and look away. He didn"t know why. He just did. " "Peaceful times do not always last, and one day a terrible misfortune came across the land. A wild zoid, violent and strong, came roaring out of the dark forests. It tore through the villages, frightening the Zoidians and leveling their homes. The Zoidians tried to fight the beast, but their zoids would always refuse to battle, and in those days there were no controls to restrain them. The zoids would bow down to the wild one as if it were their king. The Zoidians had no choice but to run. " "Village after village fell to the beast. The few Zoidians willing to face the wild zoid said that their attacks merely bounced off its shields. If they got too close, the beast would lean down next to them until its glowing eyes could glare directly into theirs, and they would be so stricken with fear that they would be unable to run. Then the wild one would growl, a deep rumbling sound from its very core, and the Zoidians would discover that they could run and they did run. Not one Zoidian was brave enough to face the beast after hearing its growl. " "The beast rampaged across the country, eventually arriving at the boy"s village. Everyone in the village had already run away-everyone but the boy and his family. The boy stayed behind because he had taken shelter with his zoids, and his family stayed behind because they couldn"t abandon the boy. " "Cowering in fear, the family remained hidden in the barn, listening to the sounds of destruction coming from the village, wondering when the beast would decide to attack where they were hiding. Closer and closer the terrible sounds came, until finally the beast was right outside. With a shriek of twisted metal, the door was wrenched from its hinges. The beast stood before them, terrible in its untamed fury. " "The zoids bowed before their lord, humbly backing away and revealing the hiding family. They saw their doom written in the beast"s eyes, and they knew that they faced their end.' " Karl paused as he felt a shudder go through Thomas" body. A brief flash of guilt hit him. "Sorry, Thomas. I didn"t think the story would get this scary. Do you want me to stop?" Thomas shook his head vehemently. "If you thtop now, then we won"t get to hear the ending." "What if the ending isn"t happy?" Karl asked quietly. "It hath to be," Thomas said firmly. "At leatht, right now there"th a chanth that it"ll be a happy ending. We can"t jutht thtop becauth it"th thcary." Karl was slightly surprised and rather pleased. He smiled fondly at Thomas. "That"s a really good philosophy, Thomas. How"d you get so smart?"

"Aye, that it was," Beowulf said, and threw an affection arm around the dragon-dragon?-resting by his side. "To yours and my and mine, I would say." The cast was certainly colorful enough to suit Balthier"s tastes. He settled himself at an empty place by the fire, nestled nicely between a dancer and a mage. "With such good recommendations, I would be a fool to turn down a generous invitation," he said, and winked at the mage. Ramza steamed. "Ser pirate, you have not-" An explosion from a distant part of camp interrupted him, and he rushed off to examine the plume of smoke rising behind a tent. The others seemed little worried about it, so Balthier paid it small mind. "Don"t mind him," Beowulf said. "He"s a bit shouty, but an excellent leader altogether." "He does not treat betrayal lightly, ser pirate," the woman in green said. "Nor do we all." She gave him a pointed look. "You question my motive?" Balthier asked, pressing a delicate hand to his wounded chest. "I could no more betray my own comrades than my hand could betray my foot." He winked again at the mage on his right. "Then we shall anticipate your turn by your limp," the woman in green said drolly. Balthier laughed. "Fairly said." The mage next to him turned her head, lowering her hood, and Balthier noticed for the first time that she was dark, the only one he"d seen in this Dalmascan-pale land. Ramza did seem to gather an interesting assortment of followers. "Are you certain your choice is wise?" she asked. "We are branded heretics. If you join us, you will be branded, as well." "To lie with the dogs means to rise with fleas, you may say?" Balthier said. He drew his gun and pointed it at the horizon. "Then you may benefit from one who may shoot a flea from a dog"s back without rustling so much as a single tuft of fur." He winked at the mage, who colored nicely. "Though, to be fair, I"d doubt you"ve many charges that I myself have not already earned." "The papers may be old, but I swear to you, the theory is sound!" a young man said, striding beside Ramza as the leader walked back to the fire. He was wearing sturdy coveralls and half a pound of soot. Balthier was discomforted on sight. "I"m more concerned with the soundness of your skull, Mustadio, than that of the ideas inside," Ramza said, and for the first time, Balthier saw him smile fondly. "Your concern is touching for its novelty," the engineer said, knocking Ramza lightly in his side, smudging soot on the man"s sleeve. "I believe the ratio of gunpowder to magicite is correct-it"s only the barrel of the gun which is unable to withstand the-oh sweet saints!" Mustadio broke off and pounced on Balthier. "That is the most beautiful thing I"ve ever see," Mustadio breathed, hands hovering over the gun almost reverently. "May I examine it?" "It"s accepted courtesy to buy one a drink first," Balthier said, but allowed Mustadio the use of the gun. The lad stripped and probed the gun"s secrets as quickly as-well, an ungentlemanly metaphor. "Bottom-firing to reduce recoil, I presume? The etching on the inner barrel, what effect on the moment of inertia....This alloy, how remarkable! I"ve never seen the like before!" "Also note the filigree on the handle," Balthier said, casting Ramza a self-satisfied look. "Sadly, I must be off, as I"ve rarely been one to stay without an invite." He ignored the bald falseness of that statement as he retrieved his gun and made as if to leave. "Ramza!" Mustadio protested. The pup"s eyes he used were rather embarrassing, but Balthier would raise no complaint when they were used to his benefit. "Oh, as you wish," Ramza said, waving his hands to be free of his friend"s entreats. "Brilliant!" Mustadio said, and seated himself beside Balthier, squeezing the dancer out of the way. He stuck out a hand, which Balthier shook with care for the soot that might fall upon his cuffs. "I"m certain we will work wonders. Mustadio Bunansa. And you?" Balthier did not choke at the name, did not widen his eyes or raise his brows, and firmly tamped down on what that might mean about his prospects on returning home and the path of his future. He merely said, "Balthier," and left it at that. The Dalmascan westersand was hot and dry this evening, not that it changed much for the season, and even the Strahl"s engine room held the thin, dusty air of the desert. "Spanner," Balthier said, holding out a hand. Ajora fumbled through the tool box with his left hand, the right being occupied with a cup of shaved ice and honey. He passed his choice to his captain. "Is this the right size?" he asked, his feet swinging rhythmically, just barely brushing the floor with each pass. "Good lad," Balthier said, and the boy beamed at the praise. "Are you certain you haven"t been a sky pirate before? It would certainly explain your notoriety." Ajora flushed, though it was hardly noticeable in the heat. "No, I. I"d never left my home village. Before." "Then I suppose you"ve never stolen a lord"s jewels?" Balthier asked. "No," Ajora laughed. "Uncovered secreted documents, then?" Balthier asked. "No!" "Seduced the magistrate"s daughter?" he suggested, and laughed at Ajora"s scandalized expression. "No, I suppose not, at only seven years of age." "I"m eight," Ajora corrected. "My apologies," Balthier said, tapping the spanner to his brow. "Then we are already far behind in your education. Once you are done with the basics of airship repair, we shall start with the fundamentals of pirating-thieving, dueling, clever repartee, that sort of thing." "Stealing other people"s airships?" Ajora suggested. "The Strahl was mine first, but retaking what"s been taken from you," he pointed at Ajora, "with proper interest, of course, is certainly part of the code." Ajora ducked his head and grinned, scooping up a big bite of honey ice and letting it melt on his tongue. "I always said, if you"re to be targeted by angry men, it ought to be for something truly remarkable." Ajora grew quiet at that. "Balthier?" he said at last, his voice soft again. "Yes, lad?" "Do you know about the plague in Lesalia?" he asked. He stared at his cup, poking aimlessly at the melting ice. "Lesalia keeps its secrets, but yes, I"ve heard." Balthier"s voice matched Ajora"s softness, like he was trying not to startle an injured animal. "Oh." Ajora drifted off into silence again. Balthier let the silence sit for a few moments. "Did you lose someone to the plague?" Ajora jumped at that. "What? No! I-" He bit his lip and mashed at his ice some more. "The well in my town held the sickness, I knew it, and I told them-" His hands stilled. "The ones who listened, lived." "And they thought you the cause of it, for how else would you know?" Balthier concluded, and Ajora nodded miserably. Balthier moved from the engine, curled his fingers around Ajora"s chin and lifted his face, so they were eye-to-eye. "How else did you know?" he asked, simply. "I hear voices, sometimes," Ajora said, voice low and hoarse. "Well," Balthier said. "When they speak again, I should be very interested in what they have to say." With that, he chucked Ajora under his chin and turned back to the engine. "Now, I would like you to help me loose and clean the bearings in this cel. Can you do that?" Ajora jumped off his perch and landed next to Balthier. He worked diligently with a little, serious frown on his face, and if his arm brushed up against Balthier"s a little too often, Balthier found it diplomatic not to say anything. The camp was quiet that night-not judging by volume, no, but in terms of peace and camaraderie and, yes, several casks of wine. Balthier wasn"t familiar with any of the words to Folstaff"s, the bard"s, songs, but that matters little when one is cozied up to a sweet white mage and the spoils of the battle are weighing down one"s pockets. They reached the end of The Dragoon"s Wife"s Lament with great cheer and terrible puns, and Balthier was in an especially good mood. Luso was especially cheerful, copying down the lyrics to the songs so he could refer to the particularly naughty jokes in the future. "What next?" Folstaff asked, giving his harp a friendly plunk. "A pirating song!" Mustadio cheered, clapping Balthier on the shoulder. "In honor of the best shot of the day," he squeezed a little harder, "to be surpassed, of course, tomorrow." "A sky pirating song," Ramza corrected, to Balthier"s souring expression. Folstaff tapped a finger against his lips, lost in thought. "I don"t think-" Somewhere, something in the camp exploded. Mustadio and Ramza were on their feet in a flash. "I swear to you, it wasn"t me!" Mustadio said as they dashed towards the smoke. "Pirating song, pirating song," Folstaff thought. "I"ve few of sky pirates, though the ones of wild fonRathsbane are always popular." "I"d rather you didn"t," Balthier said blandly. Folstaff thought again. "Then his companion, the Lady Penelope of the Branded Arms? How her dance charmed rogues and kings alike, and she stole the very crown at the same moment the last veil-" "No, with the greatest courtesies," Balthier said, a bit ill. "Are there no other sky pirates in legend?" "Hmm." Folstaff tapped his lips again. "Zecht the Red? Elza the Swift? They say sainted Balias was a pirate, or a thief, at least." This was met with a chorus of boos and hisses for bringing religious songs to a pointedly unholy group. "What of Crack the Stone?" Beowulf suggested. "There is a pirate who flies in the third verse or so." "I thought he "steers,' not "flies,'" Meliadoul said. "I always sang that he "guides" the ship," Rapha said. "Well, then," Beowulf said, clapping his hands together. "For the sake of tonight, he "flies.'" Folstaff began playing, and it was a rather charming song, for all that the words were of death. Each verse built upon the previous, detailing how the death of each character made the story impossible. It seemed to Balthier that they had already killed the entirety of the royalty and military by the time they got to the sky pirate, who died, in turn, to cheerful melodies. They reached the final verse as Ramza and Mustadio returned, and Luso demanded they repeat the fourth verse because he"d missed transcribing a word or two. "Why the sad face?" Mustadio asked, and Balthier was surprised to realize it showed. "The Pirate is dead," he quoted tunelessly, "Too ra loo, too ra lay." As was his reputation, his legacy, all remnants of his passing save for the lad in front of him. Mustadio clapped him on the shoulder. "If it helps having shared troubles, then you should know, now, so is Marach"s lead frog." Strangely enough, it did. Ajora was talking to himself. Balthier quickly corrected himself-the boy was holding his part of a conversation, but the other part was something Balthier couldn"t hear. Balthier cleared his throat, and Ajora turned with a start. "Bel-Balthier!" Ajora cried. "Who are you speaking with?" he asked, the paused when he saw what the boy had in his lap. Stones-crystals, rather, that hid and revealed secret sigils as the boy fluttered his knees. Mateus, the ice esper-that had been Penelo"s, and Hashmal, that was Vaan"s, and next to them, Famfrit. His father"s. His own. "I"m sorry," Ajora said. The stones clinked with every bob of his knees. "A true sky pirate does not secretly steal from his companions," Balthier said quietly. "I"m sorry," Ajora said again. "Next time you wish for some of my effects, be certain to steal it openly and with a great deal of mocking laughter." Ajora blinked at him in surprise. Balthier wondered if that expression would ever lose its humor. Balthier settled himself beside the boy, convincing himself that the creaking noise was his leathers not his knees. "Are the stones what speak to you?" he asked. "No. Well, yes, but they"re not who I"m listening to," Ajora said slowly, brow furrowed with the effort of telling confusing truths. "Who are you listening to?" Balthier asked. Ajora"s frown increased. "She says she"s the last-or, the highest? And maybe she"s a part of me, or I"m a part of her?" He shook his head. "It"s hard to hear her, but the stones make it easier." "There are others in the world." Balthier stood, stretching his legs. "What say we go find them?" Ajora brightened. "Thank you, Balia-Balthier." "Balias, Belthier," Balthier snorted, and drew Belias" stone from his pouch. He tossed it carelessly into Ajora"s lap, where it clinked against the others. "A queen entrusted me to keep that safe, but you may have it for now if it will help you keep my name straight." "Thank you," Ajora said, tracing a finger over the crystal"s edge. "And sorry. He"s-rather loud." "What does he speak of?" Balthier asked. "Revolution," Ajora said sweetly. It was Balthier"s turn to blink at that. "Well. Best it was kept from the hands of queens, then," he said, and left Ajora talking quietly to the air. "We are on a quest, then?" Fran asked, later that night. Balthier dissembled, waving a hand in the air. "More an enlightened curiosity than anything else." "You have fallen into a habit," Fran said. "A habit?" "Taking young boys into your care, and being drawn into intrigues for the run of it," Fran said with a smile. Balthier grumbled and straightened his already immaculate cuffs. "I preferred it when you called it a "quest.' You make me sound like a father." "You seem troubled." That was Rapha, the dear girl, perhaps the only other awake at this time of night, beyond the guards and the owls. "I"ve merely been doing a bit of light reading," Balthier said, and flipped another page in the Germonique Scriptures. Rapha"s breath caught in her throat when she recognized the book. "Don"t be so shocked; if Ramza truly wished it to remain a secret, he would have placed it under lock and key." He paused in thought. "Better lock and key, at any rate. I"ll return it once I"ve read my fill." "Be cautious," Rapha said. "Your faith may not stand it." "I"ve put little stock in faith," Balthier said blithely. "And it seems you know of this document, yet remain strong." "It was a relief, in a way," Rapha said, too quickly to be casual. "The man who taught me of Saint Ajora and his miracles, he did. Terrible things. It is easier to dismiss it all as corrupt and false than to try to separate the gold from the bile." "Yes, well." Balthier"s finger traced the secrets on the page. "To have one"s prophet grow to be a liar, a spy, and a revolutionary would soundly thrash anyone"s faith." "And that Germonique, the traitor, would tell the tale..." Rapha shook her head. "All parts of the tale have turned on their heads. The only thing it lacks is for sainted Balias to have survived, as well." That caught at Balthier"s ear. "Balias did not return?" he asked. Rapha seemed confused. "Not in the stories," Rapha said. "He died, or rather, was sacrificed, beneath Balias Tor. If he were resurrected, Ajora did not claim it as his miracle." "Of course not," Balthier said bitterly. "That would have stretched the credulity of the tale." "We believe an infant spoke of cursed wells the day after he was born," Rapha said quietly. "We were taught not to question these stories, right from the start." "An infant, speaking. How utterly ridiculous," Balthier agreed. "He was eight at the time." "Your pardon?" Rapha asked. "Nothing, nothing," Balthier said, turning another page. "I speak of nothing." It was foolish, it was-he was far too old for this, the breaking into ancient tombs and fighting strange beasties, following the paths of oracles or spirits and whatnot. At the very least, he deserved a better audience than a boy. But when the battle was done and the stone subdued, the boy reached for the stone, and drew back before touching it. "Can we leave it?" he asked in a small voice. "Please? Can we, can we leave the stones alone now? Please?" Balthier stared at him patiently, silently, until the boy was compelled to speak again. "She gets louder each time, and I-" Ajora backed further from the stone. "I don"t want to hear what she says anymore." Balthier touched Ajora"s hair gently. It was smooth under his fingers, and seemed almost white in the pale light of the underground tomb. "If that is what you wish. Come, now. Fran"s waiting." The boy relaxed at that, and gave Balthier a weak smile before making for the exit. Balthier cast another look at the stone. "An awful waste to leave such a prize," he said, before tucking it into his shirt. Ajora might change his mind in the future, after all. And then he fell. It was foolish, after all this time, to submit to clumsiness. His back twisted, his boot caught at the edge of the platform, and he was falling against the great machine. The stone beneath his shirt glowed, and Balthier had no breath, no sound, and all he saw was light and Ajora reaching for him. He had a moment to wish for the boy to make up a better story about his final days, a death involving battle and glory and perhaps scantily-clad women, and then the light took him, and he was gone. It was weeks before Balthier wondered if Ajora"s hands had meant to grab him, or push him. The workshop was an utter mess. Balthier considered remarking on it, speculating whether it had been ransacked by thieves, or if the madman Cloud had waged destruction on his path from the machine to the door-but, no, Mustadio and his father treated the mess as usual, so Balthier wrote it off as part of their research process. Besrudio, the lad"s father, motioned to a pile of papers with four wooden legs beneath. "Please, please, have a seat." "Much obliged," Balthier said, drawing the papers onto his lap. "This is the device," Mustadio said, patting a spiraling contraption of brass and gold set on the near side of the room. "We think it has to do with the vibrational frequency of the machine-the stone powers the motion of the spinners, and when its movement matches the fundamental frequency of a universe, or a person in a particular other universe, they resonate, causing the energy to increase until" he clapped his hands together sharply, "they pop into this world!" "Very interesting," Balthier said diplomatically. He knew he ought to have been more attentive, but he was distracted by the papers on his lap, a collection of rough sketches and pictures of flying ships, or parts of them, all marked with notes in Mustadio"s spiky, backwards handwriting. The cross-section of a nacelle, the too-familiar curve of a wing, the designs were too near to Balthier"s heart for fairness. "We just need to match the machine to your frequency, and you should pop back to your world, like a stretched spring bouncing back into place!" Mustadio was already fiddling with the machinery, turning the knobs and investigating which way things would spin. "Where did you say you were from, ser?" Besrudio asked. Balthier startled, looking up from the papers. "Ivalice, of course. An epoch or so ago, by my measure," Balthier said smoothly. "Is that so," Besrodio said. He turned to his son. "Ah, forgive an old man, I have forgotten my reading glasses. I believe I left them on a pile in the anteroom, somewhere." "As you wish, my aging, ailing father," Mustadio said smartly, and darted out of the room before his father"s hand could find the back of his head. "We may be at a loss," Besrudio said bluntly. "Alternate dimensions, yes, traveling forward in time, to be sure, but backwards travel..." He clucked his tongue in irritation. "I understand the theoretical limitations," Balthier said, and he truly, truly did. This world, this time, was decades away from rediscovering theory he had learned in his first year of akademie. Besrudio reached over, patted Balthier"s hands as a father would a troubled son"s. "We will try." Balthier"s voice caught in his throat; he had to clear it twice to speak. "My thanks." Besrudio made to move, but Balthier held onto his hand. "Where did you get your family name?" "From my father, of course," Besrudio replied, without note of the question"s strangeness. "And he from his, and so on. They say it was an honorary title at some point, for services rendered, or in reward for some great deed or invention." He dismissed the thought with a small shake of his head. "But then again, all old families say the same of their name." Mustadio dashed back into the room, tripping an intricate path around the piles of papers and excavated projects. "Here you are, Father," he said, dropping the spectacles onto his father"s nose. "I"d like you to take a look at these, give me your opinion." Mustadio forced a handful of parchment into Balthier"s hands, similar to the ones he had picked up before, but with thrice the scribbled notes. Mustadio sighed. "Ah, if only I could leave with you. Airships! To only see them fly once would be..." He sighed again. "Feet on the ground," Besrudio said, cuffing Mustadio"s head. "Yes, of course, my dear sweet Father," Mustadio said, obedient to the point of cheekiness. His father cuffed him again, and they laughed together. Balthier found his heart lightening a bit at that. Despite the years, his mistakes, his lost notoriety and ways, at the very least, they had, at last, gotten this right.

"Get away from me or I"ll tell my uncle what you did and he"ll have you thrown in jail for harrassing me." Maxie sneered. "Idiot," she said, "my father is the police commissioner." She backed Sage into a corner. "Who gave you the drugs?" she demanded. "Zach Rhodes? Rick Teller? Pete Osterhaus? Just some random guy on Cortland Street? Huh? Tell me who." Maxie"s voice was low, but she was menacing. "Help-" Sage started to call out, but Maxie clapped a hand over her mouth. "Don"t even try it," she threatened. "I"ve known everyone at this hospital since I was a baby. There"s not a person here who will believe you over me." She narrowed her eyes. "Tell me." "You"re pathetic," Sage sneered. "You can"t deal with the fact that your ugly, lame sister didn"t get the guy. I did. It"s so...Little House on the Prairie of you." Maxie ignored the comments. "Who gave you the drugs, Sage?" "I told you," Sage scoffed, "I didn"t give him anything." She tossed her head. In flash, Maxie"s fingers were at Sage"s throat, pressing harder by the second. "Who?" she demanded to the other girl, whose face was turning rapidly red. Sage"s eyes registered genuine fright as she realized the extent of Maxie"s anger. "Who?" Maxie demanded again, continuing to press at Sage"s throat. Sage struggled to breathe. "Tracy Quartermaine." Ch 4 "Maxie," Georgie complained as her older sister dragged her into the Port Charles Police Department, "what"s going on?" Before Maxie could answer, Lucky came over to them. "Hey Maxie," he said, "Hey Georgie, what"s going on?" "Ummm...we need to see our dad," Maxie told him. Lucky nodded and walked away. "Hey Commissioner," he said, sticking his head into Mac"s office, "Maxie and Georgie are here." "Maxie, what"s this about?" Georgie asked as Mac came over. "That"s what I"d like to know," he said, his face concerned as he looked at his daughters. "Why aren"t you two at the hospital? Are you okay? What"s this about?" Maxie looked from Mac to Georgie, back to Mac, and back to Georgie. "Dillon," she informed them. Georgie scowled. Mac raised his eyebrows. "Dillon?" he repeated. "Maxie, why are you here talking about Dillon?" He peered at Georgie. "And what"s that look that Georgie has?" Maxie ignored Mac for a minute, grabbing Georgie by the shoulders. "Georgie," she said, "Dillon didn"t cheat on you." At the sound of this, Mac"s eyes flashed with anger. Georgie looked miserable. "Yes, he did, Maxie," she insisted. Her jaw trembled and she looked like she would be sick. "I walked in on them." "What the hell is going on?" Mac demanded. His overprotective dad instincts were kicking in. Maxie held Georgie"s hand as she turned to Mac. "Georgie saw Sage and Dillon having sex last night," she began. "What?" shouted Mac. He didn"t like Dillon and didn"t want his daughter in the guy"s bed, but Dillon sure as hell better not cheat on Georgie. "Wait a sec," Maxie held up a hand. She gestured her family closer. "Dillon was brought into the hospital today-" "-Yeah, I know, Maxie," Georgie said miserably. "Let me finish!" Maxie snapped. At Georgie"s hurt look, she rubbed her sister"s hand. "I"m sorry, I"m sorry," she soothed. "Look, I overheard Ned talking with Dr. Quartermaine, okay? The reason Dillon was so sick is because he was reacting to rohyphol." "The date rape drug," Mac stated. Georgie"s eyes flew open. "Oh my god, what?" she cried. "Dillon was raped?" "Shhh..." Maxie said quietly. "I went to see Dillon. He told me that the only thing that he"d had to drink that day that hadn"t been in a can had been a screwdriver Sage gave him." Georgie fumed. "I knew it," she grumbled. "I knew she was bigger trouble than Dillon could handle." "Maxie, wait," Mac said sternly. "Is there more?" Maxie nodded. "I saw Sage in the hospital," she said, "I confronted her and she denied it at first, but then I pushed and she said that Tracy Quartermaine gave her the drugs to give to Dillon." Georgie leaned against Maxie, feeling exhausted. The Quartermaines were filled with liars, schemers and manipulators, and Tracy was the worst of all. There was no telling what she and Sage had up their sleeves. Mac sighed. He felt a headache coming on. "Officer Spencer," he called. Lucky came over. "Yeah Commissioner?" "Hey," Ned said quietly, sticking his head into the room. "How are you feeling?" Dillon smirked with irony. "Mentally or physically?" Ned nodded, smiling sympathetically. "Let"s start with physically." He pulled a chair over to the side of the bed, sitting down. "Well," Dillon began, "I finally got rid of that feeling like I"m about to hurl every five minutes." He paused, shaking his head. "Except when I think about what I did to Georgie," he corrected himself quietly. "So I pretty much still feel like I"m about to hurl every give minutes. But I"m pretty sure it"s not from the drugs." He closed his eyes. How the hell had he gotten there? Ned watched his younger brother, wondering the same thing. How had Dillon come into a position where this could happen to him? What had gone wrong? How, Ned wondered, could he have failed his younger brother? "Dillon," he said softly. Dillon opened his eyes. "Alan wants you to talk to someone from psych," Ned informed him. "A..um.." "A rape counselor," said Dillon dully. Ned nodded. "Yes." "Look, Ned, man," Dillon protested, pushing himself to a sitting position, "I don"t need to talk to any counselor. It"s not like when some guy grabs a girl in an alley and holds her at knifepoint. It"s not the same with guys." Ned nodded. "Maybe not exactly the same," he conceded, "but it still happens. Men are still vitimized. And in this case, that"s you." He sighed. "Look, no one is forcing you, okay? But you"re going to have to deal with this trauma, and maybe it would help to talk to someone." Dillon shook his head. "The only trauma I have," he said, "is about betraying Georgie." He pressed his fingers to his temples. "Damn it!" he cried. He looked at his brother. "Ned, Georgie and I promised ourselves to each other. We swore. We swore we would have our first time together, and I just - I completely blew that." His eyes burned. "She"s never going to forgive me." "Dillon," Ned said firmly. "You were drugged." Dillon shook his head violently. "Doesn"t matter," he insisted, "I should have - I should have stopped it." He was fierce. "My love for Georgie should have been stronger than the drugs. I should never have had the drink or, or -" "Dillon," Ned cut him off. "I know how awful you feel about this whole thing but-" Suddenly, Ned"s cell phone rang. "One sec," he said, picking up the phone. "Ned Ashton." He nodded. "Yes. Yes it is." Ned"s eyes popped wide. "What? Well are they sure?" He nodded again. "Okay, thank you." He hung up the phone, breathing heavily. "What?" Dillon asked, starting to panic. "What is it?" He looked wide-eyed at Ned. Ned sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. He looked at Dillon. "There"s been an arrest made in your case." "Who, Sage?" Dillon asked, though it seemed obvious to him. "No." Georgie stood in the doorway. "Your mother." Ch 5 Dillon sat up quickly. "Georgie," he said softly, his breath catching in her throat. Ned looked at Dillon, whose face was bright with desperate hope and panic. Then he looked at Georgie. Her eyes conveyed little emotion, her face cloudy. "What happened?" Ned asked softly. He gestured to her. "Come on in." Closing the door, Georgie stepped into the room, crossing her arms over her chest. "Sage told Maxie that Tracy gave her the drugs," she told the men stiffly. "Maxie went to Mac and Sage was brought in. She tried to deny it but she failed the lie detector. So now Tracy"s in jail." A smirk played at Georgie"s lips. She wasn"t a vindictive person, but the idea of the usually immaculate Tracy Quartermaine sitting in a six by nine cell dressed in prison blues warmed her heart a little. Dillon watched her fight a smile, thinking that if he were Georgie, he would have been dancing in the streets. "Was that part of the plan?" He asked quietly. Ned raised an eyebrow. "The plan?" he repeated. Dillon nodded, pressing his lips together. "The deal that Mo-" he paused, choking on the word. He smiled bitterly. "-that Tracy made with Georgie." Georgie"s eyes widened. "How do you know about that?" she asked, almost accusatorily. Dillon sighed. "Maxie came by. She overheard Ned and Alan talking. She told me everything." He stared longingly at Georgie. She fought tears. Sighing, Ned stood up. "I"m going to give you two some time," he said softly. He turned to Dillon. "In the meantime, I"m going to call Alexis. I have a feeling you may need some legal advice." Dillon nodded. "I want emancipation," he told his brother. "I"m not living in that house anymore." Ned nodded, understandingly. "I know," he said, "in the meantime, you"ll move into the gatehouse with me. I"ll have the staff move your things." Dillon reached out his hand to shake Ned"s. "Thank you," he replied simply. Ned headed toward the door, stopping next to Georgie. He put a hand on the girl"s shoulder. "I can"t tell you how sorry I am for what our mother did," he said softly. Georgie nodded. "Thanks," she whispered. Nodding back, Ned left, leaving Georgie and Dillon alone. Georgie offered Dillon a hint of a smile. "How are you feeling?" she asked quietly. Dillon looked at her sadly. "Like hell," replied. "You?" Georgie nodded. "Worse." The sick feeling came back. "I hate myself," he said quietly. "You are the one person in the world who I love, and I hurt you more than I ever thought I could hurt someone." He took a few deep breaths, willing the queasiness to subside. Georgie stared at him, lying in the hospital bed. "This isn"t fair," she said softly, her voice starting to tremble. "What isn"t fair?" He asked, almost whispering, though he knew nothing was fair. Georgie"s voice shook as she fought tears. "I know I"m supposed to tell you that it isn"t your fault that you were-" she stopped, breathing heavily. "But I can"t. What I walked in on didn"t look like rape, Dillon." She glared at him. "What were you thinking?" Dillon shuddered. "I don"t...I don"t remember much," he confessed. "Except your face." He closed his eyes against the memory. Georgie gulped, fighting tears. She closed her eyes, squeezing them tight. "Why did you make that deal with my mother?" Dillon lamented. "She"s a snake, Georgie, she was never going to come through." Georgie"s eyes snapped open. "You"re right," she snapped. "Tracy is an evil, lying bitch and I hope she rots, but you should never have put me in the position where I felt desperate enough to make a deal with her." She shook her head at Dillon. "Why couldn"t you have walked away from Alcazar when I asked you to, when your brother asked you to, when Alcazar asked you to?" She glared at him. "You told me that you realized what a manipulative, lying brat Sage was and you still didn"t stay away. What should I have done, Dillon? Taken off my clothes and climbed into your lap in the middle of chem lab? Would that have gotten your attention?" Angry tears pricked at her eyes. "You were supposed to be different," she hissed. "You were supposed to to want me, not drool after the MTV wannabe like every other stupid, hormone-driven teenage boy." The defensiveness that might have risen in Dillon lay crumpled in the pit of his stomach. "I do want you," he whispered, nearly crying. "I"m so so sorry. I can"t even say how sorry I am." Tears fell from his eyes. "Georgie, I"m going to regret this all my life. I"m so sorry." Crying herself, Georgie stared at him. She shook her head. "It"s not enough," she choked. "Not now." Sobs racked her body. Dillon"s shoulders shook with his own sobs. He wanted desperately to reach out for her, to hold her and comfort her, to kiss away her tears and erase all the hurt and pain, but he knew there was no easy fix. "I"ve gotta go," Georgie choked, unable to stay in the room with him any longer. Still crying, she turned to leave, walking toward the door. Panic rose through Dillon"s body, fearing she"d never come back. "Georgie," he called out. "I love you." She sobbed harder as she turned around to face him. "I know you do." The door closed behind her. Ch 6 "Georgie, is that you?" Georgie slumped against the doorframe, groaning inwardly at the sound of Mac"s voice. She had no energy to deal with the lectures about Dillon and what she knew would be an endless series of "I told you so." "Yeah Mac," she called dejectedly. She walked over to the couch, flopping down. The past 24 hours had easily been the most hellish of her life. Georgie pressed her fingers to her temples, thinking she would pay to revisit prom night after the disaster her life had suddenly become. "Georgie?" Mac walked into the living room. She raised her head, staring at him with cold, dull eyes. "I don"t want to hear it, Mac," she warned. "Whatever it is you have to say, I already know it." Mac stared at his broken daughter. He knew that she"d been to hell and back in the past day. His mind swam with everything that he could have done to keep this from happening and he knew there was nothing. And now? Well, there were plenty of people he would have liked to kill - Tracy, Sage, Dillon...that might make him feel better, but, he realized, it would do nothing to help his daughter. "Do you want blueberry pancakes?" He offered, knowing Georgie"s comfort food. He knew there was nothing he could say at the moment to make her feel better. She looked up at him, nodding tearfully. "Yeah," she whispered. As Georgie stood up, Mac kneeled down, his back to her. "Hop on," he instructed. Georgie smiled slightly, shaking her head. "Daddy," she protested,"I"ll break your back." Mac knew she was probably right, but it didn"t matter. If nothing else, for that moment, he needed her to be a little girl again, before this kind of pain could reach her. He nodded. "Sure," he agreed. "But that"s what teenage daughters are supposed to do." Georgie laughed slightly. She knew he was trying to help her keep her mind off Dillon. It wouldn"t work, but for a while, she would let him try. "Okay," she agreed, climbing gingerly on his back. A lump formed in Mac"s throat as he felt Georgie"s arms wrap around his neck. He swallowed it, sighing inwardly as he carried his daughter into the kitchen. Tracy fingered the collar of her denim prison issue shirt with disgust as she waited in the visitation room. The door opened and a blonde woman was led in. Not a word was spoken until the door closed, leaving the two women alone in the stark space. "You"re sure no one recognized you?" Tracy demanded. Sage smirked, flipping the blonde locks. "Of course not," she tossed off. "No one would recognize me with this wig on." "You better hope not," Tracy snapped. She peered at the girl. "You screwed up your mission. How do you expect this to work if you go landing Dillon in the hospital? And what in God"s name were you thinking telling Maxie Jones that I gave you the pills to drug my son with?" "She was trying to kill me!" Sage whined. "Oh, don"t be overdramatic," Tracy yawned exaggeratedly. Sage stuck out her lower lip. "Besides, you never told me that having Georgie barge in on Dillon and I was part of the plan!" Tracy shook her head, grinning. "Sweetheart, hasn"t anyone ever told you that you always need to have insurance? Thank god I did - you were only supposed to give Dillon half that drink. Imagine if he didn"t remember sleeping with you and just went back to that little dishrag? It would defeat everything we"ve worked for." Sage scowled. "But when we met in Geneva, you said you would help me," she protested. "Oh no," Tracy corrected, shoving her still-perfectly manicured finger in Sage"s face. "I said we could help each other. You"re the one who wanted revenge on your uncle for not protecting your precious daddy." "Well, it"s not working," Sage complained, scratching her head. "Dillon is still in love with Georgie." Tracy scoffed. "I don"t give a damn," she stated harshly. "This isn"t about love. It never was." A glint came over her eye. "I don"t understand why we can"t just steal Uncle Lorenzo"s money," Sage whined. "Why do I have to be stuck in this backwater hell?" Tracy narrowed her eyes. "Patience, my dear girl," she told Sage. "I have to do this from the inside. Dillon is the perfect way for me to get close to your uncle. And since you obviously weren"t succeeding at getting his so- called girlfriend out of the way, I had to take matters into my own hands." She sneered. "You ought to be grateful that I have such ingenuity." "Yeah, but it"s not working!" Sage leaned over the table. "Listen to me," Tracy snapped, leaning toward Sage. "You screwed up, but you at least managed to accomplish a small part of your task - you got Dillon to sleep with you. That"s a step. As soon as I"m acquitted, we"ll put the rest of the plan into action." Sage sulked. "But Dillon won"t go for it," she objected. "He won"t leave Georgie." Trac sneered. "Somehow I don"t think Georgie will want much to do with Dillon after catching him in bed with you," she pointed out. "Besides, even if the little schoolgirl did decide to forgive Dillon, it doesn"t matter. Once your uncle thinks that you"re carrying Dillon"s child, he"ll make my son marry you." Ch 7 One month later... "You okay?" Ned asked quietly, as Dillon tugged at his tie, waiting for the trial to begin. "Yeah," Dillon mumbled, distracted, looking down the corridor. "Excuse me a sec." He walked down the hall, approaching her. "Hey," he said quietly, his hand creeping up to the back of his head. Georgie turned around. "Hey," she whispered back. They stood in awkward silence for a moment. "So, um, how have you been?" Dillon tried. "Okay," Georgie hedged. "How about you?" "Okay," he repeated. He traced a pattern on the floor with the toe of his dress shoe. Georgie fingered her scarf. "I"ve been spending a lot of time at the hospital," she offered, trying desperately to sound off-hand, "you know, keeping busy and all..." For a moment, Dillon managed to catch her eye. "You"ve been avoiding me," he informed her quietly. "No!" Georgie started to say. "Not at all!" But she realized that she was too tired to go on playing games. She looked down, nodding. "Yeah," she conceded. "I have." Before Dillon could respond, Ned was walking toward them. "We"re starting," he told them quietly. "Hi Georgie." "Hi Ned," she replied. The three of them walked toward the door of the courtroom. Dillon put his hand out, pulling it back just before it touched her shoulder. "Will you sit with me?" he asked softly. Georgie looked down. "I...I don"t think I can," she whispered, her voice pained. Dillon nodded. "Okay." He stepped aside. "After you." "Thanks," Georgie whispered. "Good luck." "Thanks," Dillon mouthed. Georgie walked into the courtroom, sliding into a seat in the back row. Dillon sighed. "Mr. Quartermaine," the attorney asked him during the cross, "did you consent to sexual intercourse at time?" "Well, yeah," Dillon began, "but-" "You see," the attorney interrupted, cutting him off, "the plaintiff admits that he was not lured into bed under duress." "Objection!" Alexis cried, jumping to her feet. "My client was under emotional distress and the influence of debilitating drugs. Clearly he was under duress." "Objection sustained," the judge conceded. He looked at the defense attorney. "Guard your conduct, counselor," he said quietly. Dillon tried not to smirk as the defense attorney averted his eyes. "Withdraw the question, Your Honor," he said. "No further." "Mr. Quartermaine, you may step down." Dillon nodded as he exited the witness stand. As he walked back to his seat, his gaze wandered for a moment to the other side of the room. Tracy sat up straight, impeccably dressed as always, a contemptuous sneer just below the surface of her steely expression. Dillon looked away before his eyes could meet Tracy"s. He slid into his chair, feeling Ned"s eyes on him. "She really doesn"t give a damn, does she?" Dillon muttered. Hearing his brother"s words hit Ned hard. A lump formed in his throat. "I"m sorry," was all he could say. "Ms. Davis, call your next witness," the judge ordered. Alexis rose to her feet. "The prosecution calls Lorenzo Alcazar," she stated clearly. "Mr. Alcazar," Alexis began, once he"d been sworn in. "Were you aware of who Dillon Quartermaine was when you first encountered him?" Alcazar nodded. "Yes," he replied. "I knew he was Tracy Quartermaine"s youngest son." "And how were you aware of this fact?" Alexis asked, pushing her glasses up on her nose. Alcazar took a breath. "I had once believed Dillon Quartermaine to be my son." Ch 8 "Order!" The judge called, banging his gavel. Order in this courtroom!" Amid the gasps, Dillon felt the blood draining from his head. He leaned over, whispering weakly to Alexis. She nodded. "Your Honor, I"d like to request a brief recess for my client." The judge looked at the pale boy and nodded. "Fifteen minutes," he granted. "Thank you, Your Honor," Alexis replied as Dillon slipped out of his seat, walking quickly toward the exit. As Ned twisted around to make sure his brother was okay, he noticed another figure follow Dillon out of the courtroom. Dillon closed his eyes, gulping in air as the snow fell down on him. He couldn"t think or he would fall over. Dillon felt something touch his arm.

"Yeah," Jim retorted. "Like us." Pam cracked up. Jim smiled at the sound of her laughing. "Love ya, Halpert," she said, affectionately. He grinned. "Back at you, Beesly." They sat with their respective phones to their ears, in warm silence, for a minute. "So you know you have to find a way to get Dwight caught in public with one of those Penthouses, right?" He nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah. I"m thinking inside his Star Wars Encyclopedia." March, 2000 Temple University "All I"m saying is if I ever start referring to these as the best years of life, remind me to kill myself." "Best. Movie. Ever," Pam announced as she and Jim chorused one of many beloved lines from "Dazed and Confused," one of the cinematic masterpieces of their adolescence. Jim nodded in agreement, holding up his grape soda can for Pam to bump hers with. ("No chance, Jim, you cannot bring beer in here. If my suitemate sees, she"ll report us to the R.A. And to Jesus. Not in that order," Pam had informed him when he"d offered to bring along some Labatt or Sam Adams on his visit). It had started pouring mere hours after Jim"s arrival to Temple University, where Pam had recently declared a major in art history, with a double minor in studio art and business. Rather than braving the rain, the two of them had holed up in Pam"s room, ordered a pizza, raided the vending machine and settled in for an afternoon of beloved 90s movies. A sharp knock came on the door. "Pamela," an even sharper voice called. "A man is here to deliver a pepperoni and mushroom pizza, and as I do not eat pepperoni, I can only assume the delivery is for you." Jim"s eyebrows shot to his hairline. Pam pursed her lips, suppressing a giggle. "See?" she mouthed to him. Out loud, she called, "Thank you, Angela. I"ll be right there." She accepted the twenty Jim held out and walked into the common room she shared with her petite, severe suitemate. "Where"s the pizza guy?" she asked. Angela, who was standing with her arms crossed by the door, lifted an eyebrow. "In the hallway," she said evenly. "I wasn"t going to let a strange gentlemen in here." Pam was pretty sure Angela had been raised by the Amish. It occurred to her for a moment that she would probably be a good match for Jim"s old roommate, Dwight. Or for a nunnery. Sister Angela sounded pretty good, actually. Pam paid for her pizza and was about to head back into her room, when Angela blocked her path. "Yes, Angela?" The small, blonde girl, her pink blouse buttoned all the way up, cleared her throat. "Pam," she began, keeping her voice low, as the door to Pam"s bedroom was ajar. "If your gentleman caller -" "He"s not my gentleman caller," Pam interrupted. "He"s my friend whom I"ve known since I was an infant." Angela pursed her lips. "Fine then," she intoned. "If your...friend... is going to stay the night, don"t you think he ought to sleep in the common room? Or better yet, perhaps the resident advisor can find a male student on one of the coed floors to host him?" Pam raised an eyebrow. "It"s just not...appropriate..." Pam wanted to know whose propriety Angela was concerned with, but she kept a civil tongue. While her roommate was nosy, severe and judgmental, she wasn"t actually a malicious person. And, Pam figured, she had to live with Angela. May as well try to keep the peace. "Angela," she said calmly. "I figured you wouldn"t want a man sleeping in the common area in case you have to leave the room in the night." She fought back a smirk and raised her voice. "And Jim can"t stay with a stranger. He has social anxiety disorder. If he"s here and I"m not with him, he"ll cry and wet his pants." Before Angela could get a word in, Pam continued, her tone soft and sweet again. "But don"t worry," she informed her suitemate. "He sleeps on the floor. We wouldn"t want to be improper, right?" With a lift of the eyebrow, she knew she had won. Angela sighed. "Well, I suppose..." "Great!" Pam interrupted brightly. "Would you like a slice of pizza?" Angela rolled her eyes. "Pam, I have told you before, I am a vegetarian." Angela had told Pam that. Many, many times. But for some reason, unbeknownst to Pam, offering Angela a bite of a bacon cheeseburger or a slice of pepperoni pizza was highly amusing. "Right!" Pam said, pretending to remember. "Well, you could pick off the pepperoni." She knew this idea would provoke an entertaining response. "No, thank you," Angela replied tightly. "It would still be tainted by the meat residue." Pam prayed that Jim had heard Angela. She fought to keep a straight face. "Well, all right," she said. "I guess I"ll be going now. Good night, Angela." "Good evening, Pam." Bearing the pizza box, Pam scurried back into her room and quickly shut the door, setting the box on her desk, before she dove on the bed, stuffing the edge of the pillow in her mouth and bleating with laughter. Next to her, Jim was practically biting her shoulder to keep from being heard. "Meat residue?" he stage whispered. Pam laughed harder. "I know!" "Meat residue?" He made one of his perplexed "Jim" faces, and she was pretty sure he"d been a Muppet in a past life. Her whole body shook. "Jim, stop, you"re going to make me pee!" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Well, in that case..." he grabbed her around the waist and flipped her over on the floral comforter. With a wicked look, he commenced tickling her as she squirmed wildly beneath him. "Jim!" she cried, keeping her voice low enough to not arouse Angela"s attentions. "Stop!" When he didn"t desist, she brought her knee up and bumped his upper thigh. She didn"t knock him in the nether regions, but it was close enough to make him release her. "Careful there, Beesly," he warned. Pam smirked. "Oh, and speaking of peeing," Jim said, leaning back against the pillow next to Pam, "what"s this about me wetting my pants?" She laughed and shifted around, trying to get more room on the twin bed. "My god, you"re a giant," she complained, draping half her body over Jim"s and snuggling into his chest. Jim wrapped his arms around Pam and ducked his head down, breathing in. "Mmmm, this feels nice," he mumbled into her hair. She closed her eyes, resting her head against Jim"s chest. "Yeah," she breathed. They lay quietly, limbs intertwined, just breathing. Pam felt Jim"s chest move up and down beneath her cheek. Jim felt Pam"s ribs expand and contract under his arms. As minutes passed, Pam felt herself starting to drift off. Jim"s voice broke the comfortable silence. "Hey Pam?" "Hmmm?" she murmured sleepily, not opening her eyes. "Do you think we should introduce Angela to Dwight?" Suddenly, she was wide awake again. And positively snorting with laughter. "So, Karen, huh?" Pam teased later that night. She was propped up on her side in bed, peering down at Jim, who was situated amongst some spare blankets and a body pillow on the floor. "Yeah," he replied. "Karen Fillipelli." "Italian?" "I guess," Jim said, shrugging. "She"s in my History of British Rock class." "What"s she like?" Pam asked. He thought for a minute. "Pretty. Really pretty. Dark hair, nice eyes. Funny. Smart. She gives me a hard time. You"d like her." Pam nodded in the dark. "Yeah," she agreed brightly, too brightly maybe. "So you hit that yet, Halpert?" Jim guffawed. "Did I "hit that"? No, no, Pam, I have not remotely "hit that". I have come nowhere close to "hitting that". Hell, I"ve barely spoken to her outside of class." "Well, what are you afraid of?" she demanded. "Rejection," he said matter-of-factly. "Laughter. Hers. Tears. Mine. Humiliation. Also mine." "Wimp. You," Pam mimicked. Jim rolled his eyes. "Enough about my pathetic lack of dating life," he announced. "What about you? Fill me in. Anyone you haven"t made sleep on the floor?" Pam mumbled something indistinctive, but Jim was fairly certain he recognized one syllable. "I"m sorry, who?" he asked. She sighed in the dark. "Roy," she answered. "Just Roy." That"s what he thought she"d said. What the hell? "Roy?" Jim asked sharply. "Dumb jock high school boyfriend, Roy?" "He"s not a -" "Pam, come on!" He wasn"t sure why he was so irritated to learn about Pam"s tryst, but something about Roy just rubbed him the wrong way, still. "Okay, fine," she agreed, "he"s a dumb jock, but he"s not a bad guy." What the hell had crawled up Jim"s panties anyway? He was lusting after beautiful Italian girls. What did he care? "Oh yeah," Jim muttered sarcastically. "He"s a prince." "What the hell crawled up your panties?" Pam demanded. Jim scoffed. "Nothing "crawled up my panties,'" he mimicked. "I just don"t like how he treated you." Pam knew she should be grateful for his protectiveness, no matter how much of a fucking...guy Jim was being in his expression of it, but frankly, he was just pissing her off. "Well, that"s sweet of you and all," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "but I"m a big girl, Jim. I can take care of myself." "Pam, I-" "Besides," she pressed on. "It"s not like I"m getting back together with him. It was one night. He was in Philly for one of Kenny"s friends" bachelor parties and he called me. I haven"t heard from him since." A beat. Silence. And then: "Did you sleep with him?" Jim asked. He wasn"t sure what he expected the answer to be. Pam sucked in air through her teeth. "I really don"t think that"s any of your business, Jim," she informed him tightly. "Pam, come on, I-" "Good night, Jim." "Pam-" "Good night," she repeated primly. It was a lost cause. He knew it. Pam could be incredibly stubborn. "Good night," he groaned. Jim adjusted his body, trying to get comfortable on the hard floor, and breathed through the tension in the small room, watching the shadows pass on the walls. "Fuck." July 4, 2001 Scranton, PA With all the patience of the 21-year-old he was, Jim gave up his half-hearted search for a opener and jammed the beer bottle in his mouth, popping the cap off between his back molars the way his friend Mark had showed him. Of course, his mother would have a royal fit if she saw him do that. So he"d checked around him beforehand. Fortunately, Larissa was occupied inside for the moment. Jim tipped his head back for a long drink. "My god, Jim Halpert." At the sound of his name, he started, choking and sputtering a bit on the mouthful of Blue Moon. "Aunt Elyse!" He exclaimed, leaning down to give the tiny woman a hug. "Hey! When did you get here?" "Just a few minutes ago," she said. "Would you look at you? I swear, Jimmy, you get more handsome every time I see you. You must be beating the girls off with a stick. Or the boys, whatever blows your dress up, darlin"" Jim laughed. "Sorry, Aunt Elyse, not a team player here. Just girls for me." Elyse nodded, leaning in toward him. "I like boobs too," she said in a loud whisper. Guffawing, he put his arm around her. "You rock," he informed her. "Where"s Aunt Pam?" She nodded across the Beesly"s lawn. "Over there, grilling Pammy"s new boyfriend." Her voice dropped again. "Gotta tell you, Jimmy, that one doesn"t look like he"s got a lot in the sac, if you know what I mean." Her not-at-all subtle nod toward Jim"s crotch made it impossible for him to not know what she meant. "Jesus, Elyse!" He laughed, bright red. Elyse and Pam had been together for 25 years. Pam and Joan had grown up together, and Jim had known them both since he was two. Joan had even named her Pam after her childhood friend. Jim knew he could count on two things when Pam and Elyse came to visit. First, a lot of bawdy humor. Elyse, all 5 foot nothing, 101 pounds and 60 years of her, could joke about sex as well as any of Jim"s intramural basketball buddies at school. Second, that he and Pam - no, Pammy today - would be relegated back to childhood nicknames. No matter how old they got, he knew they would always be Jimmy and Pammy. "Holy..." Jim gasped, catching his breath. "Oh my... what the hell?" Pam smirked. "Oh, come now, James. I"m sure she"s a lovely lady, once you get to know her." "As long as you don"t light any matches near her," spoke up their companion. Jim laughed and clapped him on the back, but in a genuinely friendly way, not the "hey, look, we"re bonding as dudes" way that just really pissed Pam off. She"d been a little nervous about inviting Toby to the 4th of July cookout her family and the Halperts shared every year. They"d met in the spring when she"d taken a job at a movie theater by campus to make some extra cash. He worked the ticket booth at the same time she worked at the concession stand, and they"d started talking over brooms and dustpans when he helped her sweep popcorn kernels and Sour Patch kids off cinema floors. He was from Dunmore, just ten minutes from Scranton, and had actually gone to a rival high school. He was a few years older and the first guy she"d really dated since Roy, though he couldn"t be more different. Where Roy was loud, confident and, well, kind of dumb, Toby was soft-spoken, smart and shy. Meek, even. Sometimes she wished he"d grow a pair. "Whatever you want" could be tiresome to hear after a while. But despite his faults, if being too nice and accommodating was really a fault, Toby was a good guy and Pam found herself liking him. A lot. So she was glad to see that he and Jim seemed to be getting along. They peeked around the corner of the house at Pete and his new girlfriend with the red, red hair and the short, short tube dress. "Hey, do you guys think- oh god, my eyes!" Pam cried in a whisper, burying her face in Toby"s shoulder as Meredith bent over to fix her flip flip, revealing an expanse of pale white rear and, god help her, some lighter red hair. "Where"s the can?" she asked loudly. Jim groaned loudly. "Jesus Christ, Pete." "Your mother looks like she"s about to drop dead," Toby informed Jim. "Oh, poor Larissa," moaned Pam. "And poor Pete." The guys stared at her. "Poor Pete?" Jim asked. "Pam, I don"t mean to sound rude, but that girl is a disaster," Toby intoned quietly. She nodded in agreement. "No, I know," she said, "but ever since Audrina left him, he"s been going through this parade of train wrecks. Jim, remember that girl he was hanging around at Christmas?" He sighed. "Yeah, I"m not entirely certain she was out of high school," he said, "but this one makes that one look like Miss America. I can"t believe my brother has sunk so low as to sleep with...what the hell is her name again?" "Meredith," Toby replied, nodding at the redhead who had reemerged from the house and was now standing by Ed at the grill, scratching her underarm. "Maybe they"re not sleeping together?" Jim and Pam shook their heads. "No way," Pam said. "He"s definitely sleeping with her." Jim nodded. "Yep." "How do you..." Toby looked perplexed. "How can you tell?" Pam shrugged. "We know Pete," she said, gesturing between herself and Jim. Jim saw a flash of envy in Toby"s eyes, hearing Pam refer to she and Jim as "we." He felt bad for a second, but it wasn"t like Toby has anything to be jealous of. Not really. There was just... a lot of history. Yeah, years and years of history. But sometimes years and years of history lead to moments of odd tension. Like this one. Fortunately, Jim was well-versed at breaking up tension. "All I"m saying," he began, "is you couldn"t pay me to sleep with that one. And you could probably get me to have sex with a goat for a case of beer and a hundred bucks." Pam and Toby stared at him with matching sets of raised eyebrows and for a minute it was Jim"s turn to feel left out. Also, really awkward. Finally, Pam blessedly broke the silence. "Does Karen know about your goat fetish?" she smirked. "At least," Toby muttered, so low they could barely hear him, "at least we know she"s definitely a female." He was bright, bright red in the face. "I"m sorry," Pam said with a grin, clutching his arm. "What was that?" "Toby," Jim added. "Did you want to share something with the class?" Toby blushed even more, the deep shade of his skin against his blond hair making him look nearly albino. "I was out with some friends at a bar last year," he mumbled. "They kept insisting I go talk to this girl..." By the time Toby has stumbled his way through the story, Pam was full on crying, she was laughing so hard, and Jim was on the ground. He was pretty sure he"d peed a little, too. "Yeah, yeah, definitely. Uh huh, yeah. Yeah, I"ll call you tomorrow. Night....yeah, I love you too." Jim slipped his new cell phone back into his pocket and turned his head to Pam"s grinning face. "What, Beesly?" he demanded. She giggled. "I love you too?" she teased. "You guys are L-wording it now?" He shrugged. "Well, yeah, we"ve been official for like, eight months now." "Hmmm..." Pam lay back and stared up. It was nearly one in the morning. After everyone else had gone home or gone to bed, Jim and Pam had climbed up on the Beesly"s roof, staring up at the stars. It had been almost quiet, just their voices, the crickets, and the occasional car passing by. Then Jim"s phone rang. "Hmmmm, what?" Jim asked, his voice tinged with amusement. "What"s hmmmm, Beesly?" He lay back next to her, looking up at the same star cluster. "So you"re really serious, huh?" she asked. Jim though he heard a hint of something, jealousy, maybe? In Pam"s voice. But that was probably just his imagination. "Well, we"re not picking out monogrammed towels or anything," he said. "But yeah, it"s pretty serious." "You love her," Pam said quietly, tapping her fingers against the rooftop. It was half a question and half a statement. And why the hell did she feel like there was a hot coal in her throat? It was really fucking annoying. Jim gulped around his own sudden lump. "I love her," he said. "But if you mean is it the forever, devoted, spend my life with you love, I don"t know. Hell, I"m 21, Pam. I"m not even close to ready to be thinking about that kind of stuff, you know?" He pulled himself up to a sitting position and, feeling his movement, Pam did the same. She drew her knees to her chest, leaning her back against Jim"s. "She is," she informed him. "What?" he sounded incredulous. "Trust me." He shook his head. "No way." Pam nodded. "Trust me," she said, more emphatically. Jim exhaled loudly, letting his head tilt back on top of Pam"s. The idea that Karen could be looking at him as potential husband material, that she might even be at the point of thinking of anyone as potential husband material, was...not bad, exactly, just... overwhelming. He was glad he was sitting down. Pam felt the weight of Jim"s head against her own and closed her eyes. It was weird, a little, hearing him say "I love you" to Karen. She"d never heard him say "I love you" to any non-mom girl who wasn"t her. And they loved each other the way best friends do. This was, like, Jim-in-love. It was a little weird. Not bad weird. She was happy for him. She"d met Karen a bunch of times and liked her. Karen was funny, sarcastic and sharp. She had great style and she could beat any video game. And she had perfect hair. Honestly, Pam was a little jealous. Just of her hair. It was shiny and thick. And so smooth and straight without having to use a straightening iron on it. All Pam had was annoying frizz. Jim tilted his head slightly, feeling Pam"s curls against his cheek. He"d always been a sucker for curly hair. He"d asked Karen once why she never curled her hair. She"d scrunched up her nose and replied that it just wasn"t her style. Pam didn"t love Toby. She liked him, a lot. She cared about him and thought he was a sweet guy. They had fun together. He was even pretty good in bed, from what she could tell. Well, he was giving. Very giving, as long as she told him what she wanted. He definitely never tried to push her to do anything. Sometimes she wished he would, just a little. Sometimes she wished he"d be just a little demanding. But she knew he wasn"t the one. She knew maybe she should let him go, give him the chance to find someone who thought he could be the one. Maybe give herself a chance to find someone who could be her one. She didn"t really think too much about that, but she knew she probably wasn"t being fair to Toby. She cared for him though, a lot, and it was nice to have someone to spend time with. Especially since Jim hadn"t been as available for visits or marathon phone sessions since he"d been with Karen. "Does Toby know about..." Jim started, hesitantly. "The Incident?" She shook her head. "Does Karen?" He shook his. *** October, 2000, University of Maryland. He had no idea how they"d gotten here. The last moment that made any kind of sense, they"d been walking back across campus after watching a sketch comedy show, and the low hanging clouds had opened up. By the time they"d gotten back to his dorm room, they were soaking wet and breathless. He didn"t know how it started. He wouldn"t have been able to say, if he"d been put on a witness stand, who kissed who first. All he knew was that he was wet. And he was sitting on his bed. And Pam was on his lap, straddling him. And her hands were in his hair, tugging. And his tongue was in her mouth. She pulled her mouth from his, bending her head to the side and tracing her tongue along the edge of his ear. "Jesus fuck, Pam," he gasped, his hands fisting at her wet tshirt, as the sensation of her tongue went from his ear straight down to his cock and rendered him immediately rock hard. He was pretty sure he could mine for diamonds with this hard-on.

The librarians were a team of paranormal investigators. Usually their assignments appeared in a magic book. Jacob checked the book, there was nothing new. That was not good since their primary means of transportation was a door that could be set to any time or place- key word being "set.' She had no idea how or when to set the clock, luckily their leader Jenkins emerged, being an immortal knight his body did not require sleep. "Cassandra what brings you to the door?" the tall man asked. "I had a vision," she said as she brought up her mental matrix. It was her gift, to see a scene from all angles. She visualized the man"s cloths; he appeared to be a blacksmith. His blonde hair was wavy and long but caked with soot. His ruggedly handsome face with high cheekbones and blonde facial hair- was so innocent and sad. "A Viking?" she said to herself. That didn"t really narrow down a time period since Vikings existed from 789 AD all the way up to 1066. She tried to remember more; the water, the beach, the angle of the sun, the trees, the boats in the water- "Southern Coastal Norway- 921 AD." Her hands moved to set the door; it flew open revealing the mystery man"s humble shack. He looked at her with his light blue eyes, glowing in the light of the moon. Cassandra walked towards him as if in a trance, crossing through the door. "Cas!" Jacob shouted, running after her. The door slammed shut behind them, waking the other two members of the team: Ezekiel a young Asian-Australian man who"s was the tech and master thief of the group and Eve, their field leader. She was beautiful but at six feet tall with a military background she was not to be messed with. "Jenkins what the hell happened?" Eve asked. "I honestly have no clue," he replied. The book suddenly opened. "We have a new case?" Ezekiel asked. "It appears so- at some place called "Charm City"," Jenkins pointed out. Cassandra held the man in her arms she could tell he was tired since it was night but he was also in a great deal of physical pain. "What"s your name?" she asked in English. He answered in a voice that sounded Scottish or perhaps Welsh. "I am Erik, son of Buliwyf. Are you a seer?" "Uh yeah, sure," she answered "Seer" was strange word for a Viking to use. Of course it was also strange that the man spoke near perfect English. "I"m Cassandra." "Do you have visions? Do you see the world in a graph of stars? My mother told me it was a gift," he said through tears. "It"s why I was able to learn how to forge; how to create molds and cast swords all by feel. She was always so proud of me." "Was?" Cassandra asked. "She died of fever not long ago," he said, while lying down on the dirt floor. "Ever since her death I"ve been plagued with visions of a different kind." He held his head in pain. "Where did you learn how to forge?" Jacob asked, from the description of his visions it was possible he was self taught. "From my mother herself," he explained. "She was brought to this land as a slave; she built this place with her own two hands." "That"s why you live near the beach; to forage for food and water?" Jacob asked. He took a pot and a large blade and went to gather some supplies to create a means of boiling sea water. Jacob was the historian of the group. He knew it was common for the poor to contract typhoid due to lack of drinkable water. Cassandra held Erik. "Where is your father?" "Headed north from the Baltic Sea," he explained. "My father is Varangian- destined to rule his people.- Don"t ask me how I know that. If I say those words out loud..." he flinched, touching his shoulder. He needed to sit up: the wounds on his back were too infected. "People think you"re a witch?" Cassandra assumed. "But if he"s Russian why do you live in Norway?" "I already told you; my mother was a slave; although she loved him he could never take her as his wife." He sat with his legs pulled to his chest. "Where do you come from? And who is the man you travel with?" It was then Jacob returned and used Erik"s forge to boil the sea water, he made a tent out of leaves, instead of plastic to distill out the salt. "I come from a place that is unknown to you and the man I travel with- he is my guardian," she explained. "You come from the place beyond the sea." Erik lay on his stomach already aware of what was to come. "Cas I need to cauterize his wounds," Jacob instructed. She held the man"s hand. "This will only hurt for a short time." "I know," he was already in pain; this was nothing he couldn"t handle, "fy mhlentyn." "Was that Welsh?" Cassandra asked. Those words meant "my child.' As Jacob poured the water, Erik started to bleed badly. "Please hold me," Erik said to Cassandra as he held her hand, squeezing hard. "I know I can trust you- we need to head north to these coordinates." Instead of saying them out loud he touched Cassandra"s cheek shooting images in to her head. "Do you have a horse?" she asked. "I have a boat," he replied. "And you think we can make it to that location before your father"s party and defeat the demon destined to kill him?" she asked. "Come closer," Erik said, motioning for her to lay beside him. Cassandra laid down in the dirt, she touched his face. He was burning with fever. He kissed her lips, breathing in her energy. "You"re telepathic." Cas pulled away, "But I can"t change the future." Erik smiled. "How do you know?" he released her hand, his fever was so severe, he could barely keep his eyes open. Ezekiel and Eve stepped through the door, landing in an office building. "You must be the new hires," the tall blonde woman said, "I"m Jackie." The name of the building was Wayne Security, both Eve and Ezekiel questioned as to why the book would send them to seemly normal office space. "Who"s here for the lab tech position and who"s here for janitorial?" Jackie asked. Ezekiel volunteered to go to the lab. Jackie instructed him to find supervisor Emily. "You can"t miss her- she"s the one who acts like a kid lining up to try out for American Idol." Jackie showed Eve to the janitor"s closet. "Wayne security, in an effort to be a greener company now exclusively uses Atlantis water," she explained. "Atlantis water," Eve didn"t like the sound of that. Her team had dealt with Atlantian crystal- a compound that disabled a military base and nearly cost a member of her team his life. Jackie grabbed a spray bottle. "Yup, courtesy of our partnership with the Atlantian local government." "So it"s a cleaner?" Eve asked. "As well as a power source due to its extremely high boiling point, and a vital chemical in our labs due to its low freezing point," Jackie answered in a deadpan voice despite the fact that her description made the water seem like a life changing miracle. Meanwhile at the lab- Emily, the project manager, who appeared to be no older than twenty gave her own explanation to Ezekiel. The water was used as a solvent to clean chemicals but it also could be combined to create new compounds. "And it sparkles," she explained ending with a smile. Emily was beautiful; she was bi-racial; Hispanic and something else. Ezekiel didn"t care he just knew he was in love. "It"s really a miracle product," she said, handing him sample. "I guess you can do everything but drink it," he said, looking at the strange liquid. "You totally can, it"s like a protein shake," she said enthusiastically. Ezekiel took a sip it tasted sweet, slightly salty. He didn"t want to use those exact words. "It tastes like shrimp on the Barbie," he said. "Teddy, Ron and Wendy- this is Ezekiel the new intern," Emily announced. Teddy was a tall thin man in his late twenties, he appeared to be of Indian decent but spoke like a California tech nerd. "Did you seriously drink it?" he asked. Ezekiel looked to Emily. "She just said it was edible." "She also compared it to a protein shake," said Ron, a shorter African American man who was laughing so hard he had to sit down. "The joke is- it tastes like a certain male bodily fluid," clarified Wendy, a plain looking Caucasian woman with glasses and chubby cheeks. "Well you wouldn"t know that unless you already tried it yourself," Ezekiel pointed out. "Oh burn!" Ron exclaimed, laughing even harder. "So when you"re not hazing the intern what exactly do you do here?" Ezekiel asked. Emily stepped forward. "All joking aside our current project is a spray able shield." She took out what appeared to be an aerosol can and attempted to demonstrate by spraying the area in front of her as if painting a wall. Ezekiel could already see the problem. "Wouldn"t it work better with a spray bottle?" The stream of liquid was much too thin to make for a useful shield. Wendy grabbed the container "Then you sacrifice the speed for density." "But you need density to create a legitimate shield," he pointed out. "And I"m not talking about a normal spray bottle; maybe something along the lines of a water gun, or a nerf gun." "You mean the kind that you have to pump?" Emily asked. She looked to her team. "That could be kind of cool," Teddy replied. Eve approached Ezekiel. "Grab a spray bottle sample and meet me in the unisex restroom." "Miss Emily- I need to use the loo," he said quickly following Eve. "What is it?" he asked as Eve locked the door. "Cross the streams," Eve instructed. "Like Ghostbusters?" he asked. "You have a spray bottle, I have a spray bottle," Eve grabbed his bottle and demonstrated; for a brief second the waters created a portal. Ezekiel was in shock. "Did I just see Cassandra and Jacob?" "Yes you did, and if my calculations are correct they"re on a Viking boat, accompanied by a Selkie," she added. Ezekiel took his bottle back. "Aren"t Selkies female?" Eve sighed. "A Selikie is a siren; a master of seduction- they can be entire gender." "So is Cassandra in danger?" he asked. Eve looked in the mirror fixing her hair, "I can"t tell- all I know for certain is that the water isn"t the reason we"re here: the water is just a means of bringing something or someone into our timeline. We just need to play our parts and find out as much as we can- the real battle is on Cassandra and Jacob"s end." "Did you drink it?" Ezekiel asked. "Why would I drink it?" she asked back. "A few people in the office have consumed it," he said looking out at the floor of cubicles. Eve unscrewed the spray bottle. "Bottom"s up." She took a long thirty second swig and when she was done she felt very different. She heard a pidgin at a window then as she turned she shot a blast of wind from her hand. "I clearly didn"t take a long enough drink," Ezekiel took a thirty second swig. He looked at his hands, he started to rub them together. They felt warm. He placed his palms together as if in prayer. What came out of his hands felt like energy. "Fire powers!" he should excitedly, slapping Eve on the shoulder. "Ouch! Yes, I can confirm you have fire powers," she said as they made their way out of the restroom. "I wonder who else has powers?" she asked. Ezekiel looked out at the sea of cubicles. "That is a good question." Erik"s boat was a small wooden vessel capable of holding the three of them plus enough supplies to last for about a week. But after three days at sea one thing was certain Erik"s illness was only getting worse. "It"s defiantly typhoid," Jacob said to Cassandra as she prepared charcoal infused tea to try to ease some of the pain. "There are rashes all over his skin." The further they drifted north the weaker he became. "What if he"s a Selkie," Cas suggested, as she maintained a small fire inside of one of Erik"s handmade shields. "Did you find any evidence of seal fur?" Jacob asked. The myth of Selkies was they appeared as beautiful men or women but in taking human form they lost their seal pelt which was often hidden somewhere on the property. "I didn"t exactly have a chance to check!" Cas whispered. "Clearly he"s not human and there is no way he"s going to survive the journey to the northern territories." "What does that equate to?" Jacob asked holding his head in pain. They were screwed; trapped thousands of years in the past, on an impossible mission, with a psychic, telepathic blacksmith Selkie who appeared to be dying. Cas stroked Erik"s face as he slept. "He was never meant to leave that beach. So you have to kill it." "Kill what?" Jacob asked. Cas shrugged. "Kill whatever creature is destined to kill his father." She gently shook Erik awake. "Erik I need you to drink this. It"s going to help with your fever. The charcoal is going to detoxify your stomach and the clean water will help with the bacteria that are making you sick." His eyes opened slowly. He struggled to take a breath. Cassandra lifted his head, holding him in her arms as he took slow sips of the bitter tea. He looked her in the eyes, "I am grateful for your kindness, daughter." "Thanks, you"re sweet," Cas replied with her usual happy demeanor, "But why do you call me that?" "Please help me sit up," he said putting his weight on her shoulder. He leaned over the side of the boat touching his fingers to the gentle waves. "I hear voices, I hear my mother. But when I close my eyes, I hear so much more." Cassandra was smiling. "Your parents, when you were sick they called you crazy," he said with tears in his eyes. "They didn"t realize you come from a long line of crazy." Cassandra laughed. Jacob looked worried. "You"re my blood, that"s why I was able to contact you," Erik explained as he caressed her cheek, moving his hand down her neck to her collar bone. "Hold my hand." As their hands touched he felt Cassandra"s magic, the powers she wielded as a result of a mission where she took on the traits of the fabled Merlin. "Will you hold me dear daughter, will you share your magic?" he asked. "Cassandra!" Jacob shouted. He had a dislike of using magic, on the grounds that magic always had consequences. Cassandra ignored him. Erik needed her. "Here," she took his hand and placed it over her heart. Her chest glowed white with healing energy. Erik, kissed her neck, she could feel him drawing out her energy. Cassandra watched as the rashes started to vanish, but he still had a bad fever. "I need to go in the water," Erik said. He had been wearing leather pants and boots with no shirt all while sleeping under a thin blanket. He started to undress. "Should we look for land?" Cas asked. "No," Erik whispered. "Trust in me, my daughter. Only you truly know my pain." Erik moaned sexually as he slid in to the ocean, all while holding her hand. Cassandra touched his beautiful face, his sun-kissed hair that floated on the waves like foam. She held her hand to his chest, then his abs, his hips, his thighs as he disappeared under the waves. His beauty was uncanny. "I love you Cassandra." Cassandra cupped her hands over her mouth. "Well okay then- that just happened." "So we continue towards the north?" Jacob asked. Cassandra was worried. "Yeah I guess; as far north as we can with what little supplies we have." What if she was wrong? Yes there was the possibility he was a Selkie, but what if he wasn"t? What if the fever had driven him mad? What if she just allowed him to commit suicide? "Why didn"t I stop him?' she asked only in her mind. "Do you even know where we"re going?" Jacob asked. "I know what the destination looks like!" she said, getting emotional. "You know me! You know what I can do- if I say I know where to go I know where to go." "Look- I"m sorry," Jacob said, as he attempted to steer the boat. "You didn"t act this way when I kissed the vampire princess- or maybe you"re just not jealous when I kiss girls," she cried. Jacob rolled his eyes. "Do I have a reason to be jealous?" Cassandra shook her head. "Maybe- he understands me. Unlike you he"s not afraid of magic!" She stomped to the opposite side of the boat, which put only ten feet of space in between them. "You don"t even love me! You treat me like your baby sister- like I"m this fragile thing who can"t be trusted to run her own life." "I can"t love you because everyone I love dies!" he shouted. "Everyone I care about leaves me; I can"t lose you Cas- I just can"t!" She knew what he meant, but she still didn"t forgive him; she wasn"t "everyone" she needed him to trust her, to be her partner. "Set the sails to catch the incoming wind, we need to head 30 degrees west then follow the coastline for another day or so," she instructed before lying down on Erik"s blankets. "Cas, you"re going to get sick," he said offering her clean blankets. "I"m not eating the blankets!" she shouted. "I need to feel him. I want to know love. If you can"t love me then I"ll take whatever I can get." Three days had passed with no news. Eve kept working as a janitor using the water to create portals to look in on Cas and Jacob, while back in the lab Ezekiel helped the team advance the spray able shield idea. The young intern stood before the team with some schematics drawn on a dry erase board. "What we need is not a pump but an aerosol source powered by heat." "But that would be incredibly large, not to mention expensive," Emily pointed out. "Not if the source is the water," Ezekiel erased the board and drew a diagram of a confined area where the water would have no choice but to serve as a power source via compression. Ezekiel"s theory was that due to the nature of the water it could not stand to be compressed for a prolonged period of time. "How long would it take for you to make a prototype?" Emily asked. Ezekiel looked at the board. "On my own? Maybe a week, I guess." Wendy gave him a strange look. "No we would all help- you look like a nice enough kid. And we all love epic failing for hours on end until we reach a working prototype." "We usually order pizza," Teddy added. Emily laughed. "What made you think we would expect you to make a prototype on your own?" "Where I come from-I"m usually left to do the majority of the inventing while the other members of my team..." He stopped himself before he said something that would give him away, "...never mind." "You"re a college student right?" Wendy asked. "That"s what I meant- group projects," he said with a shrug. "I"m always left to do the majority of the work while the rest of the group is out having adventures." Suddenly an alarm went off; the building was going into lock down. Teddy groaned. "That"s just Jack-o-lantern, the friendly neighborhood super villain." "So no pizza," said Wendy. All of the windows were locking, but just as the last one did Ezekiel felt a gust of air. Suddenly the group heard a series of grunts and screams. And the man known as Jack-o-lantern, a masked flying creep who went around shooting red lazers, was suddenly slammed into the thankfully unbreakable windows. Eve appeared outside the window riding a mini tornado, carrying 5 pizzas. "Goku has got nothing on me." "You"ve heard of Goku?" Ezekiel asked as he opened the window to let her in. Eve sighed. "Japanese superman- yes I"ve heard of Goku. Enjoy your pizzas and get the prototype finished. I"m going to head out, see if there"s anything I can bring back that might move things along." "What"s your relationship with the janitor?" Wendy asked. Ezekiel knew he needed to choose his words carefully, because Wendy was clearly a gossip. "She"s my foster mom." Emily came in for a hug. "We didn"t mean any disrespect." "I know," Ezekiel said, "Now let me show you what I can do." He cocked his head and suddenly wings of fire erupted from his back. Since they were made of his energy they didn"t burn through his clothing. Emily jumped back. "This is a surprise." Ezekiel nodded. "Apparently drinking the water gives you super powers." "But no one here has super powers," Teddy said, mainly looking at Emily. "They don"t appear right away, at least for me they didn"t," Ezekiel explained. "Let me cut to the point- I think I can use my powers to take the water past"s its boiling point." "That"s not possible- its boiling point is around a thousand degrees Fahrenheit," Teddy explained. "Let me try- just for the prototype," Ezekiel looked to Emily. "I need you to believe in me." She shrugged. "Sure why not- so what do you need from us?" Emily asked. "I need the team to design a canister that is not going to explode once I get the water into a vapor form, and I need a supply of water like gallons of it that I can use- like you all said it"s probably not going to work on the first try." "Okay," Teddy replied. "I, Ron and Wendy will start work on the canister. Emily will get you access to all the Atlantis water you could ever want." "Really?" Ezekiel asked. "Come with me," Emily said, making her way to the elevator. "Do I need to bring a bucket?" he asked. "No, we have plenty of containers on the storage floor," she said. They made their way to the basement. She slid him a large metal container, roughly the size of a car. "Fill this up, using the access tube on that wall, it"s a direct line to the primary source of the water. Then you can practice your fire bending down here so you don"t destroy my lab." Next Emily slid over a smaller container roughly the size of a barrel. "This container is made of an alloy that can contain nuclear waste. If you manage to vaporize the water, this container will be able to hold it."

"Are you serious?" "That way we can both shine." "What about the judges?" she asked. Are you fucking serious? "You pulled together a party of people to fondle my dick I"m sure you can round up three of our friends to serve as judges." "True," Alice said with a smile. "What"s the timeframe?" "Tomorrow night, you fucking cunt." Ryo got out of the bath. "You do not speak to me in that manner!" Ryo grabbed a towel. "I will speak to you any way I fucking want! Tomorrow I"m going to the seminar with Megumi. The other two judges are of your choosing." Ryo went inside, he locked himself in Alice"s closet. With his knees pulled to his chest as he eventually fell asleep. The next day Ryo met up with Megumi at the entrance to the American food society. He knew to get there early since only the first forty kids would be let in. The line was massive but Ryo was well within the first forty. Megumi looked at the massive line. "I can"t believe there are so many Alton Brown fans." Ryo took her hand. "That"s why I saved you a spot." A few students in the line groaned. "No cutting!" Erina appeared. She grabbed Ryo and Megumi by the shoulders, escorting them inside. "Graduating seniors get first priority!" she shouted at the line. Megumi was blushing nervously. "Miss Erina you didn"t have to do that. Just because we"re graduating doesn"t make us any more important." "Like hell, it doesn"t," Erina laughed. "We all worked our asses off to get to where we are. And you two are two of my best friends." Ryo smiled. "That"s so sweet of you to say." Erina patted him on the shoulder. "I mean it. Ryo, you"re a star, you really came into your own during your time at the academy." She turned to Megumi, "And Megumi, do you remember Stagiaire?" "Yeah," Megumi wiped tears from her eyes. "You work so hard at everything you do- you are going to shine like a diamond in San Francisco. Anyway, do you two want to meet Alton Brown?" "Oh hell yes!" Megumi squealed. The middle-aged man emerged, he was holding a notebook still considering what to present for the content of his lecture. "Hello, you must friends of Erina, Congratulation on graduating from the academy." "Yes, Mr. Brown this is Ryo Kurokiba and Megumi Tadokoro." "The king and queen of seafood," the man said. "Youtube is chalk full of footage of your cooking battles." Megumi was so excited she could barely breathe."Oh my God Alton Brown knows who I am!" "Yes, all of the 92nd generation- with what you all endured to make it to graduation. There have been hundreds of videos of all of your food battles over the years. " "Yeah," Erina added. "Haven"t you ever googled your own name?" "No," Megumi said in a shy voice. "I felt the need to." Seeing how nervous Megumi was getting the man turned his attention to Ryo "Ryo, if it"s not too personal, what"s the history behind your bandana?" "It belonged to my father." Megumi looked at Ryo, she instinctively took his hand. He had told her the real story in confidence. Aboard the cargo ship carrying children from all over Russia mainly from the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk a city that used to be co-owned by both Russia and Japan, the crew wanted to play a little game. A group of very drunk men gathered the children. They singled out a little girl and started to tear her clothes off. Ryo offered himself instead. He got in his knees begging the men to beat him. They accepted and began to whip the boy with cables and chains used to secure the shipping containers. Ryo"s back was torn up so bad he eventually passed out from the blood loss. The last thing he heard was a man shouting at the group. "WHAT DO YOU IDIOTS THINK YOU"RE DOING!" Ryo awoke in the kitchen. A large man stood over the stove cooking all manner of seafood. Upon hearing Ryo try to walk off he turned around. He offered Ryo some vodka for the pain. Ryo noticed the man had bandaged his back. But on Ryo"s wrist was a flame-patterned bandana. He didn"t ask the man to teach him how to cook. Ryo"s father was a fisherman and his mother worked in the market. He knew how to cook. But the man offered anyway. He was a cruel teacher but when Ryo excelled, when he improved a dish to the point the cook was genuinely impressed the cook would reward the children with extra servings of food. But if he failed Ryo would be punished. It was the reason why Ryo"s fire, his warrior spirit, was ignited by the bandana. Megumi kissed Ryo"s hand. "Let"s grab a workspace before they let others in." During the class Alton Brown demoed his most famous dish, a crawfish boil. All while talking about his decades of work as a television star, but also how he chose to become a chef because he wanted to entertain. He was thirty-five years old with a successful career in film. But his dreams were bigger than just being behind a camera. He ended his lecture with, "It"s never too late to choose your own destiny." The students were free to recreate their own versions of a crawfish boil, to be tasted and critiqued by the celebrity chef. "Why did you stay at the party?" Ryo asked as he chopped vegetables using his uninjured arm. Megumi cheeks were flushed. "Two reasons..." He looked up at her. "Ok." "When we first arrived Alice tried to claim you were asleep, I knew she was lying. You were shivering..." "You wanted to protect me?" "Yeah. And ...this is so embarrassing..." She shrugged. "...I"ve always thought you were really hot." Ryo laughed. "What? You"re one of my best friends." "Yeah- you know what screw it we graduate in a few weeks. I think you are beautiful, sexy, and who you are is inspiring." She pulled down a stock pot. "But I know why you stay with Alice. In addition to tuition, we have to pay for our own ingredients. Her family is the reason you can afford to cook at the level that you do. You deserve to have access to the best ingredients because you are that skilled- that worthy." Ryo put down his knife. There were tears in his eyes. "I had it really rough as a kid. Then Alice"s family adopted me. If fate hadn"t brought her into my life I don"t know where I would be. She"s the reason I made it to the Academy, the reason I"m going be a chef. I owe her everything. I guess that"s why I let her do whatever she wants; whip me, drug me, choke me with a belt." Megumi dropped her knife. "You don"t owe her your body. And she sure as hell isn"t the reason you are going to be a chef! You have amazing talent. And I can"t believe she treats you like that. If you were my boyfriend I would-" "You would what?" he asked. Despite their difference in height, Megumi"s lips moved to his ear, "I would worship you: I would lie next to you in bed and watch you touch yourself. After I saw how you liked to be touched I would use lotions and oils..." Ryo struggled to breathe. "Would you like to judge a food battle?" "You versus Alice- in response to what she did to you?" "You might say that. Will you come to support me?" "Sure," Megumi said as she poured out a bag of mussels. "Should we add some monkfish?" Ryo asked. "That"s not really traditionally American." "But it"s the specialty of your village." Megumi smiled. "I remember the first time I prepared monkfish at the Academy." "...freshman year finals. You were so terrified." Megumi nodded. "But you with your cognac infused lobster, you presented it to the panel like the king that you are." "I can"t believe we"re going to graduate. Alice and I are going to work for her dad"s company in Copenhagen." "You don"t have to always follow her. I"m headed to San Francisco, even though my boyfriend is headed to London." "Soma is going to England?!" "I would have preferred we traveled together. But our dreams diverged. Would you like some gum? It"s Peach-Cola flavored." "Sure." Ryo held out his hand. Megumi took out a tin with a Japanese label. She poured a few pieces, placing one directly into Ryo"s mouth. "My mother sent them." She tossed the remaining pieces into her mouth, smacking her lips. Ryo gazed longing at her innocent pout. He glided his finger to her cheek, brushing a piece of hair over her ear. "That tickles." Megumi picked up her knife, caressing the rounded handle. "I shouldn"t have said that thing about if you were my boyfriend." "You don"t have to be embarrassed, we"re like family." "I"m not embarrassed." She was stroking the length of the knife handle, with her thumb rubbing the top. "I have an image stuck in my head; your naked body in my bed, my lips on your neck while I massage your chest with warm lavender oil. Working my way down your abs to your..." Ryo gasped. Maggie turned to see the boy leaning on the prep table. "Ryo! Are you alright? Is it your arm?" "I-I need to use the restroom," he said in a whisper. Megumi bit her lip. "I think I do too." They discreetly exited the classroom, once in the hall they ran to the women"s restroom. After making sure they were alone Megumi locked the door. Ryo kissed Megumi, their mouths joined together as he lifted her onto the sink. Megumi"s hands went for his belt. "Put on the bandana." "Alice doesn"t even let me wear the bandana, not after the first time." Ryo carried her to the back wall. He moved the girl"s panties, slipping two fingers inside her. It was clear how badly she wanted him. He rubbed his cock to get ready, but that wouldn"t be necessary. As Megumi grabbed the bandana, securing it on his head, in one quick motion. Ryo"s cock was raging. Megumi to keep herself from screaming as Ryo pounded her hard. She struggled to keep her legs around Ryo. Ryo loved fucking her, her innocent face, the expression she was making- if he didn"t climax soon he would be tempted to tear her clothes off. Oh God, here it comes. An explosion of cum filled her pussy, oozing down her thighs. Ryo tore off her panties and kept fucking her pussy until every last drop of cum was freed from his balls. There was a knock at the door. "Other people need to use the bathroom!" Erina shouted. Megumi and Ryo struggled to fix their clothing. Erina opened the Erina opened the door with a master key. "What? My grandfather is the principal." "Please don"t tell Soma." "That you fucked Ryo in the women"s restroom? Last night he fucked Alice, so I think you"re even. But yeah I"ll keep your secret on one condition. Did i hear something about a food battle going down at Alice"s mansion?" Ryo smiled. "You"ve invited, the more the merrier." After the class, Ryo hung out with Erina and Megumi for the rest of the day. The friends had coffee and talked about the good old days. Ryo did not ask Erina about her post-graduation plans, nor did it come up in conversation. At five pm they made their way to Alice"s mansion. The group entered the kitchen to the sound of moaning. Alice was on her hands and knees. She was sucking off Soma who sat in a chair. Akira was fucking her doggy style, with his hands on her hips. "You like that? You fucking whore. Do you like my big thick Indian cock?" Soma gripped her hair. "I bet you like mine, especially when I ram it down your throat." Ryo and Megumi were ready to back out of the room quietly, but not Erina. The girl bit her lip. She strutted over to Soma and kissed his lips. "Hey Soma, I can finish you off if you like." Alice pulled back, releasing Soma"s cock. "Excuse you!" "I have an idea," Megumi said, drawing attention to her and Ryo"s presence. "I think Alice should battle Soma." Akira finished in Alice"s pussy. "That could be interesting. You"ve never actually beaten Soma." Alice pulled up her panties, allowing Soma to finish in Erina"s mouth. "How about this," Soma offered. "If you win I will be your bitch until graduation. You can tie me up, whip me whatever your sick little mind desires. But if I win you have to treat Ryo with some dignity and Akira get to fuck you as much as he wants." Alice shrugged. The last thing she wanted was to come off as a coward. "I guess that could work." Erina swallowed Soma"s cum. She fixed her skirt to look as ladylike as possible. "You should know Akira is the master of tantric sex," Erina added. Her lips brushed Akira"s. "I remember that night like it was yesterday. Your body layout on my bed, covered in sweat." Akira unbuttoned his shirt; it makes me hot just thinking about it. God, I wish it was me going with you to..." Erina elbowed him in the ribs. "My travel plans are forever changing. How about we just get things started. Ryo do you have any wine?" "May I, mistress?" he asked Alice. "Sure why not." "What does this do?" Soma pressed a button on a device that shot a blast of air from a small tube. "You break it you buy it!" Alice barked. "Most of my equipment, you will never be able to afford without selling every hole in your body." Soma rolled his eyes looked to the Sous Vide machine. "I"ll just use this. And maybe the freeze griddle." "Are you seriously going to London after graduation?" Ryo asked. "Just for a year," Soma replied. He loaded the Sous Vide machine with three bags, one with steak one with shrimp and another with egg whites. "Hey Ryo, do you remember your first year Autumn Finals dish?" Ryo smiled. "Let me guess, you"re going to make it better." "Nah, just switch it up a little as a surf and turf." Akira pulled something from his pocket. "Alice, babe do you mind if I smoke?" "Smoke what?" she asked. "Something that will make your dish taste a whole lot better." "Sure, why not," Alice muttered. Akira pulled a joint from his pant pocket. He took a sniff before lighting up. "Hey Megumi, want a hit?" "No thanks." Akira put his arm around the small girl. "Don"t you want to have a little fun?" "She said no!" Ryo barked. The room froze. "Yeah Akira, have some respect," Soma muttered. Alice finished first. "This is my version of chicken pot pie." Erina looked at her plate. "It looks like a series of wafers held together by dots of cream." "Because it is," Alice explained. "There is a freeze-dried disk of potato, and then carrot, followed by a disk of chicken puree, all topped with a thin cracker that is meant to represent the top crust." "Oh! I get it." Megumi said. "When you break into a chicken pot pie the crust is the best part! You created a version that is all crust but with the same flavors." Erina chuckled. "Tastes like Styrofoam." Next Soma presented a round ball, dusted with freeze-dried toppings. Akira poked the ball with his chopstick, revealing the hidden soup. "Unexpected." Megumi took a taste of the soup, mixing it with the colorful garnish. "It"s beautiful. The spiciness of the broth, the sweetness of the shellfish..." "My vote goes to Soma," Akira declared. "Although Alice"s textures and idea were innovative what matters most is flavor." "Of course it does..." Alice muttered. Megumi nodded. "I vote for Soma as well." Erina kicked her feet up onto Akira"s lap "Sorry, Alice, he"s just better than you." "Would you like to taste my dish, Alice? I made one for you." Alice took the bowl she poked the ball releasing the soup. "I would hardly qualify this as molecular gastronomy." "I used the sous vous machine to par-cook the beef then I added thin slices to a seafood broth along with shrimp and strands of egg white (because I seriously didn"t feel like breaking down a fish) but instead of tying all of the ingredients in to a bag I created gelatin bubbles using your glorified helium tank.- I call it- West Lake soup ball." Alice took a sip. She hurled the bowl to the wall shattering it, before slapping Soma across his face. "Know your place, worthless dog!" Alice stomped to the bedroom, slamming the door. Akria laughed. "I think we all saw that coming a mile away. I"m heading home." "Yeah, me too," Soma added. His face showed visible concern for Ryo. "She"s going to make you clean all this up, isn"t she?" Ryo stood up to stretch his back. "Most likely." Erina stood up. "Megumi, I can walk Soma back to Polar Star if you want to stay and help out." "Yeah, sure," she nodded her eyes locked with Ryo"s. She waited until she heard the door close. "Any thoughts on the massage we discussed earlier?" "With me naked on your bed?" "Perhaps we can start with just a shoulder massage." Ryo shrugged. He pulled up a chair. Sitting backward he removed his shirt. Megumi gasped at the sight of his scars. "Did Alice do this?" "Not all of it. Alice has a game she likes to play. She"ll sit in a chair while I go down on her." "She whips you if you do a bad job?" "She whips me regardless. But the deeper scars are...let"s just say I"ve been a slave for most of my life." Megumi kissed his shoulder. "I remember the first day of school. I couldn"t take my eyes off of you." She took a tube of lotion from her purse, applying some to his skin. "During orientation, you were standing with Alice, with your head down. But when we got the chance to cook you suddenly had the most vibrant smile. I thought to myself, "If that boy was mine, he would always smile.'" "Who gave you permission to touch him!?" Alice shouted from the doorway. She had changed into a nightgown. "You need to stop this bullshit!" Megumi cried. "Soma beat you! You have to treat Ryo like a human being!" "But Soma didn"t stick around to make sure I actually abided by the terms of the food battle. And seriously, I stood no chance. Not with Erina and Akira on the panel." Ryo stood up. "Maggie, you should probably go." Megumi nodded. "I understand." After Megumi left Alice grabbed Ryo by his hair. "It"s time for bed." Ryo slept next to Alice, spooning her back. "What would you say if I didn"t want to go back to Copenhagen?" Alice laughed. "You honestly think you can make it on your own?" "You"re right," he sighed. "Do you want to fuck?" "You can"t be serious," she muttered. As he closed his eyes, Ryo felt her lips on his bare skin- she wanted him. And he had a plan. Ryo licked her earlobe. "Mistress, I beg of you. Let me fuck you, with my disgusting, low class, uncut cock." "Fine, I will allow it." Ryo"s eyes lit up. This was the first time he had initiated sex with Alice. Things were going better than expected. Perhaps deep down she wanted to be the submissive. "Mistress, may we try something new?" Ryo reached under her nightgown fingering her perfectly shaved pussy. Was she thinking of Soma? Akira? It didn"t matter. He took her hand, placing it on his bulging cock. "I want to make you experience something you have never experienced before." "Fine, just get it over with." Her voice was angry, but Ryo knew better. He had her right where he wanted her. Ryo left the room, returning with the pair of handcuffs hidden in his back pocket. His pants were open, revealing his hips. With one swift motion, he put her hands above her head and shackled her to the bed frame. Alice let out a gasp. "What is the meaning of this you filthy mutt!" Ryo placed a finger to her lips, "shh.." From his back pocket, he pulled out a stainless steel knife with gold details in the handle. "Is that one of the knives I bought you?" Ryo held the blade to her neck as he kissed her. "Yes, Mistress I keep them nice and sharp." He grabbed at the fabric of her nightgown and started to cut the silk dress off of her body. "Just fuck me already!" "Not until you admit you love my cooking," he said as he cut off her panties. "I tolerate your low-class pub-fare." Ryo shook his head. Erina had called him a star. And Megumi she saw him as someone with worth. His life was worth more than this- More than being Alice"s dog. "You know how I said I wanted you to experience something?" He put his lips to her ear. "I"m- leaving- you." "No, you"re not!" Ryo stuffed Alice"s panties in her mouth. "Consider yourself fucked." Alice spat them out and shouted, "I"m telling my mother!" "You mother loves me!" Ryo shouted back. He knew in his heart Leonora Nakiri would support his decision. She was not his master she was his friend. Ryo grabbed his duffel bag to collect the gifts Alice had given him over the years; designer clothes, expensive kitchen tools. "We graduate in a little over a week. I don"t need your money! But, hey, don"t get yourself too worked up. I"m sure Akira will be by eventually to claim his prize." Ryo slammed the door and ran outside. He looked up at the clear night sky. A single tear sparkled down his cheek as he smiled. "I really did it." It was a thirty-minute walk to the Polar Star. "I"m free. I"m free?" Ryo kept walking, he dared not look back. His mind was overcome with a strange emotion. Not anger nor was it sadness. For the first time in over a decade, he was free. And he was afraid of just what that entailed. "Snap out of it," he said out loud, reaching for his bandana. "You"re a warrior, a soldier. You"re not a puppy you"re a lone wolf!" He took a moment to rest. Ryo put down his duffle bag and pulled out a bottle of Cognac. "But being a puppy did have its perks." "You fucking loser," a ghostly figure appeared. It resembled Ryo in his competition, wearing the bandana. But this figure also had devil horns and wings made of fire. "You need to get up! Keep walking! Fuck graduation! Fuck this school! Keep walking to the pawn shop, sell off all of this crap and buy a ticket back to Denmark! Reclaim your restaurant!" "Or keep walking to Polar Star," said a second figure. This one resembled Ryo in capsular attire and had a halo and normal angel wings.

Ezekiel knew he needed to choose his words carefully, because Wendy was clearly a gossip. "She"s my foster mom." Emily came in for a hug. "We didn"t mean any disrespect." "I know," Ezekiel said, "Now let me show you what I can do." He cocked his head and suddenly wings of fire erupted from his back. Since they were made of his energy they didn"t burn through his clothing. Emily jumped back. "This is a surprise." Ezekiel nodded. "Apparently drinking the water gives you super powers." "But no one here has super powers," Teddy said, mainly looking at Emily. "They don"t appear right away, at least for me they didn"t," Ezekiel explained. "Let me cut to the point- I think I can use my powers to take the water past"s its boiling point." "That"s not possible- its boiling point is around a thousand degrees Fahrenheit," Teddy explained. "Let me try- just for the prototype," Ezekiel looked to Emily. "I need you to believe in me." She shrugged. "Sure why not- so what do you need from us?" Emily asked. "I need the team to design a canister that is not going to explode once I get the water into a vapor form, and I need a supply of water like gallons of it that I can use- like you all said it"s probably not going to work on the first try." "Okay," Teddy replied. "I, Ron and Wendy will start work on the canister. Emily will get you access to all the Atlantis water you could ever want." "Really?" Ezekiel asked. "Come with me," Emily said, making her way to the elevator. "Do I need to bring a bucket?" he asked. "No, we have plenty of containers on the storage floor," she said. They made their way to the basement. She slid him a large metal container, roughly the size of a car. "Fill this up, using the access tube on that wall, it"s a direct line to the primary source of the water. Then you can practice your fire bending down here so you don"t destroy my lab." Next Emily slid over a smaller container roughly the size of a barrel. "This container is made of an alloy that can contain nuclear waste. If you manage to vaporize the water, this container will be able to hold it." "Will I be able to carry it?" he asked. "There should be a motorized lift around here somewhere," Emily offered. "When you do come back to the main floor and my team will have built a rig to hold the compressed water. But of course we won"t be able to test any of them until we have your water vapor." "So you believe in me?" he asked. Emily laughed. "Why wouldn"t I? You have wings of fire. And your mom brought us pizza." "It"s just that since I"m so young a lot of people tend to disregard my ideas," Ezekiel said. "Are you a super-villain?" she asked. "No," he answered, confused. "Are you a henchman?" she asked, coming closer. "No, defiantly not," he said. "Then yes I do believe in you," Emily"s said as her lips touched his. "And I know what it"s like to be too young to be taken seriously." Ezekiel smiled. "You"re really beautiful." Emily blushed. "And you are all kinds of awesome." She stepped back in the elevator. "See you in a little while, I"ll try to make sure the team saves you some pizza." Cassandra and Jacob pulled on to a beach. It was around midnight, so the vision was not the same as the one Erik had placed in her mind but there was no doubt this was the place. They saw a group of what appeared to be natives; people in body paint, with torches. They spoke in a language that sounded like animal noises. Jacob spoke nearly every language known to man but this was a strange one; they were like a cult. "Cas can you get a read on them?" "I"ll give it my best shot," she replied. She used her powers to communicate telepathically. She suddenly screamed. "Erik!" The tribe had Erik"s body wrapped in a blanket. He slowly stood up, still nude. The native each took a turn touching his skin transferring what looked to be ash or body paint. A little girl stepped forward. "He needs to return to his mother," she said in her native language. "His mother is dead," Cassandra pointed out. "No, his mother is the Wendol queen," she said happily. "Come with us!" "Sure," Cas said. Suddenly the group pointed their weapons at Cas and Jacob. "No weapons?" Cas asked, referring to the swords they took from Erik"s shop. "Your weapons and armor will be safe," the girl said. "Will you follow me? "Of course," Cas answered. "But can I ask you a question?" The girl nodded, "within reason." "What is Erik?" Cassandra asked as she motioned for Jacob to abandon their weapons. "He is a prince," the girl answered. Jacob stood behind Cassandra. "What is she saying?" "We need to follow her," Cas said in a stoic voice. Erik suddenly fell unconscious as if under a spell. The natives carried Erik"s body to what appeared to be a waterfall, disappearing below the waves. "Can you swim?" the girl asked. "Yes, of course," Cassandra replied. "We"re following them in to the water," she explained to Jacob, in case he wanted to undress. "What? Why?" Jacob asked. "Because that"s where they took Erik!" she cried. Cas jumped into the waterfall fully clothed and Jacob followed suit. They emerged in a cave system. Erik was standing at the queen"s side; his body was covered in ash and black paint, he appeared to be in a trance. He wore armor made of bone and clothing made of, what Cas hoped was leather. The Wendol queen looked like a woman wearing too much eye makeup. She was pretty, if she wasn"t in an animalistic pose covered in bone jewelry and black ash she might even look approachable. "He was not meant to save his father," she said to Cassandra. "You"re not his mother," Cas replied. She glared at Cassandra; she clapped her hands above her head releasing a wave of energy. "Now your guardian will hear me the way you do." Jacob gripped his head in pain. He thought about ways to kill her; there were weapons in the room, he would only need to subdue her. "I am Erik"s mother, a slave, a worthless whore who fell for a Viking prince, for that I shall die- I must die," she roared, "but my son must live." Jacob kicked her in the chest, reaching for a bone sword above what appeared to be her throne. Erik grabbed him by his neck. He was taller and stronger then Jacob. Jacob kicked him in the stomach and grabbed the sword. He punched Erik in the head, before pressing the sword to the queen"s throat.' "Drop it!" Cas shouted. She ran to Erik holding him. "Do you offer us safe passage?" she asked the queen. "What are you doing Cas?" Jacob asked. "I do- keep your guardian under control and you have my protection," the woman offered. "You may have taken our weapons but there is a squadron of warriors coming to kill you," Jacob pointed out. "But not you," she said. "I will not die this day." She snapped her fingers and Erik regained consciousness. He fell to his knees in pain. "Cassandra, please stay with me," he pleaded. As she held him Erik silently mouthed the words, "Kill her.' "Keep him with you, keep him safe, and find his bride," the queen instructed. "And if it"s any comfort his bride is not your re-haired witch," the woman said only to Jacob. "Then who is it?" Jacob asked. "You"ll know soon enough," she replied. Suddenly a man with a bone helmet approached. "No!" Cassandra screamed. She knew who he had come to kill Erik. "The man you protect is a bastard," the warrior shouted. "Screw you," Cas said as she shot an energy blast at the Wendol king. A different group of warriors appeared. "You are lucky I value your magic," he said to his queen. "Put them in a cell- and keep them separated!" "You"ll take him over my dead body!" Cassandra used her magic to throw up a shield over her and Erik. The warriors all ten of them went after Jacob. "You will watch your lover die," the King said. "He"s not my lover!" Cassandra shouted. The King laughed. "The moment you drop that shield my wife will likely give you safe passage to the Viking village. But will you truly abandon your friend?" With that he left. Cas dropped the shield holding Erik in her arms. The Queen turned to them, "Dive back in to the waterfall take a right at the beach and run." Cas took the opportunity to leave. She and Erik hid in the cave system. "Is the Wendol Queen your mother?" she asked. "Sort of; my mother was a nymph, an artist, a healer," he explained as he located a torch. "She never scolded me or punished me. In fact to everyone who crossed her path she only ever showed kindness. Even to the people who were not kind to her. So in death her anger manifested into an un-dead creature that apparently this tribe of cannibals have taken as their queen." "Did you say cannibals?" Cas asked. "Yes and the King looks to kill me, because of what I am," he answered. "Because you"re her son, the prince of the cannibals?" she asked. Erik laughed. "I"m not the prince of the cannibals, my rightful kingdom is someplace a lot nicer then this." "Okay," Cas leaned back, making herself comfortable against the rock wall. "How do I kill a ghost and rescue my guardian and keep you safe?" Erik caressed her face. "Your magic; who you are." He leaned in close. "But first we need to make it back to the beach and retrieve a very sacred sword from my boat." Eve went back to the library; she needed to retrieve the Atlantis crystal. "Jenkins, where is it!" she shouted. As usual the library was a mix of random rooms that were in a constant state of reorganization. "If you"re talking about the Thaumatite stone it is way too dangerous," he shouted back as he emerged from a side room. Eve shook her head. "It"s the only thing that can save Cas and Jacob." "You"re wrong, there are other alloys that can contain the power of the water," he said. "Show me- because right now the crew of Charm City is working on a way to contain the water," she explained. "Their goal is to make an aerosol shield- I already know for a fact using a spray bottle can open a portal. If we can get the spray able shield to work we can bring Cas and Jacob back to our timeline." She took out her two spray bottles to give him a demonstration. "Where"s Jacob?" she asked out loud. The image showed only Cassandra and the mystery man held up in a cave. "Who"s the Selkie?" Jenkins asked. "The artifact, the target," she replied. "He might be Altantian." The portal closed. "Now show me an alloy that can contain compressed Atlantian water." Jenkins led her to a room full of underwater creatures. One tank held a large golden flatfish. Like a traditional flatfish it was bottom dweller with two eyes on one side of its body. "The molted skin of this Atlantian flatfish can withstand up to a million pounds of pressure," he explained. "How much do you have?" she asked. "Enough to line about a hundred spray bottles," he answered. "I usually keep it around for making armor." He opened a drawer and handed a fabric bolt to Eve. "Can it be manufactured?" she asked: even after they saved Cas and Jacob there was still the matter of helping bring the spray able shields to market; they could save a lot of lives. He nodded. "It can be grown by growing any flatfish in Atlantian water, but that process takes up to five years. I assume since the office is being supplied with Atlantian water..." "They could ask for a supply of actual Atlantian flat fish skin for a production run!" Eve exclaimed. Jenkins set the door for Eve to make it back to Charm City. "How we doing team?" she asked as she tumbled through the door. The fabric was deceptively heavy. "A lot of explosions," Teddy explained. "I think I found the answer, if someone would be so kind as to help me with this." "What is that, leather?" Teddy asked. "It"s Atlantian fish leather- don"t ask. Well actually do ask your Atlantian water people because if this works you"ll need a lot more," she explained. "What are you currently making the canisters out of?" "Magnetically enhanced iron," Wendy said. "It"s mold-able but it"s a pain in the butt to fill and actually attach to the prototype." "And the goal of the project is for the consumer to only have to buy refill cartridges, " Ron added. "Like a Soda Stream for self-defense." "Can you make them out of steel?" Eve asked. "They all exploded," Teddy pointed out, motioning to a pile of metal chips, behind a wall of safety glass. "But not if you lined the canisters with this fabric," she added. Emily sighed, "Worth a try." The prototype looked like a cross between a water pistol and a nerf gun. With it"s natural adhesive properties the fabric easily melded to the metal. Teddy used robotic hands, assembling the cartridge behind the glass then attempting to fill it with the water vapor. "So far so good, now the seal," he said out loud. "Now we are at the same place as were were with the magnetically enhanced iron- will this attach to the prototype?" The cartridge sucked itself into place as if it had a mind of it"s own. "Wow, that was lucky," remarked Wendy. "Should we test it out here?" "Since it"s already behind safety glass I think we should leave it be," Emily instructed. Behind the glass Teddy pulled the trigger and sure enough the gun produced a large shield that stayed up for well over a minute, enough time for a would be victim to run away or seek shelter. Eve was ecstatic. "Now we just need to make a second one." "Why do we need a second one?" Teddy asked. "There"s something I need to show all of you," Eve pulled out the two spray bottles. She performed her portal trick. The portal showed Cassandra and the blonde haired man retrieving a sword from a boat. "What exactly are we looking at?" Teddy asked as the image vanished. "A friend of ours is trapped in the past," Ezekiel explained. "Eve thinks that if we cross the streams using two shields we might open a portal big enough to bring them here." "Is your friend the red-head or the hot blonde guy?" Wendy asked. "The red-head, plus one other person who is currently missing," Eve explained. "But the blonde guy seems to be what the portal is locking in on, so no matter what you will get the chance to meet him. " She was addressing the entire group but only Wendy and Emily looked excited. Teddy rolled his eyes. "Well lets get to work on a second prototype to save your friends and bring a hot blonde guy into the lab." Since they already had the molds and materials it was a simple process to make a second gun. Once they had the second gun Eve and Ezekiel attempted to put their theory to the test. They crossed the streams and a sizable portal opened, only it wasn"t a portal, it was only a window. Wendy groaned. "Okay, I guess the question is will making a third or even a fourth gun cause an actual portal?" "One problem, we"re out of water vapor," Emily said. "We can"t make any more cartridges until Ezekiel refills the container." Eve sighed, "I"ll be back with more pizza." Cassandra and Erik located the swords. Cassandra"s attention was drawn to a plain weapon that appeared to be made of steel which was oxidized and chipping. Erik handed her the sword. "That one is made of Altantian gold. " Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Seriously?" He laughed. "I know it looks cheap that was how I kept it hidden from thieves." Erik looked at the sword with noticeable admiration. "This was my mother"s sword, you were meant to wield it. And when the moment is right, it will reveal its true beauty." Cassandra held out her hands. As she gripped the ugly sword she felt a deep connection. "So this sword can kill the Wendol queen?" she asked, as she held the handle. She could make out images of seals and fish carved into the metal. She resisted the urge to touch the rusted blade itself. "It"s her soul," he replied. "She will guide your hand, while I rescue your guardian." "What"s the catch?" Cassandra asked as she practiced her swing. "You need to kill the queen as quickly as possible. If she or her soldiers make contact with me I"ll back under her influence- and there"s no telling what I can or will do." Erik started to laugh, "And by that I mean I will fight your guardian, but - the odds of me killing him before he knocks me on my ass- not very high." Cassandra smiled. "I wanted to see your smile, daughter," he said as he handed her a shield. Cassandra and Erik suddenly saw a flash of light. It was a window, a portal to what appeared to be an office space. "Eve?" Cassandra said. "Cassandra can you hear me!" Eve shouted, before the window vanished. "What was that?" Erik asked. "I think the other members of my team are trying to find me." "To bring you back to your own time?" he asked. "I guess," she replied. "We need to get going." If Eve was successful in opening a portal they would need to have Jacob with them. Cassandra came back to the queen"s room. The creepy woman appeared to not have moved in hours. "Where"s Erik?" the queen asked. "He"s safe- where is my guardian?" Cassandra asked, to play dumb. Erik would rescue Jacob and meet her, but she needed the queen to believe her priorities had shifted. "Where is my son!" the woman screamed. Cassandra closed her eyes and held the sword forward as the woman lunged at her. When she opened her eyes the woman"s body was impaled on the sword. As if she had been magnetically drawn to the blade. The queen turned to ash, vanishing. From the ashes, a beautiful tall blonde woman appeared. "Thank you," she said. "No problem," Cassandra replied, relived. She had been in sword fights before, but clearly, this was not meant to be a fight, this was her destiny. "A gift," the woman added. Her spirit walked into Cassandra"s body, their powers melding. Cassandra"s hands were glowing light blue. She could hear the woman"s voice. "Next time your leader opens the portal you will be able to pass through." Meanwhile, Erik knew exactly where Jacob was being held. But cells made of metal and bones were often not very difficult to escape from. Jacob held a bone sword to Erik"s neck. "Why did she come back?" "Why wouldn"t she?" Erik asked. "She needs you, she loves you." They fought their way back to the queen"s room. Cassandra was sitting on the throne, glowing with energy. "Now what?" she asked. "Block the door," Erik instructed. He bowed before Cassandra. "I assume you possess her power?" "Yup," she said, giving a thumbs up. "Now it is all up to the rest of your team," Erik said he dumped a satchel on to the floor. It contained weapons and the remainder of the food from the boat. Back at the lab, the team finished the squirt guns, "Just out of curiosity, when these go into production you people have a way of making more water vapor, right?" Ezekiel asked. Using his newfound fire power was proving exhausting. "This is "Wayne Co"- as in Bruce Wayne- Batman," Teddy stated as he assembled the last of the guns behind the safety barrier. "Management will figure it out, plus there are literally dozens of superheroes in this city- one of them is bound to have fire powers." Ezekiel yawned. "So you seriously think more power on our end is going to allow them to cross over?" "It"s all we have," Eve replied. "Let"s do this," Emily shouted with her usual level of enthusiasm. Ron, Wendy, Teddy, and Emily made a circle with Eve and Ezekiel. "On my count," Eve said, "1, 2, and -3!" They crossed the streams creating a 3-dimensional window. A portal opened a massive ten-foot hole in the fabric of the universe. Erik, Cassandra, and Jacob looked back at the team. "Run!" Eve shouted. Cassandra couldn"t hear her. She charged at the portal, it was still a window. She took a breath and channeled her newfound powers. "Can you hear me Eve?" she asked. No answer. Cassandra focused harder. "Hold her hand," Erik said to Jacob. "Your devotion gives her strength." Emily"s team struggled to keep the portal open since the carriages were only meant to last for around a minute. Jacob gripped Cassandra"s hand. "You can do this." Cassandra, Jacob, and Erik fell through in a blast of blinding light. "Ouch!" Cassandra landed hard on her shoulder. "So, who"s the naked supermodel?" Wendy asked. "This is Erik," Cassandra said looking around. "Emily," Erik whispered. He didn"t know how he knew the girl"s name. He held her hand. "I know you; I"ve known you for a thousand years." Emily looked away. "Oh, holy crap you"re gorgeous." "And you are my princess," Erik declared. He kissed her lips and as he did her water powers unleashed wrapping her body in her water bending power. When the water dissipated Emily clothing had transformed to a sparkling light blue gown. The sparkling beads hung off her body like beads of water. "Of course," Ezekiel groaned. "Anyway, team this Jake and Cassandra, the other members of my team: or rather Eve"s team." Erik turned to Eve and Ezekiel. "You knew this was the way this fairy tale was meant to end," he said. "Both of you: the orphan and the soldier- were blessed with instinct and vision." He shook Eve"s hand. "Please take care of my daughter." "Thank you, I will," Eve said. Suddenly the main door to the office flew open. "I guess that"s our cue to leave for our next adventure." Cassandra gave Erik one last hug. "I"ll never forget you." Jacob patted a still irritated Ezekiel on the shoulder. "All"s well that ends well." "Easy for you to say. At least you got to keep your princess."

Alice was fidgeting with the cuffs. She grabbed Soma"s wrist, but Soma managed to spin Alice, reversing the hold, locking the cuffs onto Alice"s wrist. Using his body weight, Soma forced her to her knees. "Hey Akira, you want in on this?" As usual, Akria was in the corner with his cinnamon. "Why not. Let"s give the little control freak a taste of her own medicine." Soma opened his fly revealing his already hard cock. "Why don"t you tell me what my cum taste like?" Akira came back with a paring knife, twirling it in his hand. "Can we cut her clothes off? The ball-busting bitch always did have a nice set of tits." Megumi laughed, "Soma, baby, you have fun...make sure she doesn"t bite anything off." She knew what Soma was doing was not out of love or even lust. He hated Alice. As did Akira, especially after her year 1 Moon Festival bullshit where she nearly got both Ryo and Akira expelled. "Good point, Megumi," Soma said. "Akira help me get her on the table." With Alice distracted, and the partygoers out of the bed. The beautifully innocent girl went Ryo"s side. She loosed the blankets to be able to cover Ryo"s shivering body. Megumi spooned Ryo"s back, she hoped her body heat would keep him warm. She gave no thought to the fact that with the sticky residue on Ryo"s body she was messing up Alice"s linins. Ryo opened his eyes. Without his bandana, the young man"s large eyes were so gentle and kind. "Hey, Maggie," he said as he turned himself to face her. Megumi smiled. "I"ve always loved that nickname." "Will you stay with me? J-just hold me for a while." "Of course," she said as she put her arms around him. Megumi kissed his forehead as she lovingly stroked his back. "Soma may or may not be having sex with Alice while Akira jerks off on her tits. At least I think that"s what"s happening, a crowd is forming so I can"t really see too well." Ryo smiled. "You"re funny." "Are you ok with that?" "Alice getting fucked by Soma and Akira?" Technically he should help her but Soma and Akira were two of his closest friends, neither one of them had a malicious bone in their bodies. And knowing Alice she was probably enjoying it. "Why wouldn"t I be?" "If you love her..." "After what you just witnessed, it"s pretty clear where I stand." Megumi took a breath, eager to change the subject. "Are you and Alice going to the workshop at the American food society? It"s hosted by Alton Brown from that show Good Eats, where he makes classic dishes but also shows the science behind ingredients and techniques." "Alice hates that show," Ryo could not help but laugh. "She says his science is akin to Sesame Street. But that"s the point right?- to break down food science in ways people can understand. Not everyone can cook with an understanding of food science, at Alice"s level, but everyone who wants to learn should have the opportunity." "Yeah," Megumi nodded, "I couldn"t agree more." Soma tapped Megumi in the shoulder. He was zipping up his pants. "I need to get back to Polar Star to take a shower." "Soma did her up the ass!" Ryoko shouted. "It was awesome. Are you sure we can"t stay to watch Akira?" "No- As it is Fumio is going to kill all of us for staying out this late," Soma turned to Ryo. "Will you be ok? If you ever need a place to stay you can always crash at Polar Star." "Thank you, Soma. You"ve always been a good friend. Goodbye Megumi, see you tomorrow." Megumi kissed his hand. "Yeah, see you tomorrow. You get some rest." Ryo closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. "Mother, Mother is that you?" Eight years earlier- Ten-year-old Ryo lay in bed sick with fever, the virus was in his stomach resulting in horrible pain in the boy"s chest. Leonora Nakiri spoke with the doctor, "The stomach virus is treatable however the fever is very severe. As your personal physician, I would be willing to check in on him start a course of antibiotics, but I strongly recommend hospitalization." "Thank you, Doctor I will take that under consideration." The doctor left. The tall blonde woman entered Ryo"s room and sat on his bed. "How are you doing? I"ll have one of the maids being you some tea." "Mother," Ryo cried. "Mother, please stay with me. I"m so cold. Father is gone. His boat is still missing, he"s never coming home." Ryo was trembling so badly. Leonora"s heart was breaking. "You poor innocent little angel, I"ll draw you a warm bath." Ryo"s body was so frail she could easily carry him in her arms. She removed only his shirt, leaving his lower body covered. She knew there were plenty of robes in the linen closet. The thick cotton fabric would be warmer than the boy"s pajamas. She laid his body in the bathtub. As she turned on the faucet to fill the tub she made sure to place a warm washcloth on Ryo"s forehead. "Mother, I beg of you please hold me." The woman"s hand touched Ryo"s back. He was covered in scars, the result of years of physical abuse. There was no doubt in her mind or her heart, this poor child needed her love and affection. Leonora was wearing a low cut gown that exposed her soft supple breasts. She put her arms around him allowing the little boy rested his head against her chest. She could feel his tears on her skin. "You"re safe here. I promise I will take care of you. I will love you like my own: my precious son." Alice walked. "What is the meaning of this?" "Alice, if you please," Leonora was motioning for the girl to leave. "Poor Ryo is very sick. If you require assistance ask one of the servants." Alice paused as she noticed the mother said "ask one of the servants,' as opposed to "ask one of the OTHER servants.' She raised her head, her eyes were slits. "Yes mother, as you wish." Present day- Remy buried his face in Alice"s breasts. This cock was deep inside her as they fucked in the hot tub. He had made sure to wash off Akira"s cum before taking his mouth to her tits. This, of course, got him slapped. But Alice wanted him to suck on her breasts more then she wanted him to punish him. As Alice reached her climax she sank her nails into Ryo"s scarred back. "Oh, Soma..." she moaned. Ryo rolled his eyes. He knew she was just trying to screw with him. "Mistress, I challenge you to a food battle." Alice laughed. "With what stakes?" "Stakes?" he asked. In the past, they never had anything at stake other than bragging rights. "Ok if you want to go there- winner gets to live out their fantasy." "Theme?" she asked. "Molecular gastronomy..." "Are you serious?" "That way we can both shine." "What about the judges?" she asked. Are you fucking serious? "You pulled together a party of people to fondle my dick I"m sure you can round up three of our friends to serve as judges." "True," Alice said with a smile. "What"s the timeframe?" "Tomorrow night, you fucking cunt." Ryo got out of the bath. "You do not speak to me in that manner!" Ryo grabbed a towel. "I will speak to you any way I fucking want! Tomorrow I"m going to the seminar with Megumi. The other two judges are of your choosing." Ryo went inside, he locked himself in Alice"s closet. With his knees pulled to his chest as he eventually fell asleep. The next day Ryo met up with Megumi at the entrance to the American food society. He knew to get there early since only the first forty kids would be let in. The line was massive but Ryo was well within the first forty. Megumi looked at the massive line. "I can"t believe there are so many Alton Brown fans." Ryo took her hand. "That"s why I saved you a spot." A few students in the line groaned. "No cutting!" Erina appeared. She grabbed Ryo and Megumi by the shoulders, escorting them inside. "Graduating seniors get first priority!" she shouted at the line. Megumi was blushing nervously. "Miss Erina you didn"t have to do that. Just because we"re graduating doesn"t make us any more important." "Like hell, it doesn"t," Erina laughed. "We all worked our asses off to get to where we are. And you two are two of my best friends." Ryo smiled. "That"s so sweet of you to say." Erina patted him on the shoulder. "I mean it. Ryo, you"re a star, you really came into your own during your time at the academy." She turned to Megumi, "And Megumi, do you remember Stagiaire?" "Yeah," Megumi wiped tears from her eyes. "You work so hard at everything you do- you are going to shine like a diamond in San Francisco. Anyway, do you two want to meet Alton Brown?" "Oh hell yes!" Megumi squealed. The middle-aged man emerged, he was holding a notebook still considering what to present for the content of his lecture. "Hello, you must friends of Erina, Congratulation on graduating from the academy." "Yes, Mr. Brown this is Ryo Kurokiba and Megumi Tadokoro." "The king and queen of seafood," the man said. "Youtube is chalk full of footage of your cooking battles." Megumi was so excited she could barely breathe."Oh my God Alton Brown knows who I am!" "Yes, all of the 92nd generation- with what you all endured to make it to graduation. There have been hundreds of videos of all of your food battles over the years. " "Yeah," Erina added. "Haven"t you ever googled your own name?" "No," Megumi said in a shy voice. "I felt the need to." Seeing how nervous Megumi was getting the man turned his attention to Ryo "Ryo, if it"s not too personal, what"s the history behind your bandana?" "It belonged to my father." Megumi looked at Ryo, she instinctively took his hand. He had told her the real story in confidence. Aboard the cargo ship carrying children from all over Russia mainly from the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk a city that used to be co-owned by both Russia and Japan, the crew wanted to play a little game. A group of very drunk men gathered the children. They singled out a little girl and started to tear her clothes off. Ryo offered himself instead. He got in his knees begging the men to beat him. They accepted and began to whip the boy with cables and chains used to secure the shipping containers. Ryo"s back was torn up so bad he eventually passed out from the blood loss. The last thing he heard was a man shouting at the group. "WHAT DO YOU IDIOTS THINK YOU"RE DOING!" Ryo awoke in the kitchen. A large man stood over the stove cooking all manner of seafood. Upon hearing Ryo try to walk off he turned around. He offered Ryo some vodka for the pain. Ryo noticed the man had bandaged his back. But on Ryo"s wrist was a flame-patterned bandana. He didn"t ask the man to teach him how to cook. Ryo"s father was a fisherman and his mother worked in the market. He knew how to cook. But the man offered anyway. He was a cruel teacher but when Ryo excelled, when he improved a dish to the point the cook was genuinely impressed the cook would reward the children with extra servings of food. But if he failed Ryo would be punished. It was the reason why Ryo"s fire, his warrior spirit, was ignited by the bandana. Megumi kissed Ryo"s hand. "Let"s grab a workspace before they let others in." During the class Alton Brown demoed his most famous dish, a crawfish boil. All while talking about his decades of work as a television star, but also how he chose to become a chef because he wanted to entertain. He was thirty-five years old with a successful career in film. But his dreams were bigger than just being behind a camera. He ended his lecture with, "It"s never too late to choose your own destiny." The students were free to recreate their own versions of a crawfish boil, to be tasted and critiqued by the celebrity chef. "Why did you stay at the party?" Ryo asked as he chopped vegetables using his uninjured arm. Megumi cheeks were flushed. "Two reasons..." He looked up at her. "Ok." "When we first arrived Alice tried to claim you were asleep, I knew she was lying. You were shivering..." "You wanted to protect me?" "Yeah. And ...this is so embarrassing..." She shrugged. "...I"ve always thought you were really hot." Ryo laughed. "What? You"re one of my best friends." "Yeah- you know what screw it we graduate in a few weeks. I think you are beautiful, sexy, and who you are is inspiring." She pulled down a stock pot. "But I know why you stay with Alice. In addition to tuition, we have to pay for our own ingredients. Her family is the reason you can afford to cook at the level that you do. You deserve to have access to the best ingredients because you are that skilled- that worthy." Ryo put down his knife. There were tears in his eyes. "I had it really rough as a kid. Then Alice"s family adopted me. If fate hadn"t brought her into my life I don"t know where I would be. She"s the reason I made it to the Academy, the reason I"m going be a chef. I owe her everything. I guess that"s why I let her do whatever she wants; whip me, drug me, choke me with a belt." Megumi dropped her knife. "You don"t owe her your body. And she sure as hell isn"t the reason you are going to be a chef! You have amazing talent. And I can"t believe she treats you like that. If you were my boyfriend I would-" "You would what?" he asked. Despite their difference in height, Megumi"s lips moved to his ear, "I would worship you: I would lie next to you in bed and watch you touch yourself. After I saw how you liked to be touched I would use lotions and oils..." Ryo struggled to breathe. "Would you like to judge a food battle?" "You versus Alice- in response to what she did to you?" "You might say that. Will you come to support me?" "Sure," Megumi said as she poured out a bag of mussels. "Should we add some monkfish?" Ryo asked. "That"s not really traditionally American." "But it"s the specialty of your village." Megumi smiled. "I remember the first time I prepared monkfish at the Academy." "...freshman year finals. You were so terrified." Megumi nodded. "But you with your cognac infused lobster, you presented it to the panel like the king that you are." "I can"t believe we"re going to graduate. Alice and I are going to work for her dad"s company in Copenhagen." "You don"t have to always follow her. I"m headed to San Francisco, even though my boyfriend is headed to London." "Soma is going to England?!" "I would have preferred we traveled together. But our dreams diverged. Would you like some gum? It"s Peach-Cola flavored." "Sure." Ryo held out his hand. Megumi took out a tin with a Japanese label. She poured a few pieces, placing one directly into Ryo"s mouth. "My mother sent them." She tossed the remaining pieces into her mouth, smacking her lips. Ryo gazed longing at her innocent pout. He glided his finger to her cheek, brushing a piece of hair over her ear. "That tickles." Megumi picked up her knife, caressing the rounded handle. "I shouldn"t have said that thing about if you were my boyfriend." "You don"t have to be embarrassed, we"re like family." "I"m not embarrassed." She was stroking the length of the knife handle, with her thumb rubbing the top. "I have an image stuck in my head; your naked body in my bed, my lips on your neck while I massage your chest with warm lavender oil. Working my way down your abs to your..." Ryo gasped. Maggie turned to see the boy leaning on the prep table. "Ryo! Are you alright? Is it your arm?" "I-I need to use the restroom," he said in a whisper. Megumi bit her lip. "I think I do too." They discreetly exited the classroom, once in the hall they ran to the women"s restroom. After making sure they were alone Megumi locked the door. Ryo kissed Megumi, their mouths joined together as he lifted her onto the sink. Megumi"s hands went for his belt. "Put on the bandana." "Alice doesn"t even let me wear the bandana, not after the first time." Ryo carried her to the back wall. He moved the girl"s panties, slipping two fingers inside her. It was clear how badly she wanted him. He rubbed his cock to get ready, but that wouldn"t be necessary. As Megumi grabbed the bandana, securing it on his head, in one quick motion. Ryo"s cock was raging. Megumi to keep herself from screaming as Ryo pounded her hard. She struggled to keep her legs around Ryo. Ryo loved fucking her, her innocent face, the expression she was making- if he didn"t climax soon he would be tempted to tear her clothes off. Oh God, here it comes. An explosion of cum filled her pussy, oozing down her thighs. Ryo tore off her panties and kept fucking her pussy until every last drop of cum was freed from his balls. There was a knock at the door. "Other people need to use the bathroom!" Erina shouted. Megumi and Ryo struggled to fix their clothing. Erina opened the Erina opened the door with a master key. "What? My grandfather is the principal." "Please don"t tell Soma." "That you fucked Ryo in the women"s restroom? Last night he fucked Alice, so I think you"re even. But yeah I"ll keep your secret on one condition. Did i hear something about a food battle going down at Alice"s mansion?" Ryo smiled. "You"ve invited, the more the merrier." After the class, Ryo hung out with Erina and Megumi for the rest of the day. The friends had coffee and talked about the good old days. Ryo did not ask Erina about her post-graduation plans, nor did it come up in conversation. At five pm they made their way to Alice"s mansion. The group entered the kitchen to the sound of moaning. Alice was on her hands and knees. She was sucking off Soma who sat in a chair. Akira was fucking her doggy style, with his hands on her hips. "You like that? You fucking whore. Do you like my big thick Indian cock?" Soma gripped her hair. "I bet you like mine, especially when I ram it down your throat." Ryo and Megumi were ready to back out of the room quietly, but not Erina. The girl bit her lip. She strutted over to Soma and kissed his lips. "Hey Soma, I can finish you off if you like." Alice pulled back, releasing Soma"s cock. "Excuse you!" "I have an idea," Megumi said, drawing attention to her and Ryo"s presence. "I think Alice should battle Soma." Akira finished in Alice"s pussy. "That could be interesting. You"ve never actually beaten Soma." Alice pulled up her panties, allowing Soma to finish in Erina"s mouth. "How about this," Soma offered. "If you win I will be your bitch until graduation. You can tie me up, whip me whatever your sick little mind desires. But if I win you have to treat Ryo with some dignity and Akira get to fuck you as much as he wants." Alice shrugged. The last thing she wanted was to come off as a coward. "I guess that could work." Erina swallowed Soma"s cum. She fixed her skirt to look as ladylike as possible. "You should know Akira is the master of tantric sex," Erina added. Her lips brushed Akira"s. "I remember that night like it was yesterday. Your body layout on my bed, covered in sweat." Akira unbuttoned his shirt; it makes me hot just thinking about it. God, I wish it was me going with you to..." Erina elbowed him in the ribs. "My travel plans are forever changing. How about we just get things started. Ryo do you have any wine?" "May I, mistress?" he asked Alice. "Sure why not." "What does this do?" Soma pressed a button on a device that shot a blast of air from a small tube. "You break it you buy it!" Alice barked. "Most of my equipment, you will never be able to afford without selling every hole in your body." Soma rolled his eyes looked to the Sous Vide machine. "I"ll just use this. And maybe the freeze griddle." "Are you seriously going to London after graduation?" Ryo asked. "Just for a year," Soma replied. He loaded the Sous Vide machine with three bags, one with steak one with shrimp and another with egg whites. "Hey Ryo, do you remember your first year Autumn Finals dish?" Ryo smiled. "Let me guess, you"re going to make it better." "Nah, just switch it up a little as a surf and turf." Akira pulled something from his pocket. "Alice, babe do you mind if I smoke?" "Smoke what?" she asked. "Something that will make your dish taste a whole lot better." "Sure, why not," Alice muttered. Akira pulled a joint from his pant pocket. He took a sniff before lighting up. "Hey Megumi, want a hit?" "No thanks." Akira put his arm around the small girl. "Don"t you want to have a little fun?" "She said no!" Ryo barked. The room froze. "Yeah Akira, have some respect," Soma muttered. Alice finished first. "This is my version of chicken pot pie." Erina looked at her plate. "It looks like a series of wafers held together by dots of cream." "Because it is," Alice explained. "There is a freeze-dried disk of potato, and then carrot, followed by a disk of chicken puree, all topped with a thin cracker that is meant to represent the top crust." "Oh! I get it." Megumi said. "When you break into a chicken pot pie the crust is the best part! You created a version that is all crust but with the same flavors." Erina chuckled. "Tastes like Styrofoam." Next Soma presented a round ball, dusted with freeze-dried toppings. Akira poked the ball with his chopstick, revealing the hidden soup. "Unexpected." Megumi took a taste of the soup, mixing it with the colorful garnish. "It"s beautiful. The spiciness of the broth, the sweetness of the shellfish..." "My vote goes to Soma," Akira declared. "Although Alice"s textures and idea were innovative what matters most is flavor." "Of course it does..." Alice muttered. Megumi nodded. "I vote for Soma as well." Erina kicked her feet up onto Akira"s lap "Sorry, Alice, he"s just better than you."

Jack nodded understandingly, glancing back to Fitzy and watching as she made scribbled notes in her blue police notebook. "When did the violence start?" he probed again. She closed her eyes tightly, letting out a heavy sigh of frustration. She didn"t want to be there anymore. She was wondering why on earth she"d ever agreed to this stupid idea of Tony"s. But just the touch of his skin of hers was enough to keep her grounded. "He asked me to marry him. And I did. Big mistake number one. He asked me to give up my job as a chef at a local restaurant. And I did. Big mistake number two. Then one day we were arguing. He wanted to buy some expensive car, saying that he couldn"t possibly live without it. I told him that it didn"t matter." She shook her head thoughtfully. "When you"ve lost everything you own, haven"t got a cent to your name and have nearly been burned to death in your own home...well, expensive Mercedes don"t really tend to rate very highly. So he hit me." "Where?" Jack asked, his eyes beginning to fill with tears of sympathy. "How badly were you hurt?" "My cheek at first," Jazz explained, raising a hand to it almost as though it still hurt years later. "Then he really laid into me. My shoulders, my arms...anything he could reach really. It was just bruises, but...I nearly left. I very nearly walked out the door that night, but I had nothing. All the money I had was now in his bank account and I had no house and no job. I had to stay. He started hitting me more often after that. Sometimes it"d be because I disagreed with him; sometimes he was angry about work...sometimes he"d just be bored and need something to do. He didn"t even stop when I told him I was pregnant." She looked up to Tony, almost one hundred percent certain that she had heard him swear under his breath at this, threatening to rip Jacob"s "bloody arms off". Jack cleared his throat loudly at this - his slightly unsubtle way of silencing his father. As soon as Tony had muttered an apology under his breath, Jack turned back to Jazz. "What prompted you to leave him now?" "I stayed through most of the pregnancy," she continued softly. "I"d pretty much had to bring up Drew with absolutely nothing and I didn"t want to do the same thing with this one. But last night...we were arguing while I was cooking dinner. He picked up the knife I was using to prepare the vegetables and...and he tried to stab me in the stomach with it. I managed to knock him out with the chopping board and I just grabbed my handbag and bolted. He"d tried to kill the baby. Before it had just been hitting me around the head a bit. But last night, he really tried to kill my baby and I couldn"t let him do that..." She trailed off, a sudden pain shooting through her body. She let out a loud groan, leaning forward as she grasped at her stomach. She almost blacked out in agony as the pain came again, sending her crashing to the floor. Tony leapt to his feet, crouching at her side. He rubbed her arm encouragingly as he glanced back over his shoulder to Jack and Fitzy, who were now on their feet and checking Jazz over. "Her waters have broken," Jack called, grabbing Fitzy"s shoulder. "Get on the phone to the hospital; let Rachel know that we"ve got a heavily pregnant woman in labour." Tony paced the hospital corridor, his hands curled up into fists in the pockets of his shorts as he waited impatiently for news. They"d taken Jazz through to a hospital room, saying nothing more than that she was definitely in labour. He"d wanted to go with her. He"d promised to look after her and her child and he wanted to be there, but Rachel had told him that it simply wasn"t possible. He wasn"t her husband, he wasn"t the baby"s father - it was as simple as that. So he had to content himself with waiting outside, listening to Jazz"s cries of pain. "You shouldn"t be worried, you know. This is just about the most natural thing in the world." He spun to face the source of the soft, female voice, finding himself face-to-face with his daughter-in-law, Sam. She was wearing her favourite purple polo top and a pair of old, faded jeans and leaning back against the wall of the corridor, her arms folded across her chest. Even her eyes seemed to smile at him from beyond her wild, vivacious curls. He chuckled half-heartedly as he finally stopped pacing and flopped back into a nearby hospital chair. "Yeah, I know," he conceded, offering her a weak smile. "It"s just..." "You love her and you always have and you"ve missed her over the last five years?" Sam finished, giggling at the stunned look on Tony"s face. "Come on, don"t you think Jack talks to me or something? He knows you better than anyone else on this planet and he knows that you"ve been hung up on Jazz Curtis ever since she left Summer Bay." Tony found himself laughing at the look on Sam"s face. He hadn"t even begun to think about what his pining must have looked like to Jack or anyone else for that matter. He wouldn"t have been surprised if half of Summer Bay had worked out that he was still in love with Jazz. It would certainly explain why Drew talked to him a lot less these days, if anything. "Yeah," he told Sam, unable to hold back a smile. "Maybe I do." Tony had been so preoccupied with his conversation with Sam that he had been completely oblivious to the end of Jazz"s screams until the hospital room door opened and Rachel Armstrong emerged, a grin spread across her face from ear to ear. He jumped to his feet, staring at her expectantly. "Is Jazz alright?" he demanded hurriedly. "Is the baby okay?" "It was a textbook labour," Rachel told him, clapping him on the shoulder reassuringly. "It"s a beautiful baby girl. You can go in and see them if you"d like." She shot him an encouraging wink before dragging Sam away to the nurse"s counter, most likely for a gossiping session about the true nature of Tony and Jazz"s friendship. But Tony didn"t care. He entered Jazz"s room tentatively just as the last of the nurses left, smiling at the sight of her sitting up in bed. She was propped up with a large number of fluffy white pillows and wearing a horrible bleached hospital gown. Jazz offered him the brightest smile he had seen on her lips in days as she gazed down lovingly at the infant in her arms. She looked up to him as the child stirred in the baby pink blankets that she was wrapped in. "You can come over if you"d like," she told him with a tired chuckle. "She doesn"t bite." He approached the pair hesitantly, perching himself on the edge of Jazz"s hospital bed as he looked at the child in her arms. He reached out, combing at the baby girl"s fine dark hair. It was the exact same shade of dark brown as Jazz"s and Drew"s. "She"s gorgeous, Jazz," he told her with a wide grin. "She"s simply gorgeous." "Isn"t she?" Jazz replied as she looked down once again to her daughter. She stirred against Jazz"s chest, her eyes closed tightly. Jazz watched as Tony reached out to the baby again and she closed her tiny fingers around his. "I think she likes you." "I think she might," Tony agreed with a light chuckle. "Even Jack and Lucas screamed their heads off if I went anywhere near them when they were born." Jazz laughed at Tony"s comment, once again finding herself staring at her new baby daughter. "I think she needs a name," she told him quietly. "I was so busy trying to protect myself from Jacob that I completely forgot about thinking of a name." "Well, how did you choose Drew"s name?" Tony asked her, changing position so that he was now sitting cross-legged on the bed. She sighed, tightening her grip on the baby slightly as she thought of her son, whose life she had so often ruined with what he had described as her "toxic influence". "Would you believe that I drew the name Andrew out of a hat?" she replied, sighing with regret. "I stuffed up everything with Drew...I mean, not telling Peter, off-siding everyone who could have helped me, putting myself before him...then trying to rip him off...I don"t want to do that to her, Tony. I don"t want to screw up her life like I screwed up mine. Or like I tried to screw up Drew"s. I want to be a good mum this time. The one Drew should have had." Tony nodded with understanding as he continued to stare at the little girl in Jazz"s arms. "You"ll be a great mum," he assured her softly. "You made mistakes with Drew, but you must have done something right. He"s a great bloke, he"s doing great work with Noah"s Bar and his marriage with Belle is just about as stable as they come. You can"t have screwed up too badly." Jazz returned his smile as she returned to staring lovingly at her daughter. "I like the name Elsie," she told him softly. She looked up to him, staring inquiringly into his eyes. "What do you think?" He nodded, his grin broadening. "Elsie Jacinta," he agreed as he once again began to let the child told hold of his finger. "I think that"s a perfect name." "You stupid bitch!" Tony leapt off the bed in fright at the sound of shouting from the door, moving closer to Jazz"s bedside as she recoiled in fright, holding baby Elsie closer to her chest. He surveyed the man standing in the doorway critically, not even needing to ask who he was. He was wearing a neat black suit with his cropped blonde hair gelled down onto his scalp. His steely grey eyes were absolutely livid. "Jacob!" Jazz gasped, shaking her head in fright. "W...What are you doing here?" Jacob was breathing heavily. Tony was half expecting to see steam coming out of his ears as he stood in the doorway to the hospital room. "What did you tell those pigs?" Jazz"s eyes narrowed in misunderstanding as she stared at him, continuing to shake her head. "Pigs?" she queried. "The frigging cops, you stupid cow!" Jacob yelled, making a dive for her hospital bed. Tony moved in front of him, using every bit of his considerable muscle to push Jacob back. "Easy, mate," he warned him calmly. "She"s just had a baby; maybe you should give her a little space..." He stepped back, regarding Tony doubtfully. "And who exactly the hell do you think you are?" he spat cruelly. "Someone who loves your wife and daughter a heck of a lot more than you do," Tony retorted quickly. The comment was enough to infuriate Jacob as he dived for Jazz"s hospital bed once again. Once again, Tony through himself into Jacob"s path, grabbing his wrists roughly and struggling to move him as far away from Jazz as possible. In the struggle, Jacob made a swing for Tony"s face which collided, sending him crashing to the ground. Jacob straightened himself up, grinning broadly. "Stupid jerk," he mumbled as he turned back to Jazz. She looked absolutely distraught as she stared at Tony"s form as he struggled to pick himself up off the floor. "Tony!" she screamed, Elsie awaking in her arms and beginning to scream. "Tony!" Almost as though the alarm in Jazz"s voice was powering him, Tony leapt to his feet, grabbing Jacob from behind and managing to grab him in a headlock. Jacob was just about to break free when the door burst open and Jack and Fitzy entered, guns drawn. "Police!" Jack roared, silencing Jazz and Elsie instantly and causing both Tony and Jacob to freeze mid-motion. "Don"t move!" Tony laughed in relief as he relinquished his grip on Jacob, allowing his son to take over. "Perfect timing, Jack," he observed, earning a poked out tongue from Jack in response. He backed away, watching as Jack and Fitzy dragged Jacob out of Jazz"s hospital room and out towards the police car in the car park. He turned back to Jazz, offering her a weak smile of relief. "Didn"t I tell you?" he told her as he sat back on the edge of her bed. "I"d look after you." Martha was so busy scrubbing at a stain on one of the tables at Noah"s Bar that she didn"t even notice Tony Holden walk inside until he was tapping her on the shoulder to snatch her attention. She spun around, so surprised she almost attacked him. "Tony!" she gasped in relief at the sight of her one-time father-in-law. "You surprised me!" "You look like you were off on another planet," he observed, arms folded across his chest. She nodded, brushing at her hair thoughtfully as she headed back to the bar. "Yeah, I think I was," she agreed with a chuckle. "I was just thinking about dinner tonight. Michael"s offered to take me over to this beautiful picnic spot on Geoff and Annie"s farm and he"s promised me a really romantic night..." She trailed off, finally noticing the way Tony was grinning at her. "And why are you grinning like a Cheshire cat, eh, Tony?" she asked, offering him a sly smile. "I haven"t seen you so happy since you became a grandfather." He ran a hand back through his hair nervously as he leant back against the bar. "Well, Jazz had the baby a little while ago," he explained, his hands trembling slightly with excitement. Little Elsie wasn"t his, but it sure felt like it. "It"s a baby girl." "Oh my God!" Martha exclaimed, covering her mouth in surprise. "I mean, Drew said she was pregnant, but I didn"t realise she"d actually have the baby this soon..." She paused, simply shaking her head. Like Tony, she really wasn"t quite sure why the birth of Jazz"s child excited her so much. It was almost as though it was Tony"s child. "So Drew"s got a baby sister?" Tony nodded. "Yep," he continued. "Elsie Jacinta Curtis. She"s an absolute cutie. I was ducking home to grab a camera for Jazz when she asked me to find Drew for her...is he here?" Martha nodded off in the direction of the car park. "He"s helping the delivery man with some unloading," she told him, smiling. "So, I take it you and Jazz are pretty close again?" He nodded again, his smile becoming less of one of excitement and more of one of contentment. "Yeah, you could say that," he replied. "And that isn"t going to be getting back to Jack from you, is it?" "Oh, of course not!" Martha told him with a cheeky wink. "Why would I tell Jack?" "Why would you tell Jack what?" Drew demanded as he returned to the bar, arms folded across his chest as he regarded Tony in contempt. "I heard my Mum"s name. I can"t believe you"ve been so gullible as to be sucked back in by her again." Tony simply shook his head at Drew, shrugging helplessly. "She"s not sucking me in, Drew," he pointed out calmly. "Jazz has changed. She really has. You don"t understand half of what"s going on here, mate." "I understand more than you do, by the sounds of it," Drew retorted, while Martha kept switching her gaze between one and the other. "What"s going on here is that history is repeating itself. She"s gone and walked out on another marriage just because it suits her and come crawling back to us. Maybe she"s even got another inheritance she wants to rip me off for..." "Will you just shut up and listen to me for five minutes?" Tony demanded, raising his voice so much that a few people in the nearby pool room looked up. Realising that this situation was going to become very public very soon, Martha leapt forward, quickly closing the doors. She leant back against them, staring back at Tony in curiosity. "Your mother didn"t just walk out on another marriage because it suited her - she ran away because she and her baby were nearly stabbed to death by her husband." Drew"s jaw suddenly dropped open so far that Tony wouldn"t have been surprised if it hit the floor. "Stabbed?" he demanded. Tony nodded, approaching Drew slowly. "She changed all of her old ways," he explained gently. "She went to TAFE, she got herself a good job, but even Jazz Curtis can make mistakes under the influence of love. Her husband hit her and yet she stayed because she felt like she couldn"t even turn to you for help. It got so bad that last night, if she hadn"t been able to knock him out with the chopping board, she would have died. That"s why she"s here, Drew." "Oh, crap," Drew mumbled as he buried his face in his hands. He shook his head in disbelief as he began to peer through his fingers. "Where is she?" "The hospital," Tony replied. "She went into labour while she was reporting her husband to Jack. He attacked her just then too. If I hadn"t been there..." Drew"s eyes widened as he lowered his hands, staring at Tony solemnly. "Are they both okay?" "They"re both fine," Tony reassured Drew as his smile grew once again. "You"ve got a little baby sister. Her name"s Elsie Jacinta. And she"s the cutest little thing you"ve ever seen...except for maybe your Laura." He chuckled, before continuing. "She really wants to see you. And I think Elsie might want to meet you, too." Drew nodding, going to follow Tony out to his car, before pausing. "Do you reckon we could stop off at the day-care centre on the way?" he asked quietly. "I think that there"s someone Mum might want to meet too." Jazz slowly opened her eyes at the sounds of footsteps approaching her hospital room. She quickly pushed herself up in alarm, almost preparing herself to snatch Elsie from the cot next to her bed and run, only to flop back in relief at the sight of Drew standing in the doorway, cradling a little girl in his arms while Tony waited just behind his shoulder. "Drew," she whispered, a weak smile spreading across her face. "You don"t know how glad I am to see you." "I think I might," he replied, crossing the room to her slowly. Jazz watched in curiosity as Drew perched himself on the edge of her bed, craning his neck to get a good look at Elsie as she slept in her cot. "My baby sister," he gasped in awe, his eyes watering with hot tears of joy and disbelief. "Tony told me about what happened...you were so brave for fighting against that bastard..." "It wasn"t bravery," she confessed quietly in a voice that was barely audible. "It was instinct. I would have done the same thing for you, if I"d had to." She began shaking her head, tears springing up in her eyes as she reached up to run her fingers along Drew"s cheekbone. "I screwed up so badly...I still live with the guilt every day of the things I did to you. Everything that goes wrong in my life - the fire, Mum, Jacob - it"s all my punishment. The price I paid for everything I did wrong to you." Drew began shaking his head, surprised to find himself crying. He rarely cried - in fact, he hadn"t since Lucas had been killed years ago. "No," he told her, supporting Laura with one hand as he reached out to take Jazz"s hand with his other. "No. You didn"t deserve any of that." He squeezed her hand tighter, finally earning a smile from his mother. Jazz"s face suddenly lit up as she reached over, slowly and gently cradling Elsie in her arms and offering her up to Drew. "Do you want to have a hold of your baby sister?" she asked in softly, in a voice that reminded Drew more of a child than anything else. "Only if you agree to have a hold of your granddaughter," he told her with a chuckle. Carefully, Jazz and Drew swapped the babies over and Drew began to coo at Elsie. "You"re a gorgeous little thing, aren"t you?" he told Elsie, who slowly began to awake in his arms. She opened her eyes, exposing the brightest green that Drew had ever seen before in his life. "She"s got your eyes, Mum." Tony joined the group on the bed, craning his neck to get a good look at little Elsie"s eyes. "So she does," he agreed, smiling up at Jazz, only to find that she wasn"t paying any attention whatsoever. She was far too preoccupied with her little granddaughter in her arms. "You were right, Tony," she whispered, her eyes wide in awe. "I can"t have screwed up too badly after all." Drew, cradling his baby daughter in his arms, bowed slightly to kiss Jazz sweetly on the cheek. The pair shared a smile, as Drew combed his fingers back through Jazz"s fine dark hair. "I promise I"ll be back tomorrow," he told her softly. "And I"ll try to tear Belle away from the hotel protests, too. Then you can catch up with your daughter-in-law." Jazz"s smile grew as tears of joy continued to well in her eyes. She nodded tiredly. "I"d love that," she replied, before pausing momentarily. Finally, she dared to speak again. "I love you, Drew. I always have." He nodded, smiling back at his mother one last time before leaving. "I love you too, Mum." Tony watched as Drew left, grinning to himself. Beyond Jazz"s hospital room, the sun was setting, signalling the end of the day for the residents of Summer Bay. They"d all be starting to head home now. He found it increasingly difficult to restrain laughter at the thought of how different his life was now to what it had been that morning when he had wandered into the diner, tired and lonely and missing the company of those he loved. Jazz suddenly looked up to him as she set a sleeping Elsie back in her cot, her eyes glowing with the tiniest glint of hope. "You said something earlier," she began, watching as Tony snapped back to earth. He gave a mumble of interest as he sat down on the bed next to her, the pair so close now that their bodies were almost touching. "You said, and I quote, that you were "someone who loves your wife and daughter a heck of a lot more than you do"..." she paused, staring at Tony intently. "What did you mean by that?"

Evan stood in the centre of the room, the top of his right hand bloodied and one of the lockers on the bottom row now bearing the black scuff marks that indicated that the detective had brought his foot to it in anger. Alex looked his mate up and down, crossing the room to gently guide his old friend away. Surprisingly, Evan allowed Alex to lead him to the cupboard where the first-aid kit remained alone on its empty shelves. "Mate," Alex began, shaking his head for a lack of words. "Do you think Amy and Tom would want you to be acting like this?" The mention of Amy"s name seemed to make Evan even more downcast than he had been just seconds before. Alex"s expression softened further as he gently dabbed at his friend"s hand with a cloth from the first-aid kit. "I"m sorry," Evan apologised quietly, keeping his head lowered. "It"s just...I just..." He shook his head, his eyes misting over as the words refused to come. "I let this happen. I saw him pull out the gun...I let him shoot her..." Seeing Evan"s despair, Alex knew there was only one way to make him snap out of it. Swiftly and sharply, he brought his hand across Evan"s face; hard enough to leave a bright red mark but not hard enough to bruise. "This is not your bloody fault!" Alex snapped, his voice a little tougher on Evan than he really would have liked. "You couldn"t have done anything." Evan nodded, silently agreeing with Alex"s words. He couldn"t truly believe them, though. Not while he couldn"t truly tell himself that Amy would make it through. Not while everything was going on. Not while he couldn"t stop the horrible breaking of his heart in his chest. It just wasn"t fair. Tom dragged himself to his feet, trudging down the corridor to where he knew he could find a glass of water. Amy Fox was the best copper he had met in a long while - certainly in the leagues of PJ Hasham and Maggie Doyle. She embodied everything he believed in, everything he once thought he had been. She was the fighter - fighting to put her past behind her, fighting to find justice and now fighting to stay alive. The afternoon sun beyond the hospital windows showering in, casting long shadows on the floor. Tom found himself unable to quell the thoughts about what that day had done. It had already claimed one beautiful, if somewhat rebellious, life in Gina and now it threatened to take Amy as well. It was difficult to believe that one of his own officers - or to be more correct, former officers - had taken a gun to a police officer like Amy. They had often strayed down the wrong path, occasionally to places where even he couldn"t rescue them from, but they had always essentially been good kids. His kids. But Adam Cooper was different. Somehow, while others like Maggie, PJ, Dash and Nick had bloomed, Adam had disappeared into the woodwork. The forgotten son. He was the reason Adam had found this path of crime and self-destruction. The reason he had felt so threatened that he had found the need to shoot a young woman. In effect, he may as well have put the bullet in Amy himself. Suddenly, he was disturbed from his self-pity by the sight of several nurses pushing a bed along the corridor, a bed containing none other than Amy. He stopped in his tracks, the nurses stopped so that he had a chance to survey his younger colleague. Amy"s eyes were closed, her hair a mattered wreck over the pillow beneath her head. She was wearing one of those generic hospital gowns that only seemed to highlight how pale her face was. An oxygen mask had been strapped over her mouth and nose, occasionally clouding as her chest rose and fell. He reached out, taking her hand and giving it a fond squeeze. He couldn"t hold back the misty tears from his eyes. He stared at her, disbelief in his features. Amy had always carried herself with an impeccable air of strength and confidence, even if her heart was breaking deep inside - it made it impossible to ever imagine her helpless like this. And now she was. And he was to blame. Evan stepped out into the slowly disappearing sunlight of that afternoon, his gaze immediately falling upon a single blonde as she loaded up her old car with her belongings from the station. He approached her, the sound of a twig crunching beneath his feet catching her attention and causing her to spin to face him. "Jonesy," she mumbled in disbelief, having never expected to see him again before she climbed in her little car and disappeared from Mt. Thomas forever, the last three years having been little more than a painful memory. She gulped, trying to find some neutral ground. It was actually easier than she"d have thought. "How"s Amy?" He shrugged as he approached Susie, sticking his hands into the pockets of his blood-stained suit. "I don"t know," he replied, not even Susie able to deny the forlorn glint in his eyes at the mention of Amy"s name. "Tom"s with her now." "That"s where he needs to be." Susie agreed with a nod, nervously brushing hair back from her eyes and behind her ear. As she slowly lowered her hand, she found her eyes connecting with Evan"s uncomfortably. She tore her gaze away, kicking at a stone on the ground nearby with her foot. "What are you going to do now?" Evan sighed heavily, the tears still present in his eyes, as he looked around, shrugging. "I haven"t thought about it," he confessed quietly, "Amy and I have been so busy trying to clear the Boss that I guess I haven"t thought about it. I can"t leave now, anyway. Not till Amy"s right at least." Susie nodded, biting her bottom lip in silent thought. Finally, she reached out, giving him an awkward hug in farewell. After several seconds of surprise, Evan relented and wrapped his strong arms around Susie. After their friendship and disastrous romance, it seemed to be all they could manage to do. When they broke apart, she reached up, brushing the back of her hand along his cheekbone. A slight hint of a smile broke across her lips, something mirrored with far less strength in Evan"s face. "You"re a good man, Evan Jones," she told him as she turned to leave. Before she had climbed into her car, however, she decided to add something else. "Amy"s lucky to have you, you know." As Susie roared the car into life and disappeared down the street, Evan farewelled her with a stunned wave. He couldn"t believe that Susie Raynor had just said that. Did she think that he and Amy shared something, something so precious that he hadn"t even shared it with Susie? Did he even have a chance to act upon whatever was there, if Susie was right? Tom invited himself into Amy"s hospital room, each step slow and deliberate as he tried to accept the sight of her lying lifeless in a hospital bed, drip in her arm, mask over her face and machines surrounding her, their steady beeping the only sounds in her silent hospital room. He finally found his way across the cold hospital floor, taking her hand in his as he sat down in the chair at her bedside. The situation seemed awfully familiar to the bedside vigils he had maintained whenever Maggie Doyle had found herself admitted to hospital for whatever reason. Except that this situation had extra, far more sickening twists. Amy had been put into this position because he had failed one of his troops. There was still no guarantee that she was even going to survive that afternoon. And even if she did make it, there was a large chance that she wouldn"t walk again. Sophie had explained that the bullet had lodged itself dangerously close to her spinal cord. They couldn"t remove it, they couldn"t do anything. All they could do was wait and see and hope like hell that the swelling went down and nothing was damaged. The situation teetered terrifyingly close to the Jack Lawson situation years before, something that unnerved Tom greatly. He couldn"t bear to see someone else go through that same downward spiral that had led Jack to a manslaughter charge. As Amy lay in the hospital bed, her eyes closed and her chest rising and falling in time with the machines, Tom couldn"t help but wonder if she had any idea how close she had come. And how close she still was. The job came with risks, they all knew it. It was hard to forget whenever you pulled on the uniform. But they shouldn"t have come with these kinds of risks. Not the risk of being shot by a man like Adam Cooper. He rose her hand, kissing it lightly before holding it to his cheek. Amy was the sort of copper that the force was lacking these days. A brilliant investigator, a superb sympathiser and a damn good friend. She had been the only thing getting him through the cancer. And now the roles were reversed and it was his job to get her through this. Evan leant against the doorframe of the CI office, watching sadly as Joss said his final farewells. Susie would be well on the way to Melbourne now, her words still echoing around his head, distracting him from the few logical thoughts he had had about finding Adam Cooper and bringing him to justice. Now Joss was leaving and Matt and Kelly wouldn"t be too far behind him. He knew that he ought to be happy for his colleagues, especially when they were finding themselves good positions that were going to make them happy in the long run. Susie had taken a promotion to Sergeant in Fitzroy, Joss was joining the Traffic boys and Kelly and Matt found positions at the same station where they could both easily find their way to a Senior Constable promotion when they became eligible. He couldn"t help but speculate if perhaps they had intentionally taken positions together and that Kelly and David wouldn"t be together for much longer. He and Alex hadn"t even considered new jobs yet. They were too busy saving their old ones. Alex had to coordinate the removal of furniture and he couldn"t even think about where his career would go, not when he couldn"t even tell if Amy was going to make it to a new job at all. Alex enveloped Joss in a blokey hug as the young Constable took one final look around the station and disappeared, off to a new job and a new beginning. Just as Alex had invited himself into the increasingly empty CI office, the phone rang, startling Evan back to earth. He dived for the phone, bracing himself on his desk, or what would be his desk until the removalists returned for it. "Hello, Mt. Thomas CI," Evan answered, his heart giving an unpleasant pang in his chest at the sudden thought that he probably wouldn"t be saying that again. As the person on the other end of the phone spoke, Evan"s brow furrowed deeper. Eventually, he returned the phone to its cradle, sinking back into the sole chair remaining in the office, looking up to Alex in total disbelief. "That was Homicide," he explained weakly. "They were looking for Amy." "And?" Alex asked, folding his arms against his chest curiously. "They wanted me to let her know that they"d been able to find two empty positions in the third floor of Homicide," Evan continued, his eyes wide in surprise. "Apparently they"d offered her a job in a higher position, but she refused to take it unless they could find a job for me as well." Alex cocked an eyebrow, unable to hide a laugh of surprise. "Wow," he mumbled, "she settled for less for you. That"s pretty big." "Yeah," Evan agreed, nodding slowly as he climbed to shaky feet, "I"m going over to the hospital. Tell Kel and Matt I said goodbye, okay?" Alex nodded, watching as Evan disappeared out the back entrance to the car park. As soon as his mate was out of sight, he ran a hand back through his hair, turning back to the muster room where Tom"s desk was being carried out. Slowly, everyone else was finding out where their lives stood without Mt. Thomas as a part of it. Everyone else except for himself, Evan, Amy and their Boss. Evan entered Amy"s hospital room tentatively, causing Tom to jump at the sound of the door creaking open. He slowly relaxed at the sight of the detective closing the door behind him, staring at the woman lying in the bed in pure horror. Just one look at Evan"s face told Tom that he had never been able to anticipate the sight of a weakened Amy lying still in a hospital bed. "How"s she doing?" Evan finally asked, his voice catching in his throat as he spoke. Tom nodded sadly, rising to his feet as he brushed strands of brown fringe back from Amy"s forehead. "The bullet lodged itself near her spinal cord," he explained in a shaky voice, "Sophie said they couldn"t get it out without risking further damage. Bloody hell Jones, she may never walk again." Evan closed his eyes, letting his head hang back as the tears threatened to overwhelm him. The day had started out fairly normal for all of them, yet had quickly changed from normal to downright awful in less time than he cared to consider. That morning, he and Amy had been on a simple surveillance operation. Now, she could be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. "I"m going to get something to eat before I pass out," Tom explained, clapping Evan on the shoulder as he headed for the door. "Look after her, Jones. She"s a fighter, but she needs someone here." He nodded, watching as his Boss left the room through the corner of his eye. Finally, he hesitantly dragged his gaze back to Amy, staring at her through wide eyes. The shooting played over and over in his head, much like he imagined the phone call would be doing for Tom, each feeling of terror magnified every single time. It had now become an overwhelming memory he couldn"t control. It scared him half to death, even though they were no longer being shot at by a fleeing Adam Cooper. He slowly crossed the room to her, leaning down to kiss her forehead softly, caressing her beautifully soft cheek. Something deep down inside him confirmed that Susie had been right, that there was something between him and Amy that he couldn"t afford to keep denying, especially now. Wheelchair or no wheelchair, she was still the same strong, beautiful and intelligent Amy Fox he had somehow fallen in love with. He was going to look after her, whether that was in Mt. Thomas, Melbourne or wherever the wind took their drifting lives in this age of uncertainty. Adam Cooper stood alone on one of the hills overlooking Mt. Thomas, the weight of the gun at his hip unfamiliar and unnerving. The light had all but gone, leaving a light orange glow over the small country town. It was bigger than he remembered it and darker too. But he somehow just knew that the coppers would never change. Maggie, PJ, Dash and the rest had all moved on to other things or to the great beyond, but the atmosphere still remained. As long as Tom Croydon was in charge, life in Mt. Thomas would continue to resemble a working museum. He had never intended to shoot Amy Fox. Just like he had never intended to become caught up in the world of crime. It had just been the easier option, it always had been. Keeping quiet about the car had been so much simpler at the time than going to the Boss and having to put himself through another lecture. Taking a swing at Tom had been easier than trying to answer for his actions. Shooting Amy had been the less painful option than years in prison for his involvement in everything. He sat down, letting himself lean back against a rock as he surveyed the Mt. Thomas sunset. He knew that he"d failed himself and everyone he knew. He didn"t want to know what Tom Croydon was going through right now, or Amy Fox for that matter. He"d been shot himself once, he still remembered how painful it had been. What got to him was how he had ruined the lives of not just Tom or Amy, but all of the Mt. Thomas police. Through his actions, he had directly caused the closure of the station and was forcing them away from a place where they were happy and to settle for second-best. He could still remember the intense panic that the station could be shut down; he"d had to face that before. He reached down into his pocket, drawing out his gun and a piece of paper. He looked down to the note, setting it underneath a small rock that would act as a paperweight. He then turned to his gun, closing his eyes as he took in his final moments. He wasn"t letting anyone else down ever again. A shot rang out over Mt. Thomas. Tom leant back in his chair in his office, closing his eyes as he let his mind drift away from the police station. It had been several months since Adam Cooper had set foot in the Mt. Thomas Police Station and changed the face of their team forever, before turning his gun on himself on a lonely hill in the last hours of the evening. He"d only left one thing behind that had righted all of his recent wrongs - a simple note. He cleared Tom of covering up the weapon and selling it, effectively closing Falcon-Price"s case against him. Tom had nothing to answer for. The station had been reopened, albeit downgraded to a sub-station of St. Davids, like Widgeree had been of Mt. Thomas for years. Only a handful of them had been allowed to stay on and all of them had faced a downgrade of some kind with the exception of Evan. He was the only able-bodied CI member left at the station. Tom had been almost happy to take the downgrade to Sergeant. While the position of Senior Sergeant had once brought him much pleasure and a sense of fulfilment, it had only served to become part of the noose strangling him in recent years. To be rid of the responsibility was a deep relief. He hadn"t felt so much like one of the troops in years. Alex had been returned to his position of Leading Senior Constable, happily surrendering the Acting Sergeant ranking. He had never wanted it or needed it. He preferred to be out in the field, solving crimes and getting dirty in the uniform, not sitting behind a desk filling out forms and writing rosters. With less members, he got the opportunity to spend more time out and about than he ever had. He knew that Rory always thought it was more impressive to hear about solving crimes in the community than to handle the paperwork. Evan was able to keep his rank of Senior Detective, much to Tom"s relief. CI had given Evan a new depth and ability to do his job that uniform never could. He had solid investigative skills that were becoming more and more sharp by the day. Evan had gone from a cowboy liable to lose his job at any time to the responsible young detective that the big city squads always chased. But Evan would never leave Mt. Thomas. Not when that would mean leaving Amy behind. Amy hadn"t been downgraded as such. In the aftermath of her shooting, she hadn"t been able to use her legs at all. Adam Cooper had effectively rendered her paraplegic. At first, the transition from therapy to work had been a rough one. No one could truly understand how difficult it was to see her colleagues out on the job and not be able to help them. But it was Evan"s care and love that kept her going, that gave her the inspiration to go on. And in time, they had come to find their own way of doing things that worked perfectly. She still helped out in the field when she could, manning the station when she couldn"t and always offering her usual, brilliant insight to any situation. She was a priceless member of the team. They couldn"t bear to lose her. Tom knew that Amy and Evan had become romantically involved. And at first, he had harboured some concerns. In fact, a hell of a lot of concerns. They"d never had much luck with in-office relationships in Mt. Thomas and Evan"s track record spoke for itself. But they had their own chemistry and their own connections. He"d known that whatever Amy and Evan shared was special from the moment Amy had awoken to see Evan at her bedside. He hadn"t left that hospital until the moment she did and then, they were rarely apart. Somehow, they had come to need each other as more than just the student/teacher type relationship they had originally bonded under. Their old colleagues still kept in touch from their new stations. Susie was still working away in Fitzroy, aiming for the stars in her career. And in her love life. She"d met a young man quite by accident while on the job and were now very steady in their relationship. Joss had left Traffic behind after just days and was now stationed to a suburban station, somewhere close to his mother"s house as Alex had pointed out with a laugh. And Evan had been right about Matt and Kelly and their motives in seeking a station together. It hadn"t even been three weeks after their move to Melbourne before Kelly had broken off her relationship with David to pursue one with Matt. And just weeks later, they were working together in a small country station, not unlike Mt. Thomas. Tom opened his eyes as he was brought back to earth by the sound of a phone ringing in the muster room. He watched as Alex leapt into life to answer it, nodding as the person on the other end of the line spoke. From his office, he could see Amy and Evan chatting in the CI office, perhaps over a difficult case or maybe just over their arrangements for dinner that night. He knew that they were never going to be completely rid of the people who doubted them or tried to change their way of life in Mt. Thomas. They were a unique station with a one of a kind way of running things. People would always doubt them and perhaps, someone else would one day come along and try to destroy them just like Adam Cooper had. But all Tom knew was that they would not go quietly. They would fight and fight against those who tried to rid Mt. Thomas of them until the very end.

"I thought you were educated how to manage an estate, as part of your homeschooling curriculum of how to be a good wife?" "Well, I wasn"t so good on that either," I begrudgingly admit. "It"s fine. Whatever economics you are taught are all crap anyway," "What, really? How do you know?" "Take an example of the backwards idea that trade deficits are bad, that exports are a sign of economic strength, or in other words; exports good, imports bad," "Isn"t that obvious? I mean, exporting means you are producing more and are gaining money from overseas," I say. It"s common sense... right? "Let me explain this way, how do exports occur?" "..." honestly, I don"t know the answer to this question. It"s probably rhetorical anyway. "Merchants will sell their products overseas if it is more profitable than selling it domestically. If people are more willing to pay for the merchant"s product in foreign markets instead of local markets, what does that tell us of the purchasing power of both markets?" Another rhetorical question, I assume. "It tells us that there is more demand of goods in foreign markets instead of local markets. If it is only a specific commodity that is more expensive, then maybe that commodity is just more popular overseas. So, if Tristain has a trade deficit, it means that all products sold in Tristain are more profitable than selling the products at other places. In other words, trade deficits are a sign of economic strength, not economic weakness. A trade surplus occurs if a country"s people are too poor to consume the products they themselves produce. A trade deficit occurs if a country"s people are too rich for local merchants to satisfy local demands without raising prices, thus inviting foreign merchants to sell their products in the country. There are some exceptions to these rules, primarily relatively bad macroeconomic policies. But otherwise, trade deficits are generally a good thing," "Wow, I never thought of it that way. But would that still not mean that a country with a trade deficit is having its money sucked out?" I argue. "Not at all, because the money in the end returns to the country and wealth itself can be generated non zero-sum. The "money sucked out" phenomenon is largely an accounting error. Suppose Tristainian merchant exported Tristainian bronze and imported Albion wine. Let"s say that a kilogram of bronze is worth 50 ecus in Tristain and 70 ecus in Albion. If he sells the bronze in Albion and buys a cask of wine of the same value, and imports the wine back into Tristain where the price is found to be at 90 ecus, he would have made a profit of 40 ecus. However, according to the accounting administration, Tristain has exported goods in the value of 50 ecus while importing goods in the value of 90 ecus, while in reality if the accounting error is rectified a neutral conclusion is reached, that Tristain sells bronze for 70 and buys wine for 70. The merchant"s profit does not come from Albion but from simply trading goods within Tristain. Although in reality, the system is much more complicated with many merchants working together, the final conclusion is pretty much the same. Another way this accounting error occurs is simple ignorance of investment flows. In simple words, any trade deficit that exists in a country is matched by investment coming in to the country- purely by the definition of the balance of payments, any current account deficit that exists is matched by an inflow of foreign investment. Due to these two accounting errors, a successful, growing economy would paradoxically result in greater trade deficits, and an unsuccessful, shrinking economy would result in lower trade deficits," he explains to me. It"s a lot to take in... too much to take in immediately. "It takes a while to process. Don"t worry about it," "I thought you said your knowledge would be irrelevant?" "It is. I can"t see how knowledge in finance and economics is going to help you in any way, master. You"re already a member of a rich, prestigious family," "Just how much more do you know?" I ask him. "About economics and finance? Nearly everything there is to know about them," he answers. "But enough about that, we need to finish cleaning up the classroom soon, otherwise we"ll miss lunch," "First of all, I commend you for coming here instead of running away!" Guiche, the blond haired moron remarks in a sing-song voice, as he twirls his rose. Seriously, how did I end up in this mess? Oh wait, I know the answer to that. I took some sort of perfume that fell from his pocket and gave it back to him, knowing fully about what will happen. Just as I planned, Katie, the girl he cheated with, found out about Montmorency, his actual girlfriend. The results were hilarious. I never knew the female arm was capable of generating that much force. The wrath of woman scorned is dangerous indeed. Then he challenged me to a duel. I declined, citing that the girls" pride weren"t hurt as much as his cheeks were, and that it was his pride that took a hit, not the girls". I tried being reasonable. I really did. But then, well, I failed at being reasonable. He called Louise a zero. For some reason or another, I just can"t stand that. He called her a zero because I declined the duel, and called my "cowardice" a symbol of Louise"s hopelessness. I am a firm believer of Machiavelli"s principles. One of them is that when an enemy declares war on your ally, you don"t just stand there and declare "neutral". You fucking destroy said enemy, or otherwise you"ll be seen as unreliable. And although most of my experiences with Louise are largely negative we reconciled and became friends... well, sort of friends, this afternoon. Guiche has effectively declared war on Louise, and the boiling emotions I felt weren"t helping either. I suddenly accepted Guiche"s offer to duel. Why did I feel those emotions? It"s simply unnatural for someone as carefree as I am. A punch to the gut pulled me away from my thoughts. "Saito!" shrieks Louise while running towards me. "That"s quite enough! And besides, dueling is strictly forbidden!" "Only dueling between nobles is forbidden. Nobody has forbidden duels between commoners and nobles." replies Guiche. Louise is at a momentary loss for words. "Th-that"s because nothing like this has ever happened before..." "Louise, do you like this commoner?" Louise"s face burned an angry scarlet. "No! Don"t be ridiculous! It"s just that I won"t put up with having my familiar beaten up before my eyes!" "...Wh-who"s being beaten up? I"m just fine." "Saito!" Seeing me up again, Louise practically screamed out my name. Louise is trembling. "You understand now, right? A commoner can never beat a mage!" she says to me, trying to convince me to surrender and apologize. "...I was a little careless, that"s all. I"m all right, so step back." Why did I just decline a peaceful resolution? Seriously, why did I just do that? No matter, what only matter now is- Another punch to the gut connects to me. Damn, it hurts! I stand back up again. Why do I keep standing up? A kick to my chest connects. I roll for a while, and then get up. I"m bleeding quite profusely, now. I should focus on the fight instead of thinking why I"m- A fist to my head connects. I"m amazed I"m not dead yet at this point. I"m quite fed up at being a punching bag now. Standing up and seeing the golem in front of me, I draw my Five-Seven. The bronze golem attempts to punch me again. I duck, dodging the punch. Wait what? The golem tries to kick me with its knee. I dodge by dashing backwards. How did I just do that? This time, Guiche commands the golem to use its sword. It charges me with the sword. I still have my gun in hand, but at this distance I cannot aim and shoot fast enough. I probably could not do anything. I disarm the Golem with some kind of Sambo move. My mom likes to take me to her gym to demonstrate some Sambo moves and try to convince me to join. I never took any practice myself. Yet, the golem"s movement just seems to be so slow, as slow as a snail, to allow even the worst of amateurs like me to recite the Sambo moves from memory. Seriously, I grabbed the arm attempting to stab me with a sword, somehow disarm it via kicks and slams, and take the sword for myself. Everything seems so slow since I grabbed my gun. Wait, that"s it! My runes must have somehow given me the ability to see everything in super slow motion while I"m holding a weapon! I"m probably not slowing time as much as I am just thinking really fast! This is amazing! I hold the sword in my right hand while passing my gun to the left. Somehow, this gun and sword configuration just feels so damn awesome. I feel like a Papal Guard form Assassin"s Creed! The golem I just disarmed rises. I swiftly cut its torso with a one-handed swing. Super strength, check. Guiche then summons six more golems, armed with different weapons, all of them charging at me. They all come at super slow motion. I rush forward and cut two at once. Super speed, check. Coming up to the third golem, I do an overhead slash as a feint, than when the golem puts its guard high, I duck in and slash its torso. Super technique, check. I dash backwards to make some distance, for no other reason but to look damn awesome. Guiche summons five more golems. It seems eight is his absolute limit. I aim my gun and fire. Somehow, I could now fire with my left hand. The bullet hits Guiche"s wand, breaks it in two, and all the golems disintegrate. Screw the Papal Guard! I"ll be as good a James Bond if this keeps up! Hell, I think I could take on an entire Spetnaz detachment if I have the proper equipment! "I yield!" Guiche suddenly says. Are you fucking kidding me? I dash forward and traverse the distance between us in less than a second. Then, since both of my hands are occupied (and I don"t really want to kill him just yet), I kick him straight onto his chest. Somehow, even though it was, at least I think it was, a light kick, I feel like I have cracked a few ribs. That was very satisfying. Keeping my Five Seven back into my blue parka"s inner pocket and dropping the sword, the runes" effects suddenly fades. All the pain from my damage slams my pain receptors. The thought that I have just knocked Guiche unconscious still makes me rather euphoric, drowning the pain somewhat. I turn to Louise, who just stares at me, dumbfounded. "See... everything is under control," I say to her. I faint from exhaustion... or loss of blood. I"m not a doctor, and since I"m losing consciousness really fast, I can"t actually find out why. Well, it does not matter, though. I won. Somehow, this physically weak body of mine won. Hell yeah for the runes! Notes: -The trade deficit stuff is actually agreed by most economists, and is supported by empirical proof as well. Look at this (.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/US_Trade_Balance_1980_) graph. Notice that the US trade deficit actually decreases during the 2008 recession? Strong economies usually have a large trade deficit which continues to increase as long as the economy continues to strengthen relative to the world. A recession, or something like it, is very likely to decrease a trade deficit. Note that at the end of the graph, the US trade deficit is once again increasing, indicating an economic recovery. -Saito"s mom is an ex-GRU agent. She was a soviet scientist before being recruited by GRU in order to spy on Japan"s robotics research facilities, her physics degree allowing her to disguise as a scientist. She defected soon after. Review Please! Argh! Sorry guys, I sorta forgot about this fanfic. Really, I"m sorry. Well, new chapter here. No action at all, and slightly out of character Louise. The Fouquet arc is next chapter. I do not own Zero no Tsukaima. Review Please! My eyes flutter open. "Ouch," I gasp in pain. Every muscle I have seems to be aching in pain. Just what happened? Oh yeah, the fight with Guiche. I need to evaluate my performance. Frankly, it was horrible. I could have drawn my gun earlier, the runes" existence regardless. Instead, I spent time getting beaten by Guiche"s golems, thinking how I could have avoided the fight, instead of focusing on the fight and winning. I deserved every single hit I got from Guiche"s golems. I was pathetic. I attribute such a pathetic performance to my lack of skill and experience in fieldwork, as well as the excessive time I spent behind a desk. I need to evaluate my skill set too. It seems that I need to expand the various types of skills that I have. My current skill set is: Finance, Economics, Business, Cognitive Psychology, Social Psychology and cooking. Great, apparently my two first skills are nearly useless, given the medieval nature of this world. Half of my third skill is useless too, given that this world lacks the infrastructure I need to use it to full effect. My fourth and fifth skill would be useful in manipulating people, something I would need in order to avoid future battles. My sixth skill... well, I do not see how cooking is useful. Damn it, if only I listened to my mom. Seriously, she could have taught me Sambo and the use of multiple weapons, as well as other survival-esque skills I need right now. Instead, I learnt and got stuck with skills I could not use to their fullest effects. I would need to quickly expand my skill set to include skills that I can use to beat up mages. "You"re awake," a voice says to me. "After three days of sleep, you"re awake." I pull myself from my thoughts and turn to look at the source of the voice. It was Louise"s. I see her eyes tired with black circles below them. Has she been taking care of me while I"m unconscious? "Way to go, captain obvious," I remark. "I take it that you"re fine and fully healed," "No, not fully healed. But thanks for taking care of me, master. Perhaps I should get out of your bed and let you sleep? Your eyes look excessively tired," I say. "You said you aren"t fully healed yet," "But I can stand, and walk, probably," I sit up on the bed. Louise walks and sits next to me. "You should have obeyed me when I told you to apologize," "I was about to, before Guiche insulted you," "Awww, do you care about your master that much? Well, you do have such a beautiful and accomplished master," Louise teases. I smile at her in return. "Think of it this way, master; if you had the power to do so, would you attack Guiche when he had insulted you and your family name?" I ask Louise. "Yes, and I would use him to make an example," answers Louise. "And since I am your familiar, aren"t I an extension of your own power? Therefore, when I accepted that duel with Guiche, you were merely using your own power to make an example of Guiche, just like if you had power to do so yourself," I tell her, impeccable logic at my side. "So you do care about me!" Louise exclaims, continuing her teasing. How childish... but I suppose I can indulge her. "And what about you? Taking care of your familiar to the extent of surrendering your own bed," I tease her back. She looks away from me as response. How cute of her. "So, I reckon the feelings are mutual?" I ask her. "It might be so," she answers. "Oh, and by the way, you are beautiful, master," I say to her honestly. She blushes in response. "Although as for "accomplished"... if you mean at making huge explosions, that is correct," I continue. I just can"t help but take a potshot at her. "Can"t you just compliment me without linking it to an insult?" she asks me, grumbling. "I can, but I won"t." "Well then I"m sorry making explosions is the only thing I can do with my magic!" Louise half-shouts at me grumpily. "Don"t worry. As your increase in skill and magical capacity increases the size of your explosions, the Vaarsuvius Algorithm states that you would be able to solve any social problem without difficulty, mainly by threatening to blow everything up," "The Vaarsuvius what?" "The Vaarsuvius algorithm. As the size of an explosion increases, the number of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero. Or, alternatively, the size of an explosion has a quadratic relationship with its deterrence factor," I clarify. Math is one of my favorite subjects. "What is an algorithm?" she asks me. "Never mind," I answer her, sighing. "I take it they don"t teach math beyond fractions and decimals in this school?" "This is a magic academy. Lessons like math are usually taught by tutors hired by noble parents," "I see," We stay silent for a while. I decide to break the silence. "You know what, Louise? I learnt three lessons by fighting Guiche," "And what are those? Listen to your master always?" "No, the first is that about ninety eight percent of whatever I have learnt before is utterly useless in this world, meaning I have to start a completely new skill set if I intend to survive in this barbaric world," "Hey! Tristain is not barbaric!" "Second, is that people in this world, especially nobles, aren"t reasonable, and that talking myself out of conflicted situations will mostly fail if I am to try. Confrontations are mainly unavoidable in this world," "Don"t insult the nobility, familiar!" "And third, the corollary of both the first and the second lesson is that I have to stop being a damn wimp and start fighting my battles myself. I used to have minions to take care of problems that required violence, but I do not have such a luxury in this world. Unfortunately for me, I have to start training myself to be physically fit and learn how to be capable of murdering whoever my enemies will be. Physical work isn"t exactly my forte," I conclude. "Good. When you"re strong enough to beat mages, you should be strong enough to do some laundry. In fact, said laundry has been piling up," says Louise while pointing to her dirty clothes. She seems rather angry to me for some reason. "Couldn"t you ask one of the servants to clean them for you?" "A familiar who would insult Tristain, the cultural capital of Halkeginia and slander the nobility should do some laundry to teach him to appreciate our culture, don"t you agree, familiar?" "That does not make any sense," I object. Seriously, what the heck is that? "Well, I have to go to class now. I suggest you start doing your laundry while I"m away," "But I"m still injured," I whine. My pleas fell on deaf ears. "I might be too hard on him... after all; he just recovered from his injuries," I say. Sure, he had insulted my country and the nobility... but he"s from another world, and I doubt that he knows he"s offending me. Although it"s also very possible that he knows he"s offending me, but doesn"t care either way. "Hey Louise! Has your familiar awoken yet?" It"s her. "If not, it"s a shame, really. I would really love to meet him." Kirche. Oh no you don"t! "Stay away from my familiar, Kirche," I growl. I am not going to lose my familiar to this Zerbst slut! "Why should I, Valerie?" Kirche replies while smirking. "He"s MY familiar, and I DO have say of WHO he associates with, and it"s definitely not YOU," I reply to her sternly. "Afraid of losing him? Figures, you are a charmless brat after all," who is she calling charmless? Well... I do lack... never mind. "Shut up, Zerbst. He is NOT going to associate himself with YOU," I say with finality. "Louise, Louise... He"s human, you know. He has free will, and he can choose for himself, familiar or not," Yes, I do realize he has free will, but at the same time, he is bound by contract to obey me, right? Does the contract include anything about associations? Well... now that I think about it... not at all. The contract only includes an exchange of housing and food for manual services. However, as the contract stipulates, even if he does associate himself with Kirche, he must still serve me. On the other hand, he can withhold his services, and my retaliation of withholding shelter and food would be ineffective if he can go to Kirche for shelter and food. Wait, a second, the contract at first glance does seem fair, but in reality it greatly restricts my options while expanding his own. Then I would simply need to secure his loyalty. Maybe a gift is in order. It"s fortunate that I have experience doing laundry before. My mom insists that I have to take care of my own laundry, so I can either do my own laundry or have a drycleaner do it for me. The first and last time I went to the drycleaner to get my cleaned clothes, I found out that one of the shirts was laced with high explosives. My clothes promptly exploded, and although I survived that laughable assassination attempt, it left me without spare clothes for an entire week. I had to shop for an entirely new set of clothes, and worst of all my favorite clothes were destroyed in the explosions. Since that day, I resolved to do all my laundry myself. Having that said, doing laundry is easy and fast for me. I finish cleaning the last article of clothing soon enough. Done with all the laundry, I hang the clothes at the dry house, a wooden shack outside the main building. Siesta was kind enough to show me this place, although do to being busy she is unable to help me in doing Louise"s laundry. I walk to the courtyard, my backpack and laptop with me. As of right now, I have some free time. Louise is still in class, and so I can spend my time planning my next move. I still have to get enough funds.

Let"s review what we have learnt... the IS-RSV Launchers are utterly useless. They have ridiculously limited range and dubious effectiveness. I"ll need to find some other way to make my Commandos capable of engaging enemy IS units. On the bright side, I have learnt that apparently a combined arms force of IS units and ACD units are very effective in engaging enemy IS units. The friendly IS units can send in the locations of the enemy IS units in real time to the ACD units, allowing the ACD units to support with awesome firepower in extreme range. I"ll look this up later. Also, I don"t know why I haven"t realized this yet, but flash bangs are very effective against IS units. Their hypersensors forces IS pilots to see in a 360 degrees vision, which is great except for the fact that now a flash bang in any direction can momentarily blind an IS pilot, not to mention the hypersensors increases the light sensivity of a pilot, so a flash bang will have more of an effect than normal. Now I need a nap. The operation is a success. Notes: "Control" is not an actual person. It"s just an AI used by the Commander to issue orders when there is no Chief of Staff. Radio Silence, when used by the Commander, will deactivate all radio communications in favor of light or smoke signals. Usually done to prevent the enemy from detecting and locating friendly units via radio interception, but is also used to make Radio Deception more convincing. Radio Deception, when used by the Commander, will flood friendly radio wavelengths with false information and commands. Usually done to deceive the enemy, friendly units must either use a different wavelength or alternatively not use radios at all. Although usually the enemy force has to be listening in to friendly radio wavelengths for this to be effectively used, it"s possible to find the enemy wavelengths instead and send in the false information and command. Units and Technologies: War Wolves Commandos: Very skilled, high-tech infantry used by CELL for infiltration and direct action missions. They are very flexible, being able to engage any ground target with equal effectiveness, as well as very durable in combat. They move in squads of twenty, each consisting of four fireteams. There are fifteen squads in total. Notable equipment: Caduceus Combat Visor: Developed from WW3 combat visors, this visor allows the user thermal and night vision sight, as well as giving the ability to see through walls using a 30Khz Radio Wave emitter. Not used in this chapter, but will be important in the future. IS-RSV Launcher: Designed by CARE and supposedly effective against IS units at 50m. Unfortunately, since IS units rarely enter 50m range to engage infantry, this weapon is nearly useless. Even at 50m range this weapon"s reliability is dubious at best. The weapon is a coilgun firing a subsonic projectile that is coated with optical camouflage, thermal dampeners and radar absorbers, allowing the projectile to bypass the shields of an IS without being detected. The projectile will then force the targeted IS to activate its [Absolute Defense] system, thus depleting it of power. The problem is due to design constraints, the projectile isn"t even aerodynamic, which causes a hell lot of problems for accuracy. Likely to be scrapped for future engagements. Extra: Squad names are all based on swords. The squad callsigns are as follows: Rapier, Saber, Katana, Curtana, Longsword, Estoc, Claymore, Broadsword, Zweihander, Flamberge, Espada, Falcata, Uchigatana, Gladius and Spatha. Aside from Rapier, Saber, Gladius and Spatha, all the swords represent the dominant ethnicity of each squad, so the Claymore squad would originate mostly from Great Britain while the Katana squad would originate mostly from Japan. The four non-ethnic squads are mixed elites. Two of them, Gladius and Spatha, are assigned to the Crossbow Detachment. Anti-IS Drone Squads: These are squads that consist of 3 Artemis Combat Drones and 1 Experimental Detector Unit. The ACD units now have rotating turrets, allowing them to attack while moving in any direction. The Experimental Detector Unit is really just an ACD unit with its weapons replaced with extra sensory equipment. An Anti-IS Drone Squad can effectively engage IS units at 10km distance with a maximum distance of 16km. Review Please! Chapter 4: Conflicts of Interests Day after Operation Fortune, Andorra, Secret Caduceus Base, Living Room. "Today, officials say a certain package delivered by the US to France has been intercepted and stolen by a terrorist organization called Phantom Task, who fired several missiles at civilian concentrations in the process. This package, according to officials, contain sensitive IS related information. However, our own sources have concluded that it was not just one terrorist organization, but two terrorist organizations that attempted to steal the package. The first, Phantom Task, stole the package until it was stolen from them by the second. Our sources also indicate that the package isn"t just sensitive information, but a prototype IS unit made by the US and Israel. When we asked a government official whether or not this is true, she simply said, "no comment". In the process of the theft, officials explain that Phantom Task overwhelmed their own and the IS academy"s IS units with fewer but more advanced IS units, all of which are stolen by Phantom Task from either Britain or China. However, our own sources contradict this, stating that although Phantom Task did engage the security forces with IS units, the second terrorist organization wiped out both the security forces and Phantom Task with conventional weapons, specifically aircraft. This is a clip from our news crew who spotted the aircraft in action..." The TV shows an Artemis Combat Drone firing on [Blue Tears], and then zooms out to reveal several ACDs firing in concert. "...and we have another clip taken from a bystander"s phone, showing an unidentified IS unit supported by several of the same aircraft..." The TV shows [Golden Wings] engaging three [Xi Long] units supported by concentrated fire from several ACDs. "...when we showed officials these videos, they once again said, "no comment". During this debacle, the entire combined French, US and IS academy security force was wiped out. Although no one was killed, some personnel sustained light to medium injuries, and the IS units of the entire combined French, US and IS academy security force were damaged and in need of extensive and expensive repairs. The political consequences of this incident are likely to be big, and officials say that the eradication of Phantom Task is now all nations" top priority. Back at you Kate." "Thank you Jennifer. On related news, the Dunois Corporation has transferred hands from the Dunois Family to a Private Equity group called Caduceus Financiers. A full report will be submitted by our reporter Nathan Rockwell. Nate..." "Thank you Kate. The Dunois Corporation already in turbulent times has hit rock bottom yesterday when their stock value plummeted by 500 points to about 5 dollars per stock, at which point Caduceus Financiers bought the majority of the stock shareholders are desperate to sell, including the Dunois Family"s stock. Now with a majority of the shares, Caduceus Financiers plans to thoroughly liquidate the company"s physical assets and only keep the research data, as said by Gray Geoff, spokesmen of Caduceus Financiers. When we asked whether or not the company name is going to be sold off too, the spokesman said that they have not decided yet. Back to you, Kate." "Thank you Nate. Thank you, dear viewers, for watching IS Global News..." ... "We really kicked as, didn"t we?" I ask. "Hell yeah we did. Seriously, we got the [Golden Wings], we completely destroyed every single fighting force above France aside from our own, and we are in the process of fully liquidating the Dunois Corporation. Hey, anybody want to know how much we are making right now?" Gray asks. "Shoot." "35 Billion US Dollars and counting... my projection state that we will at least get 200 billion US Dollars in total... it"s quite normal really, for a subsidized enterprise. "National Champions" usually have a lot of assets but little results to show for. We should probably target more of these "National Champions" for liquidation." "I"ll think about it," I reply. "Boss, how about a party... I think this living room would be big enough for all six of us to party. I mean, we also have a bar right over there." "I"ll ask everyone else for their opinions." ... "Boss, we need to talk." "Alright, go." "I can"t keep covering up your conflict of interests forever. Right now our sole target should be to raise the value of Caduceus Central Stock by accumulating capital. In other words, our sole objective is to profit. I can understand with stealing research data since that still has monetary value... but picking fights with terrorist groups? Why in the world should we do that?" "Well, it would be unprofitable for us if those terrorist groups attack us... so we"ll preemptively strike them first." "And the chances of them deliberately picking a fight with us are what, nearly zero? Boss, seriously, we"re corporate officials, not heroes. I can cover up acts of heroism if they are profitable, but other purely altruistic acts I will have trouble covering up from Caduceus Equity. I"ll back you up, but I can"t do it forever." "I know, I know. It"s just...well..." "You don"t want your sister to grow up into being a ruthless dictator, so you"re trying to at least set an example of a decent person. I get that, but there are times where your interests for your sister do not align with the interests of the shareholders. Hell, there are even times where your interests for your sister do not align with her own interests for herself. These conflicts of interests are dangerous, and I suggest you come up with a decent way to justify your non-profitable acts." "Will my justifications really convince the guys at Caduceus Equity?" "No, but it will at the very least make it harder for them to justify firing you." ... "Fine, I"ll do that. I"m going to... go find the others and inform them of the party. Should any of us buy drinks or food?" "No need, I"ll get those for you guys. Just come to the living room in... let"s say nine? That should be late enough for us to party past midnight. Parties are just not complete if we don"t stay ridiculously late." "Alright, I"ll do that." I leave the living room. Day after Operation Fortune, Andorra, Secret Caduceus Base, Gym. I enter the gym to find Bryce. Apparently, he"s doing some kind of martial arts training by elbowing a punching bag. From what I seen, his martial arts techniques seem to focus exclusively on elbow strikes, arm strikes and grappling moves, with virtually no fists or kicks utilized. "Hey Bryce, what"s up?" "Just doing some combat practice, Commander." "Party at nine, living room. Wanna come?" "Sure." My eyes rest of the metallic bumps underneath his singlet. Those are his Direct Neural Interface Connectors, a device which directly connects to the spine of the subject to allow neural control of an outside object. Aside, from that, 8 tubes, 4 on each side, are also connected to the device and buried in between his ribs. These are his Biocomputer tubes, which not only interface with the DNIC (and thus his brain) but can also interface with outside objects. These cybernetic augmentations are compulsory for "Apparition" agents since interfacing via faint electrical signals running from the skin is deemed too inefficient. "Are you still using those Biocomputer packages or your DNIC?" I ask. "No." "So why not remove them with surgery? I mean, after the war they offered free removals right?" "They did, but I refused. I thought this might come in handy someday. Besides, I"m proud that I was once an Apparition agent." "I see." Silence. We stayed silent for about thirty seconds, with Bryce still attacking the punching bag. "I heard rumors from the Commandos," Bryce says. "Really? What rumors?" "They found out through your Control AI that you took a nap after knowing your victory is ensured." "I see." "This reinforces their belief in you that you are a cold, calculating, nearly infallible commander who is never swayed by emotions that will bring them out of battle alive every time." "I"m flattered." "They have also, as I have found out, ignored the part where you said "wake me up if something happens" and the overall tone of your voice as being full of worry." "I see." "You don"t have to deceive anyone to seem calculating, Bryce. The Commandos are doing it by themselves." "Sigh..." "Commander, I know that you act cold, uncaring and calculating in front of the troops to give the assurance that everything is within your calculations, and this is roughly good for morale, but I have to worry about your confidence in yourself if you have to constantly remind your troops. Simply speaking, who are you trying to deceive, your troops or yourself?" "Myself, probably... nothing went as planned in the previous operation." "So? We won with zero living casualties and a few downed drones. We... You did great." "Thanks a lot." "Everyone in this branch has faith in you... why can"t you have a little bit more faith in yourself?" "I do have faith in myself... I just know my discouraging limits, unlike others who think I can solve any problem." "Let"s leave it at that, then." Another stretch of silence. Bryce is still pounding the punching bag. I decide to sit down on a bench. "Commander, do you still remember Eastern Russia Campaign? When we have just captured Vladivostok, and it turned out to be a trap? We were promptly surrounded by enemy infantry, armor and artillery concentrations, as well as a naval blockade with enemy naval artillery pounding us from the sea. Remember that?" "Yes, but I doubt how reminding me of such a colossal mistake can help me boost my confidence." Bryce laughs. "I"m just reminiscing. Anyway, you were the General of Field Army 4 at that time... and you were stuck with your army at Vladivostok. If I"m not mistaken, you ordered the Army to set up a defense." "Yes I did." "I still remember you acting calm and composed while sharing your luxuries with the troops. I remember seeing you give your jacket full of military medals to a freezing grunt. Said grunt nearly choke on his soup when you put your jacket over his shoulders. You then simply walked away coldly as if nothing happened. That day, you got the reputation of being both the friendliest and coldest general at the army." "I remember that. I was trying to increase the morale of my army by making myself seem cold and calculating yet close and not distant." "I know... I know. You went to ridiculous extents to keep up the act sometimes, though." "Like what?" "Like when you slept inside your private room while under heavy deafening bombardment. Your reasoning is that the enemy can"t attack while bombarding, lest they risk killing their own troops, so the time the enemy spends bombarding is a great time for everyone to rest. Of course, nobody could rest, or even more surprisingly, sleep, under such earthshaking and earsplitting barrages of explosive shells. When the troops opened the door to your room to inform you that the bombardment is over, they found you asleep. Rumors circulated that you were too cold and calculating to factor in your own body"s protests." Bryce laughs again. "I believed that too, until I found a few sleeping pills missing from your drawer. When I asked an army doctor for his opinion but not to reveal it to anyone else, he said that the amount you ingested is far too much for a safe dosage and that you"re an idiot for risking your life just to maintain an image." Bryce laughs even louder. "Good times... good times," I say, also in the mood of reminiscing. ... "Hey Bryce, I have an offer to give to you." "I"m listening, Commander." "Would you like to serve Caduceus as an Apparition Combat Agent instead? I can tell you prefer being on the field rather than paper pushing. I can have Gray head the CARE department. It will increase efficiency by directly connecting funding and production too." Bryce stops pounding the punching bag and looks at me. "But mostly you just want to cater to my wishes, correct? You"re a good friend, commander." "Thanks. So your answer is?" "If you can find me a proper Apparition Combat Suit, I"ll accept." "Consider that done. I got to go and invite the other guys to the party." "See you later, Commander." Day after Operation Fortune, Andorra, Secret Caduceus Base, R&D Laboratory. "Hey Alex, party at nine, living room," I say to Alex. "I"ll be there boss," he replies. I stop and stare at some kind of jet black exoskeleton. I think it"s an IS... so this is what he did with the [Golden Wings]? "You really outdid yourself this time, Alex." "Thanks, boss. I challenged myself with this project. Since the IS core is pretty much the only thing that outstrips our technology... and probably the subspace storage technology and instant data to matter conversion, I thought that building an IS unit from ground up using our superior tech should lead to favorable results as long as those three technologies are still present." "So you made this? Damn, Natasha will definitely love this! How good is this thing?" "It cruises at Mach 3 and can go as fast as Mach 5 using its twin Pulse Detonation Engines. There is also an afterburner system to allow it to go at Mach 8 for a short period of time. I also included an [Ignition Boost] system to allow it to move at Mach 12 for a second or less, useful when trying to close in with an enemy IS. I scrapped most of the weapons and the barrier generator for a more interesting approach. Instead of an energy barrier, I tried to make a defensive AIC barrier instead. The problem with the AIC system is that it can only cancel the inertia of one object at a time... but I thought that if I use my trademark technology, biocomputers, to enhance the pilot"s focus and couple it with the Hypersensor technology, I should be able to allow the pilot to stop all objects at a 10m radius around the IS. I had simulations run... and so far all results point positive. To counteract possible distraction tactics, I also included an AIC autofocus program inside the operating system. To enhance calculating efficiency, I also replaced the old binary computer with my own ternary design. This way, instead of blocking projectiles with an energy shield, the IS automatically locks on and stops projectiles with its AIC, which is about 80% more energy efficient than having a constantly activated energy shield..." "Sorry to interrupt, but how about energy weapons like lasers? I don"t think any computer can calculate the trajectory of a laser fast enough." "I thought of that too. A weak AIC barrier is constantly generated around the IS. It takes only 10% as much energy as a constantly generating energy barrier. Since photons have negligible mass, they also have very small inertia, allowing the weak AIC barrier to stop them without any problems. The total energy savings of this AIC defense system when compared to an energy barrier system is around 75%, give or take, thus increasing survivability of the IS unit. For its weapons, since most IS versus IS battles occur at visual ranges, I decided that short range weapons with a high rate of fire and high damage instead of an accurate long range weapon is preferable. The enhanced AIC of this IS unit can neutralize an object 2Km away without compromising its autofocus program, so it should not be hard to close in for the kill anyway. This IS only has two weapons, the first is a longsword. Now, you know metamaterials right?" "Yes, I do. It allows materials to have a negative refraction index, thus bending electromagnetic waves around an object and allowing invisibility, yes?" "Correct. I, however, have developed a new type of metamaterial to be used as a weapon." "How so?" "Well, you heard of the meta-armor project right?" "Yes, I did. A project aimed at bending bullets around a metamaterial as if it"s light. They succeeded, but it makes the already ridiculously expensive metamaterial cloaking system look like pennies in comparison to the new armor. Not to mention the armor is ridiculously fragile and prone to scratches which will interfere with the armor system. In the end, it was one of the most expensive failures in military research history." "Well, I found a way to get around the fragility and scratch problem, although the costs are even higher. This sword is made of a new kind of metamaterial. It"s hard and strong enough to be used as a weapon, and all matter bends itself around the metamaterial. In other words, even with its dull edge, it can cut through everything regardless of hardness and strength simply because matter bends itself around it. Although it cannot cause energy to fully bend around it, it can still cause enough bending to severely damage energy shields with each slash. It is truly the greatest close quarter weapon ever devised, at least in my opinion."

"We don"t talk about 06..." "The point is that I appreciate you offering to help but I don"t think you"ll be interested in this story anyway. I should also start making dinner..." she stood up. "Want anything to drink?" "Orange soda if you have any!" "Actually I don"t know if I have orange soda. I"ll go check." she ran to the kitchen and Sonic looked at that journal with anticipation though now was not the time to swipe the thing and hide it behind his back as Amy was in earshot - he could see her bent over and looking through her fridge. "Afraid I don"t have orange juice! Is lemonade fine?!" "Yeah, sure! Lemonade sounds great!" he tried to act and look as normal as possible as she strutted back to the couch and put a glass an a pitcher of lemonade on the coffee table. She poured some in the glass for him, polishing off the glass with a sprig of mint on top of a mountain of ice. "You really sure you want mac and cheese with leeks? I mean I could make something else." "No, mac and cheese sounds fine! I mean, unless you have some beef or bacon - that makes mac and cheese extra good." "I"ll have to check the fridge again, but first: I"m going to go powder my nose." she left the room, leaving Sonic alone on the couch with that turquoise journal. It was once he heard the click of the lock on the bathroom door that he put down his glass of lemonade, grabbed the journal and opened it up to the beginning past all the story planning notes about characters and timelines and straight to the good stuff: the actual story. Sonar - the mysterious hedgehog with the fur the color of the ocean - rests under a tree looking out at the sea, inhaling the salty air and feeling at peace with himself as scenery consumes him. The waves crash against the cliffs, the wind gently rustles through the trees and runs through his quills, the warm sand grows cooler as the sun makes it"s way down into the water. Everything is at peace with itself. Sonic rolled his eyes and grumbled. "Well first off: I"m ROYAL blue, not ocean blue. But not a bad set up for a first draft." Yet despite the tranquility surrounding him, Sonar was not completely at ease. As the bright blue sky of the afternoon faded into the pink and orange sky of the evening his heart began to pound as he thought about that mysterious stranger with the motorcycle he saw riding around town earlier that day. That enthralling stranger enraptured Sonar at first sight! The motorcycle"s engine roaring as it tread the old country roads and it"s rider with their quills brushed back and matted down by a black and red helmet; their frame lean but still strong looking and wrapped in a leather jacket that graced every nuanced curve of that slender figure. He took a sip of lemonade, thinking the story was fine so far. In the distance he could hear the roaring engine of that motorcycle again but Sonar was too afraid to look toward the sound. Should it be his imagination he was going to bang his head against the tree he was sitting under until his thoughts about the stranger in black went away and should it be real he was going to roll up into a ball and throw himself into the sea to avoid embarrassing himself. Sonic took another sip of lemonade, an uncomfortable feeling churning in his stomach (hopefully not due to the lemons). The engine puttered until it came to a complete stop, a kick stand planted itself in the soil and a pair of heavy boots pounded the earth into submission, walking in Sonar"s direction. The stranger sat next to Sonar, taking off their helmet and revealing the matted yet glossy and gorgeous looking red and black quills. He was a handsome stranger! Very handsome! He was as handsome as the wonderful and talented Annie Rose was beautiful! Yet while Annie Rose"s beauty was reminiscent of the day, the light, tranquility and seeing into the life of things the stranger exuded this mystique of maturity and confidence, a handsome gruffness and darkness to him, an EDGE one could say - the edge that comes with age but bot looking a day older than his mid twenties at most. It was at the moment Sonic put the book back where it was and put the glass of lemonade back on the coffee table, pushing the glass as far away from him as possible. He could hear Amy opening the bathroom door and while he tried to look normal it was too late... That story had no only tainted him, but it consumed him; simultaneously wanting that thing to burn in a fire but also wanting to know what happened next. He blamed Amy"s way with words on a page... "Sorry about that Sonic. I"ll go check the fridge and see if I have any beef." Even the word "beef" sounded dirty now... "Ya know what Amy, maybe it"s best if I go..." he stood up only for Amy to grab his arm as he walked toward the door. "I thought we were going to have dinner together! It"s been so long since we"ve done anything just the two of us!" she pouted in that cute way that girls do. He turned to mush but still wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. "Well it"s just that I suddenly lost my appetite and I don"t want you to waste so much effort on me!" "But didn"t you say you wanted to critique my story and make it a- oh no..." the pink hedgehog immediately lost all color. "YOU DIDN"T"! "WHY DIDN"T YOU WARN ME ABOUT THE LEMONS?!" Sonic shouted. "What lemons?!" "YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" "I-I did not write a lemon! It"s a very touching story about Sonar and Mr. Edgehog finding true love! It"s a romance!" "Seriously? Why pair me with SHADOW?! You trying to make Sonadow a thing?! I thought SonAmy was supposed to be a thing but you"re trying to make Sonadow a thing?!" "I was not trying to make Sonadow a thing!" "Then who is MR. EDGEHOG?!" "Nobody! He"s just a fictional character!" Sonic deadpanned. "Yeah, Mr. Edgehog is about as fictional as Sonar the "mysterious stranger with fur the color of the ocean". This is defamation of character for me! And why pair me with Shadow of all people? It"s YOU I wanna be paired with!" "Wait, what?" "NOTHING! Nothing at all!" Amy huffed. "Well, you still read my writing without my consent..." "Yeah and this time I really paid the price for admission, huh?" "You did." she grabbed his arm and hugged it like a precious prize. "And that"s why you"re going to help me perfect it!" "I agreed to no such thing!" "You read my writing without my permission and you did say you wanted to critique my writing?" "Well here"s my critique: DON"T WRITE ME IN A LEMON!" "Ugh! It"s not a lemon! It"s a yaoi..." she hugged his arm harder. "But come on~!" "No." "Please~?" "No." She dragged him back to the couch, picking him up and wrapping his arms and legs in lavender duct tape she"d gotten from a craft store three days prior. Sonic, now wrapped up in tape in a way that totally wasn"t suggestive; his wrists up to his elbows were tied behind his back. His ankles were covered in tape up to his knees, preventing him from even thinking about running away. In a bitter tone he grumbled "And you complain about me overdoing it with the sports tape..." She sat on the couch, petting his head and in a teasing tone she said. "Well this is the price you pay for reading my work without my permission. But why don"t we make this fun and interactive?" "If by interactive you mean "holding Sonic hostage so he can be read Sonadow fanfic"? I"ve had more than my fill that one time I was kidnapped by Mark the Tapir... And believe me he has a loooooooooooot of fanfic..." Sonic turned on his side, burying his face in the couch cushions. "Like seriously, I think he had a fanfic where I was basically bred with some electric mouse and it all went downhill from there." "My writing isn"t as bad as something like Mark the Tapir"s!" Amy shouted in her defense. "And I"m holding you hostage as just punishment for you trying to be slick. I would actually like your help on it too..." He rolled his eyes. "J-Just tell me what I need to do and get rid of the tape!" Amy smiled from ear to ear. "Basically we treat this like an acting exercise or an RP where we say a few lines at a time to determine where the story goes." "Okay? Well I"ve never really done this before and it can"t be erotic!" "I was not writing erotica. It was a romance." "Whatever, just give me my punishment already so I can go home..." Chapter 1 end I find it funny that not only am I writing for a fandom I had avoided for years (Sonic actually used to scare me as a kid for reasons that are too weird to explain in the form of fanfic author"s notes), but also because it"s a (partial) yaoi and I"m probably in a minority of people who don"t ship Sonadow (in fact I think Sonic is the franchise where I have the most hetero ships that I ship). To top it off: not only am I writing a parody and comedy revolving around the yaoi genre and the tropes associated with it but back in 2011 I found a "fan fic" on this site called "How to Write a Yaoi". And then I became a member on this here site. I feel old... In the end, this fanfic is sort of an open love letter to two main themes: the first is yaoi as a comedy and the second is how to be a better writer. Overall: in an odd twist of events things came back full circle. This chapter did take 2 months to write and I expect future chapters to be far and few between because not only is the format a factor in it"s length, but I also wanted to put some legitimately useful writing advice in there as well. So until the next one comes out, enjoy the crud out of chapter 2! 91 Shades of Black and Blue "How far did you get while I was powdering my nose?" Amy asked, flipping through the pages of her journal. "As soon as Shadow was introduced..." Sonic said, cringing and feeling a crawling sensation in his skin (the duct tape Amy wrapped him up in also not helping as his fur was starting to cling to the adhesive). "Alright! So I"ll read where you left off from there because I"m the defacto dungeon master and we"ll improvise our own version of the story from there!" "Heh... Dungeon master, huh?" he said with a smirk, preferring to be tortured by that kind of dungeon master instead of being forced to participate in writing his own demise. "Yes. It"s a term used in role playing games! The dungeon master - also known as the story teller, lead story teller or god - is the one who tells the story. Basically the narrator who can occasionally function as a character in the story"s universe depending on how frisky or creative they"re feeling. Any objections?" "Someone"s been trolling a lot of Fuzzy Puppies RP forums haven"t-?!" he got a smack to the face in response. "Well~ I can also be that that kind of dungeon master if you keep misbehaving~!" "Heh..." if he were free to use his hands he would"ve playfully tugged on his neck scarf. He said in a somewhat growly tone of voice. "Well, personally if we"re going to make this R-rated-." Amy got up. "If you want me to become that kind of DM, I"ll go get the tape and we can look at disturbing pictures of you drawn by-!" "Okay anything but that! I don"t wanna go back there!" "Are you going to be good?" "Yeah, yeah, I"ll be good. Just get on with the stupid lemon." "I told you it"s not..." she sighed. "Whatever." Amy sat down, smiled cheerfully and cleared her throat. The engine puttered until it came to a complete stop, a kick stand planted itself in the soil and a pair of heavy boots pounded the earth into submission, walking in Sonar"s direction. The stranger sat next to Sonar, taking off their helmet and revealing the matted yet glossy and gorgeous looking red and black quills. He was a handsome stranger! Very handsome! He was as handsome as the wonderful and talented Annie Rose was beautiful! Yet while Annie Rose"s beauty was reminiscent of the day, the light, tranquility and seeing into the life of things the stranger exuded this mystique of maturity and confidence, a handsome gruffness and darkness to him, an EDGE one could say - the edge that comes with age but bot looking a day older than his mid twenties at most. You could smell the mature musk of the older hedgehog from a mile away leaving dozens of women who were into bad boys collapsed in the street from fainting, nose bleeds or squeeing so hard they made themselves go deaf. However the stranger didn"t seem to care about the ladies he left in his long, looming shadow for it was Sonar he sat next to on this quiet little cliff overlooking the sea! "So what does Sonar do?" Amy asked while Sonic was reliving the trauma of Mark the Tapir subjecting him to the exact same thing but without any say in where the story went (and for crying out loud, he was forced to play TAILS!) "I actually have a choice that influences the story?" Sonic asked. "Of course! Any fair and just dungeon master lets others participate in the story without bias or illusion of choice unless the latter is a functional part of the story!" Amy smiled from ear to ear, looking at her tied up blue beau and awaiting a response. "Okay...? Well I guess Sonar gets super nervous and can"t talk to Shadow." "If you want to give him dialogue you need to say "Sonar says" or something like that. If you want to give him any actions you have to describe what he does in detail." Sonic growled a bit but said his piece: Sonar feels the need to curl up into a ball and throw himself into the ocean so he can drown out his misery with the horror that is water. He stands up and says "I think I should go." "Good! See? You"re a natural!" Amy exclaimed, continuing the role of dungeon master while also taking the role of one "Mr. Edgehog". Mr. Edgehog says "I have no issue with you being here. I like having some peace and quiet but I"ve been flying solo all day and it wouldn"t hurt to have someone to talk to." Mr. Edgehog motions toward you, urging you to sit back down. What do you do? Sonic, feeling surprised that his choice actually meant something actually took a few seconds to think of a response before continuing: Sonar rejects the invitation and starts walking away slowly. "I"m sorry, I shouldn"t be here anyway. I have things to do. Ya know: like playing volleyball by myself or hanging out with Annie Rose. You know, normal stuff!" he says, hopping into a blue sports car without a roof and turning the key to start up the engine. Amy countered: Mr. Edgehog runs after you! He goes up to the driver"s side of the car and says: "Actually I wanted to talk with you, Sonar. It"s just that you seem different from everyone else on that stupid high school camp-!" But before Amy could finish, Sonic whimpered and visibly cringed by shaking in his bindings and losing all color in his fur going from a rich royal blue to a pale cobalt blue at the drop of a hat. "So on top of making this a lemon you made it a high school AU?!" he shouts, starting to wriggle around on the couch. "Screw it, if I can"t run I"ll roll home!" Sadly for the poor blue hedgehog he tried to bend himself into a spin dash position but just couldn"t bend all the way down - not helped by the fact his hands were tied behind his back and stuck that way due to tape around his torso. Also not helping were the duct tape knee socks holding both of his legs hostage and no matter how much he tried to move his legs and feet it only resulted in the sting of fur being ripped out by the adhesive on the tape and one shoe falling on the floor. "Sonic, quit your struggling." Amy said in an almost monotone voice, rolling her eyes at Sonic"s attempt to escape his punishment. "Alright then, critique number one: don"t make it a high school AU. Why not make the characters around college age? It"ll feel less squicky that way!" "I considered it but the subject matter seems so much more touching when the characters are in high school~." "Ames, just make the characters college age. High school love stories are a dime a dozen anyway not to mention the implications when it comes to minors and-." "Got it, they"re college age now." Amy said, crossing things out in her journal wildly in red ink before she cleared her throat and continued the story. "But I didn"t-!" "They"re in college now, moving on!" He sighed. "Amy, listen to me as an editor: High school universes are a dime a dozen. You can do a lot more outside of a high school setting - loads of more stories to tell when you"re not trapped in a school. Sure that"s a period of time where an audience can latch onto your work and make it apart of who they are, but that"s not the only way to get a fanbase or get people to read your story in general." "Oh... Wow." Amy giggled nervously. "That actually sounds pretty profound coming out of you." "I mean something like love knows no age. The same story could be told in middle school, college, in a senior citizens" home. As long as it feels genuine then you can tell a love story regardless of location." he continued. "And not to mention that you"re making your Shadow clone come off as like a 30 something while Sonar feels like he"s written as being 16 or-!" "I GET IT!" Amy shouted. "Moving on..." She continued as "Mister Edgehog": "Actually I wanted to talk with you, Sonar. You seem different from everyone else on that stupid college campus. You don"t seem as artificial as everyone else." said Mr. Edgehog as he leaned on the driver"s side door with a slick look in his eye and a flash of that sinister yet seductive smile! Amy swooned, much to Sonic"s dismay and making him feel insecure especially considering the fact that she swooned at a character that was essentially Shadow. Sonar adjusts the mirrors and tells the edgehog: "I don"t know what you"re trying to get at here but I"m not interested in buying whatever you"re selling. I"m not all that into the edgy type." he combs his quills back and follows it up with "I"m an old fashioned kind of guy. I"m into the sweet and simple type like that Annie Rose in class 2b!" After a quick giggle, Amy continues and tries to do a male"s voice for her character. "Well Annie is cute and adorable I"ll admit that, but how is someone as dark and brooding as myself ever going to approach someone like her?" Mr. Edgehog asks, his face somewhat red and looking away uncomfortably as he thought about that beautiful female hedgehog Annie Rose~. Sonic continues: "Wait, so you"re just trying to get at me to get to Annie? Pft! As if Annie will ever be interested in an edgelord like you! She"s not into bad boys!" Sonar taunts as the engine starts. "Sorry, but I should be going now. I"m going to head home and spend the rest of the night by myself." Amy continues in her poor impression of Shadow: "I see you"re brutally honest. You"ve just admitted you have no life outside of your own ego!" Mr. Edgehog taunts back, causing Sonar to feel red in the face and a devious smile to return to the edgy hedgie"s face! "Well you walked yourself right into that, but that just proves that you"re a real person. I like that." Sonic starts feeling uncomfortable. S-Sonar just tries to start the car. Amy countered: But for some reason the car isn"t starting! Something is running but it"s not moving no matter how hard you step on the gas! What do you do?! Sonar gets out of the car and starts kicking the back bumper in frustration! "Come on car, do me a favor and drive!" The edgehog smirks. "Looks like the driven has gotten taken for a drive." he says in a smug tone of voice. "If you need a ride I have a spare helmet in the-." "Wait, something"s bothering me about your story in general." Sonic would"ve put a hand on his chin in contemplation but couldn"t (since he was still bound with tape and hadn"t thought of chewing his legs free followed by finding some way to free his hands later on). "So are you just relying on people to know who Sonar and Edgehog are?" "You know I was so caught up in writing the story itself that I didn"t think of that! I mean people would know who Sonar was just based on A Rose without Thorns but the only time I"ve written about Mr. Edgehog was in a little one shot I wrote that"s not even in this journal!" "Then just tell me how you"d describe the character in five words or less." "Dark, handsome, brooding, edgy and sexy." Sonic felt personally offended by that last word, groaning as he asked: "Any existing characters in media you can compare him to?" "A few characters from my soaps and other movies you"ve never watched." "Alright..." he still felt the sting of Amy calling Shadow sexy even if it was indirect - for crying out loud "Mister Edgehog" was basically Shadow in an edgier and possibly gay (or at least bisexual) coat of paint! "Well, earlier in the story he"s supposed to be established as a transfer student but that works a lot better for a high school setting." "Not to mention how cliché that is." he rolled his eyes. "Any other way to establish him that would make sense for your setting?" "Well, before getting introduced as the new transfer student, Sonar is supposed to run into-." "Another cliché..." he shook his head in disappointment yet he had a smirk on his face. "Ames, I thought you were better than that." Amy was not pleased... He was just insulting her work at this point! "Well how would you introduce him into the narrative?! Huh?!"

The mere mention of pets reminded Jessie of all of the school fairs and carnivals she and Tiffany would go to and all of the goldfish she"d won as prizes. Obligated to take care of them because neither one could simply abandon them, they"d gotten the aquariums and decorations needed to house the fish but those things never did last very long... Though as a child, Tiffany never had a dog or a cat... Just various fish that never had names and never lived very long. Every kid asked for a dog or a cat. It was a rite of passage to announce to your friends "I HAVE A DOG!" - it was a huge status symbol. Saying you had a cat less so, but it was still notable. Jessie had always thought of getting her and Tiffany a little puppy or a kitty but never really found the time. Who would take care of it? Every kid WANTED a dog or a cat wanted one for the sake of having one - a little furry friend that they"d leave their parents to walk, clean up after, bathe and so on. Jessie herself had a dog as a kid - the family dog of course, not strictly hers. It was a gold lab that got along with everyone in the household. It kept every member of the household company, guard the house late at night when all the humans were asleep, bark at the mailman... Every now and then Jessie thought back on that dog. He wasn"t really HERS, but she still partook in dog ownership tasks like bathing the big lug and taking him out for walks (but mostly letting him out into the backyard and hoping he didn"t bother the neighbors). But could she actually afford a dog? The porn industry could be fickle. The most profitable work was for young girls still exploring their sexuality and wondering what they"d do for the rest of their lives. Work gets harder and harder to find as you age in the industry and once her porn career ended Jessie had no intention of working part time at the convenience store for cigarette money. She had savings of course, but having a dog was like adopting a furry child along with all of the expenses that come with taking care of a human child! "I mean... I guess I"ll think about getting a pet but I have no idea what to look for." Jessie remarked. "I guess it"d have to be something pretty independent. Like, I wouldn"t want to have to devote too much time to it to the point where it interferes with work." "You should also consider how much you want to interact with the pet outside of it"s care. Like, do you want a pet that can sleep in your bed or do you want a pet you can hold for a little while before putting it back in it"s bed or enclosure?" The thought of sleeping with an animal made Jessie think back to the dog at her parent"s house. That poor guy must"ve missed her terribly when she left... "I guess I wouldn"t mind sharing a bed with a furry little buddy as long as they don"t take up the whole bed." "So if you"re looking for a dog, you"d likely want a small or medium sized dog." "Chihuahuas are those tiny and yippy ones, right?" "So are pomeraians and certain kinds of terriers." "Maybe they reason they"re so loud and yippy is because they think they"re wolf sized dogs when really they"re super small and could fit in a jacket pocket?" Beli giggled. "There"s a woman in my Sunday morning yoga class that talks about her chihuahuas. Her reason for why they"re so loud is because they"re a very clingy breed and love their owners to death but tend to either hate or barely tolerate anyone else." Jessie sighed. "I could use some of that unconditional love right now..." "Don"t worry about it. You should never rush into getting a pet or get a pet when you"re going through a phase." Beli got off of the bench they"d been sitting on for the past hour and a half. Playing the role of Jessie"s therapist made her butt go numb a long time ago but she was too nice to mention it and wouldn"t let her friend"s personal growth be hindered by something that stupid. "Is it that time again?" "I should start getting to work soon. My evening classes have been getting a lot of new sign-ups lately and the assistant instructors can barely keep up sometimes!" Beli said with a stretch. "It was nice talking to you though!" "Ugh, I should honestly start paying you for all the trouble I put you through. I must sound like some miserable old woman." the milf lamented. "I"ll be on my way home after this. I feel like I need a nap." "Take care of yourself. Get home safely too!" and with that Beli began a light jog to work, leaving Jessie literally and emotionally alone again. She didn"t want to go home to that empty apartment. She didn"t want to call one of her co-stars or guys she met at bars for a quick hook up. She especially didn"t want to see that annoying couple in 2B that recently had a baby who never shut up about how amazing it was to be "pregnant together". GOD she wanted to punch them in the face! "PREGNANT TOGETHER?' what a way to invoke the rage of a single mother who didn"t grow up in an age of that hippy dippy bull crap! Just the thought of of it made her want to sleep outside instead of going back to that building... It was petty but the thought of having a family of any kind made her envious, sad, feeling totally empty save for the occasional drink at the bar... What she wanted was to have dinner and maybe see a movie with Tiffany again - to talk like two human beings and not catty bitches who were forced to tolerate each other. But there was no way getting a dog or a cat could fix that, was there? Chapter 1 end An adorable kitty meets a milf. What could go wrong? Adventures in Being a Cat Mom Jessie hated herself on the way out of the park. She thought about getting a furry little buddy but that couldn"t replace her need for human contact. She thought about that one guy she met at the bar the other night who jokingly asked her "How much?" and oh how they laughed and laughed about nothing conversations about what their favorite colors were and how they spent the holidays. He was nice, but she barely knew him and they"d only been on one date. She thought about settling down too. She thought back on her mom - that old bitch! She told Jessie that she met her father at church and married him based on the fact he had a nice car and took care of his family and the family business. It was true that Jessie worried about money and her savings and how she could support herself once her porn career ended she couldn"t get herself to marry based on that. Marriage was far too restrictive. Even the old stereotype of women being clingy and wanting to get married more Jessie thought was no longer true. Her experiences on dating apps had guys hounding her for pictures, hook-ups or were obviously trying to pressure her into commitment she hadn"t been ready for. Oh the horror stories she shared over drinks with Lola and Aiko! The ones she shared with Beli that made the pure and innocent yoga instructor squirm and cringe out of her skin! The ones she hoped Tiffany wasn"t getting at college... Marrying someone in the industry could be an option but who was the question... And that wasn"t something she wanted to think about (it was work after all). The park entrance in sight, she stopped walking for a moment to catch her breath, do a quick stretch and drink what was left of the water Beli gave her. And then a strange squishing sound followed by a whimper... Lifting her foot up she found a dead goldfish. The poor thing was crushed under her sneaker and all over the concrete. She felt bad. She remembered two of Tiffany"s goldfish meeting a similar fate once under a stiletto and the other under a cute pink pair of Mary Janes that Tiffany (age 7) was so proud of because she bought it with "her own money". The whimper was rather peculiar though... "Sq-squished..." the whimpering voice trying not to cry sounded so innocent and childlike and despite it"s best efforts turned into a loud cry. "You squiiiiiiiiiished hiiiiiiiiiiim!" A cat... A cat came out of the bushes and was bapping Jessie"s sneaker off and away from her dead fish. Of course Jessie felt terrible... She didn"t just see a cat or a teenage-looking girl but a child mourning the death of a fish... She saw Tiffany age 7 realizing that the fish that jumped out of the fish tank was under her pretty pink shoes. "I-I didn"t mean it mom! I dun know why he jumped, I was just trying to h-h-hold him... You know so he wouldn"t swim near the filter and the light... I dun know! Why did he jump out of the tank, mom?! Why would he do it?! I loved him!" ... She knelt near the crying child, hand on her shoulder, face next to her ear and softly whispering her condolences: "It"s okay sweetie. He was just a goldfish. You can always get another one." "But I can"t get another one like him! He was special!" "I know you can"t get the same one sweetheart but we can get you something similar." "But I can"t!" "You can if you want to, but you don"t have to... We can"t bring the dead back to life. The best we can do is move on." Jessie head pat the child. "So: How do you wanna move on?" The child looked at her, cat ears twitching. "How do I what?" "Move on, silly." "What"s that?" "Hmmm..." Jessie pondered. "To "move on" means to forget about something. It means to not worry about something, or to make yourself happy again after something sad happens." "Oh..." the cat girl tilted her head to the side. "Who are you?" "Oh..." Jessie realized she"d been comforting some stranger"s kid - A strange kid with cat ears no less! She was caught off guard and found herself nervously giggling. "I-I"m sorry sweetie... I guess I acted without thinking. Are your parents looking for you?" The cat girl shook her head. "Momo is alone..." "All alone? Did you run away from home or from your parents?" "Momo"s always been alone. I"m just a Momo!" she exclaimed. "I"m a kitty without a master!" "Awww~ Personally I think you"re far too young to be into pet play but I"m willing to play along." "What"s pet play?" Jessie looked off to the side, thinking about how to censor yourself around a kid as she hadn"t done it in years and even the coworkers of hers who had kids were used to hearing the occasional swear word - even saying words like "fuck" and "shit" in their cute childish tones of voice and they never got a scolding from the parents. She never let Tiffany swear. She let the occasional swear word pass if it was a slip of the tongue or something with no real meaning like "damn", "hell" or "crap" that other parents seem to have issue with for some reason even though they"re harmless words. If Tiffany was in serious pain she got a free pass to swear like a sailor (which probably confused several emergency room nurses), but no more than what she needed to let out to verbally relieve the pain. Even trying to keep her work a secret was a talent she no longer had... She used to be so good at pretending to be a normal mom... ... "I do some modeling every now and again, sweetie. It"s a tough job but it pays the bills. I know we can"t spend a lot of time together because of it but I work really hard for that money! It allows us to live here! It pays for your school and after school! And you said you wanted to get into cheer leading right? With the money I make from my job we can pay for that too!" "Mom, I thought you were a hair stylist." "I was. Once." "Before you said you were a painter!" "I said I painted fences when I was a little kid!" "No wait, didn"t you say you were a fashion expert or... what"s the wor- personal shopper?" "I was just helping a friend shop for work clothes, that wasn"t really a job..." "Every time I ask you about your job you just magically keep changing careers. Are you like Barbie? Do you have a bajillion jobs?!" "Took Tiffany, regardless of my job I make enough money to support whatever you want to get into. I"ll make up for lost times on the days I have off, okay? Actually, why don"t we plan a trip together? It should be something expensive and relaxing!" ... She used to be a mom, period. She missed the old days terribly. A hand gently tapped her face. "You okay, meow?" "I"ll be fine, kitten." Jessie stood up, dusting off her work out shorts. "You sure you don"t have anywhere to go? No parents? No friends? No "master"? Where did you even learn that word?" "Momo"s just a kitty who dun got nobody!" the cat girl smiled, still on the ground and looking up at Jessie with a look of hope beaming in her big, adorable eyes. "So you"re a kitty then~? Does that mean you ran away from a shelter or a pet store?" "I told you I don"t know! I"ve always just been a Momo!" she shouted. "I don"t have a home or a master!" "But who would leave such a cute kitty like you out here all alone?" The cat jumped up. "You think I"m cute?!" "Whoever says you"re not cute is blind and stupid, sweetie." "T-Thank you so much!" Jessie looked the girl up and down. Cute girl, very young and full of hope, very cheerful. She wore very Japanese-looking clothes that Jessie couldn"t recall the name of. The cat ears and tail she had were adorable and looked absolutely nothing like the costume crap that you"d see in a Halloween costume store or on the set of a furry or cat girl porno (and Jessie had done a few of the latter). This was an actual, real life cat girl... This was an actual, real life cat girl without a home... "Say, were you being serious about not having a place to stay?" The cat girl nodded which immediately made Jessie"s heart sink down into her stomach. "You know you"re a pretty naive kitten. I feel bad just leaving you out here all by your lonesome... Why not come with me and I can give you a place to stay and some food? You must be hungry." "Really I can come with you?!" "Of course! How could I leave someone as cute as you out here all on their own?!" Needless to say, epic cuddling ensued shortly after which Jessie had to put a stop to by telling the girl that they needed to go home before it got dark enough for the boogeyman who chases little girls wouldn"t ruin their fun time in the park (after that, Momo clung to Jessie"s arm all the way to her apartment with no if, ands or buts). Chapter 2 end "Adventures in Being a Cat Mom" - also known as "Jessie questions her sanity in the presence of the cat-brand cuteness that is Momo!" Let"s continue! Adventures in Being a Cat Mom It was the act of opening the door to her apartment and seeing Momo"s eyes light up that made Jessie"s day, definitely the best day she"d had in a while. ... An innocent cat girl looked around the apartment, sniffing every wall, picture frame and piece of furniture she could see; pawing at pillows to test their softness and not jumping on the couch until Jessie said it was okay. Once she got permission she even made herself a fort of pillows and hid under it as if waiting for an ambush. Seeing such a youthful kid made Jessie feel young again, turning back the clock and bringing her back to age 20 with a 4 year old Tiffany building pillow forts at 3 o"clock in the morning on a Saturday. She felt compelled to summon the tickle monster to destroy the fort and attack the cat girl"s stomach with threats of "I"m not going to stop until you pee your pants!" but then again... "Hey, Meowster?! When"s dinner?!" chirped the cat, head poking out of the pillow fort. Lost in thought and locking the door, Jessie cleared her throat. "Oh um... Depends on what you eat. I was considering making some pasta and a side salad." "W-W-What kinda salad?" "You know... salad-flavored salad?" The cat opened her mouth, gesturing to it with a finger - a childish look that said "I WANT" without words. But over a salad? "You like salad sweetie?" Jessie asked curiously, looking through the fridge for something resembling a vegetable (because looking back on it, she wasn"t even sure if she had salad mix or a moldy leek in the fridge). "Veggies are really yummy and taste super good!" the cat chirped. "I want! I want a salad! Meow!" Finding a cucumber, Jessie giggled and closed the fridge. "I think you"re the only kid I"ve seen get that excited over veggies. I"m a grown up and I hate the stuff. I hate them even more now than I did when I was a kid!" The cat girl immediately frowned, ears going down with her mood and she said in a whiny voice: "You don"t like salad? Oh nuuuuu..." "Why eat veggies when I can have pizza or fried chicken? Or fried chicken on pizza?" "That"s baaaaaaaaaaaaad." "But it tastes so goooooooooooooood." "But it"s baaaaaaaaaaaaad." the kitty whined, both hands reaching over the couch for the cucumber in Jessie"s hand several feet away. "I want! Please let me have cucumber!" "I was just going to cut it up into slices." "I WANT! I can eat it whole! I won"t choke! Promise!" "Are you sure?" "Pwease~!" Jessie paused for a moment but handed the whole cucumber to the cat girl anyway, getting it snatched out of her hand with feline ferocity. She felt even worse for the kid, thinking that she must"ve been starving in the park all by herself because of the way she licked up all of the juices and took such large bites out of it without even swallowing what she had in her mouth first... "Um... Do you want another one? You seem really hungry sweetie." the milf attempted to ease the tension. "It"s no trouble! But you should have a drink too. Do you want anything to drink?" Momo"s ears perked up, looking up at Jessie from her fort with those big, bold and gold eyes. "Do you have milk, Meowster?" "Milk with veggies?" Momo nodded, licking the cucumber seeds off of the sides of her face. "So~ Milk and veggies for you... And I guess that means it"s cookies and milk for me~!" Jessie teased, walking back to the fridge and pulling out a gallon of milk and another cucumber as well as a baby carrot she found in the back behind something in a take-out container that was smelling two weeks too old. The cat whined. "Why do you get the milk and cookies, Meowster?! You"re supposed to eat your veggies before you have dessert!" "It"s because I don"t like veggies and I"m a grown up!" she took a package of chocolate chip cookies out of the cabinet along with two cups. "I can give you a cookie too, if you want one." "Cucumber first!" "Come get your milk too." This brought back memories... Back when she was a little kid at Christmas time she"d leave cookies for Santa by the fire place. It was when she discovered that her dad was Santa all along that they started the new tradition of having a feast of cookies and milk - just the two of them - while mom was asleep in their room and the dog slept by the fireplace. That was the one thing about her parents that she shared with Tiffany (with a few modifications due to the lack of grandparents to assist in eating the cookies). Instead she made up some lie about Santa only liking store-bought cookies so that when Tiffany was asleep, the cookies left for Santa could be conveniently be put back in the packaging and saved for another day. When Tiffany caught on to what was going on, the Eve was spent binge eating Chips Ahoy and Oreos with a gallon of milk while watching movies... "Cucumber~!" the cat whimpered. "Meowster~ My cucumber~!" Jessie returned to reality, finding a cat girl hugging her hip, begging for vegetables and not acknowledging the puddle of milk they were standing in. "Shit!" exclaimed Jessie, putting the (now half empty) gallon of milk on the counter and reaching for napkins. Her fault. She was lost in thought and wasn"t paying attention and now there was a puddle of milk on the floor and a kitty with a very bitter expression. Momo said nothing, just looking at Jessie with a pout and angry eyebrows. "I"m sorry sweetie... My fault..." the milk sighed. "I"ll clean up here. Have your cucumber and some cookies and I"ll take-." "Napkin." "What?" "Napkin!" Momo held her hand out, fingers moving in a grabbing motion and demanding a napkin. "I can help! Really I can!" "Oh..." Jessie paused, ripping paper towels off of a roll and handing some to her. "I mean you don"t have to..." Without having to be told to, Momo started wiping milk off of the floor with a determined expression plastered onto her face and gesturing for more napkins. "You don"t have to clean! I"m the grown up, I got it!" "I can do it, Meowster!" Sighing and submitting, Jessie let her do it, kneeling down on the floor to clean up too. Nothing really exciting or out of the ordinary... After cleaning up they enjoyed dinner - Momo eating her second cucumber with a glass of milk along with a hand full of cookies and Jessie eating cookies dipped in milk while waiting for the microwaved pizza she made for herself to cool. They were silent except for the occasional hiccup from Momo or "mmmm" from Jessie. In the silence she reflected on how strange this was. She literally picked some kid up from the street and took her home without a second thought. She looked like a kid but had cat ears and a tail that were apart of her actual body (as she"d seen Momo scratch her ears without them falling off or getting crooked). Of course there was a chance Jessie could"ve been losing it and was hallucinating that a normal tabby cat was a human child she could take care of to have a second chance at motherhood but it didn"t feel like an illusion... Especially not when Momo lay her head down on Jessie"s lap and looked up at her with those big, beautiful eyes demanding to be pet...

Just a fair warning: Kyu may seem a little OOC, but I"m typically good and have a love of characters who can break the fourth wall, so for her I"m doing a lot of hypothesizing and using knowledge of what I know and love of characters who can break the fourth wall. I"m also putting myself in Kyu"s shoes a bit when writing her here. Just a head"s up. Inner World "Rise and shine sleepy head~." Between sleeping and waking up, Nikki heard a voice tell her to get up. "I said GET UP!" Next moment she knew, the blankets were ripped away and she was smacked with a huge pillow. Opening her eyes, she realized she fell asleep with her glasses on and immediately took them off, cleaning the lenses and putting them back on once they were clean. She found a girl dressed in pink looking at her with a huge smile on her face. "You"re finally up! I told you I"d come back for you! Aaaaand~" The pink haired psycho threw a huge bag of jellybeans at Nikki. "Told ya I"d bring something good! Though fair warning, I might"ve eaten one or two... Or ten.." Not this chick again... "Listen... Kyu, right?" "Yup, Kyu the Love Fairy!" "I don"t... Want this... I"m not interested in socializing right now. I just wanna be alone right now. What time is it anyway and HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET IN MY ROOM?!" "Well I"m a fairy, don"t you remember? And the actual time of day doesn"t matter, we"re gonna have to start training right away." "Training for what exactly?" "Getting you laid, duh!" I wonder if Audrey injected me with something when I wasn"t looking... Maybe she put some kind of drug in my food or poisoned all of my desserts... That bitch... Nikki got up, taking a look out the window and realizing it was still night time. Must"ve been around 2 or 3 o"clock in the morning because it was still dark, but thankfully it looked clear outside. "So the bribe aside, what do you wanna do exactly?" "Change your clothes, grab your shit and we"ll go on a date right now." "A date?" Nikki blushed a bit before laughing her butt off. "You can"t be serious. Why would I go on a date with someone I just met?" Kyu sighed, arranging her butterfly hair clips slightly to avoid them falling out of her hair. "I can tell you"ve never been on a date in your life so it"s not point in asking you... And maybe you have been on dates, just not with physical girls. And because I"m oh-so generous in helping you out, I guess I"ll do you the honor of being the first girl you ever go out on a date with~." Nikki opened one of her dresser drawers in search of something to change into. She didn"t particularly want to go out, but felt a change of clothes was necessary regardless. "Don"t worry too much about how you look. Personally I think you"re fine in that." Kyu said. "Besides, I"m wearing even less than you and I"m not changing." "Just that I wasn"t exactly the most stable person in the world today... Maybe a change of clothes might help then I can go back to bed." "What about our date?" "What about it? I"m not going anywhere. If anything I"m going right back into that bed, going to sleep and waking up the next morning ALONE." "Ugh... Did you forget I"m a fairy already? I"ll just follow you everywhere until you submit to me~." "A psycho who thinks she"s a fairy and a stalker... great... Then again fairies don"t even exist, so maybe I"M the crazy one and you"re just a weird hallucination..." Maybe I"m still dreaming... "Oh for the love of... Kyu grabbed the huge bag of jellybeans from the bed and opened it up. "If you STILL don"t believe I"m real, then see for yourself!" And in the blink of an eye she hurled the open bag toward the bed causing colorful sugary beans to spill all over the sheets and the floor (mostly on the sheets, thankfully...) NOW WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?! Don"t waste good candy like that! Immediately rushing over the bed, Nikki collected the beans in her hand. But in doing so she realized they were real after all. Kyu, illusion or not could interact with physical objects. The jellybeans were certainly real. Upon tasting one, Nikki could confirm they were real, the flavor of the lemon one she tried to test the theory was chewy and sour. It was in her normal realm of reality alright. "Ok, aside from randomly making a mess in my room, you plan on doing what with me?" Kyu put the huge bag down on the floor. "Well regarding the candy, sorry about the mess but I knew something like a wild gesture would finally convince you I was real... Now move over, lemme help." Together they put the beans that landed on the bed back into the bag and the ones that landed on the floor were pushed into a corner with their feet. "Regarding you, my job is to help girls like you get with the ladies~. And now that we"ve established I"m real for like the third time tonight, why don"t we go on that date, hm? I know a place that"s open pretty late and we"ll be alone so you could even go in your pajamas if you want." Kyu explained. "Now I"ve been the exposition girl for too long, enough repletion. You know I"m real now so we"re going on a date." Well... I guess it can"t be that bad... And I got free candy. Going back to the dresser drawer Nikki got a pair of pastel pink pajama pants with a matching button-down shirt. She went to the bathroom to change and put on a pair of comfortable shoes. Once everything was in order, Kyu dragged Nikki to the Outdoor Lounge. It was so late at night that the both of them were alone. The night was warm, but a cool breeze prevented them from collapsing due to the heat. Candles and lanterns around them flickered everytime the breeze blew past them and they took in the calm and quite view of the city below at night. "Ah~ This is a really good place for a tutorial. Very calm, relaxing. It allows the player to seep into things naturally." Kyu mused to herself. "Oh right, I forgot you can"t break the fourth wall as easily as I can..." She looked at Nikki, who was seating herself down next to the fire pit and warming her hands. "This place is pretty nice." Maybe this wasn"t so bad after all... Even if she is a fairy. "Alright, you seem like the geeky type so explaining this to you like a game should be a piece of cake to you." Kyu laid out a board in front of Nikki. Said board floated slightly above her lap and being made of fairy magic, no one else would be able to see it. On the board were several different tokens. An orange moon, a pink heart, a blue music note, a green star, a red tear or possibly sweat drop, a blue teardrop, a gold bell and a purple broken heart. They all sat on a nice large grid. Nikki observed the board, adjusting her glasses and considering what each of the tokens must"ve meant or symbolized. "So you want me to play match-3 with you?" "That"s it! I gotta admit, I never had a player figure that out so quickly! Regardless I still have to give you a bit of a run through..." Kyu sat next to Nikki and pointed at specific tokens on the board, beginning the tutorial properly. "You seem like a good enough gamer so I"ll try not to ramble on for too long. As you"ve pointed out, this is a game of match-3. Each of the tokens represent certain things. The orange ones are romance, the red ones are sexuality, the blue ones are talent, the green ones are flirtation, the pink hearts are passions, the gold bells are joy bells which will earn you extra turns, the blue teardrops are sentiment and the broken hearts are obvious... You match certain tiles together until the affection bar below the board is full. If you"re not careful though, you may run out of turns before you can fill the bar up." Nikki took in what she was saying easily. "Well match-3 is simple enough. I don"t know what this has to do with dating, but I think I can roll with it." "Ok, well the joy bells and other tokens are pretty obvious, but let me explain how sentiment tokens work. You build up sentiment in order to give your date gifts, which will act as buffs during the match." "No need to explain how that works. I"ve played enough RPGs to know how buffs in games work." Nikki was getting excited. "Can I play now?" "Well, if you"re so excited to play, let me at least give you your first Date Gift." And using a bit of fairy magic, Kyu made an adorable beige and pink teddy bear appear in her hands, giving it to Nikki. "This is a Date Gift. It"s a buff item you can use during your match to help you. Some can only be used once, but some have effects that last during the entire match. Keep your eye out for some pretty rare ones." "So what does this one do?" Nikki hugged the bear like a small child. "And when are we gonna play? I know how match-3 works, if we"re just gonna play games, can we skip this tutorial?" Kyu tensed up. "Well... It"s part of my job... That and some readers may accidentally stumble upon this fanfic and want to know what the gameplay in our game is like... So me giving you a taste of the tutorial is highly advised." Nikki just looked at her confused, not knowing that she was breaking not only the fourth wall of the game they were both created for, but also the fourth wall of the fanfic an aspiring writer was typing up sometime around 1 in the morning, minutes ticking by quickly. Being unable to break or understand the fourth wall by design, Nikki went back to her original question. "Can we skip the tutorial and play the game?" "Ok... How about you match those 3 blue tear drops on the board right there and then we can play a little bit?" Spotting an easy match, Nikki dragged one out of place drop to align with 2 other blue drops. They disappeared from the board, 3 more tokens coming down and automatically being matched upon landing since they were all of the same type. In a small bar displayed below the gird, Nikki had earned 6 sentiment. "Ok, now give that Date Gift to me." "But you just gave it to me..." "I"m showing you how buffs work. Just hand it over." Without knowing any better, Nikki handed the bear back to Kyu, noticing that all of the broken hearts on the board had become pink hearts. "What"s good about these buffs is that with a bit of fairy magic, you"ll never permanently lose them! You can use them as often as you want and never lose them permanently unless you discard them from your inventory." Kyu explained. "You"re a gamer, so I won"t bother explaining that broken hearts are bad. You won"t be timed during these matches so take as much time as you need to make sure you get a good match. Only your turns are limited, not your time." "Ok then... So can I play now?" "Ugh... Fine. I"ve been on long enough and you"ll know what to do." Kyu giggled. "It"s pretty refreshing not having to explain every little thing to a new player. I think I like you!" Nikki however, having been given permission to play the game on her own was now completely focused on the match, not even listening to Kyu"s compliments. In under 2 minutes, she"d completed the match and filled up the affection meter to a full 100 points without even using any joy bells to give her more moves. "Impressive. See? You got this dating stuff down!" Kyu got up, bear in hand. "Well, date"s over. Now we go home." "Already?" "The date ends when you either run out of moves or fill up the affection meter... So yeah. We"re done with practice. We"ll move onto the real thing in due time though. So don"t worry." "Well if we"re going home, I guess this is goodbye, huh?" "For most maybe. But you"re my client at the moment so your house is my house for as long as I"m here!" "NOW HOLD ON... I didn"t say you could live with me!" "Oh relax. I don"t take up much room. Plus I can give you candy. So you can"t really complain if I"m doing my fair share... Oh yeah, speaking of fair shares..." A stack of bills appeared in Kyu"s hand. "This is for getting through the tutorial. It"s 1000 Munie so spend it wisely." "You"re paying me for playing a game?" Nikki seemed amazed, taking the money only to discover that it wasn"t legal currency despite it"s appearance. "Wait... This is counterfit..." "That"s because you can only use it when purchasing items from the HunieBee... Oh right, I have to give you one of those too." Once again, Nikki was given another surprise, this time in the form of a smart-phone looking device. "You"re a big girl so I think you can figure it out on your own... Plus this tutorial has gone of long enough and no one wants to be turned off to a game via fanfiction... So get your butt up, we"re going home." And returning back to her apartment, Nikki just wanted to sleep and eat the huge bag of jellybeans Kyu had brought her earlier. Locking the front door carefully, she walked back to her bed zombie-like in every way. She pulled the covers over herself and took off her glasses, hoping to get some rest. "You humans and your sleep..." Kyu teased, sitting at Nikki"s feet and munching on jellybeans. She watched Nikki drool slightly as she tossed and turned, and found her amusing and interesting. It was rare that a client could almost immediately figure out how the game worked. Sure Nikki had objected to Kyu"s services at first, but like all other clients before her, Kyu had a tiny bit of hope in that maybe she could make this nobody into a world recording setting sex machine. Though after getting tired of eating and not knowing how any of the video game consoles in the room worked, she began to search high and low for pornography. Any kind would"ve worked be it magazine, VHS, DVD, a risqué foreign film on Netflix, an internet print out... However and rather surprisingly, Nikki didn"t seem to have anything lying around in her room that could entertain the fairy, causing her to get a little hot and bothered (but mostly bothered). She didn"t find any porn, but the easel and canvas in the corner of the room caught her eye. Kyu liked to try her hand at art on her time off and as such wondered if Nikki herself was also an artist. Being a nerd seemed to be Nikki"s main gimic, but not once had she mentioned any paintings or any other sort of artwork. Too soon to get too personal, Kyu thought. Though because the room was new to her and even magic couldn"t cure her current boredom, Kyu sat back down on the bed, putting her feet up where Nikki"s head was and slowly slinking down into the sheets. Guess I"ll just have to use my imagination tonight... CHAPTER 2 END... I made a lot of references to the actual game in this chapter. But since Huniepop is a dating sim mixed with match-3, I wasn"t sure how to write that at first, especially from the POV of the player. That"s another reason I thought Nikki would be an awesome choice for the Player Character, because she likes games she probably WOULD see social situations like that and in turn, the metaphor of a date (or socialization in general) being a game really works for her. A tiny that that does piss me off about the game though is the un-skipable tutorial level. It gets really grueling to click past all of Kyu"s instructions especially when it"s like your 10thtime playing the game from the beginning because you"re trying to get achievements on steam AND YOU JUST WANNA GET TO THE GOOD STUFF BECAUSE YOU"VE SEEN EVERYTHING BEFORE! Or maybe that"s just me... Overall, a skip button would really help a lot... DEVELOPERS, IF YOU"RE OUT THERE, PLEASE CONSIDER THIS! Heads up: this chapter is kind of a Segway into a date to come and for the two dorks over here to share a little chemistry moment. In addition, I"m going to update a few fanfics at the same time, so expect a few updates on the same day. You pumped? YEAH YOU"RE PUMPED! To get you pumped even further, I"ve decided which characters are doing to make apperences in this fic :3 but it"s up to you to figure out. Similar to Kyu last chapter, I"m not really fond of giving tutorials. I"m more the hint and details type ^^ Inner World By the time Nikki had woken up, it was already the afternoon. Putting her glasses back on, she felt a little helpless, not having overslept so much since her highschool days. Though unlike those lonely and grueling high school hell days, today she woke up with a certain fairy sleeping like a drunk slob on the other side of the bed. Thankfully for Nikki though, Kyu didn"t smell of 10 different kinds of alcohol or vomit in between the mattress and the wall. She merely slept though rather sloppily, one of her long white stockings having gone down to her ankles and underwear being crooked on her hips. She thought about Audrey for a minute. The ecstatic party girl would often force herself on Nikki if she was in the area, crashing on her couch, sleeping in her bed, vomiting in her toilet, eating all her food, the works! And though Kyu seemed to like to socialize about the same amount as Audrey did, Kyu didn"t seem as close to stupid as Audrey could get. And the best part was that she didn"t smell like pot either. She considered waking Kyu up but from her experiences with Audrey, thought it best not to after all despite how tempting it was. Though if anyone else were to see Kyu, this site wouldn"t look pretty at all... Nikki remained a virgin all through high school and didn"t want to go to college (nor was she interested in the booze-fueled sex parties that are highly associated with college life). As such, if anyone were to walk in and see this crazy fairy lady wearing nothing but lingerie they would"ve assumed that cherries were popped the previous evening... Getting up off the bed and about to head to the bathroom, her phone began to ring. So to prevent the loud ringtone from waking Kyu up, she answered quickly without bothering to check who it was that was calling. "H-hello?" "Hey Nikki, sorry to call you so suddenly. I just wanted to see how you were doing, wondering if you wanted to hang out... Things like that that!" It was Tiffany on the other end of the line. Unlike Audrey, Tiffany had more common sense and much more control over her life. She balanced work, studying and play to the point of Mary Sue territory. But Tiffany loved to learn and good off equally and though they were a few grades apart, she and Nikki would occasionally hang out in their high school years. Audrey had reintroduced the two one night at Lusties and since then, the three of them hung out together when it was possible. Simply put, Tiffany was kind of a middle man between Audrey and Nikki. She was smart but was social. Liked being with others as much as being alone. Always the popular girl in school, the girl everyone wanted to be, captain of the cheer squad, Miss A+, the works. She was a living Barbie doll but without the plastic. Looking back at Kyu lying in bed, Nikki began to speak in a whisper. "Oh... Hey Tiffany. I"m a little bit busy at the moment... I don"t think I have work today either so I"m free to hang out. What do you wanna do exactly?" "Maybe we could go to Barnes and Noble? I needed to look up some reference books there anyway, then we can get snacks at the café! Or maybe we can get pizza? Better yet: CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE PIZZA OMG!" Hearing Tiffany excited over the phone was contagious and frankly, the idea of a chocolate chip cookie big enough to fit in a pizza box was too tempting to pass up, but before Nikki could answer, Tiffany kept talking. "So what are you doing right now?" "Um... Nothing too exciting... Kinda slept in because I was up all night. I might make brunch or order in." "Hm... If you want breakfast then maybe we can go to the café and get some pancakes?" "Pancakes in the afternoon?" "They"re sooooooo good, I can eat breakfast at any time of day. And it"s healthier than candy." "Yeah... I"m still a little occupied at the moment, so I might need an hour or two. Where are you now exactly?" "Just got out of my afternoon classes! No work or cheer practice today either, so I"m free for the rest of the day." "Cool." "So if we"re both indecisive right now, maybe I can just meet up with you at your place and bring lunch or brunch or a cotton candy machine?" Nikki laughed at the last remark. "Good one. I don"t think we"d have enough room for a cotton candy machine, but any sort of food sounds pretty good right now." "Awesome. I"ll see you in an hour or so!" Tiffany hung up. Talking to Tiffany was pretty refreshing. She was the closest thing Nikki would have to being associated with the popular crowd. In a sense, by hanging out with Tiffany she was making up for her lost high school experiences. But the past was the past... In the present however, there was a sleeping fairy in Nikki"s bed, who needed to get out of the house before Tiffany arrived. So after going to the bathroom and completing that part of the typical morning routine, Nikki walked back to bed and attempted to shake Kyu awake. "Um... Hey, Kyu? You should probably wake up..." Nikki said hesitantly. "Hello?" Suddenly an inhuman and indescribable sound escaped Kyu"s lips upon waking up so abruptly. "OMG don"t scare me awake... What"s going on?" "I"m having a friend come over, so you need to go." "Wait... Friend? Who are you inviting over?" Kyu sat up, pulling her fallen stocking back up her leg. "You mentioned some girl named Audrey over and over again yesterday, so is that the person coming over?"

Amy didn"t even seem to acknowledge Sticks being there, just unfolding various textiles and holing them up to the windows. "Urchins need a good place to live. I"m also wondering whether I should change these curtains. I"m considering a cobalt blue or a bubblegum pink what do you think?" But Amy"s question would never be answered as Sticks bolted out of there as soon as possible. Running to her bunker perhaps even faster than Sonic, she locked all the doors and windows, gathered all of her emergency rations and inhaled, exhaled, inhaled again and asked: "Really? We"re doing this?" She waited for a moment but got no response. "I mean... We don"t even have regular seasons of this show. We"ve had a frozen pond next to a desert! There"s no sense of setting! No sense of time! I don"t even know when I was born! So really?! We"re doing this?!" And much to Stick"s surprise she heard a shy voice reply with: "Yeah, but it"s honestly just for comedy, so don"t expect straight up porn..." End of chapter 1 Keep in mind, while this won"t be pornographic at all, chapters after this one are going to be about the closest thing I can get to writing porn without it actually being porn... It"s very funny... Remember: this is mainly a comedy. On the side however: you can also get animal trivia! To clarify just one more thing before the meat of the fanfic really begins, the main pairing is SonAmy not only because I like the two together, but also because they seem to be the only hedgehogs in Sonic Boom. I have no idea what direction they"ll take Shadow in or if he"ll come back and as much as I love Silver, I doubt they"ll do anything actually interesting with his character again - poor baby. I don"t know if I"ll bring the other male hedgehogs in. If the show gives me more of an idea on what they"ll do with Shadow and if they EVER bring Silver back, I might include them... Only real animal trivia for this chapter is that "urchin" is a term that can be used for a baby hedgehog. There will be more animal trivia further down... Next chapter: If you really wanna see Sonic fawn over Amy, prepare to die of SonAmy overdose with the bonus of getting animal trivia to backup your ship. Granted he will be out of character to some extent... Knuckles too, but he"s a bucket of lost potential in this iteration of the character... Sorry an update took so long, lots of stuff happened IRL, writers block, found a voice actor to help me voice and original story of mine, I went to my first college party cosplaying Shadow for Halloween (and I looked DAMN good). At said party the boyfriend managed to put together a last-minute Sonic costume, I told him he didn"t look good enough to be my fake, he told me he"d make me eat those words. And my Silver plushie managed to look depressed the entire night while he was tied onto my waist... I had a weird night. But other than that, real life nonsense just got in the way and I"m trying to get myself to write fanfic and original work both as therapy and to get myself to write anything in general. The boyfriend and I also started Sonic Forces together but I"m not as enthusiastic about it as I should be... So what"s going on in this chapter? The YA romance tropes continue subtly. This chapter also contains Tails x Zooey, Knuckles x Sticks and ShadAmy - not a pairing I normally ship and they happened accidentally in this fanfic, but past chapter 3 everything turned to improvisation on my part. SO WE"RE ROLLING WITH IT! The challenge for this fanfic was to match up with the random tones in Sonic Boom and it"s shifts after all. Onto chapter 10! (EDIT: 12/22/17: If you"re reading this, you might notice some nice additions to the chapter thanks in part to mass-editing. Enjoy the fic.) Tails had taken Zooey to his workshop so she could teach him how to play Fuzzy Puppies but he"d managed to distract her with his inventions, his plane, one thing lead to another and they were napping in the little fort he"d made for himself while he was a quivering dog. Unfortunately for Tails he was the one who actually fell asleep while Zooey stayed half-awake and played with his ears. "Heh, so floofy~." "Floof is a concept too..." He snored, speaking in his sleep. "Ish too complicated to..." Zooey smiled from ear to ear, watching the dog sleep and enjoying the little den in the workshop and how warm it was. If only she"d brought marshmallows and skewers; she knew he had a portable stove he built out of paperclips, bottle caps and recycled soda cans. They could"ve had a camping trip inside. "I guess I"ll leave Fuzzy Puppies here for you next time we hang out. Right now..." The vixen yawned. "Sleep and floof sound a lot better than Fuzzy Puppies..." "But floof is too much of a complex concept to..." More snoring. "summarize with mere words..." "You"re cute when you talk in your sleep~" Zooey rubbed behind his ears. "I think I"m going to sleep too. Remind me to call my mom and tell her I"m with a friend." And she started to zone out and eventually fall asleep herself, hand still on top of Tails" head. Amy in the meantime sat inside and in front of the front door. Shadow insisted on waiting outside and making small talk and while the small talk (and steak) was nice she wasn"t at all interested. Snuggling a life-size Sonic doll she put together herself she kept listening to the black hedgehog go on and on about genetics and genetic engineering. "Shadow, when are you going to go away?" Amy asked. "This is fun and all but it"s getting really annoying and I"m not interested." "Well your little blue boyfriend hasn"t come back." He haunted, still outside and enjoying the sun. "Really Amy, how long as it been?" She sighed, hugging her Sonic doll tighter. "It"s been years..." "It"s been years and what has he done?" "Pft. Nothing much really. But he"s busy saving the world. Maybe now isn"t really the time ya know?" She did try considering it from his point of view but something still nagged at her in all directions. "I don"t wanna talk about it. Just go away!" "Do you even realize what you"re saying?" "I don"t wanna talk about it..." "Amy, what do you want from Sonic?" She hugged her doll hard enough for one of the button eyes to pop off. "It"s complicated..." "I understand. You"ve been wanting things to change for years but things just haven"t happened that way." He said. "It"s a shame, but it happens. But sometimes you just need to take a step forward and never turn back." "Why are you helping me? You"re just here because you wanna spite him, aren"t you? Why are you trying to be nice to me?" Amy asked, leaning her head back against the front door and trying her best not to bang her head despite her frustration. Shadow just shrugged. "Who knows?" Granted the season did make him think about things differently than normal but Amy was certainly interesting. She could put up a fight, stand up to herself - a sign of her good genes - and best of all: she complimented his cooking. He didn"t actually consider it at the time when fighting Sonic but it was during this quiet time when he was trying to talk to Amy as a person and actually try to get her attention that he found himself actually wanting to help her even in some small way. "Just go away... Besides, I have everything I need. Warm nest, food in the fridge, something to cuddle with..." Then the simple action of her hugging a homemade doll started making her sick. She was clinging to something she couldn"t have... She threw it across the house, having it hit the fridge in the kitchen and it stared back at her. "Just leave me alone!" "I know you"re mad but if you let me come in I can help you work through your issues." "I"ll be FINE." She gripped the handle of her hammer. "Maybe I should just go out and smash a few things... I could use a workout." Shadow smirked. "Sounds perfect. I"ll accompany you." And Amy opened the door, kicking him in the back of the head. "I"m going alone." Shadow got up, hands lifted up to show he meant the girl no harm. "Then you"ll have to fight me. Take out your aggression on something that can give you feedback." She slammed the door shut. "You"re just saying that because you want to mate..." "I"m saying that because you"re smart, strong and you"re obviously upset. He teleported behind her. "Go on, fight me!" He teleported away as soon as she saw her trying to swing at him, grabbing her by the wrist and flinging her onto the sand hard enough to make it look and feel like an actual fight but gentle enough to not actually risk injury. "Fight me seriously Amy!" Amy growled, getting up and swinging at him again, getting flung onto the sand. Shadow cracked his knuckles. "Take out all your aggression on me. Focus your anger to land a hit on me. You can do it." She swung at his knees. He side stepped. Throwing her hammer at him he dodged again by stepping to the right and she pounced on top of him, grabbing him by the chest fur and slamming his head down into stone. "Is that good enough for you?" She looked down at him coldly, grabbing his fur hard enough to rip it out if she so chose to but she didn"t. Shadow simply smirked. "Didn"t that make you feel better?" Amy slammed his head down again. "Don"t talk to me like you know what"s good for me." And then she got up, retrieving her hammer, dusting it off. "I"m not letting you deal with Sonic alone." "Pick a fight with him if that"s what you want." "That"s not it. You"re angry at him too, aren"t you?" She paused, turning back to the black hedgehog on the ground who shot her a look that she thought was trying to be flirtatious which she returned with a hammer to the stomach which he didn"t dodge. "It"s not just Sonic I"m angry at..." She sat down. "It"s no use. I just don"t get how guys work I guess." Shadow sat himself up, hand on his stomach. "It"s a lot more simple than you think. Some men are good at one thing, some men are good at multiple things. Some can"t do anything at all." And somewhere in the distance Knuckles sneezed. "The point is that there are plenty of other men out there capable of understanding you even when the one who you want to understand you can"t." Shadow reached for her hand only for her to withdraw within herself and put her hand to her heart. "I"ve been trying so hard. I stopped being clingy, I stopped being a damsel in distress, I learned how to cook. I even gave up tarot cards!" "Tarot cards? What brought about that hobby?" "Tarot cards! You know, like fortune telling! I used to do it as a kid! Actually that"s how I met Sonic~." As much as Amy didn"t want to talk to Shadow in particular she couldn"t control the word vomit, as no one had inquired about her hobbies - especially not one as unique as being able to read fortunes using tarot cards. And oh for the love of Chaos that smile she had when gushing over her hobbies made Shadow unintentionally squeak and had him trying to hold his instincts back. Even his voice managed to crack. "Oh really?" "Granted that was years ago but yeah, I met Sonic after reading my fortune using tarot cards! I might still have a pack somewhere in my things. Would you be open to getting your fortune told?" He wasn"t. "I guess I could give it a go." And she dragged him back to her house, throwing him into the grass, ignoring him like he wasn"t there and then searching her room up and down for a pack of tarot cards (even if the set wasn"t complete). And like Sonic had previously, Shadow lay down in the grass and reveled in how much it smelled like the female hedgehog and detested the fact that Sonic got there first. He flung the grass Sonic had rolled around in aside out of childish spite and made himself comfortable as Amy comedically threw objects out of the door from her bedroom in search of tarot cards. "I FINALLY FOUND A SET!" She giggled, dusting off a box full of tarot cards that couldn"t close correctly and spilling the cards onto the grass next to Shadow. "So what kind of question do you have about your future?" Shadow wanted to say "I want to know about my chances with a certain pink hedgehog" but then he wanted to slap himself because such a statement made himself sound like Sonic. "Ask it whatever you want. I wouldn"t know what to ask." Amy smiled even bigger, shuffling her cards. "Alright, I"ll ask how things are going to work out for you in general!" And from the deck she drew a card: The Fool in the upright position. "What"s that card mean?" "The Fool symbolizes new beginnings. In general tarot cards in the upright position indicate a positive reaction while an upside down card symbolizes something negative. So The Fool in the upright position means that you"ll have a positive change or new adventure in your life." "What kind of change will there be?" Amy drew another card: Lovers in the upright position. "Lovers symbolize love and communication. In the upright position they can also symbolize unions, relationships and alignment in values. So it must have something to do with that." "Interesting. I see why this is a hobby of yours." "Aww, thank you~. Now let"s see how that change will go for you!" And she pulled The Moon in the upright position. "Aww, this isn"t good at all!" "What"s The Moon mean?" "It"s a card that symbolizes anxiety and stress. The Moon is one of those cards in the upright position that has a negative meaning and it"s upside down meaning is positive or neutral. So this means that the change coming to you in your future has to do with relationships and communication but it"s going to be stressful." "The cards aren"t exactly wrong." Shadow smiled a bit. "You"ve been experiencing what the cards are describing yourself, are you not?" "Hey, it"s the season. Everyone goes a little nuts in heat." Amy pointed out. "I wonder how everyone else is dealing with it." "Pay them no mind. Besides, now you have my attention with this whole tarot card thing. You mind teaching me how to read them?" "I don"t have anything on my plate right now... But I uh..." She looked back at the Sonic doll in the kitchen, staring back at her and reminding her of her past mistakes, her failures, the glomping, getting shoved away and scolded and being made fun of for a little fangirl crush she"d had for years. And she threw her hammer at it"s head, denting her fridge in the process. "Never mind. I"m available~." But while Shadow moved in closer to study the deck of cards, Amy got up and went to the kitchen, opening the fridge with the hammer still in it and taking out a glass bottle full of a clear liquid. "You still had vodka in the fridge?!" Shadow asked, wondering how he didn"t smell it when he was under a rose vodka spell that turned him into the world"s most domesticated drunk. "I like it chilled. Any objections?" And out of the cabinet she pulled out a stack of plastic shot glasses. Laying out a few on the counter she sloppily poured herself a few shots, drinking one at the counter and sighing after consuming it. "Do you want some or am I drinking solo?" "I already have a huge hangover on the way so..." But then again, he already had a huge hangover on the way... "I might just have a shot, just to make sure neither of us do anything stupid." "Oh~ I could be drinking a bit to allow myself to do something a little-" She hiccuped. "stupid... But on the other hand I just need to forget a little something or someone." She kicked the Sonic plushie in the groin and walked back to Shadow on the grass. "You sure about that?" Shadow took the bottle from her and hid it in the grass should she become one of those uncontrollable drunks. She hiccuped again, sighing afterward before laying down on her stomach. "Oh, I"m very sure. NOW LET"S PLAY SOME CARDS!" While Amy and Shadow were bonding over cards, another unlikely pair was headed toward Tails" workshop while Sonic spent some time alone in the forest. Sticks hated how Knuckles was trailing behind her as though he were watching her every move and she would"ve loved to clobber him and put him back in the bag but no - the poor badger could never win and she shot the author the angriest look she could muster every now and again. "I thought Sonic said NOT to disturb Tails." Knuckles said, carrying the burlap sack he was once in on his shoulders. "Well how else are we gonna get to Eggman? Not that I wanna deal with any more poor writing but NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Apparently I gotta be in the center of alla this!" Sticks wanted to give the author the finger but didn"t for fear Sonic would randomly show up and talk about ratings to her again. "You could get in this bag and I could give you a piggy back ride!" Knuckles opened the bag large enough for her to step inside of it. "No thank you." "Aww, but come on, it could be fun and you might get to take a nap!" Knuckles urged her to get inside. "I"m big, I"m strong, my arms are big. I could use a few more leg days but COME ON! We could be like a team! Pleeeeeeease~?" "Knuckles, seriously... You losin" your brains over not being able to bump uglies too?" She put a hand on her chest. "I am not an echidna! I"m clearly a badger! And if I were a badger of the honey variety you"d be dead cuz honey badgers don"t give a-!" "Please~?" "You"re not gonna give up til I get in that bag are you?" "NOPE!" He pressed the issue. "Now get in the bag so I can give you a ride and you can take a nap." At that moment Sticks wanted so badly to become a honey badger but stepped inside the sack anyway. Without even realizing it, Knuckles made the writer want to hug him out of thanks. He carried her on his back and walked slowly toward Tail"s workshop and reveling in the fact he was right: Sticks was tired and really needed that nap after all. Granted her snoring wasn"t cute in the slightest and it being right next to his ears was annoying but HEY, HE WAS RIGHT! He"d give himself a tally in chalk on a special motivational chalkboard he had at home for all the times he was correct about something. Once they"d reached their destination he knocked on the door and peaked inside of the window, looking for Tails and finding him asleep. "Awww, look at the little foxes~!" Sticks bit his dreads. "What are ya talkin" about?" And the Knuckles pointed at the window. "Oh... That"s what happened... No wonder Sonic told us to leave Tails alone. He finally got himself a-." "They"re so cute! Just look at the little puppers!" "Eh... Well here"s hoping they don"t make more puppers no time soon." "He"s so lucky to have another one of his kind... I"m kinda jealous. But, it could be cool having more lil foxes runnin" around, doing fox things!" "Yeah, that ain"t gonna happen til" it gets cold so..." "But wouldn"t it be cute?!" Tails woke up slowly, hearing someone squeeing outside and another person yelling. There was something floofy that weren"t his tails underneath him, but instead Zooey. Somehow in his sleep he climbed on top of her and slept in a way where they were forming an X. "Man, I guess I was tired." He sat up, brushing his tails with his fingers. "Sorry if I hurt you Zooey. If you have a backache you could use my tails as a back-pillow as payback." "Ish okay... Floof is enough..." Zooey spoke quietly, one eye opening. "You should probably check the door." "Got it..." So he opened the door, walking outside and facepalming. "NOW why are you here? Haven"t I had enough? I was having a really great day with Zooey!" "We need to get a hold of Eggman." Sticks said in monotone. "We"re going to need a plane." "You"re going to tell Eggman to come here when he"s been leaving us alone? Let him stay home!" "Shadow is back." "But why?" "Look, can you just give us a plane since you"re not interested in going?" "Sticks, you don"t even have a license to fly." Tails opened the door. "I"m going to spend the rest of my day with Zooey. Don"t bother us. Plus, Knuckles used to be able to fly. Use him as a plane!" and he slammed the door shut, got back into his little den with Zooey and left Knuckles to get choked by a very angry badger. Chapter 10 end Sorry this chapter took so long! Real life was being a butt! NOW FOR TRIVIA - which there isn"t a lot of here. Echidnas: We see Knuckles trying to make an echidna train behind Sticks even though she"s obviously not an echidna herself. Foxes: In contrast to hedgehogs who mate in spring and summer, foxes tend to mate in late winter. During that time female foxes can be seen digging holes to breed - in rural areas this can be in banks, under piles of sticks or even in drystone walls. In urban areas they may hide under sheds and buildings to secure a place to breed. So based on season alone (since the island Sonic Boom is set on seems to be in eternal summer with really weird and cartoony geography) they wouldn"t actively be trying to mate. So they"re just sort of being cute and sweet to each other just because. Male foxes after mating will also stay on top of the female for a few minutes afterward - sort of like snuggling but to ensure the survival of the species. There"s a variant of it here but the two foxes are sleeping in the shape of an X... This is an example of me not being able to make furry characters too sexual - it"s just not my fetish and I view them as animals and floofs first, characters second even though they"re anthropomorphic.

"Oh please. You"ve been knocked off your feet by an enemy just as many times as we have," Tributon piped in, scoffing at Lydendor. "You"re practically like pipsqueak over there." "Guys, come on," Bravenwolf tried again. "That"s it," the green Knight said in frustration. "I quit." "Me too," the yellow Knight stated. "What?!" the leader gasped in shock. "Ya know, that sounds like a great idea. I quit this stupid thing too," the blue Knight added. "It"s not like you haven"t already tried to quit before," the yellow Knight snarked. "Maybe this time you"ll actually mean it." "Wait, guys. We can"t just disband like this," Bravenwolf said, frantic at the way his friends were acting. "Actually, we can, cause we just did!" Tributon shot to his friend, the first time since the beginning of the battle that Bravenwolf was acknowledged. Bravenwolf watched in despair as the three other Knights walked away. Mr. White watched the portal brighten and then dimmed, bringing the boys back from Quarton. He hadn"t been watching their battle, and so he had no clue about the decision they came to on the other planet, though he could tell by the tensed atmosphere around the boys. That and how Chooki, Toxsa, and Ceylan looked angry while Guren looked worried. "C"mon guys, you didn"t really mean what you said back there," Guren spoke up. "This is all just a misunderstanding. We"ve had them before. We"ll work through this, and then we"ll be good as new." "You don"t listen very well, do you Guren?" Ceylan demanded harshly. "He is a goody-two-shoes," Toxsa commented snidely. Guren flinched from the personal attacks, but pushed away the hurt that they - his friends - would say such things to him and focused once more. "I"m serious guys," Guren argued. "And so are we," Chooki responded. "We quit. End of story. No more Tenkai Knights. Quarton can fight their own battles from now on, because I"m out of here." "Me too. I"m done busting my hide for those guys," Toxsa commented, heading for the door like Chooki was. "I gotta life to live," Ceylan added as he made his way towards the door. "If you were smart Guren, you"d do the same." "Guys!" Guren called, but his three friends - ex friends? - continued out the door, slamming it shut behind them. Guren"s shoulders fell when he heard the slam, hurt immediately taking place on his face. Mr. White stared at the door in alarm, before looking back at the boy. He looked so crushed and defeated, that it panged the older man to see him so sad. "I"m guessing what happened on Quarton wasn"t something good," Mr. White commented to the boy. "The Tenkai Knights just split," Guren answered, sounding so sad and hurt. "I"m sure whatever has gotten to them will be gone with by tomorrow," Mr. White, trying to be optimistic about the situation, said. He walked over to the boy and patted him on the shoulder. "You boys have just been doing the same thing over and over again, and so they were probably letting off some steam." Guren"s eyes brightened with hope. "You really think so Mr. White?" Guren asked. Mr. White smiled in reassurance and nodded. "I"m sure it will. Why don"t you go home now and rest up," Mr. White suggested. "You"ve had quite the intense day, and winding down is the best thing to do." "Yeah, you"re right," Guren agreed. "Thanks Mr. White. Hopefully everything will be better in the morning." The young leader of the (disbanded) Tenkai Knights walked for the exit, giving the aging man a final farewell as he exited the basement. The smile that had been on Mr. White"s face fell after the door had closed, and in its place was a worried frown. "This isn"t good," he commented to himself out loud. "If the boys don"t reunite tomorrow, the universe may be in trouble; not just Quarton. I hope they can overcome what has overtaken them quickly, or I fear we will not be alive for much longer." Chapter Two is here now. I"m hoping my fight scene isn"t lame, but I"ll let you all be the judge of that. Also, the boys may seem out of character for this chapter, but I promise it"ll be explained next chapter. Still working on Mr. White"s riddles/sayings, but I feel I"m making a breakthrough by giving him a riddle/saying for the chapter. Guren arrived at the school early the next day, hopeful for his friends to be better and make up. He hadn"t talked to them yesterday because he wanted them to have some space and time to think about what had happened and to come to the decision on their own without him pushing them towards it. He was anxious though, and was practically bouncing out of his seat waiting for Ceylan to show up. When the blue-haired teen made it in, Guren smiled at him. "Hey Ceylan," Guren greeted. The teen just made a noise in his throat and flopped into his seat, crossing his arms. Guren felt the corner of his lips tip downward a little, but he kept up the smile and tried again. "How are you today?" he asked. Ceylan ignored the other boy, keeping his eyes focused on the front, waiting for class to begin. Guren felt his entire body deflate at receiving the cold shoulder from his best friend. He turned his own attention to his desk. He kept silent, not able to focus as the teacher walked into the classroom. Maybe things won"t turn out for the better, he thought sadly. Guren had felt too depressed to focus on the lesson in class. He had been hopeful that everything would be under the bridge and they could move on being friends, but Ceylan"s behavior only proved that things were still heavy. Guren was pulled out of his depressing thoughts by the sound of the bell ringing, indicating that class was over. Ceylan was up and out of his seat without another word, leaving the room without Guren. Guren closed his eyes with a sigh and slowly got his things ready. "Trouble, Guren?" Gen asked from behind the boy, surprising him. Guren looked up, finding Gen staring at him with his typical aloofness. Guren placed on a fake smile, trying to not let his personal sadness be revealed. "Oh, hey Gen," Guren greeted kindly. "No, I"m okay. I just spaced out a little." "Really now? It sure seemed like you and Jones had some tension between you," Gen responded, his voice indicating he didn"t believe a word Guren said. Guren felt a shiver run through his body, wondering why he was getting defensive. The way Gen was able to see through the lie spooked Guren. Shouldering his backpack, Guren made his smile wider. "Nah, he just had a bad morning," Guren lied. "I"m sure he"ll be fine later today." "If you say so," Gen responded, his voice still indicating that he knew Guren was lying. He turned and exited the classroom, leaving Guren behind. The teenager sighed to himself and made his way out of the classroom, dreading the rest of the day if the other two boys were just going to be like Ceylan. School was over, and as Guren exited the school, he saw his other three friends walking out of the school as well. Mustering up some courage and forcing on another smile, he jogged up to them. "Hey guys! Want to come to my place to do homework?" Guren asked. He knew it wasn"t the best thing to ask, but he needed something. The three boys stopped. They looked over their shoulder at him, and then looked at each other. A glare appeared on their face, and they began to walk away. "I"m busy with track," Chooksi responded. "Wakamei"s making me help her in the diner," Toxsa answered. "My dad wants me to help out around the house," Ceylan replied. Guren watched them walk away, feeling his smile falter before he looked down at his pocket and noticed it glowing. He quickly pulled out his core brick, and held it up. "Hey guys, we"re being summoned!" Guren called after his retreating three friends. "We"re not knights anymore, remember!?" the three shouted back, continuing their walk. "But guys!" Guren began to protest, but the three continued to leave, heading off in their own direction. Guren clenched his fists in a sign of aggravation and shouted, "Fine! Then I"ll just go myself." "Hello Guren," Mr. White greeted when he saw the young leader jog into his shop. "What can I do for you?" "Quarton"s calling," Guren responded, heading for the basement. Mr. White followed, noting a lack of three bodies. "What of the other boys? Are they on their way?" the elderly man asked. "Off doing other things," Guren replied. "And no, they"re not." "You"re going by yourself?" Mr. White asked in obvious concern. "Quarton needs me," Guren responded simply as they entered the basement. "It"s dangerous to go it alone though," Mr. White protested. "A single wall cannot hold up a house." "Mr. White, I"ll try and figure out your riddle later, but right now, I need to get to Quarton. The guys may not want to help the planet out, but I"m still in this," Guren replied to the elderly man, a fire of determination burning in his eyes. Mr. White held in his next comment, reluctantly nodding in agreement. He didn"t like sending Guren off alone, but Quarton was still in need. The elderly man released a defeated sigh and nodded his consent. "Very well, but be extremely cautious," Mr. White advised, expressing his worry with his tone of voice. Guren smiled in reassurance and he nodded, making his way to the portal. "I will Mr. White, don"t worry," he responded, stepping onto the portal. Mr. White watched grimly as the young boy entered the portal, leaving for Quarton as Bravenwolf. In the pit of the elderly man"s stomach, he felt dread build up and hoped that it wasn"t a premonition but simply a feeling produced by anxiety. "Greetings Bravenwolf sir!" Beag greeted when the white-and-red Tenkai Knight came into view. "You came just in time sir. May I inquire where the rest of the Knights are?" "Oh, they"re uhm...busy with other things right now," Bravenwolf lied, wishing he had thought of a better one before arriving. "Anyways, what"s the damage?" "Dromus and Venetta attacked one of our mining groups," Beag informed. "Our men as still under seige by the two and the Corrupted, but they"re holding their own!" "Okay, I"ll deal with Dromus and Venetta," Bravenwolf responded. "Time to Titan up!" Bravenwolf turned into his Titan form, and then flew off with Beag and the Corekai following after. This would be the first time he would face the enemy alone without his friends backing him up, but Beag and the other Corekai would be there for him, and he already knew how deep their devotion to the Knights were, so there was no way Beag and his men would leave Bravenwolf to die. With the thoughts in mind, Bravenwolf sped faster for the mine, hearing the laser-firing before he saw it. When he came further into view of the battlefield, he spotted Dromus and Venetta on the other side. Time to draw their attention away, the Knight thought to himself as he drew his sword. Dromus spotted Bravenwolf heading for them, bypassing the Corekai soldiers and rushing straight towards them. Dromus rose his own sword up, watching from the corner of his optics as Venetta readied her own weapons. She was already informed of the situation concerning the Knights, and she was more thrilled then he to be battling the lone Knight. Their plan was simple: kill Bravenwolf. The other three were no longer taking part in the war effort, so there was no need to worry about them; Bravenwolf, on the other hand, was quite dangerous since he was a stubborn fellow who would die trying, which was the ideal outcome for the two agents of Vilius. "Ready?" Dromus asked his companion. "Do you even need to ask?" Venetta questioned, her voice expressing her excitment. "Let"s go and meet him already." "You"re certainly impatient," Dromus commented, going into Titan mode. "And you"re slow," Venetta responded, rushing off to meet Bravenwolf. Dromus followed after her, watching as Bravenwolf veered off, taking the three away from the battlefield. That was fine with Dromus; they could kill Bravenwolf anywhere he wished. Venetta was quick on the lone Knight"s tail, shooting her energy webs at him in an effort to trap him. He had gotten smarter than the last time they fought and managed to dodge all her shots. That was fine with Venetta; she was in the mood to have some fun before striking at her prey. "I can do this all day, Tenkai Knight," Venetta commented aloud. "Funny, I was just about to say the same thing to you," the Knight responded back, turning around to face his opponents once he felt they were far enough away from the soldiers. "You"re not very bright," Dromus commented as he arrived. "It"s two on one." "Well then maybe you need to grab a few more guys to make this an even match," Bravenwolf responded cheekily. "Arrogance will be your downfall," Dromus commented, raising his sword and swinging it at the red-and-white Knight. Bravenwolf rose his sword in defense, letting the two blades clash. He pushed against Dromus" sword, but had to pull back when he saw Venetta attempting to impale him with her twin daggers. He managed to move away in time before she could do any damage, but he kept moving backwards when she chased after him; while he may be stronger, she was obviously faster. "Where are you running to?" the female bot questioned. "I"m not running anywhere," Bravenwolf replied. "I"m just avoiding your daggers." "Maybe you shouldn"t be so concerned with my daggers," Venetta responded cryptically. "What"s that supposed to-GAHHHHH!" Bravenwolf was caught off guard by the sword slashing him on his side, sending Bravenwolf to the ground. "You seemed to have forgotten me," Dromus mocked, kicking Bravenwolf in the side before he could get up. "That was your second mistake." "And what can I ask was my first?" Bravenwolf questioned, rolling out of the way before Dromus could land another blow. "Coming to Quarton alone," Dromus responded, raising his sword and bringing it down. Bravenwolf used his sword to help him to his feet, and used the shield to block against Dromus" attack once more. He was fighting hard to keep Dromus" blade from hitting him, but wasn"t prepared for the stab in his side that came from Venetta"s dagger. He pulled the dagger out of his side and went to slash at Venetta, but the female bot had already jumped backwards before he could strike her, and Dromus used the distraction to knock Bravenwolf back to the ground with the hilt of his sword. Bravenwolf readied his sword to help him up, but Dromus stepped on the Knight"s arm, applying pressure and stopping him from doing so. Gaaahh, Bravenwolf thought, feeling pain shoot through his right arm. This isn"t good. They"re beating me up pretty good. "You should have just left Quarton to suffer," Dromus mocked the Knight, applying even more pressure to the arm below his foot. "Trying to play the hero only gets you killed." "Who"s playing?" Bravenwolf questioned, swiping his shield at Dromus" legs and forcing the other bot off of him. He then used his jets to get him off the ground and placed some distnace between them. He held his injured arm, willing it to work. It wasn"t broken, thankfully, but it still hurt. Thankfully, the adrenaline was getting to him, and the pain was slowly ebbing. The grey bot stumbled back from the momentum, but he regained his composure just as Venetta appeared at his side, drawing her daggars for another hit. "I"ve had enough toying around with you. Time to end this once and for all," Dromus stated as he prepared his Dark Energy Cannon. Bravenwolf rose his shield and readied himself to defend against the energy attack, but was caught off guard by three purple energy webs wrapping around him, forcing his arms to his sides. "What the-" he was cut off by the energy blast hitting him at full blast. "AHHHHHHHHH!" When the energy blast dissipated, Bravenwolf fell to the ground, feeling absolute pain from the blast he had just been dealt with. He was too weak to move, not even bothering to roll away when Dromus placed the blade of his energy sword up to Bravenwolf"s neck. "It was fun, Bravenwolf. But you"re in my way," Dromus said readying the weapon for attack. Before Dromus could slice off Bravenwolf"s head, several energy shots came at him, forcing him to back off and use his shield in defense. Looking over the edge of the shield, he watched as the Corekai army ran towards the three of them, firing off their weapons in an attempt to protect Bravenwolf from further damage. "Hm," Dromus said, stepping away from the fallen Knight. "Today"s your lucky day. You"ve managed to survive death...for now. Venetta, let"s go." "Right," Venetta replied, following after her partner swiftly. "That"s right you cowards!" Beag shouted, before kneeling beside the fallen leader. "Bravenwolf sir, can you stand?" "Just...Just give me a moment," Bravenwolf responded, breathing heavily as the pain racked his body. "I just...need a moment." "Of course sir," the Corekai leader said in understanding. "I am very glad you survived Dromus" powerful blast." "You and me both," Bravenwolf commented lightly. Mr. White"s not going to be happy, Bravenwolf thought to himself grimly. Mr. White had been watching Guren"s fight after the teenager left for Quarton, so he was at the portal, waiting for Guren to arrive, nerves frazzled at nearly watching the young boy die at Dromus" hands. When the light faded from the portal, signaling the boy"s return, Mr. White quickly grabbed his shoulders, keeping him balanced. Guren flinched, not from the pain, but from seeing the look in Mr. White"s eyes. He already expected a lecture from the elderly man. Instead of getting yelled at immediately, Mr. White guided him over to a chair by the flat screen, sitting him down carefully. Guren accepted the seat, happy to be off his feet, and gripped his upper arm. The adrenaline from before had kept most of the pain away, but now it was back, aching along with the rest of his body. He looked up at Mr. White, who looked to be both upset and very concerned. "I told you to be careful," the man began, his voice firm. "I know," Guren responded, lowering his head a little in submission. "You could have been killed. Had Beag and his men not fought off the Corrupted sooner, they never would have gotten to you in time," Mr. White continued. "I know, and I"ve already expressed my gratitude to Beag for getting there in time," Guren replied. Mr. White looked over the boy, trying to find any physical damage aside from the arm, but it was mostly bruises and a weakened state that Guren was suffering from. The old man released a sigh, feeling his pent up nerves slowly drain away. Scolding Guren while the teen was already in pain would get neither of them anywhere. Guren made it out alive, thankfully, and that was all they could ask for. "I suggest you go home and rest, Guren," Mr. White advised. "You will need a lot of rest after what you went through." "Yeah," Guren agreed, smiling a little. "Luckily dad won"t be home until later tonight, so he shouldn"t question my appearance." "Will you be alright getting home?" Mr. White asked. "Yeah," Guren replied with a nod. "I should be fine. My house isn"t too far away." "Alright, but be careful and don"t over work yourself," Mr. White warned. "I promise," the teenager promised, getting out of the chair. Mr. White walked Guren out of the shop, keeping a sharp eye on him and making sure the boy wouldn"t suddenly collapse. He watched the young leader walk through the mall, still keeping a close eye on him until he was out of sight. Those boys need to figure out their differences quickly and become a team again, Mr. White thought, heading back into his shop. Guren almost died, and he is sure to get himself killed with his stubbornness. I can only hope that Quarton doesn"t need the Knights tomorrow. Wow this chapter is nearly double the others. I"m happy to have it done though; now that it"s out of my head, I can use the open space for other things like school...hopefully. Sounds like my fight last chapter wasn"t too bad, so let"s hope this chapter"s fight scene is good enough. Also, I don"t know why I beat up on Guren. I love him so much, but for some reason, I enjoy writing chapters that make the characters go through physical pain like this. If I hadn"t expressed it already, I want to thank you all for your support on the story! I"m really happy this story was enjoyable for you all! Here"s to our last and final chapter! Ceylan arrived at school rather late, hoping to avoid speaking with Guren. It wasn"t like the blue-haired teen hated Guren or something; he was actually feeling guilt for the past two days. He hadn"t meant to be so harsh to Guren; his harsh words had been mostly in the heat of the moment. Oh sure, he did mean that Guren was a goody-two shoes, but not in a mean way. Guren was too nice, far too nice for his own good. He was always finding the best in people, and trying to bring that out in others. When Ceylan entered the classroom, he was a little shocked to see that Guren"s seat was empty. Normally the other boy would be at school early, hence on why Ceylan opted to arrive later than usual. A quick feeling of dread filled Ceylan"s body as he wondered if something bad had happened on Quarton, but just as quickly, he shrugged off the feeling. Guren was a big boy and was pretty strong when he was Bravenwolf, so he was sure Guren was fine. The other teen was probably just at home taking the day off.

Monroe sat in the shade on the dock; eyeing the Reaper as Death provided missions for the soldiers (Monroe liked to call them fighters because thinking of teenagers as soldiers was too much to stomach, even for a dog). He barely recognized the Candy Pirates that were standing around, waiting for some sort of adventure that Monroe doubted would come. His focus was on Grim, who seemed to hate Monroe almost immediately. Monroe could respect that; he was a dog, and dog"s naturally chewed on bones, which was what Grim was made of. Knowing Grim hated him didn"t make the temptation to run off with a bony foot any less strong. Some afternoons, when he wasn"t giving magical lessons to wide-eyed magic users, he"d plan out how he"d be able to grab a foot and run. The robe Death wore was rather long, and hid his body parts well. Maybe he should have just gone with June to Nowhere like she had offered. Another dog was there, from what she wrote to him, and the two could get along well. Anything was better than sitting next to walking talking bones. Although this wasn"t exactly a contest entry, I was challenged to make it, so this is where I am placing it. This story is set in the CN Social RP universe, which takes place 5 years after the invasion seen in the game. Holden belongs to Zerowing21 Selena belongs to Blueyedemoness Random waiter is a red shirt, so don"t worry about him. Holden wasn"t exactly sure how he was forced into the Southern Italian (1), dining with Demongo and Mandy. Really, he needed a play-by-play to figure out how he came to that point. He had been sitting in the Utonium living room, watching some news special on Dexlab"s new energy project, when there was a knock at the door. No one else was present - Professor Utonium and Blossom had gone to check out the unveiling of the project, Bubbles was volunteering at the animal shelter with DeeDee and Kuki, and Buttercup was lifting weights with Ben and Rex - so Holden answered the door. Selena was on the other side, and beside her was her boyfriend Demongo (2). In Holden"s opinion, they were the strangest couple he had ever come across, but he wasn"t one to state his opinion outright. Selena asked him if she could leave Demongo with him for the day since she and her uncle were doing something family related. Selena and Holden weren"t friends; they were more like acquaintances, but Holden decided to help her out and agreed. No more than an hour after being given the job of babysitting - and Holden began to wonder if Demongo was screwed up when he had been created because there were a few screw loses in the flame-head"s mind - Mandy had appeared. Mandy and Holden only knew each other through school, and nothing more. They got along as well as one could with the cold-hearted woman, but they weren"t best friends. Plus, she was dating a Rowdyruff (3), specifically the one who"s attempted to kill Holden time and time again. Mandy and Demongo knew each other, which was both surprising and unsurprising. Mandy had been forced by Billy to go to dinner that night, but the idiot backed out at the last minute, and told her his good friend Demongo would go in his place (4). Demongo argued that he couldn"t leave Holden because that was what Selena ordered of him, and so, that"s how Holden ended up sitting at their circular table, looking at the pasta menu. Demongo had his upside down, and no matter how many times Holden tried to correct the demon on it, Demongo would ignore it and continue to hum a song from a popular web series (5). "Hurry up idiots," Mandy told them in a bored tone. "The waiter"s on his way." "I"ve got my order," Holden responded to the blond. "Demongo?" "Hmmm...Demo has chosen his meal," Demongo responded, slamming down his menu. Mandy scoffed around her glass of water. Holden bit back a response and waitied patiently for the waiter, who looked more than a little nervous. The boy had every right to be; he was about to serve for a demon, a man who was dating a Powerpuff as well as having powers of his own, and a woman who could kill him with a look, as well as dating a Rowdyruff. Holden took a chug of his water after five minutes of the demon arguing with the waiter about what he could and couldn"t have. He hailed down a passing waiter and asked for another glass of water this was going to be a long dinner. (1) The Southern Italian is a restaurant we made in the RP. (2) In the RP, Demongo is dating the half-demoness princess Selena. Her uncle is Kilroy Green. (3) In the RP, Mandy is dating Butch. (4) The story behind this is that Demongo took over Grim"s job for a week, so him and Billy became friends. (5) "Red Like Roses" from RWBY. So this isn"t really an entry for a contest, but it was a bit of a challenge for me, so I"m placing it with the other entries. Please enjoy. There wasn"t really any other way to describe it; he was trapped. Not from a villain, or even grounded in his room from his parents, or stuck in detention from his teachers. He was trapped by his image. When he was revealed to the public, he had been apprehensive. Would people willingly accept a teenager with aliens? They surprisingly did, but it came at a price. He was now constantly being watched. For the first couple weeks, he enjoyed the attention he was deprived as a ten year old when he was saving the Earth on a weekly basis. It felt good to be recognized for all the good he was doing. However, after a month, it was getting old and repetitive. The reporters were constantly on his tail, fans were sending him letters, some of them cute, some of them down right creepy, and even his teachers were treating him differently. They weren"t treating him like he was Ben; they were treating him like he was some superhero. The idea was a major ego boost for the teenager, but it was also disturbing to know that he wasn"t being treated as himself; he was being treated as the image of him. FusionMod RP has started up another character contest for 2014, this time in drabble form, so we"re allowed to write something between 100 and 150 words. My first one is Heather Orion, an OC for the RP. It wasn"t a secret that Heather Orion was a Nanophobic, especially since she requested her concert goers to not release their Nanos while she played. So it came to a surprise to passer-byers at Sunken Mall when they saw Heather screaming in anger, not fear, at a poor Nano. "You little monster!" she shouted, grasping a Nano Mandark around its tiny neck. "How dare you touch it! How dare you break it!" Laying behind her was a broken keyboard; not just any keyboard. This keyboard was Heather"s most prized possession; the only thing that could possibly make her get over her fear and instead turn her homicidal towards the thing. It was a stray Nano from Dexlabs that had accidentally found its way to the mall and knocked down Heather"s keyboard, which she had been using for an impromptu concert. Needless to say, the Nano was as good as dead. Another one completed for the 2014 Drabble Contest. This one is for Rolf. He uses a line that was used in Red vs Blue by Sarge, but it was changed a little to match Rolf. The Fusion Monsters that littered Peach Creek Commons had made the awful mistake of getting too close to Rolf"s house. They were attempting to break into his cages and steal the farm animals inside, and Rolf wasn"t about to let them get away with it. With a large bass fish as his weapon, he stood off against the Fusions that dared to mess with the Son of a Shepard"s farm with Victor assisting in fighting them off. "Haha!" Rolf cried in victory after he beat a Fusion Monster into Fusion Matter. "You have just been Rolf"d, foul creatures!" The Fusion Monsters had made a grave mistake in messing with Rolf"s house, and the Son of a Shepard was all too happy to make them realize it. Nova Dragonborn is owned by Nove Dragonwreckage. Nova laughed to himself as he watched the training dummy burst into flames. The dummy hadn"t stood a chance. "Are you so weak you fight dummies, and not actual people?" Nova whirled around to face the owner of the voice. Leaning against the doorway was Amber, who"s arms were crossed. She wasn"t a very emotional person, but he could clearly see the disapproval on her face. Sneering at the older EVO, he turned away from her. "I"m way stronger than you give me credit for. Heck, I"m better at my fire powers than you"ll ever be," Nova responded arrogantly. "Oh really?" Amber challenges as she moves away from the doorway. "Let"s see how good you are then. You and me." Nova scoffed and nodded. "Let"s have it out then," he said. "Not afraid to hit a teen though?" The twenty-year-old scoffed. "Age doesn"t bother me. Now let"s go." "Fine by me!" Nova said as he ran at her. As he ran at her, he formed a sword made of complete fire and swung it at her. Amber sighed and raised her hand. As the tip was nearing her, ready to strike her in the shoulder, the tip bended. Nova stared at it in surprise. "What the-" "You still have a lot to learn," Amber sighed as she flung the sword from her. Nova found himself flying with his sword. He quickly got rid of the weapon before he could be flung into the wall and landed on the ground on one knee. Looking up, he found a fire ball heading towards him. He quickly rolled away from the hit. He looked up and found her walking towards him, though not in a hurry. It was like a leisurely-stroll through the park. Angry that she wasn"t taking him seriously, he allowed his body to be consumed by fire and he shot himself at her. Before she could recognize what he was doing, he had already gripped her arms, transferring his fire to her. Amber sighed and grabbed his neck, throwing him off her. Nova rolled on his back and looked up at her in shock. There were no burns on her body; nothing. "What...How!? That should have affected you!" Nova shouted. "You still have a lot to learn," Amber said. "You never use your strongest powers first; that"s a rookie mistake." "No way! You"re cheating!" Nova accused. "You"re an idiot," Amber responded. "You took on an enemy that you had no clue on. You had no idea my attacks, my strengths, my weaknesses. Do you even know my powers?" "Fire," Nova responded. "You"re a fire EVO like me. We should have been matched!" "Like I said, you"re an idiot," Amber responded. "I"m a fire EVO, which means I can"t be harmed by your attacks. In fact, I can manipulate your fire to my will if I feel so inclined." "That"s not fair!" "It"s part of my skills," Amber defended. "Now stop acting like such a child." "I saved an entire kingdom!" Nova shouted. "And I care why? So you saved a kingdom? It had nothing to do with skill; probably luck," Amber reasoned. Nova huffed and looked away. Amber shook her head. She turned and walked for the door. "If you want to learn, you can come find me," Amber responded. "But as long as you"re here reside here in Providence, I don"t want to hear crap from you on how you"re the strongest fire EVO." Nova didn"t respond, letting her leave him in the training room. One of my shortest drabbles ever. Cheese didn"t like to be contained for too long; he enjoyed the freedom, and so he ran away from the Home. It was why Hero"s Hollow was the ideal place for the child-like Friend; it was open and free and full of great toys. He didn"t mind that there were explosions happening; he liked fireworks. Green things were trying to capture him, but Cheese managed to avoid their grasps, running around like a maniac while screaming at the top of his lungs. The toys watched him run before they were hit by the green thing"s goo. Cheese continued to run and cry before a toy grabbed him and moved him away from the gooey things, taking him to a place where they trapped him. The cell didn"t hold Cheese long, and when he emerged, the green things and the toys were gone, or the green things were broken. Cheese walked until he found a nice place to rest, near fire, and sat down, feeling the heat from the flame. "Chocolate milk," Cheese says to nobody. An entry from the first Random Character contest I participated in. His name is Bobo Haha, and he hates sewers. When Rex had brought him along for another "disappear from Providence" act, Bobo had assumed they"d go somewhere far. He did not expect to be stuck in the sewer located under Townsville Park. It had happened so fast, that Bobo wasn"t exactly sure how it had happened in the first place. One minute they were escaping Providence, the next, Bobo was wandering around the sewer, lost, and battling against the Fusion Monsters that inhabited the place. Rex had gone one way while he went another, ending up with Bobo cornered. The upside was that he was away from the Monsters that undoubtingly wanted him dead. The downside was that his communicator no longer worked, meaning he couldn"t call for back-up. He hadn"t seen Rex in what felt like hours and was unsure if the teen EVO was going to come find him or if he had already left the sewer. On top of that, his "babies" had lost ammunition, leaving him defenseless. For a while, Bobo thought this was all a trick set up by Rex and Noah, but threw the though away; Noah was the prankster king, he wouldn"t resort to something so low and less imaginative as this. That only left the option that Rex was hiding in the sewers away from Six. Yes, the agent was a bit overbearing, but it was to make sure the teen didn"t do something stupid (and Bobo was going to forever categorize hiding in the sewers as a stupid thing to do). And if Rex thought he was going to win this little game with Six, he was sorely mistaken; Six always wins. Just as Bobo was deciding to take a nap, he heard a pair of footsteps heading his way. He quickly stood up and pulled out his guns; even if they were empty, he could probably scare the thing with them, right? As he readied himself to make a run for it, he was stopped when he saw a 13-year-old male teen staring at him with a raised eyebrow. In his hand was a weapon specially designed by Dexlabs for the fight with Fuse. "You"re Bobo?" the teen questioned. "Yeah? What of it?" Bobo questioned back. The teen shrugged. "I was expecting someone less grouchy looking," the teen remarked offhandedly. Bobo narrowed his eyes at the teen. Spend an hour in the sewers with no defense and then we"ll see if you"re not grouchy, he thought bitterly in the teen"s direction. "Well c"mon. Gotta take you back to the surface," the teen said, waving the hand with the gun. "It"s about time," Bobo stated, wanting to get the last word in as he followed the teen. Another of the contest entries for the first contest. This one is for Count Spankulot. Warning: This contains some attacks on Twilight. I do not care for the book (and before you give me crap, I did read the first book and part of the second, so I have read it). If you do like the book, please do not come on here and attack me for making fun of it (well... I won"t really be making fun of it). You have been warned. Count Spankulot was a fan of anything to do with vampires, which wasn"t very surprising. He had old copies of books like The Vampyre and Dracula. So when he heard about a book called Twilight, he became interested and bought the book to read. He hadn"t gotten the chance to read it, however, because his job had him out spanking young children. Nearly a year after the book came out, he was able to sit down and read the book, feeling anxious and excited to read another vampire book. He was not a happy camper throughout the book. "What is this girl whining about?" Spankulot questioned midway. "If she were any younger I would have spanked her! "And what is with this Edward person? We vampires do not sparkle!" Spankulot said with a dignified sniff. "And we are most certainly not at war with wolves! We"re they"re masters!" By time he reached the end of the book, he was ready to throw it in the fire. Considering he spent nearly 15 dollars on the blasted thing, he simply threw the book to the side. "Obviously this Stephene Meyers has not done any of her research," Spankulot said, pouting slightly. "John William Polidori must be turning in his grave." He slumped in his chair, feeling dejected that the new generation believed vampires to be nothing but good-looking people that everyone wanted to fall in love with (while this was true in the original books, the newer generation"s version made the vampires less feared and more desired). He settled on flipping the TV on, hoping to find a decent channel to make him forget what he had just seen. Unfortunately, his channel turned on to Channel 5, the CW. Currently playing was a vampire show that looked like another teenage fantasy come true. He released a frustrating cry and sent the book flying into the TV, destroying the device. He got up from his chair and dragged himself to bed, muttering that it"d be best if he stayed away from the TV and kept to his books. Another of the contest entries from the first contest. This one is for Wilt. (I love Wilt!) Wilt was an imaginary friend. That was a pretty simple statement. He was the kindest creature anyone could meet, as well as the most polite. He had headed down to the Cul-de-Sac to offer better help in the war and to balance out Eddy"s selfish motives. He missed his friends immensely, but his needs were put in the backseat of the need to assist in the war. He counted himself extremely lucky to meet new friends in the war. He enjoyed spending time with the fighters and sent them on missions, often apologizing because he believed they were too dangerous (none of the fighters said that they were dangerous and all made it back in one piece). He was very surprised when word came out that there was a Fusion copy of himself, who was being very unkind and impolite. This did not bode well with Wilt, and with an apology to the occupants of the Cul-de-Sac, he left for the Pokey Oaks Jr. High School, determined to stop Fusion Wilt. There was only a problem, he had realized when he made it into the Fusion"s lair; he forgot to bring a weapon with him. He hadn"t thought about it on his trip to the lair and only thought about it when he entered. There was not much he could do, so he continued on. The underground lair was empty of the Fusion alien monsters so Wilt was able to snoop around the lair, looking for his counterpart. Using his height to his ability, he was looking over a stalagmite formation when he felt a cool piece of metal against the back of his neck. He gulped and slowly turned. Standing behind him was his Fusion counterpart, glaring at him with one mechanical eye and the other natural. Wilt slowly stood up while the Fusion watched his every movement and both came to a standstill. Wilt went over everything he could do to survive the situation and come out the victor. As if sensing what was about to happen, Wilt ducked just as Fusion Wilt shot at his real counterpart. Wilt, acting on instinct to survive, quickly swept Fusion Wilt"s feet off the ground. Fusion Wilt hit the ground heavily, causing his cannon arm-piece to fall off. Wilt, surprised because he thought the thing was more connected to the Fusion, grabbed the item and aimed it at Fusion Wilt. The Fusion growled in anger. "I"m sorry about this, but you"re just too mean and dangerous," Wilt said. The Fusion released a feral snarl that was drowned out, moments later, but his cry of pain as he was shot repeatedly by the Imaginary Friend. Fusion Wilt turned into Fusion Matter, swirled in the air, and formed into Nano Wilt, surprising Wilt. "Whoa," the Nano said in awe at seeing Wilt. "You"re tall. You should play basketball." Another entry for the second Random Character Contest. This is short and sweet. Adam sat in his living room, watching the news. Ever since the war started, the KNN had been running the news segments since all the other networks were down. He spent most of his days like this, sitting in front of the tv screen or heading to the zoo to spend time with his friends. Middle school was cancelled. At first it was great, but there wasn"t much left to do during wartime. Signing up wasn"t an option. Adam was only a year under the sign ups, though he found it unfair that ten-year-olds that were part of the KND could. Of course that was the argument; they were part of the KND, so they were trained for combat, whereas Adam was raised in a suburban home with no combat training to speak of. This left the twelve-year-old to spend his time inside watching from the news, learning info from the internet, or just hanging out with his friends. The latter was getting more and more dangerous with the onslaught of newer and more powerful Fusion Monsters appearing. It had gotten so bad to the point that his parents forbade him from leaving. This really isn"t fair, he thought to himself as he listened to the heroics of the day. I"m just a few months off. Can"t they just let it slide this once? He turned off the TV, unable to listen to it more, and headed up to his room where he immediately got on the computer. With no school and his video games all tired out, he had taken the time to study the war so that he could be of better use to the effort. He had been contact with someone known as "mandarknotsusanrulez96", who had been accepting his suggestions and forwarding them to a "less intelligent mind that had enough time on his hands to listen to advice" (in the other internet user"s words). Every time Adam sent an email out, he felt giddy about how useful he was to the cause.

After the hospital visit (Mom was staying one more night to get her energy back and to keep an eye on Speed), Rex had begged Pops to get a baby monitor for his room. Pops had been a little perplexed by the request, but ultimately caved in and bought his son a baby monitor. He installed it that day, and the second monitor was placed in Rex"s room. The ten-year-old was ecstatic to have the little walkie-talkie in his room, now reassured that the baby would be safe. He wouldn"t have to wait long for it to be put to use. It was the dead of night, and everyone was sleeping, until Speed"s cries came over the monitor. While Pops and Mom took a bit more time to wake up (they had gone through this sort of thing before, obviously), Rex was out the door. The moment he heard his brother"s cries, he had jumped out of bed and threw his door open without a second thought. He ran into Speed"s room and over to the bassinet, finding the babe crying. Carefully, Rex picked up the baby and held him in his arms, finding it a little difficult. He maneuvered the infant around so that it would be easier to hold him. The infant hadn"t stopped crying. "It"s okay Speed," Rex said comfortingly, patting the baby"s back. "It"s okay. Big brother Rex is here for you." The baby didn"t stop crying. He continued to wail loudly, scaring the ten-year-old. He tried rocking the babe, always gentle with his motions because he knew how small the child was, but the baby continued to cry. Rex felt like crying, but he kept his emotions in check and instead tried to figure out what was wrong with his baby brother. Had he suffered a nightmare? Could babies even have nightmares? Was he scared? Did he somehow get hurt without Rex noticing? He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of a throat being cleared. He turned and looked over at the source, and found his mother smiling knowingly at him. Involuntarily, he clutched little Speed closer to him. "He won"t stop crying," Rex informed his mother. "Of course he won"t," she replied, stepping into the room and walking over to her sons. "He"s hungry." "He"s hungry?" Rex asked, handing Speed over when his mother held out her hands. "Yes," Mom replied, walking over to the chair that had been placed in the room and taking a seat on it. "Infants are very hungry children. You used to wake up at odd hours of the night for food." "What does he eat?" "He can"t eat anything yet. He has no teeth," his mother answered, picking up a blanket that was nearby and throwing it over her shoulder. She moved a little underneath the blanket, but Rex couldn"t tell what she was doing. "He drinks milk." Rex frowned a little. Although he was still confused on what his mother meant, he understood one thing: he was not capable of providing for the infant. That thought alone made Rex"s frown deepen further. How was he supposed to be a good big brother if he couldn"t provide or comfort his little brother? Mom moved the blanket away from her body and laid a now sleeping Speed in his basinet. She turned her attention to her eldest son, a little surprised to see the contemplative look upon his face. Thinking he was upset about Rex"s crying, she walked over and ruffled his hair. "Don"t worry," Mom said comfortingly. "You"ll get used to the crying." Rex blinked up at his mother, coming out of his thoughts. He looked at his mother in confusion for a few seconds before looking at his sleeping brother. A look of determination appeared on his face, surprising his mother. Don"t worry Speed, I"ll learn everything there is to taking care of an infant, so I can take care of you, Rex vowed in his head. I"ll take care of you. I"m so sorry that it"s been almost four months since I"ve updated this story. School got rough between January and May, and I had also begun another story that took up my time. With school finished and done with, I"m hoping to get back into this. Please enjoy the chapter! Everyone was prone to nightmares; children typically more than adults. When an adult experienced a nightmare, it was usually brought on by a fear. Typically, after experiencing the nightmare, the adult would rationalize with them self that everything would be fine and they would go back to sleep. When a child experienced a nightmare, it was usually brought on by their imagination. Children had hyperactive imaginations that made simple household items turn into sharp-teethed monsters. Typically, after experiencing the nightmare, the child would scream bloody murder and rush to their parents for safety. Speed Racer was no exception. Mom Racer was awoken from her sleep by the cry of her four-year-old son, Speed. She didn"t wake up in a panic since a crying son was not new to her. She was well prepared for this day. Having experienced nightmares with Rex Racer, Mom waited for her young child to come to her. The Racer men had a certain pride that they were all born with, and a mother rushing to her son"s room after said son suffered a nightmare was considered damage to their pride. She quickly learned to just let the child come to her for safety and reassurance. So, while her husband slept next to her, Mom Racer waited for her young boy to come to their room to see the comfort of his parents. This would be Speed"s first nightmare. She heard her young son"s door open, followed by the pitter-patter that belong to the child. She waited patiently for his to open their door and to rush in with fear in his eyes, but her door didn"t open. The room had fallen silent, confusing her. Wasn"t her son headed for the room? Worried that he might have hurt himself (how that was possible wasn"t something she would know offhand, but her son always found trouble so it wasn"t impossible), she got out of bed and moved out of her and her husband"s room, beginning her investigation. The hallway was empty, and so she made her way for his room, but stopped when she passed by Rex"s room and heard murmuring from inside. Rex always slept with his door open; he didn"t like his door to be closed while he slept. Because of this, she was able to peek her head inside and found a very surprising but also heartwarming sight. Sitting on Rex"s twin-sized bed were her two sons. Speed had tears in his eyes, and he was babbling at a mile a minute about the nightmare he had just experienced. Rex was sitting and watching his distressed brother with a reassuring smile, listening patiently and letting Speed vent out his nightmare. His nightmare was nothing new to her in terms of originality; Speed had experienced a monster chasing after him that was very big and very scary. When Speed finished retelling the experience, his older brother wrapped him in a hug and reassured him that he was safe and sound. "The monster can"t get you now, and it won"t ever get you," Rex reassured his little brother, patting his back in an attempt to calm him. "It"ll have to get through me first if it wants to get to you." "Can you really fight off the monster?" Speed asked with awe. Rex grinned widely and ruffled the boy"s hair. "I"m your big brother," he stated. "No monster in the world can beat me when it comes to protecting my little brother." Speed grinned up at his big brother, his fears regarding the nightmare gone away with Rex"s reassurance. "Can I stay here tonight?" the boy asked, and his answer was a nod. The two brothers crawled under the covers, getting themselves settled in the small bed. Mom Racer stepped away from the door and leaned against the wall, smiling to herself. Walking back to her waiting bed, she couldn"t help but reflect that she had two of the best boys a mother could ask for. I"m so sorry! I know it must have looked like I went missing in action there, for a bit. I swear, I didn"t give up on this story. I was hoping to have more time to write my stories in June and July, but things got busy. Don"t worry though; I promise to finish this story, no matter how long it takes me to do so. Days like these were rare. Time was short, for the older Racer boy. He was a prodigy on the race track and found that whatever time he wasn"t spending in school was spent honing his skills on the race track. It was tiring work, but he worked diligently without complaint. He did, however, note how little time he spent with his little brother. They spent time in the garage working on the race car with Pops, and Speed went to every one of Rex"s races, but they didn"t actually spend time together like they used to. So, in an effort to make his brother feel better, Rex took a day off from working on the car and pulled Speed outside to play a few games. Pops was, at first, against his son taking a "day off," but a firm talking to from Mom set the man straight. She had seen the occasional disappointed looks from Speed anytime his brother had to blow off them playing out in the yard, and it tore her heart. She knew Rex didn"t mean to hurt his brother (he"d never do it intentionally, and he even looked upset anytime he had to turn down the requests), but that didn"t stop the look of sadness in Speed"s eyes every time it happened. She may be a Racer, but she was a mother first; her sons" comforts came first for her. Speed had been enthralled when Rex appeared at his bedroom door on a Saturday morning and told him they"d be spending the day together, playing games. To an outsider, some would find it strange that a teenager with a future in racing would spend his time playing with his kid brother. Thankfully, Rex and Speed never needed anyone"s approval and didn"t care what people thought of them. So, that was how Rex found himself in the backyard, attempting to stop Speed from kicking the soccer ball into their makeshift goal. Soccer was an activity the two enjoyed since they were younger. It helped them stay active and have great foot coordination. It also helped with quick decision making for the two of them. Speed pulled back his foot and gave the checkered ball a good kick. Rex jumped for the ball, but he didn"t put a lot of effort into it. He was taller and bigger, and so he knew that he could be his brother time and time again in these games. However, beating his brother wasn"t his goal. He wanted to enjoy his time with his little brother and connect with him. So, from time to time, Rex would put effort into the games and beat his little brother; other times, he"d let Speed win. This was the case for the latter. The ball made it into the goal, and Speed won their game five to four (they always played to five points). "I won! I won!" Speed cheered, hopping around and pumping his fists in the air. Rex grinned at his little brother and picked up the child, throwing him in the air a couple of times before catching him again. Speed just squealed in delight each time he was thrown into the air. "Congrats little bro. You"re getting better at this," he congratulated. "I had to really work hard this game." "Hehehe," Speed chuckled, wrapping his arms around his big brother"s neck. "Next time, I"ll beat you so bad! I won"t even let you score a goal!" Rex smirked at the challenge. "Is that so?" he teased. Speed grinned back, completely confident in his skills as a player. Rex probably would have offered another round, just to see if Speed could do what he said he"d do, but they were interrupted by their mother, who called for them from the sliding door. "Boys! Lunch is ready!" Mom called. "Coming!" Speed and Rex shouted in return, walking over to him. "Race yah to the table!" Speed challenged, grinning cheekily at his big brother. Rex"s smirk widened and he placed his little brother down. "You"re on," Rex said. Speed"s grin widened before he took off running, not bothering to count off. Rex watched his brother run off, his smirk turning into a smile. He really did value the times he got to spend with his little brother. He wanted to spend more time, but he knew he had other responsibilities to handle, which made him treasure the moments he did get to spend with his brother even more. After counting to five, Rex followed after him. We"re reaching the end of this series, and it"s going to get a little angsty, especially the next chapter. Please enjoy! Ever since Speed had been born, Rex had vowed to watch over and protect the young boy. When he had seen the child for the first time, Speed had been a small thing, so weak and helpless. But time flew by, and soon, Speed was a fearless, hyperactive child. The young boy"s mind was on nothing but racing; such was the lifestyle of the Racer lineage. It was so bad that the kid would make car noises in his sleep. What made Rex admire the child was how upbeat he was. Rex was aware that he had no friends in class and that he was having difficulties in school. Their mother was constantly going to the school to have a conversation with the principal about Speed"s inability to focus in class. Despite these setbacks, Speed had a skip in his step and was always in the garage, looking over the parts and helping out their father whenever he got the chance. Rex would teach Speed everything he knew about not only racing, but about the car he was driving. To Rex, the car was a living, breathing machine, and it deserved to be respected and understood. The older Racer wanted his little brother to understand the concept at his young age. If everyone considered Rex to be talented in racing, then Rex considered Speed to be a prodigy. The kid had a knack for racing; a raw talent that simply needed to be honed. Rex wanted to help Speed train that talent and make him the best racer in history. Hopefully, he"d get that chance. Lately, the racing business was getting to him. Back when he had been a rookie, very few companies paid him mind. It was only when he proved himself a formidable racer that people were starting to notice him. Some companies had approached him with the intent to start a contract, but Rex refused everytime. He was a driver for Racer Motors and he"d always be a driver for Racer Motors. The companies had accepted his rejections with understanding, and life had continued on. But lately, there was one person that continued to hound after him. Beneli had been attempting to get a contract with him for almost a year now, and the man refused to accept no as an answer. Races were getting more dangerous thanks to the drivers from the Unicron Team, but Rex always managed to get out of it injury free and on top. He never said a thing to any of his family; though he had an idea his father was catching on. The way Pops would look at one of the Unicron Team drivers after the race was one of scrutiny, like he knew something was up but couldn"t figure out what. Rex wanted to keep his family in the dark; he refused to let them get hurt. Which was why he was so worried about Speed. Speed was wide-eyed and innocent. He had a romantic version of what racing was, and Rex wanted to protect him from the horrors of what racing had become. If Speed ever found out about how racing was no longer honorable and like what he had envisioned, he"d be crushed. His whole life was racing; Rex had made a promise to protect Speed no matter what, and that included protecting his dreams. He would help his brother become the greatest driver in history, and he would not let Beneli and people like him corrupt his little brother. Because Speed deserved nothing less. This takes place during the movie. The day had finally come. In the back of his mind, he always knew this day would come, though he didn"t believe it would come so soon; or maybe, he wished it hadn"t come so soon. He was leaving. Rex Racer was officially leaving the Racer Motors team, and the Racer home. Rex always knew that one day it would happen, at least when it came to the latter. He would eventually leave the home once he was old enough to sustain a life of his own. He had been prepared for the day when he would leave on his terms, but today was not that day. Today was the exact opposite. Rex was being forced to leave not because of his parents, but because of Beneli. The man had gone too far earlier that day, and Rex was now forced to leave his home and family behind. He had been able to tolerate Beneli"s scares and threats when they had been directed at himself. No one in the family knew about any of it (though he had a sneaky suspicion that Pops knew), and that"s how Rex wanted to keep it. However, Beneli decided to target the one family member who could get Rex to do just about anything: Speed. The boy had returned home with a guest, giving Pops a package and describing one of Beneli"s shady men. Rex had freaked and gone into action immediately upon hearing the news, and no more than a few seconds later, a giant fireball was in the street. Beneli had crossed the line, and it was no longer about Rex. Beneli was targeting his family and would continue to do so until Rex gave in. For the sake of his family, he did. They struck a deal. Rex would race for Beneli and his Unicron team, so long as Beneli stayed away from his family. He wouldn"t harm his family members, he wouldn"t mess with their business, and if Pops ended up with a new driver before Speed could take over the family business, Beneli was never to do anything underhanded to that driver. Beneli agreed almost instantly; he knew full well he could control Rex so long as he never touched the family. Beneli had no interest in Racer Motors outside of Rex anyways. With the deal done, all Rex had to do was pack. Beneli would put him up in an apartment close to his company"s facility, and would provide him with his own racing car. So, all there was to do was pack his clothing and wait for one of Beneli"s men to retrieve him. It was storming outside, which was funny since it had been bright and sunny earlier in the day. It seemed the weather was matching his emotions. Rex hadn"t consulted his parents about leaving; he probably should, but they"d try and talk him out of it. They wouldn"t understand that this was the only route he could take to keep all of them safe. It wasn"t a great choice, but it was his only one. He was almost complete with his packing when Speed stepped inside his room. The boy looked smaller than he normally was, quietly asking to come along with Rex. Rex"s heart broke because this would be the last time he saw his brother. He was leaving his brother; the one thing he had promised he"d never do. Rex finished packing and pulled Speed into a hug, hoping that Speed wouldn"t come to hate him. He was breaking his promise to stay by Speed"s side by leaving, and it was killing him inside. He was Speed"s older brother; it was his job to protect and guide the boy into an upstanding young man. How could he do that now? He was going to do terrible things that would ruin his name, and everyone he ever knew would turn away from him. He would no longer be the role model he set himself to be when Speed had been an infant. The realization of his failure killed the man inside, and when he left his room, he felt cold and numb to the world. Rex hardly acknowledged his father in the living room. He should have known the older man would be waiting for him; leaving the Racer household wasn"t going to be an easy task. Heated words were exchanged, but they did nothing to Rex that he hadn"t already done to himself. He was already on the path to Hell, and there was no turning back. With a firm shut of the house"s door, Rex Racer was gone... forever. We"ve come to the end, everyone. Thank you for reading. It was many years later, when Racer X thought about Speed. The Racer family had always been on his mind, at the very back of it. It was them that had pushed him to shed his skin as Rex Racer, and become the most feared man in the racing industry, Racer X. On late nights, when he was alone with himself and his memories, he would think back to his time with his family, and he would long for them. He did, however, stay away from them. He couldn"t return to them; not as Rex, and not as Racer X. Encountering them would bring unwanted attention onto them, and they may be hurt as a way to cripple Racer X. For their sake, he stayed away. He keeps updated on them, though, and so he sees Speed"s crowning moment, when he wins the race at their local race track. His younger brother had almost beaten his race time, but he had been a couple seconds off. Still, despite not beating the score, he had shown off how amazingly talented he was. And that terrified him. Racer X had always known Speed would be an amazing driver; he had known this since Speed was in diapers. It was in Speed"s blood, and he had the natural talent to be the best with very little effort. Seeing that talent broadcasted worldwide is what terrified Racer X the most, because Speed was inadvertently following in his big brother"s footsteps. Soon, wealthy and corrupt men would be after Speed, and when they don"t get what they want, they will come after the Racer family; just like they did with him. He was worried for his brother"s sake, because Speed was oblivious to the evils that occupied his sport. Seeing his brother"s happy face in Victory Lane resolved everything for Racer X once more. No matter what he did, no matter what it would take, he would protect his brother from the corrupted men that ruled the sport. Everyone had better get out of his way.

"I know, and I"ve already expressed my gratitude to Beag for getting there in time," Guren replied. Mr. White looked over the boy, trying to find any physical damage aside from the arm, but it was mostly bruises and a weakened state that Guren was suffering from. The old man released a sigh, feeling his pent up nerves slowly drain away. Scolding Guren while the teen was already in pain would get neither of them anywhere. Guren made it out alive, thankfully, and that was all they could ask for. "I suggest you go home and rest, Guren," Mr. White advised. "You will need a lot of rest after what you went through." "Yeah," Guren agreed, smiling a little. "Luckily dad won"t be home until later tonight, so he shouldn"t question my appearance." "Will you be alright getting home?" Mr. White asked. "Yeah," Guren replied with a nod. "I should be fine. My house isn"t too far away." "Alright, but be careful and don"t over work yourself," Mr. White warned. "I promise," the teenager promised, getting out of the chair. Mr. White walked Guren out of the shop, keeping a sharp eye on him and making sure the boy wouldn"t suddenly collapse. He watched the young leader walk through the mall, still keeping a close eye on him until he was out of sight. Those boys need to figure out their differences quickly and become a team again, Mr. White thought, heading back into his shop. Guren almost died, and he is sure to get himself killed with his stubbornness. I can only hope that Quarton doesn"t need the Knights tomorrow. Wow this chapter is nearly double the others. I"m happy to have it done though; now that it"s out of my head, I can use the open space for other things like school...hopefully. Sounds like my fight last chapter wasn"t too bad, so let"s hope this chapter"s fight scene is good enough. Also, I don"t know why I beat up on Guren. I love him so much, but for some reason, I enjoy writing chapters that make the characters go through physical pain like this. If I hadn"t expressed it already, I want to thank you all for your support on the story! I"m really happy this story was enjoyable for you all! Here"s to our last and final chapter! Ceylan arrived at school rather late, hoping to avoid speaking with Guren. It wasn"t like the blue-haired teen hated Guren or something; he was actually feeling guilt for the past two days. He hadn"t meant to be so harsh to Guren; his harsh words had been mostly in the heat of the moment. Oh sure, he did mean that Guren was a goody-two shoes, but not in a mean way. Guren was too nice, far too nice for his own good. He was always finding the best in people, and trying to bring that out in others. When Ceylan entered the classroom, he was a little shocked to see that Guren"s seat was empty. Normally the other boy would be at school early, hence on why Ceylan opted to arrive later than usual. A quick feeling of dread filled Ceylan"s body as he wondered if something bad had happened on Quarton, but just as quickly, he shrugged off the feeling. Guren was a big boy and was pretty strong when he was Bravenwolf, so he was sure Guren was fine. The other teen was probably just at home taking the day off. "Waiting for someone?" Ceylan spun on his heel to face the owner of the voice behind him, hiding the fact that he had just nearly jumped out of his skin. He found Gen standing behind him, a stoic yet arrogant look in his eyes that always managed to piss Ceylan off. Crossing his arms, the blue-haired teen scowled at the other boy. "Why would I be waiting for Guren?" Ceylan questioned. "The guy"s just probably taking a day off from school. You"d know all about that, wouldn"t you?" Gen scoffed, preparing to snap back, but was stopped by the teacher telling the two boys to sit down. In a huff, the two went to their respective seating. Ceylan attempted to pay attention in class and not think about the fact that something may have gone wrong on Quarton. When Toxsa arrived at his next class, he found it odd that he hadn"t seen Guren pass by him at all. The two didn"t share any classes together, but usually the younger boy would see Guren as they passed each other during passing period. He saw Ceylan, but he didn"t see the other boy, which sort of worried the video game expert. He knew Guren had gone off to save Quarton from Vilius, but had something gone wrong? He really hoped nothing bad happened. He hadn"t meant to be rude to Guren yesterday. The routine on Quarton had just annoyed Toxsa enough to cause a fight with Ceylan and Chooki that sort of roped Guren into it. The other boy was the only one of them who didn"t antagonize him as much as the other two. He was a great friend, and Toxsa felt guilty for acting coldly to him. He hoped everything had gone smoothingly at Quarton, but shook the thought out of his head because of course things went okay; Guren was fine and was probably just taking a me day or something. Everything was fine. Chooki was grabbing his lunch, and debated on sitting with Guren. He had that same thought yesterday before he was pulled away by his team to eat lunch with them. He had seen how upset the other boy had been when Chooki was passing his table, but he had ended up with his teammates instead. He looked around the cafeteria, but saw no sign of the boy with red in his hair. Dread instantly filled Chooki as he made his way over to the table with his group of friends. He had felt guilt over leaving Guren to face the problem on Quarton by himself. It was dangerous to face Vilius and his goons, as four Knights, but going alone just intensified the danger level. Chooki had felt guilty for snapping at Toxsa and Ceylan over the past couple days. Like the others, he had felt boredom over doing the same, constant routine in Quarton, and he was feeling the pressure of school, sports, and the weight of two worlds on his shoulders. All of that had just escalated when the moment was made available, but Chooki still felt awful for losing his cool. Collecting his thoughts and focusing on one of his friends who had asked him a question, he silently hoped that Guren was alright, and that Chooki hadn"t made a mistake by letting Guren go to Quarton alone. Guren had stayed in bed for the beginning of the day, feigning illness so that he could stay home and not go to school. His dad easily bought the lie and called the school, informing them that Guren was sick and wouldn"t be going into school. Max stayed curled up with him on the bed, having sensed that while Guren was feeling terrible, it wasn"t because of illness; he was a cat, and cats knew these kind of things. Guren"s body still ached from yesterday"s battle, and his arm was still in pain, but he was at least feeling a tad bit better than he did the day before. He was settling down for another nap, when he sensed that his core brick was glowing. Guren briefly thought about not going to Quarton, but his sense of duty wouldn"t allow that thought to go into action. Willing his bones and muscles to move, he got out of bed (startling and upsetting Max), grabbed his core brick, and wobbled his way out of his house. Ceylan, Toxsa, and Chooki were all at the end of lunch when they saw their core bricks glowing. Each of them debated going to Quarton, but ultimately decided against the decision and placed their bricks away, hoping to have not been spotted by anyone. Mr. White was expecting (hoping) for the other three boys to show up so that Guren could get some rest, but the front door opened to reveal the leader of the Tenkai Knights. "Guren, you need to be at home resting!" Mr. White protested. "I"m going to Quarton," Guren replied, doing his best to not wobble to the basement. "You"re still too injured to face Dromus," Mr. White argued, following closely behind Guren. "If you go now, you may not come back." "I"ll take that risk," Guren replied with determination in his voice. Mr. White was quite surprised to hear the teenager say such a thing, and Guren used this as his opportunity to sprint to the basement and to the portal. Mr. White recovered after he saw Guren open the door and ran after the teen, arriving too late; he witnessed Guren insert the core brick into the portal"s console, and was teleported to Quarton. Mr. White stared at the empty portal in worry and concern. He sincerely hoped that wouldn"t be the last time he saw Guren alive. Sprinting hadn"t been the smartest thing, because even as Bravenwolf, his legs gave a protest to the exertion they had been subjected to. Beag ran up to him, greeting him cheerfully like usual and asked to where the other three Knights were; Bravenwolf lied once more. Beag then expressed concern for the Knight given the beating the other day, but Bravenwolf waved off the concern and inquired what was the matter. Once again, a mining crew had been attacked; Bravenwolf had an idea that it was Dromus just trying to draw Bravenwolf out into another battle. Ordering Beag to follow him, the leader shot off for the mines in his Titan Mode. Beag followed closely behind, resolving to not leave the white-and-red Knight"s side. He may have come off as ignorant, but Beag was more insightful than he let on. He had a feeling something had happened within the group; he hadn"t been ignorant of the rising tension within the group. He was aware of it, but informed his soldiers that it was only a healthy debate amongst the four, and that they would resolve it quickly. He didn"t want his soldiers to have doubts about the Knights; he wanted them to look up to the Tenkai Knights and believe in them. Seeing Bravenwolf almost die had spooked Beag terribly, and it was now his goal to not let the leader fight alone; not if he could help it. Dromus, already in his Titan Mode, overlooked the battle between the Corrupted and Corekai with Venetta beside him. Both of them were waiting for Bravenwolf to arrive; they had something to finish. Venetta was the first to spot the Knight heading for them. She readied her daggers, which was a hint to Dromus that Bravenwolf had been spotted. He drew out his own weapon, spotting Bravewolf approaching. "The fool," Dromus commented loudly. "He"s determined to get himself killed." "Makes the job easier for us," Venetta commented, a smirk evident in her voice. "That it does," Dromus replied to his companion. "Let"s go and make his death swift." He hopped off the cliff the two had been standing on, heading straight for Bravenwolf. Venetta jumped after her partner and slide down the side of the cliff, a chuckle escaping her vocal chords as she continued down the cliff-side. "Let"s have fun first!" Venetta proposed as she hopped off the cliff-side and bounced off of the heads of Corrupted and Corekai alike. "That"s the whole point of this, isn"t it?" Dromus replied. Bravenwolf noticed two figures approaching, instantly identifying them as Dromus and Venetta; at this point, he doubted the two figures could be anybody else but them. He watched as the soldiers that had previously been following him run past him, off to assist their fellow brothers in arms against the Corrupted. Beag was the only one who stayed with Bravenwolf, and he even raised his laser gun at the approaching Dromus and shot at him. "Beag, go and assist your men," Bravenwolf ordered, raising his shield slightly as he prepared for the oncoming attack. "I"m afraid that will have to be an order I must ignore, sir," Beag responded as he continued to fire, though he moved his target of fire to the quickly approaching Venetta. Bravenwolf turned to look back at him in surprise. The leader of the Corekai didn"t stop his assault, keeping his gaze on Venetta as she approached, only a few meters away. Bravenwolf was tempted to argue with him, but decided not to do so; Beag was just as stubborn as any of them, and it actually felt nice to have someone willing to fight beside him. "Okay," Bravenwolf said. "I"ll take on Dromus and you fight Venetta, deal?" If Beag could smile, Bravenwolf bet he would be. He paused in his assault to give the Knight a salute, before going back to his attack on Venetta. "Yes sir," the leader said. Bravenwolf returned his attention to Dromus, who was closer now, holding his weapon up to strike Bravenwolf down. The Knight raised his shield up in defense, protecting him from a major blow as the black-and-gray bot"s sword made contact with the shield. The force had Bravenwolf skidding back an inch, but he didn"t topple over or lose his balance; he just moved back a little. "I"m surprised to see you standing, Bravenwolf," Dromus greeted, sounding sarcastic as he spoke. "I thought for sure you"d run back home with your tail between your legs." "You apparently don"t know me well at all," Bravenwolf spat back. "On the contrary; I know you quite well. You"re the idiot who"s about to die because he was stupid enough to come back to greet death," Dromus responded, swiping the shield away and kicking Bravenwolf in the stomach. Normally, the kick would have just made Bravenwolf skid back some feet from the kick, but the Knight was still weak from the battle he had the day before, so the kick was strong enough to make him fall onto his back. A quick spike of pain ran up and down Bravenwolf"s spine, but the white-and-red Knight did his best to will away the pain and rolled over, avoiding a stab from his doppelganger. "Hmm. You"re pretty wiley for someone who was almost killed yesterday," Dromus mocked. "I was expecting you to just flop around." "Sorry to be a disappointment," Bravenwolf remarked, moving from his knees to lung at Dromus, actually managing to wrestle the other bot to the ground; Dromus hadn"t been expecting Bravenwolf to have enough strength to do so. Bravenwolf"s victory was short lived because his arm protested against the exertion it had just undergone, and this moment of pause gave Dromus the opportunity to slash at the Knight, sending the weakened bot off of him. Well that didn"t go as planned, he thought to himself as he slowly got to his knees, only to be kicked in the head. Okay. That one majorly hurt. "I"m going to enjoy every moment of this," Dromus stated wickedly as he stalked towards his prey. "Really? I hadn"t guessed," Bravenwolf responded with snark in his tone, forcing his legs to work. "Stubborn to the end," Dromus commented. "Your death will be a pity." "We"ll see about that," Bravenwolf replied, rushing at Dromus with his sword despite his protesting arm- raised. Class after lunch was just mid-way through when the three chosen Knights were hit by an image of Bravenwolf fighting Dromus sword-on-sword, only for Dromus to use his shield to smack Bravenwolf off his feet. The white-and-red Knight fell to the ground from the hit, followed up with being stepped on by the black-and-grey bot. The image had been sent from the three core bricks; which had been continuously glowing since their first call to action. The core bricks, sensing that their owners were not going to take action, took matters into their own figurative hands and sent the image of what was happening on Quarton so the three would understand the severity of what Dromus was doing. The images had caused the three teens to nearly shout in class, but they had gotten a hold of themselves quickly and simply made an excuse to their respective teacher"s before packing up and rushing out of their classrooms. Even though they had each resolved to no longer help Quarton, seeing their friend getting beaten up by Dromus made their guilt rise to an unbearable level. No matter what happened, Guren was their friend, and abandoning him to die at Dromus" hands was not an option any of them wanted to entertain for a moment longer than necessary, so they were off and running. The three almost ran into each other, literally, in the hallway as they ran for the exit. "You saw it too?" Ceylan questioned the two other boys as they ran for the bike rack. "With Bravenwolf and Dromus?" "Yeah," Chooki replied as he frantically undid his bike lock - he hadn"t been this shaken up since the cup finals two years ago. "Bravenwolf looked like he was in bad shape. A swipe like that shouldn"t have had him off his feet." "He didn"t show up to school today," Toxsa spoke up as he slammed his helmet on his head and threw his lock into his bag. "Do you think it had something to do with yesterday on Quarton?" "If it did, then he"s an idiot to be going back today!" Ceylan exclaimed in a combination of worry and anger. "Let"s go guys!" Chooki, on his bike with his helmet on but not strapped, ordered as he began to bike it to Mr. White"s shop. Toxsa and Ceylan were right behind him within seconds, never once losing pace as the adrenaline flowed through their veins. They pedaled faster than they ever did before, nearly running people over with their tires as they sped past people on the sidewalk. They made it to the shop in record time, and all but threw their helmets off onto their bikes as they rushed into the strange little shop. Mr. White was nowhere in sight, but the three teens had an idea on where the elder man was. They threw the basement door open and patiently waited for the metal doors to the room the portal was housed in to open. Mr. White rounded on the three of them, first showing surprise over their appearance before a glare formed on his face; an angry Mr. White was a rare Mr. White indeed, but the boys knew he had every right to be upset with them. On the screen behind the elderly man was the fight Bravenwolf was in against Dromus. "As much as I"d like to reprimand you three for your recent behavior, I"m afraid that there"s no time. Bravenwolf isn"t at his full strength, and I"m afraid that Dromus may use his canon blast any moment now," Mr. White explained, his face mixing with worry. "You three need to get to Quarton quickly." "Right," Chooki replied for the group. "Cheesy forgiveness speeches later?" Ceylan asked as he jogged over to the portal. "Definitely later," Toxsa replied. "Time to go and save our buddy from that Dromus creep!" The three placed their core bricks in the slots, and were taken to Quarton instantly, under Mr. White"s watchful gaze. A bit of the tension he had felt before dampened thanks to the three boys" arrivals; if they got to Bravenwolf in time, then everything would be alright. "Beag!" Bravenwolf shouted when he saw the Corekai fall. The Tenkai Knight ran to defend the leader from a blow by Venetta, but he was tackled to the ground by Dromus. "He"s not your concern Bravenwolf, I am!" Dromus stated, powering up his Dark Energy Cannon. Not this again, Bravenwolf thought angrily, powering up his Bravenwolf Cannon. Well, it"s like Mr. White would have probably said: fight fire with fire! When Dromus released his energy beam, Bravenwolf released his, letting the two different energy beams contend with each other. "Over there, what"s that?" Valron, already in Titan Mode (like the other two Knights were), questioned with worry evident in his tone. "Those look like energy beams!" Tributon supplied. "From two cannons," Lydendor added. "Let"s step it up guys!" "Right," the two replied as they pushed just a little bit more to be faster. Bravenwolf groaned at the energy he had used up for his cannon, reverting out of his Titan Mode. He was almost running on empty, and his body was protesting the use of it. Then, of course, Dromus (still in Titan Mode, which wasn"t fair in the slightest) had to walk over and slam his foot onto Bravenwolf"s chest, putting on pressure that had Bravenwolf nearly screaming out in pain; the Knight would not do it, however, because he didn"t want to give his opponent the benefit of hearing him in pain. "You know Bravenwolf, I am going to miss you when you"re dead," Dromus taunted as he continued to press down. "I"m sure you"ll cry a tear over me," Bravenwolf shot back, his voice filled with contempt as he attempted to move the foot off of him. Just like the day before, the blade of Dromus" sword laid at his neck, ready to slice it off in one clean swipe. "A fighter until the very end," Dromus remarked with a slight tsking noise at the end of the sentence. "Goodbye Bravenwolf." Bravenwolf closed his eyes and waited for the blade to swing back and swipe off his neck, but he was surprised to hear three roars of fear and anger before he heard metal against metal. Someone was kneeling beside him - he could tell by the sound of something landing close to him - and a hand touched him, shaking him slightly. "C"mon Bravenwolf, get up!" Tributon"s voice pleaded. "Tributon?" Bravenwolf questioned, opening his eyes. "Oh thank goodness you"re alive!" Tributon cried in relief. "How are you feeling? Can you move? Are you hurt anywhere? Well of course you"d be hurt, but are you hurt really really badly? Can you wa-" "What are you doing here?" Bravenwolf asked in surprise, cutting off his friend"s rambling. "We came to save your behind," Tributon replied, his voice still full of relief. "The core bricks showed us you getting the snot kicked out of you by Dromus, so naturally we came to save you guys, since, you know, we"re your friends."

(4) The story behind this is that Demongo took over Grim"s job for a week, so him and Billy became friends. (5) "Red Like Roses" from RWBY. So this isn"t really an entry for a contest, but it was a bit of a challenge for me, so I"m placing it with the other entries. Please enjoy. There wasn"t really any other way to describe it; he was trapped. Not from a villain, or even grounded in his room from his parents, or stuck in detention from his teachers. He was trapped by his image. When he was revealed to the public, he had been apprehensive. Would people willingly accept a teenager with aliens? They surprisingly did, but it came at a price. He was now constantly being watched. For the first couple weeks, he enjoyed the attention he was deprived as a ten year old when he was saving the Earth on a weekly basis. It felt good to be recognized for all the good he was doing. However, after a month, it was getting old and repetitive. The reporters were constantly on his tail, fans were sending him letters, some of them cute, some of them down right creepy, and even his teachers were treating him differently. They weren"t treating him like he was Ben; they were treating him like he was some superhero. The idea was a major ego boost for the teenager, but it was also disturbing to know that he wasn"t being treated as himself; he was being treated as the image of him. FusionMod RP has started up another character contest for 2014, this time in drabble form, so we"re allowed to write something between 100 and 150 words. My first one is Heather Orion, an OC for the RP. It wasn"t a secret that Heather Orion was a Nanophobic, especially since she requested her concert goers to not release their Nanos while she played. So it came to a surprise to passer-byers at Sunken Mall when they saw Heather screaming in anger, not fear, at a poor Nano. "You little monster!" she shouted, grasping a Nano Mandark around its tiny neck. "How dare you touch it! How dare you break it!" Laying behind her was a broken keyboard; not just any keyboard. This keyboard was Heather"s most prized possession; the only thing that could possibly make her get over her fear and instead turn her homicidal towards the thing. It was a stray Nano from Dexlabs that had accidentally found its way to the mall and knocked down Heather"s keyboard, which she had been using for an impromptu concert. Needless to say, the Nano was as good as dead. Another one completed for the 2014 Drabble Contest. This one is for Rolf. He uses a line that was used in Red vs Blue by Sarge, but it was changed a little to match Rolf. The Fusion Monsters that littered Peach Creek Commons had made the awful mistake of getting too close to Rolf"s house. They were attempting to break into his cages and steal the farm animals inside, and Rolf wasn"t about to let them get away with it. With a large bass fish as his weapon, he stood off against the Fusions that dared to mess with the Son of a Shepard"s farm with Victor assisting in fighting them off. "Haha!" Rolf cried in victory after he beat a Fusion Monster into Fusion Matter. "You have just been Rolf"d, foul creatures!" The Fusion Monsters had made a grave mistake in messing with Rolf"s house, and the Son of a Shepard was all too happy to make them realize it. Nova Dragonborn is owned by Nove Dragonwreckage. Nova laughed to himself as he watched the training dummy burst into flames. The dummy hadn"t stood a chance. "Are you so weak you fight dummies, and not actual people?" Nova whirled around to face the owner of the voice. Leaning against the doorway was Amber, who"s arms were crossed. She wasn"t a very emotional person, but he could clearly see the disapproval on her face. Sneering at the older EVO, he turned away from her. "I"m way stronger than you give me credit for. Heck, I"m better at my fire powers than you"ll ever be," Nova responded arrogantly. "Oh really?" Amber challenges as she moves away from the doorway. "Let"s see how good you are then. You and me." Nova scoffed and nodded. "Let"s have it out then," he said. "Not afraid to hit a teen though?" The twenty-year-old scoffed. "Age doesn"t bother me. Now let"s go." "Fine by me!" Nova said as he ran at her. As he ran at her, he formed a sword made of complete fire and swung it at her. Amber sighed and raised her hand. As the tip was nearing her, ready to strike her in the shoulder, the tip bended. Nova stared at it in surprise. "What the-" "You still have a lot to learn," Amber sighed as she flung the sword from her. Nova found himself flying with his sword. He quickly got rid of the weapon before he could be flung into the wall and landed on the ground on one knee. Looking up, he found a fire ball heading towards him. He quickly rolled away from the hit. He looked up and found her walking towards him, though not in a hurry. It was like a leisurely-stroll through the park. Angry that she wasn"t taking him seriously, he allowed his body to be consumed by fire and he shot himself at her. Before she could recognize what he was doing, he had already gripped her arms, transferring his fire to her. Amber sighed and grabbed his neck, throwing him off her. Nova rolled on his back and looked up at her in shock. There were no burns on her body; nothing. "What...How!? That should have affected you!" Nova shouted. "You still have a lot to learn," Amber said. "You never use your strongest powers first; that"s a rookie mistake." "No way! You"re cheating!" Nova accused. "You"re an idiot," Amber responded. "You took on an enemy that you had no clue on. You had no idea my attacks, my strengths, my weaknesses. Do you even know my powers?" "Fire," Nova responded. "You"re a fire EVO like me. We should have been matched!" "Like I said, you"re an idiot," Amber responded. "I"m a fire EVO, which means I can"t be harmed by your attacks. In fact, I can manipulate your fire to my will if I feel so inclined." "That"s not fair!" "It"s part of my skills," Amber defended. "Now stop acting like such a child." "I saved an entire kingdom!" Nova shouted. "And I care why? So you saved a kingdom? It had nothing to do with skill; probably luck," Amber reasoned. Nova huffed and looked away. Amber shook her head. She turned and walked for the door. "If you want to learn, you can come find me," Amber responded. "But as long as you"re here reside here in Providence, I don"t want to hear crap from you on how you"re the strongest fire EVO." Nova didn"t respond, letting her leave him in the training room. One of my shortest drabbles ever. Cheese didn"t like to be contained for too long; he enjoyed the freedom, and so he ran away from the Home. It was why Hero"s Hollow was the ideal place for the child-like Friend; it was open and free and full of great toys. He didn"t mind that there were explosions happening; he liked fireworks. Green things were trying to capture him, but Cheese managed to avoid their grasps, running around like a maniac while screaming at the top of his lungs. The toys watched him run before they were hit by the green thing"s goo. Cheese continued to run and cry before a toy grabbed him and moved him away from the gooey things, taking him to a place where they trapped him. The cell didn"t hold Cheese long, and when he emerged, the green things and the toys were gone, or the green things were broken. Cheese walked until he found a nice place to rest, near fire, and sat down, feeling the heat from the flame. "Chocolate milk," Cheese says to nobody. An entry from the first Random Character contest I participated in. His name is Bobo Haha, and he hates sewers. When Rex had brought him along for another "disappear from Providence" act, Bobo had assumed they"d go somewhere far. He did not expect to be stuck in the sewer located under Townsville Park. It had happened so fast, that Bobo wasn"t exactly sure how it had happened in the first place. One minute they were escaping Providence, the next, Bobo was wandering around the sewer, lost, and battling against the Fusion Monsters that inhabited the place. Rex had gone one way while he went another, ending up with Bobo cornered. The upside was that he was away from the Monsters that undoubtingly wanted him dead. The downside was that his communicator no longer worked, meaning he couldn"t call for back-up. He hadn"t seen Rex in what felt like hours and was unsure if the teen EVO was going to come find him or if he had already left the sewer. On top of that, his "babies" had lost ammunition, leaving him defenseless. For a while, Bobo thought this was all a trick set up by Rex and Noah, but threw the though away; Noah was the prankster king, he wouldn"t resort to something so low and less imaginative as this. That only left the option that Rex was hiding in the sewers away from Six. Yes, the agent was a bit overbearing, but it was to make sure the teen didn"t do something stupid (and Bobo was going to forever categorize hiding in the sewers as a stupid thing to do). And if Rex thought he was going to win this little game with Six, he was sorely mistaken; Six always wins. Just as Bobo was deciding to take a nap, he heard a pair of footsteps heading his way. He quickly stood up and pulled out his guns; even if they were empty, he could probably scare the thing with them, right? As he readied himself to make a run for it, he was stopped when he saw a 13-year-old male teen staring at him with a raised eyebrow. In his hand was a weapon specially designed by Dexlabs for the fight with Fuse. "You"re Bobo?" the teen questioned. "Yeah? What of it?" Bobo questioned back. The teen shrugged. "I was expecting someone less grouchy looking," the teen remarked offhandedly. Bobo narrowed his eyes at the teen. Spend an hour in the sewers with no defense and then we"ll see if you"re not grouchy, he thought bitterly in the teen"s direction. "Well c"mon. Gotta take you back to the surface," the teen said, waving the hand with the gun. "It"s about time," Bobo stated, wanting to get the last word in as he followed the teen. Another of the contest entries for the first contest. This one is for Count Spankulot. Warning: This contains some attacks on Twilight. I do not care for the book (and before you give me crap, I did read the first book and part of the second, so I have read it). If you do like the book, please do not come on here and attack me for making fun of it (well... I won"t really be making fun of it). You have been warned. Count Spankulot was a fan of anything to do with vampires, which wasn"t very surprising. He had old copies of books like The Vampyre and Dracula. So when he heard about a book called Twilight, he became interested and bought the book to read. He hadn"t gotten the chance to read it, however, because his job had him out spanking young children. Nearly a year after the book came out, he was able to sit down and read the book, feeling anxious and excited to read another vampire book. He was not a happy camper throughout the book. "What is this girl whining about?" Spankulot questioned midway. "If she were any younger I would have spanked her! "And what is with this Edward person? We vampires do not sparkle!" Spankulot said with a dignified sniff. "And we are most certainly not at war with wolves! We"re they"re masters!" By time he reached the end of the book, he was ready to throw it in the fire. Considering he spent nearly 15 dollars on the blasted thing, he simply threw the book to the side. "Obviously this Stephene Meyers has not done any of her research," Spankulot said, pouting slightly. "John William Polidori must be turning in his grave." He slumped in his chair, feeling dejected that the new generation believed vampires to be nothing but good-looking people that everyone wanted to fall in love with (while this was true in the original books, the newer generation"s version made the vampires less feared and more desired). He settled on flipping the TV on, hoping to find a decent channel to make him forget what he had just seen. Unfortunately, his channel turned on to Channel 5, the CW. Currently playing was a vampire show that looked like another teenage fantasy come true. He released a frustrating cry and sent the book flying into the TV, destroying the device. He got up from his chair and dragged himself to bed, muttering that it"d be best if he stayed away from the TV and kept to his books. Another of the contest entries from the first contest. This one is for Wilt. (I love Wilt!) Wilt was an imaginary friend. That was a pretty simple statement. He was the kindest creature anyone could meet, as well as the most polite. He had headed down to the Cul-de-Sac to offer better help in the war and to balance out Eddy"s selfish motives. He missed his friends immensely, but his needs were put in the backseat of the need to assist in the war. He counted himself extremely lucky to meet new friends in the war. He enjoyed spending time with the fighters and sent them on missions, often apologizing because he believed they were too dangerous (none of the fighters said that they were dangerous and all made it back in one piece). He was very surprised when word came out that there was a Fusion copy of himself, who was being very unkind and impolite. This did not bode well with Wilt, and with an apology to the occupants of the Cul-de-Sac, he left for the Pokey Oaks Jr. High School, determined to stop Fusion Wilt. There was only a problem, he had realized when he made it into the Fusion"s lair; he forgot to bring a weapon with him. He hadn"t thought about it on his trip to the lair and only thought about it when he entered. There was not much he could do, so he continued on. The underground lair was empty of the Fusion alien monsters so Wilt was able to snoop around the lair, looking for his counterpart. Using his height to his ability, he was looking over a stalagmite formation when he felt a cool piece of metal against the back of his neck. He gulped and slowly turned. Standing behind him was his Fusion counterpart, glaring at him with one mechanical eye and the other natural. Wilt slowly stood up while the Fusion watched his every movement and both came to a standstill. Wilt went over everything he could do to survive the situation and come out the victor. As if sensing what was about to happen, Wilt ducked just as Fusion Wilt shot at his real counterpart. Wilt, acting on instinct to survive, quickly swept Fusion Wilt"s feet off the ground. Fusion Wilt hit the ground heavily, causing his cannon arm-piece to fall off. Wilt, surprised because he thought the thing was more connected to the Fusion, grabbed the item and aimed it at Fusion Wilt. The Fusion growled in anger. "I"m sorry about this, but you"re just too mean and dangerous," Wilt said. The Fusion released a feral snarl that was drowned out, moments later, but his cry of pain as he was shot repeatedly by the Imaginary Friend. Fusion Wilt turned into Fusion Matter, swirled in the air, and formed into Nano Wilt, surprising Wilt. "Whoa," the Nano said in awe at seeing Wilt. "You"re tall. You should play basketball." Another entry for the second Random Character Contest. This is short and sweet. Adam sat in his living room, watching the news. Ever since the war started, the KNN had been running the news segments since all the other networks were down. He spent most of his days like this, sitting in front of the tv screen or heading to the zoo to spend time with his friends. Middle school was cancelled. At first it was great, but there wasn"t much left to do during wartime. Signing up wasn"t an option. Adam was only a year under the sign ups, though he found it unfair that ten-year-olds that were part of the KND could. Of course that was the argument; they were part of the KND, so they were trained for combat, whereas Adam was raised in a suburban home with no combat training to speak of. This left the twelve-year-old to spend his time inside watching from the news, learning info from the internet, or just hanging out with his friends. The latter was getting more and more dangerous with the onslaught of newer and more powerful Fusion Monsters appearing. It had gotten so bad to the point that his parents forbade him from leaving. This really isn"t fair, he thought to himself as he listened to the heroics of the day. I"m just a few months off. Can"t they just let it slide this once? He turned off the TV, unable to listen to it more, and headed up to his room where he immediately got on the computer. With no school and his video games all tired out, he had taken the time to study the war so that he could be of better use to the effort. He had been contact with someone known as "mandarknotsusanrulez96", who had been accepting his suggestions and forwarding them to a "less intelligent mind that had enough time on his hands to listen to advice" (in the other internet user"s words). Every time Adam sent an email out, he felt giddy about how useful he was to the cause. Vicariously, he was fighting the evil Fuse. Another entry for the second Random Character Contest. I had Octus, which was tricky for me since I"ve never seen Sym-Bionic Titan. I did my best though. Like the last one, this is short and sweet. Octus sat before the mini-pond of Fusion Matter that acted as a small barrier to keep all sorts of creatures away from the mecha known as Megas. It was dangerous for Octus to be this close to Fusion Matter, especially given its quantity within the Infected Zone. Fusion Matter was especially dangerous to those of the metallic type, as evident by the future technology standing before the alien intelligence. However, Octus was willing to take the risk, if only to see Megas. When Fuse attacked, all the electrical equipment across the world went buggy. Octus was affected, and sent into a stasis for three months, before he was healed on Mt. Neverest, a safe haven away from Fusion Matter. He stayed at the last place of the academy for another three months, allowing himself to recover. There were still damages to his mainframe, but he was well enough to provide his assistance to the war. While on Mt. Neverest, the alien A.I. had heard news about the mecha known as Megas. The "leaders" (now referred to as guides by some of the fighters) of the war had gathered to talk about how to progress in the war. It was brought to their attention that Megas, perhaps the only weapon in the entire war that could give Fuse a run for his money, was out of use, covered by so much Fusion Matter that Coop, the driver of the machine, couldn"t even open the door to get in. Plans had been made to break him out of his prison, but by the next week, Dexter had thrown up a containment field around the area Megas was trapped in, practically leaving Megas to rot. Perhaps it was because Octus felt a sort of kinship to Megas that it caused a sort of obsession within the A.I. to help free Megas. The war was already reaching its anniversary date, and Earth was hardly making a dent. With Megas" help, Octus theorized, the war would be won within no time. He didn"t bother others with his ideals; he didn"t want to bother people and pull them away from their positions. He didn"t even tell Lance and Ilana of his plans, though they had some idea of where he was running off to. Only Coop and a few fighters who took up missions from Coop knew of Octus" plans, and they were behind him 100%. As it was, Octus (and the combined forces of Coop and some fighters) had only gotten as far as opening the doors to the car that piloted Megas (seeing that design had been quite a shocker to Octus). He wasn"t determined to give up, however. The war was not lost, and Megas would help win it for them. So spending day after day, planning and scheming, was well worth it for the outcome. It was only logical. Another entry into the Random Character II contest. This is my actual last entry for it. Warning: Mentions of bullying. Pud"n released a pitiful whine as he hung on a tree branch by the rim of his underwear. Even with a war going on, he was still plagued with these acts of bullying. The culprits were easy to identify. They were done by the Bully Squad. The Squad consisted of: Terrence (the self-proclaimed leader), Mitch Mitchelson, Sperg, and Bull Sharkowski. The three humans had met at afterschool detention that they all shared. Almost instantly, they had made a connection. Since then, they began terrorizing the weaklings while fighting the war at the same time. They had met Bull on one of their run outs, and the shark demanded to be let into the group. After demonstrating his bullying abilities (on Pud"n, no less), he was accepted into the group. Pud"n was usually their target. In fact, Pud"n was usually tormented by this group on a daily basis. To them, he was the weakest, and therefore, it was easier to pick on him than others. Adam Lyon was another person who was usually bullied just as many times as him, though Pud"n still held the rank as top bullied. But Pud"n was bidding his time. These bullies would soon rue the day they messed with him. Soon, he"d be able to enact his revenge the Squad justly deserved... ...right after he got out of the tree.

When Toxsa arrived at his next class, he found it odd that he hadn"t seen Guren pass by him at all. The two didn"t share any classes together, but usually the younger boy would see Guren as they passed each other during passing period. He saw Ceylan, but he didn"t see the other boy, which sort of worried the video game expert. He knew Guren had gone off to save Quarton from Vilius, but had something gone wrong? He really hoped nothing bad happened. He hadn"t meant to be rude to Guren yesterday. The routine on Quarton had just annoyed Toxsa enough to cause a fight with Ceylan and Chooki that sort of roped Guren into it. The other boy was the only one of them who didn"t antagonize him as much as the other two. He was a great friend, and Toxsa felt guilty for acting coldly to him. He hoped everything had gone smoothingly at Quarton, but shook the thought out of his head because of course things went okay; Guren was fine and was probably just taking a me day or something. Everything was fine. Chooki was grabbing his lunch, and debated on sitting with Guren. He had that same thought yesterday before he was pulled away by his team to eat lunch with them. He had seen how upset the other boy had been when Chooki was passing his table, but he had ended up with his teammates instead. He looked around the cafeteria, but saw no sign of the boy with red in his hair. Dread instantly filled Chooki as he made his way over to the table with his group of friends. He had felt guilt over leaving Guren to face the problem on Quarton by himself. It was dangerous to face Vilius and his goons, as four Knights, but going alone just intensified the danger level. Chooki had felt guilty for snapping at Toxsa and Ceylan over the past couple days. Like the others, he had felt boredom over doing the same, constant routine in Quarton, and he was feeling the pressure of school, sports, and the weight of two worlds on his shoulders. All of that had just escalated when the moment was made available, but Chooki still felt awful for losing his cool. Collecting his thoughts and focusing on one of his friends who had asked him a question, he silently hoped that Guren was alright, and that Chooki hadn"t made a mistake by letting Guren go to Quarton alone. Guren had stayed in bed for the beginning of the day, feigning illness so that he could stay home and not go to school. His dad easily bought the lie and called the school, informing them that Guren was sick and wouldn"t be going into school. Max stayed curled up with him on the bed, having sensed that while Guren was feeling terrible, it wasn"t because of illness; he was a cat, and cats knew these kind of things. Guren"s body still ached from yesterday"s battle, and his arm was still in pain, but he was at least feeling a tad bit better than he did the day before. He was settling down for another nap, when he sensed that his core brick was glowing. Guren briefly thought about not going to Quarton, but his sense of duty wouldn"t allow that thought to go into action. Willing his bones and muscles to move, he got out of bed (startling and upsetting Max), grabbed his core brick, and wobbled his way out of his house. Ceylan, Toxsa, and Chooki were all at the end of lunch when they saw their core bricks glowing. Each of them debated going to Quarton, but ultimately decided against the decision and placed their bricks away, hoping to have not been spotted by anyone. Mr. White was expecting (hoping) for the other three boys to show up so that Guren could get some rest, but the front door opened to reveal the leader of the Tenkai Knights. "Guren, you need to be at home resting!" Mr. White protested. "I"m going to Quarton," Guren replied, doing his best to not wobble to the basement. "You"re still too injured to face Dromus," Mr. White argued, following closely behind Guren. "If you go now, you may not come back." "I"ll take that risk," Guren replied with determination in his voice. Mr. White was quite surprised to hear the teenager say such a thing, and Guren used this as his opportunity to sprint to the basement and to the portal. Mr. White recovered after he saw Guren open the door and ran after the teen, arriving too late; he witnessed Guren insert the core brick into the portal"s console, and was teleported to Quarton. Mr. White stared at the empty portal in worry and concern. He sincerely hoped that wouldn"t be the last time he saw Guren alive. Sprinting hadn"t been the smartest thing, because even as Bravenwolf, his legs gave a protest to the exertion they had been subjected to. Beag ran up to him, greeting him cheerfully like usual and asked to where the other three Knights were; Bravenwolf lied once more. Beag then expressed concern for the Knight given the beating the other day, but Bravenwolf waved off the concern and inquired what was the matter. Once again, a mining crew had been attacked; Bravenwolf had an idea that it was Dromus just trying to draw Bravenwolf out into another battle. Ordering Beag to follow him, the leader shot off for the mines in his Titan Mode. Beag followed closely behind, resolving to not leave the white-and-red Knight"s side. He may have come off as ignorant, but Beag was more insightful than he let on. He had a feeling something had happened within the group; he hadn"t been ignorant of the rising tension within the group. He was aware of it, but informed his soldiers that it was only a healthy debate amongst the four, and that they would resolve it quickly. He didn"t want his soldiers to have doubts about the Knights; he wanted them to look up to the Tenkai Knights and believe in them. Seeing Bravenwolf almost die had spooked Beag terribly, and it was now his goal to not let the leader fight alone; not if he could help it. Dromus, already in his Titan Mode, overlooked the battle between the Corrupted and Corekai with Venetta beside him. Both of them were waiting for Bravenwolf to arrive; they had something to finish. Venetta was the first to spot the Knight heading for them. She readied her daggers, which was a hint to Dromus that Bravenwolf had been spotted. He drew out his own weapon, spotting Bravewolf approaching. "The fool," Dromus commented loudly. "He"s determined to get himself killed." "Makes the job easier for us," Venetta commented, a smirk evident in her voice. "That it does," Dromus replied to his companion. "Let"s go and make his death swift." He hopped off the cliff the two had been standing on, heading straight for Bravenwolf. Venetta jumped after her partner and slide down the side of the cliff, a chuckle escaping her vocal chords as she continued down the cliff-side. "Let"s have fun first!" Venetta proposed as she hopped off the cliff-side and bounced off of the heads of Corrupted and Corekai alike. "That"s the whole point of this, isn"t it?" Dromus replied. Bravenwolf noticed two figures approaching, instantly identifying them as Dromus and Venetta; at this point, he doubted the two figures could be anybody else but them. He watched as the soldiers that had previously been following him run past him, off to assist their fellow brothers in arms against the Corrupted. Beag was the only one who stayed with Bravenwolf, and he even raised his laser gun at the approaching Dromus and shot at him. "Beag, go and assist your men," Bravenwolf ordered, raising his shield slightly as he prepared for the oncoming attack. "I"m afraid that will have to be an order I must ignore, sir," Beag responded as he continued to fire, though he moved his target of fire to the quickly approaching Venetta. Bravenwolf turned to look back at him in surprise. The leader of the Corekai didn"t stop his assault, keeping his gaze on Venetta as she approached, only a few meters away. Bravenwolf was tempted to argue with him, but decided not to do so; Beag was just as stubborn as any of them, and it actually felt nice to have someone willing to fight beside him. "Okay," Bravenwolf said. "I"ll take on Dromus and you fight Venetta, deal?" If Beag could smile, Bravenwolf bet he would be. He paused in his assault to give the Knight a salute, before going back to his attack on Venetta. "Yes sir," the leader said. Bravenwolf returned his attention to Dromus, who was closer now, holding his weapon up to strike Bravenwolf down. The Knight raised his shield up in defense, protecting him from a major blow as the black-and-gray bot"s sword made contact with the shield. The force had Bravenwolf skidding back an inch, but he didn"t topple over or lose his balance; he just moved back a little. "I"m surprised to see you standing, Bravenwolf," Dromus greeted, sounding sarcastic as he spoke. "I thought for sure you"d run back home with your tail between your legs." "You apparently don"t know me well at all," Bravenwolf spat back. "On the contrary; I know you quite well. You"re the idiot who"s about to die because he was stupid enough to come back to greet death," Dromus responded, swiping the shield away and kicking Bravenwolf in the stomach. Normally, the kick would have just made Bravenwolf skid back some feet from the kick, but the Knight was still weak from the battle he had the day before, so the kick was strong enough to make him fall onto his back. A quick spike of pain ran up and down Bravenwolf"s spine, but the white-and-red Knight did his best to will away the pain and rolled over, avoiding a stab from his doppelganger. "Hmm. You"re pretty wiley for someone who was almost killed yesterday," Dromus mocked. "I was expecting you to just flop around." "Sorry to be a disappointment," Bravenwolf remarked, moving from his knees to lung at Dromus, actually managing to wrestle the other bot to the ground; Dromus hadn"t been expecting Bravenwolf to have enough strength to do so. Bravenwolf"s victory was short lived because his arm protested against the exertion it had just undergone, and this moment of pause gave Dromus the opportunity to slash at the Knight, sending the weakened bot off of him. Well that didn"t go as planned, he thought to himself as he slowly got to his knees, only to be kicked in the head. Okay. That one majorly hurt. "I"m going to enjoy every moment of this," Dromus stated wickedly as he stalked towards his prey. "Really? I hadn"t guessed," Bravenwolf responded with snark in his tone, forcing his legs to work. "Stubborn to the end," Dromus commented. "Your death will be a pity." "We"ll see about that," Bravenwolf replied, rushing at Dromus with his sword despite his protesting arm- raised. Class after lunch was just mid-way through when the three chosen Knights were hit by an image of Bravenwolf fighting Dromus sword-on-sword, only for Dromus to use his shield to smack Bravenwolf off his feet. The white-and-red Knight fell to the ground from the hit, followed up with being stepped on by the black-and-grey bot. The image had been sent from the three core bricks; which had been continuously glowing since their first call to action. The core bricks, sensing that their owners were not going to take action, took matters into their own figurative hands and sent the image of what was happening on Quarton so the three would understand the severity of what Dromus was doing. The images had caused the three teens to nearly shout in class, but they had gotten a hold of themselves quickly and simply made an excuse to their respective teacher"s before packing up and rushing out of their classrooms. Even though they had each resolved to no longer help Quarton, seeing their friend getting beaten up by Dromus made their guilt rise to an unbearable level. No matter what happened, Guren was their friend, and abandoning him to die at Dromus" hands was not an option any of them wanted to entertain for a moment longer than necessary, so they were off and running. The three almost ran into each other, literally, in the hallway as they ran for the exit. "You saw it too?" Ceylan questioned the two other boys as they ran for the bike rack. "With Bravenwolf and Dromus?" "Yeah," Chooki replied as he frantically undid his bike lock - he hadn"t been this shaken up since the cup finals two years ago. "Bravenwolf looked like he was in bad shape. A swipe like that shouldn"t have had him off his feet." "He didn"t show up to school today," Toxsa spoke up as he slammed his helmet on his head and threw his lock into his bag. "Do you think it had something to do with yesterday on Quarton?" "If it did, then he"s an idiot to be going back today!" Ceylan exclaimed in a combination of worry and anger. "Let"s go guys!" Chooki, on his bike with his helmet on but not strapped, ordered as he began to bike it to Mr. White"s shop. Toxsa and Ceylan were right behind him within seconds, never once losing pace as the adrenaline flowed through their veins. They pedaled faster than they ever did before, nearly running people over with their tires as they sped past people on the sidewalk. They made it to the shop in record time, and all but threw their helmets off onto their bikes as they rushed into the strange little shop. Mr. White was nowhere in sight, but the three teens had an idea on where the elder man was. They threw the basement door open and patiently waited for the metal doors to the room the portal was housed in to open. Mr. White rounded on the three of them, first showing surprise over their appearance before a glare formed on his face; an angry Mr. White was a rare Mr. White indeed, but the boys knew he had every right to be upset with them. On the screen behind the elderly man was the fight Bravenwolf was in against Dromus. "As much as I"d like to reprimand you three for your recent behavior, I"m afraid that there"s no time. Bravenwolf isn"t at his full strength, and I"m afraid that Dromus may use his canon blast any moment now," Mr. White explained, his face mixing with worry. "You three need to get to Quarton quickly." "Right," Chooki replied for the group. "Cheesy forgiveness speeches later?" Ceylan asked as he jogged over to the portal. "Definitely later," Toxsa replied. "Time to go and save our buddy from that Dromus creep!" The three placed their core bricks in the slots, and were taken to Quarton instantly, under Mr. White"s watchful gaze. A bit of the tension he had felt before dampened thanks to the three boys" arrivals; if they got to Bravenwolf in time, then everything would be alright. "Beag!" Bravenwolf shouted when he saw the Corekai fall. The Tenkai Knight ran to defend the leader from a blow by Venetta, but he was tackled to the ground by Dromus. "He"s not your concern Bravenwolf, I am!" Dromus stated, powering up his Dark Energy Cannon. Not this again, Bravenwolf thought angrily, powering up his Bravenwolf Cannon. Well, it"s like Mr. White would have probably said: fight fire with fire! When Dromus released his energy beam, Bravenwolf released his, letting the two different energy beams contend with each other. "Over there, what"s that?" Valron, already in Titan Mode (like the other two Knights were), questioned with worry evident in his tone. "Those look like energy beams!" Tributon supplied. "From two cannons," Lydendor added. "Let"s step it up guys!" "Right," the two replied as they pushed just a little bit more to be faster. Bravenwolf groaned at the energy he had used up for his cannon, reverting out of his Titan Mode. He was almost running on empty, and his body was protesting the use of it. Then, of course, Dromus (still in Titan Mode, which wasn"t fair in the slightest) had to walk over and slam his foot onto Bravenwolf"s chest, putting on pressure that had Bravenwolf nearly screaming out in pain; the Knight would not do it, however, because he didn"t want to give his opponent the benefit of hearing him in pain. "You know Bravenwolf, I am going to miss you when you"re dead," Dromus taunted as he continued to press down. "I"m sure you"ll cry a tear over me," Bravenwolf shot back, his voice filled with contempt as he attempted to move the foot off of him. Just like the day before, the blade of Dromus" sword laid at his neck, ready to slice it off in one clean swipe. "A fighter until the very end," Dromus remarked with a slight tsking noise at the end of the sentence. "Goodbye Bravenwolf." Bravenwolf closed his eyes and waited for the blade to swing back and swipe off his neck, but he was surprised to hear three roars of fear and anger before he heard metal against metal. Someone was kneeling beside him - he could tell by the sound of something landing close to him - and a hand touched him, shaking him slightly. "C"mon Bravenwolf, get up!" Tributon"s voice pleaded. "Tributon?" Bravenwolf questioned, opening his eyes. "Oh thank goodness you"re alive!" Tributon cried in relief. "How are you feeling? Can you move? Are you hurt anywhere? Well of course you"d be hurt, but are you hurt really really badly? Can you wa-" "What are you doing here?" Bravenwolf asked in surprise, cutting off his friend"s rambling. "We came to save your behind," Tributon replied, his voice still full of relief. "The core bricks showed us you getting the snot kicked out of you by Dromus, so naturally we came to save you guys, since, you know, we"re your friends." "We?" Bravenwolf questioned, just now hearing the sounds of two fights taking place closeby. The red-and-white Knight pushed his upper body up, trying to see what was going on, and Tributon assisted him. From his upright position, Bravenwolf watched as Valron and Lydendor took on Venetta and Dromus, respectively. Both were fighting aggressively, and Dromus and Venetta decided that having three able-bodied Knights against the two of them who were already low on energy were not promising odds, so they retreated. Bravenwolf almost released a sigh of relief, but he focused on the reassuring hand on his shoulder from his friend. "Yeah. After seeing Dromus attacking you, we got over our anger with each other and came to your rescue," Tributon continued in his explanation, sounding serious. "No one messes with our buddy and gets away with it." "I thought you three were done with Quarton? That we were no longer a team," Bravenwolf questioned as the other two Knights walked over to the two of them. "You know better than to take anything we say in the heat of the moment seriously," Valorn teased lightly. "We three just lost our cool," Lydendor agreed. "We let our anger rule us and we said things we shouldn"t have. But no matter what, you"re our friend, and we"re a team, and at the end of the day, we"re all there to support each other, right guys?" "Right," Tributon and Valron replied, looking down at their (badly) injured friend. Bravenwolf was nearly in tears at hearing his friends. He was so afraid he had lost them; the day they had abandoned him, he had realized how alone he was in the new city. It had terrified him to be alone, to lose the only friends he"s ever been able to rely on. Hearing their words, however, comforted the Knight better than any pain relief medicine could, and he nearly broke down from the relief of having his friends back. "Thank you guys," Bravenwolf said in a tiny, watery voice, and he was sure his friends had heard the relief and near-tears in his voice. "C"mon man," Lydendor said, holding out his hand to his leader. "Let"s head back." After making sure Beag was alright (Beag was, and he continuously expressed gratitude and happiness to see the Knights back together again), the four Knights returned through the portal and went back to Earth. Lydendor and Tributon had already been holding up Bravenwolf when they went through the portal, so Guren didn"t fall through it once they made it back. Chooki and Ceylan kept a good grip on their injured leader, finally getting to see the bruises he had been sporting, new and old. Mr. White walked up to them quickly, releasing a sigh of relief at seeing Guren safe and sound. He had been watching their progress on the live feed, but that didn"t mean he wasn"t still worried about a possible ambush just before they returned. Guren gave the elderly man a lopsided grin. "I made it out in one piece," he said. Mr. White sighed and shook his head with a slight grin. He should have been scolding Guren for his recklessness, but there would be time for that later. "Yeah, well don"t do a stupid stunt like that again, you got it?" Ceylan demanded, sending a tiny glare at Guren. "I meant it Guren, no more solo hero, understand?" "Of course," Guren responded with a nod. "Besides, with you three by my side, there"ll be no reason for me to be a solo hero, right? All for one, and one for all, right?" The three teens fell silent at the question, looking to each other almost quizzically before finally smiling and giving each other a small nod. Guren"s face brightened at the nods, and pulled Chooki and Ceylan closer for a group hug. Chooki grabbed Toxsa and pulled him into the hug, which was met with a mild bit of protest before Toxsa gave in and closed up the circle. Ceylan and Mr. White would later scold Guren for his reckless behavior. And later, the three boys would apology for the bad attitude and hurtful words they had said to each other. And after Guren healed from his injuries, the four teenagers would go down to the diner and have a drink just like old times. All of that would be done at a later point in time. At that moment, however, they would simply stay in the group hug to reaffirm their position as Knights and as friends to the bitter end. Ceylan"s line about cheesy forgiveness speeches was used by Tucker in Red vs Blue.

"He seems to be a radiant person, doesn"t he?" "No actually, he"s too radiant. And spoiled." Natsume laughed. "How did he feel about you moving away? If you"re his best friend he must feel devastated." He thought of Nishimura and Kitamoto"s relationship. Maybe Kitamoto would actually feel relieved if he"d be able to get away from Nishimura, but he didn"t think Nishimura would just sit there and take it in. Homura"s smile froze on his face, but Natsume didn"t notice it. "Um... He"s..." He swallowed thickly. "D-Dead," he whispered. "Eh...?" Natsume felt a wave of guilt rushing over him, and quickly apologized. "Hehe, don"t worry. You didn"t know. I"ll tell you about him next time. Come on, here"s my piano." "N... N-Natori-san is... Natori Shuuichi... He"s the one..." Homura said blankly. They had just met up and as promised, said actor treated them to a meal with Homura being all awkward and disbelieving; and now, he and Natsume were on their way back home. Suzuya had flew ahead and disappeared whereas Nyanko-sensei had already trotted off to the woods before anybody could stop him. Natsume laughed. "Don"t worry about it too much, Homura, or else it gets even more unbelievable. I was pretty shocked myself too when I first knew." "How did you know him?" "Yeah, well," Natsume averted his gaze sideways. "It all started with a paper doll that literally kidnapped me and brought me to him." Homura blinked. "Spare me the details, please. Let me wrap my head around this much for a while." The other teen shrugged. "You"re the one who wanted to know anyway." He shifted, and Homura could see the green edges of the Yuujinchou Suzuya had mentioned to him the other day. It seems like it"s a book of contracts, only Natsume"s cancelling them by returning all the youkais" names. Because of that book the name Natsume had grown to be of power again around the area. Truthfully Homura didn"t find anything distinctive enough about that knowledge that made him feel any closer to Natsume than he is recently, but maybe if he could share the secret too, he could also share the burden. More than anything Homura would know that overwhelming feeling of wanting to just shout at somebody"s face that he can fucking see weird things and not being able to in the end because of the possible outcomes of shock and rejection. "Natsume?" "Yeah?" "Can you show me your "Yuujinchou"? I wanna see how it looks like inside." Natsume"s eyes instantly snapped wide open as he jerked his head to look at the teen smiling beside him. How could he know? Nobody could have known. None of the youkai even dropped by these past couple of days. "Don"t... get so shocked. I see what you see too, remember? I share this world"s view with you. Little youkai and big youkai, enchanting ones as well as evil spirits, we see them all. That"s why, I think it"s better for you to at least let me in on your experiences. Actually Natsume, I saw a dream the other day. When I slept at your house. I don"t know whether it"s a natural ability for people like us but I can sometimes see youkai"s dreams, or even humans" pasts, if they are close enough. It was a very sad one. Things you couldn"t tell anybody. Things you had no choice but to hide to protect the ones you love. Friends you sometimes had to leave behind in the dark to tend to something far more serious. I understand pretty much everything. And I really admire Natsume Takashi for having such a bold and kind heart. You always think for others before yourself. Even though it"s very admirable, I also think it"s very reckless." "... What are you trying to say?" Homura thought a while before answering. "Well, since I"m just an outsider, and I don"t know everything that"s going on, but I think that if you keep up this front, you"ll just get crushed by all the pressure in the end. When I was younger, I didn"t even try to make friends. I usually just sit in the farthest corner, looking out the window, listening in on everybody"s conversations. Because honestly, I just don"t care anymore. But you, I can see the amount of hard work you put in." What is with Homura, talking out of the blue like this? I never heard him talk so much like this before... And... everything he says... hits the mark spot on. Natsume grimaced as he grew uneasy. Homura had stopped abruptly, so Natsume sneaked a peek to see what happened, only to see the other leaning sideways and resting heavily against his chest. "Homura? !" "Sorry. Help me sit down for a while," he muttered. Natsume did as he was told, guiding Homura to the side of the road and sitting on the grass. Instead Homura laid back and stared up the sky, the colors blending in, slowly darkening, slowly revealing the twinkling stars that would soon show up. Natsume looked at his friend with worry. "You saw the pictures he hung up on that wall, didn"t you?" By then Suzuya didn"t care if he was messing up his role-playing. He had possessed him as soon as the two humans let their guard down and thought he had already gone. Soon he would have to get out of that body that belonged to Akatsuki Homura or it would put a strain on the human. He would have to convey what he wanted to say with haste and without ambiguity. Of course, Natsume instantly knew. Those obvious blue eyes that looked up to his seriously in the next second confirmed it. Slowly he nodded, wondering where this was going. "That other human, Kagurazaka Seiji?" Nod. "He"s dead, right?" Another nod. "I am a high-class youkai, so I have certain abilities myself. This particular human was as interesting to me as a child is to, say, fireworks. The expression on his face, his behavior, his feelings. Everything. And so, I did a little snooping." "Homura" fidgeted, but Natsume knew it was just deliberate. "Suzuya, you shouldn"t have." "I had to. Well, curiosity may have killed the cat but it certainly didn"t make a move towards this tengu yet. Back to the topic. I sorted through his memories when he was unaware, and lo, that other human was actually killed. By a youkai." "What?" "It"s true. They were in a forest back where Homura was before this, and a youkai sent a barrage of large stones from atop a hill down where the humans were. Anyways, this friend protected him, but in the end both got involved. The youkai"s main target was Homura"s blood. So Kagurazaka Seiji died a vain death," Suzuya finished, an unfathomable expression settled on his face. "Look here." Natsume"s attention was drawn to where Suzuya tilted his head, reached up and dragged down Homura"s collar. There was a faint, but visible white scar. "This is where it bit him." "Why are you telling me all this?" Natsume asked cautiously. "This human, in whom I"m residing in at the moment, is completely unstable. If you show him too much emotions and complicated feelings, he"s sure to break down. Since that incident his emotional state is like that of a child"s, the simplest of simple emotions engraved into his soul that he could sense properly, but beyond that, nothing. They"re not able to branch off elaborately into more complex feelings. They"re like a blank to him. Right now he still hasn"t got over his sadness, his fear, his anxiety. Yet over here, he is suddenly able to make friends, and find out somebody who can share the same view with him. You, of all people, should know. I know what I"m doing might be selfish, but... "I need you to do me a favor, Natsume. "Please stay away from Homura." "What have you done to them, tengu?" Suzuya knew that annoying voice all too well now. He ignored him, and kept on watching the moonbeams dancing and shimmering in the lake, with a few ayakashi lights randomly illuminating the area. Most of the youkai that passed by neither greeted him nor invited him to drink, after all, one that looked too much like a human-and didn"t bother covering the fact-is bound to be a suspicious one indeed. But some of the kinder ones offered him sweets molded by dexterous hands, and it proved to be irresistible. Suddenly he felt a hand grip his shoulder and turn him around roughly, backing him up against one of the trees. He felt bark itching his back. "Answer me." Suzuya smirked. The voice instantly changed from the usual annoying and geezer-like tune to a more human-like, mature-sounding one, although rough. Of course, the shape had changed too. From a fat kitty, to a man with long white hair who stood taller and looked more muscular than he is. "You look handsome in human form too, "sensei". I didn"t even know you could take on human form," he said, amused. "What, you think you"re the only high-class being in here, tengu? Hah! Don"t make a fool of yourself!" he hissed back. "It"s the truth. I didn"t know. So, what have you come for so suddenly? Last I remembered, we don"t exactly share a very "affectionate" relationship." He wasn"t usually this sarcastic, but he just couldn"t help it in front of this creature. It just served to amuse him more the more he reacts. "Like I said, what have you done to those two? ! I turn my back one second and when I return, both of them are completely out of it! Natsume won"t say anything and looked like he wanted to avoid your human, while your human just looks so stupidly confused!" Suzuya laughed. "You seem worried for Natsume. Well, I can"t deny that I am, too. Yup. It might because of something I said. I apologize." "Spit it out or I will bite you right here and right now," Madara commanded. "I told your human to stay away from mine." "Huh?" "Like I said. I need your cooperation, even for just a while. Homura needs to work his feelings out before he goes on any further of this. I never knew that jazzy actor was part of the Natori clan, and if even he is involved closely with Natsume, then the Matoba clan would be too, right? I can"t let him perish just like that now. There"s still a lot more time for fun." "What makes you think I"ll lend a hand?" "Easy. I"ll use your human as bait and lure out the stronger youkai for the clans to notice. Won"t it become a perfect revolutionary war between multiple sides now?" Madara"s grip on Suzuya"s shoulder tightened. At the moment he actually felt tempted to pluck all his feathers out and humiliate him worse than any death could ever bring. "Lay a hand on Natsume and you"re dessert." He let go. Suzuya shrugged. "Fine with me. Don"t you seem to be quite close to your human, now... Be careful. He might drag you down," he said as he watched Madara"s retreating figure. "Hmph. I"m only here for the fun. And the Yuujinchou that is promised to me at his death." He transformed into the beast he was and disappeared. "Aren"t we now..." Suzuya"s smile slowly dulled to a melancholic one as he stared across the waters once again, devising plans and forecasting results. Which, of course, would effortlessly go down way, way deep into the drain because the tengu tended to forget thinking about such problematical stuff as soon as something else caught his attention. Ah, like that group bringing the dango there. Noooo... Suzuya you"re being a meanie... D: Honestly, I don"t know what exactly I typed. I got stuck somewhere in the middle, then this huge inspirational bubble popped and I started typing and when it was over, this is the result. [sheepish smile] Phantasmagoria Natsume Yuujinchou Chapter 13 "Suicide" Attempts Homura sighed as he flopped down on the couch, currently uninterested in the drama series that was airing. Instead he turned it off and dropped the remote to one side. It was bright as day to him, even though he hadn"t really noticed it the first few days, but Natsume was definitely avoiding him. He never talked to him unless necessary anymore, making excuses and spending time with Nishimura and Kitamoto or even saying that he had youkai business to attend to. "Even though I can also pitch in and help out..." he muttered. He didn"t understand. He thought that, since the possessing incident their relationship would"ve worked out better and they"d be closer friends. But suddenly after meeting Natori-san and after he"d gotten that weird headache where he didn"t see what was going on, Natsume just suddenly... looked away. Nyanko-sensei had sauntered along soon after that, and had asked if something had happened, but Natsume just replied no and went on back home after a short "bye" to Homura. Maybe he had something that was stressing him out, he figured. But nothing he thought of next could explain why he was the only one who was left out. Natsume seemed to be able to smile normally with Nishimura and Kitamoto. Or maybe, he just didn"t want to involve him anymore. Homura sighed again and got ready to go to bed. No point in thinking this out any further. Best get some sleep or I"ll be sleepy throughout class tomorrow... Homura gave a wide yawn as he slowed down his running pace a little, covering his mouth and tearing up. He rubbed at his face with frustration and continued running to school. In the end he was never able to sleep more than what seemed like a few minutes without waking up again to have the whole stupid process repeating. That would explain him getting up late and rushing to school with bread crammed in his mouth and nearly forgetting his school bag. Homura was never a really composed person who was able to keep everything under control in the first place, and him being in such a frenzy just made him look more like an idiot. He took a look at his watch and literally hyperventilated. There were less than ten minutes until the school bell rang and one of the disciplinary committee representatives would stand guard near the school gate and he wasn"t even halfway yet. If it were a representative then maybe he wouldn"t mind that much, but, if one of the scary teachers decided to take a look around then that would be a pretty cause for worry. As if that wasn"t enough, he tripped. "Uwahh!" He sat on the ground, completely deflated. "Damn," he muttered, and slowly picked up his bag, trying to take deep breaths and calm himself. Homura knew he"d be almost useless when things happened too fast. Just when he started to break into a run again he heard a rustle to the left, and snapped his head to that direction. "Who"s there?" he demanded, brushing himself off. Silence. Homura squinted as he tried to see beyond the thick growth of trees. In the morning it was kind of hard to see what was inside the forests, especially after it rains-mist hung around well into the afternoon sometimes. He occasionally wished his parents didn"t find the need to look for an apartment for him that was so close to the forests. While it would actually be pretty fun to explore on a bright sunny day forests-and the living things residing in it-are way different than pixies and faerie toadstools and those lovely flower patches you see in children"s picture books once it"s dark. He shivered and turned away, straight into an enclosed fist that was outstretched towards his face. He instinctively took a step backwards. He never noticed somebody come up close, much less hear any footsteps. He stared at the young woman in a light-colored kimono, forgetting about his tardiness entirely. When the boy in front of her said nothing, she moved her arm slightly and brought his attention to her fist. "Here, you dropped something," she said softly. "Eh?" Homura looked on as the woman placed his house keys on his palm. "Ah, thank you, this must have fallen out of my pocket when I fell earlier. Nn?" There was a charm too. "Um, this isn"t mine." The woman smiled. "Take it. You look like you fall down a lot." The younger of the two blushed and stared at the ground. "A-Ahh..." He felt a little pressure at the top of his head and quickly realized that the woman was petting him. "Hold on to it, won"t you?" ... Huh? Her hand"s... so cold. I can feel it even when she"s touching me so lightly. He looked back up again at the woman, but as quick as lightning the touch on his head was gone. His eyes widened when he saw that she was already turning the corner from where he came from. "What, was that." He looked back at the charm the woman had given him, and noticed his watch. He gasped. "Oh shit." As expected, he was late. But he was let off the hook pretty easily so it wasn"t that bad after all. Natsume was avoiding him again, Homura noticed with a little sadness. He shook his head and proceeded to take out his lunch box so he could go eat lunch with Tanuma. Then he froze. Oh, right. He was the guy who had woken up late this morning and barely had time to cram his mouth full of bread and shamelessly wolfed it down in the elevator before breaking into a sprint towards school. "Homura!" Tanuma called from outside the classroom. "Hurry up." "Ah, sorry, Tanuma. Can you tag along with me to buy bread? I was late today." The taller male chuckled. "You still have bed hair, you know. Did you even notice this?" he said as he smoothed down a part of Homura"s hair at the back. "Eh? ! Really? N-Nobody told me..." Homura quickly covered that part as he tried to fix it. "I"m willing to bet my lunch that Nishimura noticed and purposely wanted to see how long it was before you finally realized it." "Gahh." "... Homura?" Tanuma said softly, staring into Homura"s downcast eyes with worry. They were eating outside, under a shady tree. For the first few minutes things had been going smoothly, but he had suddenly gone quiet, staring emptily at his half-eaten bread. "... Ah?" He blinked. "S-Sorry. What were you saying?" "Hey. Are you really okay? That youkai really did leave you, didn"t it?" For a moment Tanuma thought that maybe he was still being possessed, but it didn"t seem so, seeing as how he had both Natsume and Homura tell him their side of the story. Besides, he didn"t sense any evil presence hanging about Homura, although, there was this weird feeling... "Yup, I"m fine. I was just sleepy," Homura laughed and continued eating. "Oh really." Tanuma smiled. Nope. Of course not. He was just imagining things. Tanuma ran his hand through his hair as he trudged lazily back home. His schedule was pretty free today, well, actually, nearly every day. But he felt like he wanted to settle some stuff. Things between Homura and Natsume weren"t getting any better, it seemed. Homura had told him that he was being avoided, and that was all he needed to know. Asking Natsume wouldn"t be of any help at all. But what else could he possibly do? There was nowhere he could stick his head into. How ironic. Meeting Natsume was kind of a relief to him; with him around, Tanuma felt like he could face his days without much worry. He looked up to him. After a few months-and with Taki in the gang-he saw that the two were like two helpless little baby chicks and he felt the need to protect them, especially since the incident when both of them thought they were cursed and made him recite exorcising spells. He blankly said but a mere sentence of what he-most probably-knew the most, and though that shouldn"t have really made a difference the two looked at him like he was a legendary hero. That made him realize that they were equally depending on each other. And now, along came another one. I totally feel like a mother hen, he thought amusedly. He looked up when he thought he heard some noises, and felt reassured to see Ponta stumbling around. "Ponta!" he called and caught up to the cat. "Hnn? Oh, it"s you, Tanuma brat." "What are you doing?" "Walking." "Hey, can I ask you something? I really want to know." "Huh. Go look for someone else. I have other stuff to attend to. I"m not a walking encyclopedia for brats like you." "Oh, what a pity. I was going to stop by for dango. Oh well. Guess I"ll go back home," he said knowingly. "D-Dango? Wait! What is it you want to know! Ask away!" Tanuma shook his head at the immediate change and went to purchase two packets of dango while the cat waited for him outside the store. Then they sat on a bench somewhere people wouldn"t be able to listen easily. "Nee, Ponta." "Nn?" At the moment "Ponta" was battling with the supreme gluey goodness of a pink-colored dango ball. "Can you tell me what"s going on between Natsume and Homura? You know, you would"ve expected those two to stick to each other once they knew who the other was." "Hmph. You call me out just for this? Leave them." "I can"t just leave them alone like this." "It"s that stupid tengu. He told Natsume to back off. For what, I don"t know. I don"t have the interest to, either. Either way it"s their problem. You don"t have to bother with them." Tanuma cocked his head sideways thoughtfully. "Hmm~ Well, if Ponta"s so against it..." "Putting that aside, I"m finished with this! Go buy me some more dango! Quickly!" "Eh?" Finally he was able to escape Ponta by running away as soon as the cat got distracted by something. Tanuma adjusted his bag and walked on towards the little bridge he had to cross if he went back from the shopping district. There were several ways leading up to the temple, but he personally liked going through the forest and the bridge best. Sometimes Natsume would chat a little with him, and Ponta would go looking for fish while the two leaned against the railings.

"Is that so... What about you, Akari-san?" "It"s obvious that I do too, don"t you think?" "Akari!" Akiakane called as quietly as he can. "Aniki, are you done already?" Kotobuki-san"s eyes widened. "Ara, are you Nikaidou Akiakane-san? I had my doubts when I heard your family name is Nikaidou, seems like I was right!" Akiakane looked at her for the first time. "Etto... Kotobuki-san, were you the one that treated Kengo?" "I"m the one that is in charge of Asamura-kun, if that"s what you mean." "How is he?" "He"s fine. Just a fever too high. We gave him some shots." "Thank you for everything," Akiakane said as he bowed slightly. Akari bowed too, echoing Akiakane"s words. "Oh, you"re welcome! Well then, nice talking to you, Akari-san. If you"ll excuse me I"ll be going now." Kotobuki-san bowed slightly before walking away. They both went in. Akira was still sleeping. As Akari wrapped her black scarf around his neck however, he stirred. "Mmph... Akari?" "Yup. It"s me." She squeezed and sat beside him as he sat up, and she wrapped the blanket over both of them. Akiakane sat down in another chair at Kengo"s other side and placed a hand over his forehead. "He"s still hot." "Nah. His temperature"s gone down a bit. He was even hotter before. Oh yeah. Did you call Mayu-san? I forgot," Akira said. He shoved Akari lightly. "Akari, go get another chair." Akari went and sat on Kengo"s bed. "I called, but she said it"d be impossible for her to come today. She says she"ll try and come tomorrow, if she can," she said. She leaned towards Kengo, reaching out to stroke Kengo"s pale face, who at the moment was coughing again. She rested the back of her hand on Kengo"s forehead, parting his bangs. She was wearing her favorite silver ring with a rose on its surface, and its coolness calmed him a bit, it seemed. His uneasy, sickly expression melted once more into a peaceful one. All three brown-haired siblings stared at their sick blonde friend. He was sleeping deeply, and he seemed to like the coolness of Akari"s hand on his forehead. "Oh shit... H-How do I move now? My hip is hurting..." she said; already tense for having to keep up that pose. "Akari. Will yourself to move. And your brain will do the rest and your muscles will move," Akira said, as if speaking to a three-year-old. "And don"t say shit. It"s a bad word," Akiakane said in mock horror. "Oh come on. Aki says it all the time! And Kengo and Kou-nii and even you." She got up and sat closer to Kengo"s head. Akira got up, stretching, and wrapped the black scarf back around its owners neck. Akari looked up questioningly. "Going somewhere?" she asked. "Toilet. It"s too cold here. Then I"ll go get something to drink for us all." "Oh, then do you want to change into something warmer? You look freezing," Akiakane said. "Well I"m the only one with short sleeves here." Akira looked at Akari with her long-sleeved grey shirt and black scarf, and at Akiakane his green T-shirt and green-lined white jacket, then at his own nearly-sleeveless black hoodie. "You have to take that choker off though, I only have a turtleneck." Akiakane handed him a paper bag. "Nuh-uh. This stays here," Akira said, fingering it and taking the bag. "What do you guys want?" "Tea," was Akiakane"s immediate reply. "Okay... What about you?" "Mmm~ What are you getting?" "Hot cocoa... I think." "Then me too." Akira got out of his black hoodie and pulled Akiakane"s turtleneck over his head gratefully. Then he fastened back his choker round his grey neck. Now I look like Akari... Oh well, I"m starting to love Aniki and his long-sleeved shirts... He got out from the toilet and smoothed down his hair in front of the big mirror. Then he went in search for hot drinks. There was a light knock on the door before someone opened it. It was Kotobuki-san. "Ara, ara, we meet yet again, don"t we?" She smiled. "It seems that Asamura-kun has yet another guest again tonight." Akiakane looked up from his English book. "So it seems." Morimiya Reiga walked in and set down a couple of bags. "Are? He"s still sleeping. By the way I brought food and drinks here. Why are you looking at me like that? I bought tea, so don"t worry." The two present Nikaidou siblings were staring at him. "Rei... You could"ve told us sooner. Akira just went out to buy some," Akiakane said. Reiga was handing out warm cans of milk tea. "Hai, Nurse-san. Is milk tea fine?" The dark-haired nurse with a waist length braid smiled. "Thank you. Calling me Kotobuki is fine." "Hello? Akira? Where are you?" Akari was speaking into her phone." "Looking for drinks." "Come back. Reiga-san came He already bought some." Akira sighed exasperatedly. "Fine, fine." He hung up. A few minutes later, Akira came into the room. He was mildly surprised that the number of guests for Kengo had increased to five, including him. He accepted the still warm can of milk tea from Reiga. "Is it really necessary for Kengo-kun to spend the night here?" Reiga asked. "Hmm... If he was awake then it would"ve been much easier, wouldn"t it?" Kotobuki-san mused. "And from Akira-kun"s story there doesn"t seem to be anyone in his home right now. It"d be best if he rests here." At that moment Kengo coughed hardly and woke up. They all stared at him. "A...kari?" "Hello there! You all right?" "Aniki too... And Reiga-san... Weren"t you supposed to be in Ikebukuro right now?" "You"re in a hospital right now, dumbass. They"re worried," Akira said, an irritated look on his face. "H-Hospital?" "Don"t you remember? You fainted. And you broke one glass. Next time I"ll only let you drink from a plastic cup. I didn"t clean up the mess yet. So if somebody slipped or stepped on glass it is entirely your fault, not mine." Akira delivered this in mostly one long breath, and he sounded more irritated than ever. Everyone sweat-dropped. Akira stalked across the room to the door. "Where are you going?" Akiakane said. "Outside, obviously. I"m gonna call Aya," he added, and closed the door behind him without so much of a backward glance. "Well then, I"d better get going too," Kotobuki-san said, standing up. "Thank you for the tea, Morimiya-san. See you later, Asamura-kun and the Nikaidous." She went out, too. "What"s he so pissed about?" Akiakane voiced everyone"s thoughts. "I think I know." Akari smiled. "He"s pissed, because he"s the one that brought you here, but when you woke up, you"re focused on us instead, Kengo!" "Eh?" "Ah, youth!" Akiakane chuckled. "Aki"s not getting the attention he wants, isn"t he? He"s a little bit jealous!" "Akane-chan, you sound like a forty-year-old," Reiga teased. "What?" Fever 熱 Omake おまけ Chapter 8 第八話 "Kengo~!" Akari called delightfully, bursting into the room. She had woken up early to make bento Akira, Kengo and herself, made several attempts to wake Akira up which ended in failure and had led to literally pull his arm and had him fall off his bed, and came to the hospital with Akira. He wasn"t there. "Are? Where is he?" Akari put down her stuff and bounced on the bed, burying her face in the pillow. Akira looked at the bathroom. Someone was in there; he could hear the sound of water. He spotted the bathroom light switch, went over to it and flipped it off. "Wha-?" Akira turned to look at Akari, who at the moment was staring at him with interest. "He"s in there," he said. "Akira!" Kengo opened the door and almost collided into Akira"s face, who managed to stop him by placing a hand on his chest. Kengo"s hair was still wet, and he looked like he had hastily gotten into a pair of jeans. "What are you doing?" Akira asked nonchalantly. "Huh? Why"d you do that?" Kengo took a step closer to Akira, pushing against the hand on his chest. "Ara, coming straight at me right after you showered-don"t tell me you swing "that" way." Akira"s words sound acute but his face had "I"m having fun" written all over. "Wha-" "And with that look," he continued, referring to Kengo"s wet hair and bare torso. "Are you trying to turn me on?" He smiled devilishly, like a wolf that successfully had a sheep cornered, literally. He pushed Kengo against the wall, pinning his arms. "Wa... Akira-" Kengo was blushing slightly. Akira leaned in, and Kengo winced. "Fufu, you dumbass..." Akira whispered with what can be said as seductiveness into Kengo"s ear. The blonde"s resistance faded, as did his knees. Akira let go, and Kengo went down on his hands and knees, his face all red. "Uwaa~! I surrender! I give up! Akira you"re horrible~!" he cried. Again, literally, but comically. "Oya oya Asamura, your face is getting hot, isn"t it?" Akira teased. "Of course it is! You S!" "You M!" Kengo"s head hung low, disheartened. Akari sweat-dropped. "I don"t know what to say to this, but a part of me feels sorry for both of you." Shirogane that guy, he"s been hitting on Aki too hard before I came here. Or maybe Kou-nii accidentally influenced him. I bet Akira"s taking the seme role and Kengo the uke. Ah~ I totally guarantee that. "Ehe, but another big part of me totally enjoyed that." "Wha-?" they both cried out. "I like the first part of you better! Though that part doesn"t make me feel happy at all!" Akira said. "Me too!" "Ahahaha, thank you for the eye candy!" Akari laughed. "And why don"t you dry yourself already, you"ll get back your fever if you"re not careful." "Oh. Right." Kengo got up and started to go back to the bathroom again, switching on the light switch as he did so. He caught Akira"s eye, and he smirked at him. Kengo went in and glumly closed the door. Akira went and sat in the red chair beside the bed. "You really are merciless, aren"t you, Akira?" "Do you only notice that now?" "You sadist." "You"re a sadist too. Even Aniki, when he gets too tired or pissed and snaps. It runs in the family." "The Nikaidou family, a sadistic trait. It does have a strangely nice ring to it." "The Asamura family, a masochistic trait." ... "Please don"t say that to him." "I"ll try." Akira cocked his head. "...I think." Kengo came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and fully irritated. "So, what brings you here so early? There"s still a lot of time before I check out." Kengo"s fever had fully subsided during the night and he had been allowed to go back the next day. He sat on the bed beside Akari. "And you"re wearing nice clothes." Akira was wearing a pair of black shoes, dark jeans and his white shirt with the black-and-white checkered collar and cuffs from his "favorites" collection. He was absentmindedly chewing mango-flavored soft candy Akari had given him. While Akari, unusually, was wearing her black sandals, a two-layer dark purple and black skirt, and a lilac-colored blouse with thin ribbons at the sides. A sling bag hung on her shoulder and her thick unruly hair were pulled into a ponytail. "And you"re in girls" clothes today," Kengo said. "What the... You"re making me sound like I"m actually a guy that wears girls" clothes on special occasions," Akari scoffed. "Kengo." "What?" He looked at Akira. "Because of you everybody were worried. So there"ll be a penalty game for you. Akari thought it up." "Hee~" he whined. "Shut up I"m not finished." Akira propped his feet up on Kengo"s lap. "So that penalty game will be... one full day of hanging out with me!" Akari threw her hands up in the air. "Hee~ But does that apply to Akira?" Kengo pointed at them teen in front of him. "Of course!" Akari answered. "Don"t point at me you-" Akira slapped his hand away. "And so, we"ll be going right after this, but for now, let"s eat!" Akari cut him off, and cheerfully held up the bag of lunchboxes. "Just how much do you intend to eat?" Akira asked, eyeing the three-tier lunchbox. "We"re healthy full-grown teens remember?" Akari arranged the tiers on the bed carefully. "Wahau~ It looks delicious!" There were a variety of food arranged neatly in two tiers-fried chicken, tamagoyaki, tempura, and some others. The last tier was packed full with triangular mounds of onigiri. She picked up a roll of tamagoyaki and held it to Kengo"s face. "Kengo, aah~!" "A-Aah~" Kengo chewed and swallowed. "It"s good!" "Hehe, of course it is!" "What are you, six?" Akira asked. Akari held up another roll of tamagoyaki to Akira"s mouth next. "Aah~" Her twin just stared at her with half-lidded eyes. She sweat-dropped. "Come on, please!" No response. She shoved it to his face. "Ah, I get it I get it! Haun!" Akira chomped it down. "How is it?" He looked sideways, wiping his messy mouth, as if the name plate with Kengo"s name on it suddenly seemed interesting. "Not bad..." he muttered. Akari stuffed her mouth with two rolls of tamagoyaki, swallowed it down and munched on an onigiri next. "Eat up! We have a big day ahead of us!" she said. "So, where"re we going?" Akira asked. They"d just emerged from the automatic hospital glass doors. "Hmm... We have a lot of bags here so we"re dumping them at home," Akari said, referring to her bag with the three-tier lunchbox, now much lighter since it"s empty, and Kengo"s backpack, which Akari and Akiakane had stopped by Kengo"s house to pack some clothes in. A little '#' appeared on Akira"s head. "If that was the case then we could"ve just eat at home!" "No, that"s not fun." Akari started walking. "We have to board a train to get to where we"re going to, anyway." "Where are we going?" "Oh, come on, I"ll tell you later." "Jajann~" They"d arrived. "An amusement park?" Akira said. "Yeah! It"s been so long since we went to these kinds of places; we never passed the height requirements, anyways. So I thought maybe we"ll enjoy here!" Akari said, excited. "And look! They have bungee jumping here too!" Kengo pointed at the notice board. "Seriously? Yay! I wanna try it! We"ll go together! Wait here, I"ll go buy tickets." Akari ran ahead to the counter. "Kengo, aren"t we forgetting something?" Akira asked. "Hmm?" They tilted their heads together as they stared at Akari"s running figure for a few seconds. "Ah," they both noticed. "She"s wearing a skirt." "Ah..." Fever 熱 Omake: Amusement Park おまけ:遊園地 Chapter 9 第九話 "What do I now~?" Akari whined. They were sitting on a bench some distance away from the amusement park. "I can"t ride on anything!" She thought about the near future. When the roller coaster goes upside down, bingo. When the ship that swings from side to side, then in a full circle, bingo. When the ride that shoots up and drops down speedily, bingo. When on the carousel-like ride that has seats like swings spun faster and faster and the people on the outer seats gets spun higher and higher, bingo. And she intended to sit on the outermost seats. "Haa..." Akari hung her head, depressed. "This is my favorite skirt, too... At first I"d thought that we"d go to the movies or something and walk around the city, but that seemed kind of boring so that"s why I thought we"d come here instead. Some of my friends from Miyamori came here the other day and they said the rides were awesome." "Wait a minute." Akari suddenly stood up and whipped out her cell phone from her sling bag. "What"s wrong?" Kengo asked. "Wait a sec," Akari said as she looked up a number from her contacts directory. The other person soon picked up. "Hello, Hisako? ... Em, it"s been a while! ... Nee, you said you"re working part-time at a family restaura-yeah... Really? You see, I"m here right now. ... Eh? With my brother and friend. ... No I"m not! Thanks, see you later." Akari hung up. "Aah~ I"m so lucky! My best friend works part-time at a family restaurant nearby, so I thought I can go there and change. Can I?" "Change into what?" Akira asked. "She"s wearing jeans and sneakers. We"re about the same size." Akira sighed. "It can"t be helped, right? Since you already called her and all. Come on, let"s get this over with." "Ah, Akari!" They saw a tall girl waving at them. "Hisako!" Akari flung into her arms. "Haha, you"re as hyper as ever!" She smiled at Akira and Kengo and bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you, I"m Katagiri Hisako." Her waist-long purple hair was pulled back into pigtails, and, sure enough, she was nearly as tall as Akari. "Asamura Kengo." Kengo grinned. "...Nikaidou Akira." "Oh, so you"re Kengo-kun and Akira-kun! Akari here"d talk about you guys sometimes." Hisako grinned. "Come in then!" She led them in through the back door into a space where the staff rested. "Could we really come in here?" Kengo asked. "Don"t worry! I already asked the chief. Sit down, you guys. Akari, you go in there. My locker has my name on it. Here"s the key." Akari went into the ladies" dressing room, and the others sat down on chairs. "Ah, Hisako, you brought your guitar here?" Akari said from the dressing room. "Of course I did!" "Hee~ How"s everybody?" "They miss you. They hate you." "Haha..." Hisako noticed Akira"s and Kengo"s slightly confused faces. "We"re in the light music club at Miyamori. I play guitar, and Akari does guitar and vocals." "Eh? Really?" Kengo said. "I never heard anything!" "Hehehe... You never asked!" Akari came out in jeans and sneakers. She sat down beside Hisako. "There"re nine members, five guys and four girls. Four guitar players, two vocalists, two keyboardists, two drummers, and one bassist. One boy and one girl for each instrument, except for the bassist, which is a guy." "Since Akari transferred, I had to sing. Usually I depend on Shin though..." Hisako stood up. "I won"t bore you with details, so off you go! Have fun!" She ushered them to the exit. "Waah~ That was fun!" Akari said. They had went on the roller coaster thrice, the boat that swings from side to side, the ride that shoots up and down, and the carousel with swings thrice, and now sat on a bench to rest and wash their dizziness away and get their voices back. "Where are we going next?" Kengo asked. "Bungee-" Akari started. "Hey," Akira said. "Wanna play a dare?" Kengo and Akari listened with interest. "Let"s play that one." He pointed to a booth. You had to shoot at moving targets. It was quite a big booth, and was obviously meant for teens. "Eh~? But that-" Akari said, but was cut off again. "Whoever loses, will have to go through a penalty game." "Eh?" the other two said. "What?" Akira smiled. It wasn"t a kind smile. "You"ll see." They gulped. "O-Okay..." The person in charge explained the game. The rules were simple: shoot at the targets. The number of successful shots is displayed on the screen above. The current highest score was fifty-eight. The time limit is three minutes and forty-five seconds. Kengo went first. He managed fifty-nine and broke the record. A small crowd had begun to form around them to see, mainly because the girls thought Akira and Kengo looked cute, and the guys thought Akari deserved a little publicity because she"s pretty and was going to play too. Most of them thought the twins looked cool, and familiar, but they can"t remember. Akari went next. Some people cheered. Kengo handed her the gun, and she switched it to her left hand, for she was left-handed. She aimed and shot with one hand. People cheered when she shot fifty-nine. Then sixty. Then sixty-nine. "Yay! I got sixty-nine!" She said as she handed the gun to Akira. "Hmph, don"t get cocky." Akira broke the fifty-nine-shot record. Then the previously sixty-nine-shot. He barely got seventy. "So," Akari said as they walked away from the booth and crowd. "You lost, Kengo," Akira said. "But that"s because you chose a game I"m bad at!" he protested. "Then what do you want to play?" Akari asked. "Dancing games?" He said, even though he already knew the answer. "No," they replied. "See? If I competed dancing against you guys I would"ve won!" "You idiot, don"t choose a game we"re bad at," Akira frowned at him disapprovingly. "I just said that to you!" "Anyways, what"s the penalty?" Akari asked, ignoring him. Akira smirked. He pointed to a nearby one-storey building. It wrote "Cosplay Mania" at the plate beside the automatic doors. "Cosplay?" both Akari and Kengo said. "Since when did you like playing dress-up?" Akari asked. "Shut up." Akira swung an arm around her shoulders and brought her closer to him, their backs facing Kengo. "We can make him put on maid"s clothes and other stuff." Akari"s eyes widened. "I have my camera with me." She swung around, whipping out a green digital camera, and quickly snapped a picture of Kengo, with the cosplay building as the background. Her eyes gleamed. "Let"s go!" "Wait a minute." Akira placed a hand on her shoulder. "Since when did you bring that?" "Eh? I"ve been taking candid pictures of us since the beginning. Anyways come on! I"m gonna snap pictures of Kengo in maid outfits and bunny girl outfits and other ridiculous outfits!" She went on ahead. "Haa? M-Maid? Bunny girl?" Kengo stood frozen to his spot. Akira smirked evilly again. "You won"t get a chance to escape, Kengo. Muahahahaha..." He went after Akari, dragging Kengo behind him by the collar. Kengo didn"t put up a fight. He just put on a defeated and tearful face. Hahaha... I like Akira and his evil faces... By the way it"s a lil" weird, isn"t it? This story was supposed to be about Kengo having a fever and now that he"s better they go to an amusement park... I just thought that the "Kengo gets better" ending seemed a little boring, so I added some spice! XD

Akira woke up because of a sharp, stinging pain in his left arm. He also felt water in his eyes. What the...? He wiped them furiously away. He wasn"t crying, was he? The pain was still there in his left arm though. Kengo was asleep, and his hands gripped Akira"s arm. He touched it. He was hot. His fingers were trembling and his fingernails dug painfully into his flesh. Akira sighed. "This is why I hate it when you get really sick," he muttered. Akira leaned back. What was I dreaming about? Ah, just forget about it. He looked at the wall clock. 4.15 p.m. The pain in his arm was getting unbearable. He decided to endure it for thirty seconds longer, keeping his eyes trained on the second hand of the clock. When Kengo gets really sick he becomes clingy. Though the only time Akira was there was when they were still twelve, a few weeks after Akari had left for Miyamori. He had tried to make dinner for Kengo, and that night both of them ended up having food poisoning. Ever since then he had run away whenever there was news Kengo was sick. Akira exhaled and looked at Kengo. He tried to pry his fingers from his arm. "Mph...?" was Kengo"s sleepy inquiry. "Your fingers. At this rate they"re gonna leave bruises on my arm." Kengo immediately let go, dropping his hands. "Sorry..." Akira didn"t answer, instead fingering the crescent-shaped red marks on his arm and turning on the TV. There was a travel show airing, at a restaurant that serves insects as food. There was sushi with silkworms poking out of it. Akira"s nose wrinkled in disgust as a woman popped it in her mouth and chewed. Unconsciously Kengo thought of porridge. Warm, sloppy porridge with bits and pieces of other ingredients in it. His stomach twisted. At another table a customer ate a sandwich. Unidentifiable little hairy legs can clearly be seen poking out of it. "Yuck!" Akira said. Another customer dipped a fried grasshopper in sauce and bit in it. The two of them could hear a crunch-like sound as he chewed it. Kengo was trying to take deep breaths to try and soothe his swimming stomach until he saw a customer eating porridge with brown bits in it and a tempura side dish. He gripped Akira"s hand next to him. "Hm? What"s wro-" Akira stopped mid-sentence when he saw Kengo"s pale face. He was clamping the other hand over his mouth. "Oh shit." Ughhh.... Even writing about it is already making me feel sick... But still, I admire those who can swallow them down! If it was me, I would"ve backed down... Unless I saw a cockroach then I would"ve passed out... I hate "em cockroaches... By the way the italics passage above was Akira"s dream, in case you got confused. I really really hope Kengo doesn"t die~~! I love him too much~~! Thanks to MonochromeFox for her review~~~! Aha, I"m so happy... Well then, on to the 5th chapter! Fever熱 Chapter 5 第五話 "Oh shit. Please don"t throw up here, Kengo!" Akira said as he charged to the bathroom, dragging Kengo behind. He closed the door behind him and tried to think of something else to distract him. He couldn"t help but think of the bug sushi and sandwich and tempura. That triggered him. Kengo"s stomach lurched, and he squeezed his eyes shut as he threw up the remains of his lunch. Akira waited with his back to the wall and trying not to think of Kengo throwing up inside. He heard the toilet flush and turned to face the door in time to see Kengo gripping the doorframe and slumping forward. Akira caught him. He felt very weak. "You all right?" Kengo shook his head weakly, his head buried in Akira"s shoulder. Akira half-carried, half-dragged Kengo to the living room and laid him down on the couch. Kengo"s bangs were plastered in a clump on his forehead. Akira found it very annoying and sweeped it away. And slapped his hand to Kengo"s forehead. He was even hotter than before. "Oi. Aren"t you even hotter than before?" he asked him. He didn"t realize that when Kengo had gripped his hand before, because Akira"s sleeve was long and half-covered his hand, or when he had held it and dragged him to the bathroom, because Kengo was wearing that long-sleeved shirt of his. "Don"t know..." was the mumbled reply. Akira"s hand was cold. Comfortably cold. "Did you take any medicine?" Akira thought back to when Kengo said he was in bed all the time and didn"t even eat. "No... I couldn"t walk properly down the stairs, even if I wanted to." Akira sighed. "I thought so. Wait here, I"ll go look for some." He started to get up from his place on the floor by Kengo"s head. "I"m fine!" Kengo pressed Akira"s hand back to his forehead. Akira sat back down. "Don"t be stupid." "I"m fine, so just... stay like this for a while...." Akira stared at him. Even though he was weak, his grip on his hand was still pretty strong. "But you"re blazing hot. And sweaty," he grumbled. "And you"re cold." "... You"re the one that"s too hot." Akira yawned. "I"m sorry..." "For what?" "For always troubling you guys..." "Hm, doesn"t matter." Akira switched places with his other hand on Kengo"s forehead, uncurling Kengo"s fingers. As soon as Akira"s other hand made contact with his forehead the fingers curled around him again. Come on, go to sleep already... Akira thought as he watched Kengo relaxing. His breathing evened a few minutes later and Akira slowly recovered his hand, uncurling the fingers again. "Ee~yes he"s finally asleep again," he said to himself and went to the kitchen. "Are? Where did Akari keep the medicines again?" he said aloud as he tried to call her again. This time she picked up. "Akari?" "Hi Akira!" "Where were you guys? I called you just now." "Oh, you know what, we got mobbed by fans earlier. Then we went to the studio with Reiga-san." "Where are you now?" "In the hotel room. Aniki"s tired. He came in, dumped our bags, and crashed. With his shoes still on. I took them off for him." "It"s a good thing he doesn"t have stinky feet, huh. Oh yeah, where-" "You know, you inherited that trait from him." She cut him off. "What?" "You know, when you get tired, you lie down and poof! You never wake up." "No I don"t." "Don"t deny it. It is a fact that I, Nikaidou Akari have uncovered about you, my most loved person-" "Shut up..." "No, really! Remember the other day? Where we went to visit Kou-nii and suddenly there was this huge pack of kokuchi waiting for us?" Akari continued. "Uh-huh. If I remember correctly Kengo was surrounded by most of them." "Yeah yeah! And then he was punching one of these guys, and then another kokuchi"s hand caught the fabric of his clothes and then he was sailing over the air as if he was flying!" Akari started laughing. Akira laughed too. "Tha-that face he was making..." "He was yelling "Aaaaakiraaaaaa~~~!'" Akari said, mimicking Kengo"s voice. "Hey, I wasn"t going to talk about that!" "Then what were you going to talk about?" "After that we went to Kou-nii"s house and find that he"s gone and then on the way home some guys asked for a fight right?" "Yeah..." There were five of them, all big and ridiculously muscular and brutish, Akira recalled. "And then you started glaring at them as if they"d killed me or something. Then they said "what the fuck are you staring at, pretty boy?' and then you said-" "Ara, you think I"m pretty? You"re the one that was asking for a fight weren"t you?" Akira repeated his words boringly. "And then we kicked their asses right? And then we went home and plop, you plop down in the sofa, got comfortable, grumbled "I"m way too tired", and slept like a log until Aniki came back. Remember?" "...So?" "So, you and Aniki are like that! The type of person that starts to space out or sleep when they get tired! Like a cell phone that needs to be charged regularly!" Akira sighed. "Akari... I called you not to talk about our habit; I called you to ask a question." "Ara, then are you acknowledging the fact that you and Aniki are described as a cell phone that won"t work until they are charged?" Several small '#"s popped on Akira"s head. At the other line, Akari was enjoying every minute of this. Since, of course, it was rare to get to bully Akira when he wasn"t around to beat her up. "I bet you"re enjoying every minute of this, aren"tcha? Since, of course, it"s rare to get to bully me when I"m not there to beat you up?" "You really are my twin!" "You dumbass." "Uhh... You cut me real deep, brother." "As I was saying, where did you put the medicine, Akari?" "In the left cabinet beside the pretty tableware by the counter. Why? Are you sick?" "Not me. Kengo. He has a fever. And he didn"t even eat anything since last night until I called him and he came here." "Really? How is he?" "He keeps sleeping and waking up and sleeping again. I made some porridge earlier, but he just threw up." "Seriously? Where?" "I dragged him to the toilet." "Hee~ Is it that bad?" "I guess. He"s getting hotter and hotter. And he"s sweating and his face is all red." That"s how everybody gets when they"re sick, isn"t it? Akari thought. "Shouldn"t you be taking him to the hospital then?" "I"ll see. If he doesn"t cool down then I will." "Okay. Call me if anything happens, okay? I gotta go, we have to go to studio again soon." "Got it. Bye." "Em, bye-bye!" She hung up. Akira got out a couple of paracetamol pills, some aspirin and something for the coughs. He held the pills in his palm and a glass of warm water in the other hand, making his way towards Kengo. "Oi, Kengo. Wake up. I got you medicine," Akira said, kneeling in front of him. Kengo"s eyes fluttered open. He propped himself up with one elbow. "I don"t wannit..." he muttered, staring blankly at the pills in Akira"s offering hand. A small '#' sign appeared at the back of Akira"s head. I"ve had enough with these two... "Eat it," he instructed. "Your fever"s getting worse." "No it"s not..." "Either you swallow these with water or I"ll shove them down your throat without any water." Thin, black depression lines ran over Kengo"s face. He swallowed the pills obediently, lay back down and went back to sleep as Akira read more of his new manga. It was momentarily peaceful until Kengo seemed to be having a nightmare, thrashing around in the couch. "N-No..." he mumbled as his breath picked up. He tried to bury himself further into the couch cushions. "Kengo." Akira placed a hand on his, squeezing slightly. He was still very hot. He considered taking Akari"s advice and take Kengo to the hospital. "Kengo, wake up." His tense body relaxed a little under Akira"s light cool touch. He stirred. "Akira..." "You all right?" "Yeah..." He sat up. His hair was flattened on one side of his head. Akira made no attempt to hide his open gaze at his blond mess. Akira stood up. "Will you be okay for at least twenty minutes?" "Why?" ""Cos I wanna go shower." Akira stretched. "Don"t make that face. That"ll only work on Aniki and Akari." Kengo was making a pitiful puppy face. "Fine, go ahead," Kengo said, leaning back. He could feel the back of his shirt clinging to himself with sweat. He was starting to feel uncomfortable after long hours of sweating and feeling cold at the same time. Akira noticed his little distress. "How "bout you? I bet you haven"t had a bath since yesterday," he said. "Yup..." "You can go shower down here then. I"m going upstairs. Here, clothes." He threw a black T-shirt and camouflage three-quarter pants over his shoulder, randomly pulling them out from a pile of laundry. "Towel"s in the bathroom," he said, making his way to the stairs. "Whose is this?" Kengo asked, looking at the outfit in his arms. "Whose do you think? Akari? Though, it might have been." He thought of Akari"s clothes, which the majority of it is boyish casual-style. Most of them were even bought at the men"s section, using Akira or Kengo was a decoy. "That"s mine, obviously. I wore that... last week. It"s washed now, of course." Kengo took a very short shower. He came out in Akira"s clothes, a towel over his damp hair. He"d have preferred wearing his own clothes-Akira"s wasn"t enough to cover his whole body. But he was grateful enough that Akira paid attention to him. He hated himself for throwing up even though Akira had specially made porridge for him. It had left Akira feeling concerned and him feeling sicker and hungrier. He shuffled to the kitchen. Akira was still in the bathroom; he could hear the water splattering to the floor. He took a glass and filled it with water. Another wave of dizziness knocked him so hard it almost threw him off balance. His vision blurred seriously and he felt as if he was standing on a boat in the middle of the sea on a stormy night. His grip on the glass tightened as he gripped his head with his other hand, trying desperately to shake the feeling away. He failed. He had nothing to hold on to, nothing to refrain himself from falling to the cold hard ground, nothing to shove him away before he landed on the remains of his glass and water. It had slipped from his hand, falling to the ground and breaking into a million pieces, the sound resounding in his head as if it was a bomb. He stared at the ground that was getting closer and closer to him as he fell, felt the earsplitting crack in his head, felt himself going numb, and vaguely saw a pair of legs rushing to him. Then the world became a dark black abyss. Akira was just drying his hair with his towel, slowly making his way down the stairs when he heard the unmistakable sound of glass shattering to the ground. It came from the kitchen. He rushed down the stairs, leaping down it two steps at a time. He turned to the kitchen to see broken glass glittering everywhere and in the midst of it all, Kengo, slumped on the ground, some cuts on his cheek from when he landed on some shards, towel covering some of his features. "Kengo...!" This chapter was a bit long, don"t you think? Though it was filled with mostly Akira and Akari"s meaningless conversation. I am such a sadist... I just love making Kengo look weak and vulnerable, muahahaha... And also, I love the way Akira falls asleep immediately once he lies down when he"s worn out... It"s just too cute! And did anybody see the newest chapter of Monochrome Factor? This might be a spoiler to those that haven"t, but... I"m starting to look up to Aya now! { thumbs-up } She"s the one that *&^^# Homurabi while Aki and Shiro *%%#! and the ending is so $##%...! XD Fever 熱 Chapter 6 第六話 Akira panicked. He didn"t know what to do. He just stood there, staring down at an unconscious Kengo. "Shouldn"t you take him to the hospital then?" Akari"s words resounded in his head. "Hospital, hospital..." he said as he fumbled for his cell phone in his pocket. After the emergency call was made he tried to carry Kengo to the front door. Akira stepped cautiously toward Kengo, carefully avoiding the glittering glass bits. In the end he uttered a cry of anger and impatience, ran to get the broom, clumsily swiped at them into a glittery pile, dropped the broom over it and lugged Kengo to the front door, leaning him against the wall. He got their stuff-their cell phones, house keys, wallets. Akira even managed to shove his Walkman into his pocket when he heard sirens wailing in the distance. As he was waiting in the waiting room, he called Akiakane. "Hello, Akira?" "Aniki..." "Mm? What"s wrong? You don"t sound very good." "Where are you now?" "I"m at the set, right now I"m having a break." "Will it be okay if you guys come back?" "Why, what"s wrong?" Akiakane"s voice had a hint of concern in it. "I"m in the hospital right now." "What? ! What happened? !" "Kengo"s sick, didn"t Akari tell you? He came over and he passed out. So I called for an ambulance. Oh and in case you haven"t noticed, it was Kengo who was admitted." "Is he alright?" "Don"t know. I"m in the waiting room." "Which hospital is it?" "Asagi." ""Kay. I"ll come as soon as I can. I"ll tell Akari to call Mayu-san too." He hung up. Akira stared at his phone. Should I call Kou-nii? He wondered. At that moment a nurse walked past him. His gaze followed her and he thought of Kou-nii endlessly hitting on the female society. Nah, I probably shouldn"t bother them... "What"s wrong? You seem perplexed," Reiga commented. "Rei... Kengo"s at the hospital." "Really? Why?" "Aki said he was sick. Then he fainted. So he called for an ambulance. Do you think we can go home?" "I"m not so sure about that." Just then Akari came over, two steaming cups of tea in each hand. "What"s wrong with you guys? Here, I got some tea." "Akari-chan, your friend Kengo was sick. He"s at the hospital now," Reiga said quietly. Akari"s eyes widened. "Wha-Seriously? !" "Yup," Akiakane said. "Aki just called." "Can"t we go?" "If we explain the situation maybe Takanashi-san would continue the shooting someday else," Reiga said. At that exact moment the young man called Takanashi-san passed by them. "Ah, Takanashi-san!" Takanashi-san walked over to them. He is the one responsible for the shooting this time. "Yes?" "Takanashi-san, there"s an emergency. Can we continue this some other day?" Akiakane asked bluntly. "Eh? But everything is almost ready." Akari stepped closer to Takanashi-san, standing up a little straighter, making them the same height. "Please, Takanashi-san! My brother is sick and he fainted! And it"s very serious! If anything happens to him would you be responsible? Please, Takanashi-san!" Akari cried, a "tearful" expression on her face. Takanashi-san knew that Nikaidou Akari was not voicing out her true thoughts. He looked at Akiakane and Reiga for confirmation. The two tried to keep a straight face as he looked at them. They sweat-dropped. "Since when did Akira-kun get sick?" Reiga whispered. "Since two seconds ago. In Akari"s lie, that is." "O-Okay, you can go. I"ll call Morimiya-kun for the rescheduling, is that all right with you?" "Thank you, Takanashi-san!" All three of them said as Takanashi-san sauntered off to break the news to the other staff. "Which hospital is it, Akane-chan?" Reiga asked. "Asagi hospital. Ah, Rei! Don"t invent silly nicknames for me!" "Well then," Reiga said, ignoring him completely. "I"ll take of your luggage and all. But if he"s okay, you"d have to come back, Akiakane. Akari and Akira can manage him fine. You two go on first, and I"ll be there later." "Etto... Asamura Kengo-kun"s family?" A young nurse called, reading the name from a clipboard. Akira stood up. "Uh... he was with me." "Ah, really?" The nurse seemed kind, all smiles. "Are you Asamura-kun"s friend?" "Yes. Nikaidou Akira" "Where is his family?" "Our parents are currently working overseas. His older sister is on a business trip in Tokyo, and my older brother and twin are in Ikebukuro." "Oh, really. Would you mind calling him, then? You"re underage, and I"m afraid we need either a member of his family or someone who is above 21 years of age to sign the papers and all." "They"ll be here soon. How"s Kengo?" "It"s not very serious, but his fever is too high, so we gave him some shots. He has to stay in a ward though." "Oh... For how long?" "It shouldn"t be more than three days. You can go in now, but he"s asleep because of the shots we gave him." The nurse led the way and Akira followed. "Oh, and one more thing. When was the last time he ate?" "He started to get sick yesterday, and was in bed all the time till I called and asked him to come over. Then I made porridge but he threw up afterwards." "Ara, then I guess he"d be very hungry when he wakes up. You don"t suppose you can ask your siblings to buy some food, don"t you? We don"t serve any dinner now, it"s already eight o"clock." "Okay, I"ll tell them." "Be careful not to get infected, okay?" The nurse said before she closed the heavy door behind her. Akira sat at the red chair next to Kengo"s bed, crossing his legs under him. It was cold. Damn it... It"s autumn now, do they have to make this place cold? Lucky I didn"t wear three-quarter pants like Kengo, he thought, staring at Kengo"s face. He was sleeping peacefully, though he"d cough dryly once every five minutes. Akira sighed, curling in the sofa at an attempt to get more comfortable. He kept staring at the big rectangular windows and at the twinkling lights outside until he fell asleep. I have a lot of time in my hands, so I might be able to finish this story today! Fever 熱 Chapter 7 第七話 "Akira? Kengo?" Akari opened the ward door quietly. Kengo was sleeping, and so was Akira, curled up in a red chair with a pillow under his head and a thick blanket draped over him. Akari looked behind her at the corridors, watching for any sign of Akiakane. He had went to sign some papers and Akari had went ahead. A kind-looking pretty nurse came and greeted her. "Hi there, are you a Nikaidou?" "Y-Yes," Akari said, mildly surprised. "Ara, I thought so! You look so much like that Nikaidou-kun! Ah, could it be that you"re his twin? He did say he had an elder brother and a twin." "Yes, I am. I"m Nikaidou Akari, by the way." She looked at the name tag pinned over her uniform. "Nice to meet you, Kotobuki-san." Kotobuki-san looked into the room. "Ara, it seems like your brother is still sleeping." She smiled. "I just left him for around ten minutes and he is already fast asleep." "Aha... He falls asleep very fast. Ah, did you put the pillow and blanket on him?"

"I ate them, of course. Well, I didn"t eat the flesh; I just took the blood and left the place." The two humans winced as they heard that particular sentence. The tengu"s eyes narrowed. "Why?" "Simple. I have to get stronger. Because you see, humans are such foolish creatures. They sealed a powerful youkai with a half-assed spell. But it still cost me time and energy to break away from it. Now that I"m almost free, I just have to collect more power and then I"ll leave to take my revenge. No worries, I won"t harm this boy. But I guess, when you"re possessed by evil spirits for too long-" "-there"s a bigger chance of getting infected by the dark energy," Suzuya finished its sentence. "Well, I"ll leave as soon as I replenish my energy. But of course, we don"t know how long that will take, no? I wonder how long this boy will last~" Natsume uttered a skeptical "what" as Suzuya marched forward and grabbed the front of Homura"s uniform, pulling him close. "You-" "If you so much as lay a finger on me, I"ll take over the boy"s mind by force. You might not know, but his heart is overcome by all the melancholy a dream-eater would just love to feast on." Suzuya loosened his grip with narrowed eyes. "I understand. Now begone," he commanded. Homura gave one last smile before he went limp and when he opened his eyes again, he was back to the real Homura. Suzuya crossed his arms as his eyes darted between Natsume, the black-haired boy and Homura. "You," he called. "Me?" Tanuma asked. Suzuya nodded. "What"s your name?" "Tanuma. Tanuma Kaname, that is." Suzuya fell into deep silence again. "Tanuma, you can see Suzuya?" Natsume asked. "Stop fussing, I made myself visible," the tengu snapped. "Are you okay?" he asked Homura who was still feeling a bit shaky. "Yeah, and I have a good grip on what"s going on. So what do we do now?" "... Let me think this over for a while. I"ll be seeing you soon. And Tanuma." Said teen looked up at the mention of his name to see the tengu coming towards him, hand outstretched. He blinked when he touched his forehead lightly before withdrawing his arm. "That"s to prevent you from getting side effects of that damned youkai. You have a lot of spiritual energy but your body can"t accept it much so you"d better look after yourself. Well then, I"ll get going, the little piggy kitty will scratch me if I don"t." Suzuya proceeded to spread his wings and in a second, he was already gone. The three boys went on with cleaning and returned the key to the teacher, then went back to their respective classrooms. Before parting Homura apologized to Tanuma for choking him, glancing guiltily at the faint red marks his fingers made around his neck, and Natsume apologized for deciding not to let him get involved in their current case any further since he was one of the youkai"s targets, and promised to keep him updated. Tanuma just shook his head and smiled, thinking about how there were two secretive idiots now. Homura was now back in his own apartment, with Natsume occasionally checking on him through his cell. It would"ve been great if Natsume had a cellphone too, at least they could contact or mail each other easily, but being the kind of guy he was, he guessed he didn"t want to trouble the Fujiwara couple much. He too would probably do the same if he were in his shoes. He rested comfortably on his sofa, towel around his neck as water dripped from his not-so-wet hair, staring at his cellphone screen. Natsume had last called him an hour ago, and had reminded him that he"d call every two to three hours or so, except from 9p.m. onwards. He smiled, thinking of the way he fussed over him like he was a child. Touko-san, too. ... Seiji, too. But of course, his fussing irked him to no end, and usually ended with Homura landing a hit on him. His eyes strayed to the piano a few paces off, and, sighing, made his way there, lightly pressing on a key. In the end the urge to play the instrument overpowered his longing to wolf down the cookies he had bought from the supermarket two days ago, so he sat on the seat and started playing. His slender fingers created a wonderful melody as they ghosted over the keys, that, and the experience he had gained over the year as well as his love for music. He never needed sheet music that much, because he liked playing tunes from all the anime he watched. Converting something that was composed by someone else, and adding a few splashes of colors to it, without the help of anything other than the original tune proved to be a challenge he always liked to conquer. For that he would have to listen carefully to the song, over and over, but the piece completed at the end filled him with self-satisfaction. To listen, memorize, and press the right keys and make it as wonderful as the original composition is what you call playing by ear. ... Before the incident happened, he and Seiji always got together and when they"d gotten bored of fooling around, they"d play music. He would create piano versions, and the other acoustic versions, as well as electric guitar versions. He had always liked the way Seiji"s fingers strummed against the guitar; he had made it seem so easy. And then he"d asked him to teach him how to play too. Being the fast learner he was he got over it quickly, only hesitating from time to time. Seiji had always complained to him how unfair it was when he himself had took several years to get real good, Homura had only taken a few months. But, granted, Homura couldn"t play as well as his now-deceased friend. Now he could never play with his best friend anymore. All that"s left now are memories. And speaking of memories, Homura didn"t know whether it was good practice or not, but he had kept a mental list of all the songs they had played together, and had listened to himself play a number of times when the loneliness settled in. Though he missed the familiar laughter and the intentional out-of-tune strumming of a guitar, he felt warm inside when he thought of how he could at least give himself-and him-some good memories to reminisce. He sighed when he finished playing his current piece. It was from one of the newest anime he"d watched, one that involved a lot of hotshot professionals. Its character design was by one of his favorite artists, the producing company was a famous one, and the songs included was by a famous band, and the one who composed it was a famous composer. All the good features for such a good series. Plus, it had already gained quite a number of fans even though the third chapter has only just been aired. He had the hunch it would be expensive once it came out on DVD. It"s a beautiful melody, though the meaning of the lyrics is sad. A song about the foolishness of humans, constantly hurting each other just to achieve their goals, how cruel they are, for ignoring all the good resources available when it was still right in front of them. "Oh my, human boy, if you reveal to me any more of your feelings and memories I might be compelled to find out more.' "You"re the... youkai?" Homura asked aloud, fingers hovering in mid-air, the smooth flow of the melody broken off. "Yes, of course. You really are an interesting human. You haven"t let go of yourself much and yet... all those darkness overflowing out of the wounds of your heart... Hey... You probably have much, much more buried deep inside you, do you not? Why don"t you let go of it, open up...' "Shut up," he snapped. "I"m not getting influenced by you. Just now was just a slip-up. It won"t happen again." How dare it...! To peek into his thoughts and memories like that! "My, my, what a short fuse you have... Though I might as well tell, I did not "peek" into your thoughts and memories. You were the one who showed them to me. I merely took note of them so I could find a way to blackmail you.' Homura gritted his teeth. "... How long are you planning to stay in my body like this?" "Like I said, until I get all my strength back. Then I shall leave and have my revenge to the petty humans.' "You do know that once you get out, Suzuya would probably thrash you." "Yes, I am aware of that, but if I take you hostage, your friends wouldn"t dare to do such reckless things, will they?' "Wha-!" "So now, just close your eyes, dear human. And let me control you.' Oooh~ I haven"t been able to put this down recently... I get so motivated reading all your wonderful reviews! :3 Oh, and the so-called new anime Homura meant is Guilty Crown, by the way. The art is simply amazing. *p* And I LOVE Euterpe; that"s the piece Homura was playing, though of course, you can"t really hear it. -v-" However, there really IS a piano version of Euterpe, as well as a music box version, on Youtube. I highly recommend that you go watch it. That and the anime itself. XD And when I wrote about the "even though the third chapter has only just been aired", it"s the truth. D: The third chapter is already out in Japan, and the second chapter is available with subs. I hope the next chapter would come out soon~ Euterpe [piano version] - youtube (dot) com/watch?v=r-W8paeFrm4&feature=related Euterpe [music box version] - youtube (dot) com/watch?v=SdDDzfmtYE0&feature=related Phantasmagoria Natsume Yuujinchou Chapter 11 Exorcism "So now, just close your eyes, dear human. And let me control you.' Those words rang loudly in his ears more than anything, but though he wanted to wake up from the nightmare, he couldn"t. The youkai in him had taken control of his body and he can"t even think without the youkai"s devilish plans and years of hatred resounding in his mind, and through his own eyes he could see trees. They were in the forest, in the dead of night. Homura couldn"t believe it. At night it was like a different world, all around there were more youkai than nocturnal creatures he could see, though of course, it might have been because the youkai possessing him could have taken a different route normal humans couldn"t pass. What do you think, boy? Which one shall I devour? Which one? The youkai"s voice echoed in his mind, temporarily stopping the chain of unwanted scenes from its black past. "What do you mean?' Homura thought, frightened. "You can"t possibly be thinking of using my body to... to...' To devour them, yes. But you shan"t worry, I won"t make you watch. Homura saw an equally frightened rabbit-formed youkai cowering right in front of him. He saw his own arms reaching forward; felt his body closing in on the creature. "N-No...!' He could feel his lips curling up into a smile. I promise. Homura awoke to the sound of somebody ringing his doorbell. At first he thought it was somebody else"s and curled up into a ball and tried to ignore the sound, but then he doubted it to be his neighbor"s door since it was so loud so got up reluctantly and walked sluggishly to the front door. He pressed on a button of a screen attached to the wall and sure enough, it was a guest for him. There was Natsume, fidgeting outside. He unlocked the door and cleared the sofa of the CDs and books cluttering it. "Come in~ Let me clear up a bit." "Good morning, Homura. Looks like you just got out of bed." "Yeah, you"re the one who woke me up." He could hear Natsume laughing behind him. "Well, sorry to have disturbed your "sleep", your highness but we have school to go to. So get up and get ready. I have a lunchbox Touko-san prepared for you, too." "Ehh... Why did she do that? I can prepare my own lunches, no need to waste your family"s food for me." "Yeah, well, she seems to have taken a liking to you, and it"s all leftovers anyway, so-" Natsume gasped when he saw Homura"s face for the first time when he turned around. Blood smeared his cheek, and streaks of them lined his bedclothes. "Homura!" he cried and grasped his shoulders. "What did it do? !" Homura blinked, no doubt surprised. "D-Do what?" Natsume swallowed. He took his hand and brought it up to his face, and rubbed it against his cheek. Homura"s eyes widened in terror when he saw the red substance on his fingers. "Whose blood is this...?" Natsume asked cautiously. "I... I..." He started shaking. He squeezed his eyes shut and flopped down on the sofa, hands on his face. Involuntarily he remembered that rabbit youkai, and how he caught it, and how the youkai inside him seeped out of him and killed it, and back in his body. He remembered flinging its dead body aside as the youkai made him trudge back home, careful not to be seen by anybody. He felt sick all the way through. Even if the one who... ate it was the youkai, but it was back in his body so technically... He gagged. He went to school with Natsume-after the latter made him eat at least something-but found that he could not concentrate much. Natsume, too, was worried. It made Nishimura and Kitamoto confused to find them both dazed and unresponsive and in the end, left them alone, not before Natsume apologized, but they"d brushed it off easily. During lunch break Homura didn"t have the appetite to eat; he just stared at the food arranged neatly in front of him by Touko-san-a meal identical to Natsume"s, only Natsume ate and he didn"t. But he tried to make an effort so Touko-san might not feel offended, and after Natsume"s encouraged smile, managed to swallow some of the egg and rice. Natsume noticed-with increasing worry-that Homura avoided looking at the cherry tomatoes, and purposefully deserted the meat. Last evening, Suzuya had stopped by his home, Hinoe and Benio at either side of him. Neither looked too happy being with each other, so he could only guess that they were forcefully dragged there by Suzuya. And Suzuya might be irritated of having to deal with female youkai. Two of them, too. They sat in a circle, looking all serious. Hinoe explained that she had caught a glimpse of the youkai before it got to Homura, and said that it was an evil spirit that"s been sealed to a tree for a long time. Though it wasn"t originally evil, the villagers had put blame on it and sealed it to a tree. Ever since then it had started to hate humans and wanted revenge against those who had wronged it. Benio then said that it must have possessed Homura because of his high spiritual power, and because of the darkness in him similar to it. She had drawn the conclusion that if what Natsume and Suzuya had told her was true, then the youkai would most probably be attached to him. It also might have influenced Homura to go along with its plans. In the end Natsume gave up and contacted Natori, since he"d suddenly remembered that Natori was going to seal it too. Might as well contact someone kind he knew instead of having Matoba commanding his shiki to roam the forests and finding out about Homura. Natsume stared across at the teen; he looked so pale. Of course he would, who wouldn"t when you wake up finding traces of blood all over you. Natsume wanted to tell Homura of the plan Natori had told him about late last night, but since he had forbidden him not to, he couldn"t. Natori had told him that if they told Homura everything then the youkai might know by peeking into his thoughts, then everything would go down the drain. He had received a letter from him early in the morning when he woke up, stuck to his window. When they were in school studying, he and Hiiragi would find a suitable place, draw the circles, and make other necessary preparations with Suzuya behind-the-scenes. A very reluctant Nyanko-sensei would be hidden until things got out of hand. And if things got out of hand, then they couldn"t be sure if Nyanko-sensei would turn into Madara and gobble it up himself. He also told him to drag Homura along to the forest, where Hiiragi would fetch them and bring them to the area. His only orders for Homura are that they were going to help him, and he had to control his feelings when they started the ritual. The youkai could be manipulating him into not cooperating, and only if Homura can force it out can they properly seize it. Natori made strict orders for Natsume to limit his words, too. Natsume smiled at Homura when he looked up at him guiltily; it was obvious he could not gulp down any more of the otherwise delicious food. It had only served to make him remember about the blood coating him in the morning. Natsume pretended not to notice, but when he had gotten Homura into the bathroom he could hear him scrubbing at his face, and when he had walked out in his towel, he had smiled as if it was all back to normal again, although his hands and cheek were a bit red. Don"t worry, Homura. After school, this is all going to be over. Homura glanced around when they"d reached the school gate, and pondered, slowing down his pace. "What are you thinking about?" Natsume asked. The latter cocked his head to the side. "I... have some shopping to do. Wanna follow? I"ll treat you to something." Natsume blinked, throwing a sideward glance his way. As he did he spotted a white paper doll-Natori"s, obviously-sticking on a branch where you couldn"t miss it if you look towards the forest. It started waving, whether by itself or by the wind blowing, he didn"t know. But he knew that it was time to move. He turned to look behind him; there weren"t many people around, though there was a group, but they were too far away to notice them. "Homura, we gotta go!" He swiftly took Homura"s hand and ran, ignoring Homura"s surprised cry, guiding them both through the trees, keeping his eyes alert for more of those paper dolls. Those paper dolls could only serve to give them directions, Natsume thought. After all, Natori wouldn"t stick to them to any surface just for fun. But he was pretty sure the one who"d pasted them was Hiiragi, since Natori was supposed to be busy drawing circles and all. They arrived to an area where trees surround the grass like a miniature enclosure. Honestly Natsume wondered why they"d chosen such a dark place for exorcises. There was a large circle on the ground, very much like the one drawn during their time sealing the large-headed youkai only to be taken by Matoba"s group, with a similar pot at a spot where he would probably be. Suzuya nor Nyanko-sensei was nowhere to be seen, most likely hidden. Homura felt an impending dread. He didn"t like anything to do with this, but it was better than having to keep it in his body for any longer. Natsume took his bag and placed it to the side with his, then went near the man Natsume got help from. Somehow he felt there was something oddly familiar about the man, though he couldn"t be sure. His face was shrouded by a hat, so he couldn"t see his facial features very clearly. There was a female youkai wearing a mask among them, too. "Okay, listen to me, boy," the man said. "Take in a deep breath." He did. "Try to shut off your mind to the outside world, so "it" wouldn"t find out. Guard your thoughts well. And relax, that"s the most important." Natori saw the boy nod and try to relax, as he"d told him. He gave him a little time, meanwhile flashing Natsume an encouraging smile. "Have you relaxed?" Homura nodded without a word, eyes closed. "Okay." He produced an ofuda-like piece of paper, placed it to lips, and muttered something Natsume didn"t catch, and then broke into a run in Homura"s direction. Homura, at the time, had his eyes closed and didn"t notice until he was firmly pressing a piece of paper against his forehead. He distinctly heard the man telling him keep focused on his thoughts and try to drive the youkai out. He opened his eyes in a hurry; part of his vision was obscured by the paper. He felt something nagging at the back of his mind. How exactly was this man assuming that he could understand an instruction like that and follow? ! How do you even drive something not you out of your own body in the first place? ! He started to panic and shook his head, but the man"s other hand reached up and locked a good grip on the back of his head. "Don"t fight it! Think of it as you"re imagining that you"re kicking somebody out of your house! Try and call out to the youkai, and when it answers "drive" it out!" Homura squeezed his eyes back closed and tried his best to focus. Right, there was a time when Seiji forcefully invaded his room after a few of the upperclassmen tried to mess with him. He had fought back because Seiji was nearby, but in the end he got involved too. He didn"t think letting him into his room was a good idea and locked it before the other even managed to make it up the stairs, but apparently he was stupid enough to overlook the fact that the home owners made duplicates of their room keys and hung them up in the kitchen in case of emergencies. Seiji, of course, just had to know about that and got his room key. He"d tried to force him to get out after that, but eventually he admitted his defeat. Homura drew in a quick breath. No need to think about what happened after that. Just focus on when I tried to get him out. He relaxed a little, Natori noticed, and he thought that maybe this was going to go along easy after all. "Alright. So now-" Suddenly the boy broke into a fit of hysterical giggles. Hiiragi yelled at him to get away, and he quickly let go of him and withdrew the hand holding the exorcising spell to his forehead, and turned to dash back to his original position, only to have his wrist locked in a vice grip by the once-more-possessed boy.

Away from the water Ivy cut off a slice of apple and pierced it with a knife. "Want one?" She offered to Celes. "Yes, thank you." Celes reached into Ivy"s bag to take one of the red fruits. "You okay?" "Yes why?" "You"ve been staring at my brother." Celes hung her head, Ivy picked her cheek to drag in back up. "You even try to say anything to him?" Celes pushed Ivy"s hand away. "I want to, but he"s got his mind on other thinks." "Listen to me." Ivy put her arm over Celes, pullong her close. "Zane"s problems are only going to get harder. Can"t tell you everything now, but he"s going to need all his friends to be there for him, you get it?" "Yeah." "Good, now I"m gonna give you a tip I gave one of my friends who was intrested in someone. Tomorrow you ask him to hang out somewhere, lay in all out." "Sis, Celes!" Zane called out to the girls, they dropped what they were doing and picked up their weapons. Emerging from the water a dark skinned lagiacrus crawled onto the beach. "Is this an abyssal lagiacrus!?" Asked Albert, loading his bowgun. "No! The color isn"t dark enough!" Ivy drew her switch axe in sword mode. "Albert shoot the crystals! Celes your with me! Zane, you and Fenrir keep its eyes on you!" Zane drew his sword and jumped at the sea dragon, slashing it on the nose. The lagiacrus"s head pulled back from the cut, make it worse was Fenrir biting and clawing on the large monster"s leg. Ivy and Celes circled around to behind the lagiacrus, cutting at its tail. The lagiacrus curled up, swinging it tail at Zane and changing its attention to the other two. "Get back, back up!" Ivy shouted. The lagiacrus roared to the sky as a dark thunder crackled all around its body. The attack was cut short after Albert broke the electric crystals on the beast"s back. Albert dropped the front half of his weapon in the sand to reload. "When did Lagiacrus start using black thunder?!" "I guess now." Answered Celes. The lagiacrus slithered back as dark mist formed in it mouth. It took aim at Fenrir and Zane stood in front of his companion to block wih his shield. The lagiacrus spat a dark blob of unknown substance, when it made contact with Zane"s shield it dispersed into a black cloud, engulfing the two. "Zane!" The three yelled, Celes tried to go to them but Ivy kept her back. A moment later the two emerged from the cloud, immediately going after the lagiacrus. Zane"s armor had a dark mist coming out of his armor, Fenrir"s fur was a little darker and its eyes were glowing crimson. The lagiacrus opened its mouth and champed down on Zane, the hunter dodged the mouth and stabbed the eye. Fenrir climbed on its back, biting it in the neck. The others joined in to help fight. When the monster curled up to change direction Ivy hacked away at the tail, Celes started cutting into the lagiacrus"s sides. Albert aimed for the head, hoping to keep it off balanced. TThunder crackled out of the lagiacrus again, Ivy and Celes backed away, but Zane and Fenrir were thrown off by the electricity"s force. The two got back up and when at it again. Finally a shot for Albert knocked the sea dragon on its side, Albert and the girl went to attack its undrr belly while Zane and Fenrir kept attacking the head. The lagiacrus"s struggling started to slow till at last it gave up and died under their combined might. Celes exhaled loudly. "Well that-" Fenrir pounced at Celes, claws out and fangs bared. Celes held up her longsword against the claws,pushing to keep the fangs away as well. "Fenrir stop-" Ivy commanded when Zane struck her in the head with his shield. "The hell was that for!?" Ivy used her switch axe as a shield, blocking Zane"s sword swings. Celes fell on her back from the weight of the zinogre, it fangs inching closer to her face. Albert tackled the stygian off of her, the two rolled a couple of times till Albert shoved it back. Fenrir quickly got back on its feet to continue fighting. Albert threw a tranc bomb at the beast and it fell to sleep. Ivy puched her weapon against Zane, with an opening she grabbed his sword and knocked him into the sand. Zane"s helmet fell off, letting his sister see his crimson eyes. Zane rashed at Ivy but she punched him in the face knocking Zane out cold. "What was that?!" Asked Celes, getting back up. Ivy put her switch axe on her back and picked up her brother. "We need to get home and tell the guild master about this." "And tell him what?" Albert and Celes picked up and carried Fenrir. "The frenzy virus is back." + -×#'÷$"=/:%^;_&! €*? (×_ ) Please review it keeps us writers going, till next time CG out. Peace! Chapter. 13 Zane sturd as he woke up, looking around he was in a hospital room. "Zane!" Ivy got up from her seat to her brother"s side. "How are you feeling?" She picked up a bowl of nulbarrys to Zane. "You need to eat this." Zane tried to side up, but found his arm restrained to the sides of the bed. "Mind telling what this is about?" "Sorry..." Ivy picked a nulbarry, holding it closer to Zane"s face to eat it. "You remember what happened?" "We were fighting a lagiacrus, it spit some black stuff at me and Fenrir. Nothing after, where"s Fenrir!" Ivy undid the restrains, letting Zane get up. "He"s safe, we fed him some meat covered in nulbarry juice." "Why nulbarrys? What happened out there?" "I think it would be best if uncle Agil told you." Zane climbed out of the bed, rubbing his arms. "If he"s hurt Fenrir I paint his beloved guild hall with his blood." Down at the guild building Celes and Albert waited to meet the siblings. Once they arrived Celes immediately ran up to Zane, throwing her arm around him. "Are you okay?" "Fine Celes, what happened?" "Good your all here." Agil exited the hall to meet the four hunters. "Fallow me to my office." The group did as told, inside they all took a seat while the guild master sat behind his deck. "First off, are ypu feeling better Zane?" "I would if someone would just tell me what happened!" Agil sighed. "Always so full of anger. Zane, what do you know about the fenzy virus?" Zane tilted his head. "Thought so." Agil opened a drawer and handed the hunters an old drawing pf a black dragon. "Long ago there was a monster called the gore magala. It had the ability to infect other creatures with the fenzy virus, an infection that drives the host mad." Zane took a glance at the drawing before handing it to Albert. "So what does this have to do with me?" "Once it infects something, the host can carry the frenzy virus and infect others. So far there is no known cure, but nulbarrys can hold off the infection till it works its way out of your system." The guild master took the drawing back and put it away. "It was hunted to near extinction before the last of its kind just flew way." "Why wasn"t it hunted down after running?" Asked Celes. "That"s unfortunately lot to time. Ten years ago a town called Val habar was founded on a new frontier. After reading the reports of monster"s body colors becoming darker and hunters going mad from fighting them, it"s strongly believed that Val habar is where the last of the gore magalas fled too." "So what do you want us to do?" Asked Ivy. "You four are going to Val habar and help eliminate the gore magalas anyway you can. Zane because he"s been exposed to he virus and might have built up a resistance to it. Celes and Albert because they"ve fought an infected monster. And Ivy, the G rank should speak for itself." "Understood, we"ll depart tomorrow morning." "Thank you dismissed." Everyone stood up to leave, except Zane. "Where"s Fenrir?" "He"ll be looked after while your away." "Not good enough, I want my partner or I ain"t going." Agil stood up with his hands on his desk. "Are you questioning me Zane?" Zane also rested his hands on the desk. "You think I"m gonna leave Fenrir here? Here with a bunch of hunters just waiting for some half reason to kill him?" "I said-" "I know what you said and it"s not good enough. Some people are spying on me, and I"m going to leave him behind." Zane back off of the desk. "I took him in, I"m responsible for Fenrir"s safety." Agil sank back into his chair. "It"s in the storage room." Zane turned to leave, when the door closed Agil looked at his bookshelf. "He"s just like you sister." In the storage room Zane opened the door, finding Fenrir collared to the back wall, growling at two light bowgunner. "Hey! You can"t be in here!" One shouted. "Fenrir!" The zinogre stopped growling and happily barked at Zane. "Hey boy, you okay?" Zane kneeled down to pet his furry friend. "Either of you two got the key?" The two bowgunners aimed their weapons at Zane. "Walk away kid." "Or what? You"ll shoot me?" The two fire, their bullets flying passed Zane"s head and hitting the wall. "Last chance." Seeing no choice Zane walked to the door, he put his hand on the handle when Fenrir started barking again. "Shut up!" They both yelled. While they"re attention was on the stygian Zane took out a flash bomb for his pocket, throwing it at them. The hunters dropped they"re weapons and covered their eyes. Zane punched on of the hunters in the face, sending him into a crate. The boy picked up one of the light bowguns, striking the other one in the head. Whlie they were down Zane searched them and found the key, freeing Fenrir and running for it. Back home again Zane locked the door then called outvto his sister. "Ivy, you home!" "Upstairs Zane!" Ivy came to the railing, looking down at her brother. "Where"d you find Fenrir?" "Chained up in a back room, with two guys who almost shot me." Ivy ran down the stairs, putting her hands on Zane"s shoulders. "Tell me what happened." Zane gave a recap of what happened. "This is getting worse, someone with power now wants you dead." "It"s uncle, I just know it. He wanted me to get rid of Fenrir." "I want to say your wrong, but we can"t rule it out." Ivy hugged her brother tightly then let go. "Let"s just get ready to go tomorrow. Maybe this problem will blow over while we"re gone." "Here"s hoping, you called some cats to watch the house while we"re gone?" "Will do that this evening, now go upstairs and pack some stuff." "Yes sis." Zane hugged his sister then when upstairs. Ivy watched his go into his room then felt Fenrir up against her leg. "What do I do Fenrir?" The zinogre just barked. "Don"t act like your innocent in all this, you"re job is to protect him too." Fenrir barked happily. "Glad you agree." In Zane"s room the boy just packed a few sets of chothes and a couple of things for Fenrir. When he finished the trinkets on his dresser cought his attention. Some of them he got from and with his family over the years, others from when he and his friends when they were training to become hunters. He picked up a stone shaped like a butterfly, thinking back to when he got it. It was when they were taught how to mine. The item made Zane think back to earlier that day when Celes almost tackled him, then to when he walked her home she kissed his cheek. "Celes is into you, you know that right llittle brother?" The words Ivy has told him several times echoed in his mind. - +'#×"$÷:/=;^%!&_?*€(€_%) Please review it keeps us writers going, till next time CG out. Peace! Chapter. 14 Fenrir awaken to the first light that entered the window. The stygian shook it"s whole body then went to lick Zane awake as well. "Wha, okay I"m up! Stop!" The hunter struggled under Fenrir"s weight until he slid out on to the floor. The zinogre barked happily at Zane, who heard a knock at his door. "Get up Zane, your pet isn"t gonna feed itself!" "I"m already up!" Zane opened his door, greeting Ivy in the hall. "You"re up early sis." "And why not? We"re going to a new land, think about all the things we"ll get to see." Zane patted Ivy"s arm as he walked by. "Right up there with you sis, what are you in the mood for?" Fenrir barked again from in Zane"s room. "I know what you want furball!" The went downstairs to he kitchen, Zane started grilling Fenrir"s food while Ivy made her"s and Zane"s. "So what are you taking with you? We"re going to be gone from a while at least, so we"ll have to make our equipment with what we find from val habar." "Just my hunter armor and queen rapier. You?" "My standard azure rose and gigginox armor... I just now noticed this, we both use rathian weapons." "And why not? It"s a cool monster." Zane coated the meat in honey then set on on a plate on the floor for Fenrir. "You want one?" "What?" "A rathian, do you want one?" "You can"t-" Ivy stop when she glanced at Fenrir. "Just because you have a pet a zinogre doesn"t make a monster tamer." "Those who never try never know sis." The three cooked and ate their breakfast, the siblings talking on about what monsters could be tamed. When they finished they cleaned up the house, put on their equipment and went out the door. Forty minutes later they arrived at the dessert harbor, Fenrir pounds at some bugs while the hunters got their boarding passes. "A lagiacrus may be good in the water but as much on land sis." "I kind of like the nargacuga, if I had a monster that would be it." A loud howl got the siblings attention, outside Fenrir was being attacked by a hunter using brachydios armor and hammer. "Get away from him!" Zane threw a flash bomb at the hunter. "When the hunter got his senses back Zane and Ivy had their weapons drawn, defending Fenrir. "You got one chance, move aside." "What do you want with Fenrir? Are you the basterd who"s after him?" "I was hired to kill that monster. Job said not to kill you kid but nothing about hurting you, so move." Zane charged at the hunter. "Have it your way." The hunter side swung his hammer, Zane brought up his shield and was knocked out of the way. Ivy put her switch axe in sword mode, she raised the weapon down on the hunter. The hunter countered the switch axe with his hammer with a golf swing. Ivy backed away, as the hunter dashed at her Ivy switched to axe mode. While the hunter aimed to strike Ivy on her left side she did the same, but with more reach Ivy cut into the hunter"s armor, and made him drop his weapon. With the hunter defenseless Fenrir pounced on the hunter, puttong him on his back and biting into his arm. The fought with the stygian but it was clear it wasn"t going to let go. Fenrir"s teeth were starting to crack the hunter"s gauntlet. Panicking the hunter took off the gauntlet and shove the beast off. Zane drew a knife and threw it into the hunter"s exposed arm, the hunter"s movements slowed till they finally stopped. Ivy put away her weapon and turned to her brother. "What did you do to him?" Zane pulled the knife out, showing it to Ivy. "Paralysis, not just for monsters." Zane kicked the hunter on over and took off his helmet. "Now we"ve got some questions and you better answer." "Or what?" "Fenrir, attack." The zinogre bit into the hunter"s other arm and clawed at his back. "Your bluffing!" The stygian"s claws got through the armor and scratched his back. "There was a packagefor me in the guild with the money and intrusions on what to do!" "Fenrir stop!" The monster quit scratching the hunter. "How much was it?" Asked Ivy. "Thirdy thousand and said that if I killed that little thing and I get to be G rank." Ivy let out a fusterated sigh. "I"ll get the police, you watch him till then." Zane looked down at the hunter, who now feared for his life. "I see you again, what Fenrir doesn"t eat will fertilize my garden." Ivy returned with the authorities who arrested the hunter. As he was taken away it left the siblings with an uneasy feeling. "This is getting out of hand, now whoever this is, is willing to attack you and Fenrir in broad daylight." Zane kneeled down to pet his furry companion. "All the more reason for us to leave for a while, hope this whloe mess will be over when we get back. Uncle better do his job well on this." The two headed over to the canteen, there they noticed that almost all the other hunters hand their hands on their weapons. Some of them made a few passes at Fenrir but Zane kept his sword in his hand. "Hey there you two are!" Albert shouted to them. "Did I keep you two waiting?" "You get your boarding pass yet?" Ivy took a sip of her drink, acting like he wasn"t there. Albert was about to say something then ran to the harbor master. In his haste Albert didn"t see Celes go past him. "Where"s he going too?" She asked. "Hey Celes how are you?" "Great Zane, I did some research on val habar amd found out that there"s a lot of incest monsters there!" "You and your bugs." Chuckled Ivy. "Now, now sis. Everyone needs a hobby." The sand ship"s horn blew, signaling that it was time to board. "That"s us!" Zane, Ivy, and Fenrir ran to the boat, Celes was confused about why they were in a hurry and fallowed. Once they were on the ship Albert cought up to them. "Hey! You guys can"t leave without me!" Ivy face palmed. "This ship isn"t leaving unless we"re ready to leave." The low rank hunters looked around the ship, there was a large gong on the back over some cannon balls, on both sides were two ballista guns and two cannons. "What"s with all the fire power? Not that I don"t mind having it." "The desert is just as full of life and danger and the sea. This stuff is for when the big one come to play." Ivy went below deck, she spotted a lever and pulled it. The sail came down and cought the wind. The hunters above deck fell down with a thud from the sudden force. "Better get used to it if all of you want to hunt in the sand sea!" Zane stood and watched the city he grow up in fade away. "And you all better calm down when I return." "Who are you talking too?" Asked Celes. "Something happened before you and Albert arrived." + -'#×"$÷=/:%^;!_(*_^) Please review it keeps us writers going, till next time CG out. Peace! Chapter. 15 The ship gently rocked as it sailed through the desert, Ivy worked at the back of the ship, double checking the cannon ball supply. "Hey Ivy, you got a minute?" Asked Albert. "No!" Ivy replied dryly. "Oh come on, I just wanted to talk." Ivy kept her back to the bowgunner. "You know you can"t do this, we"re going to be hunting together for a while, it"s going to be really awkward other wise." "Fine with me." "Come on! Give me something!" Ivy turned to Albert, clearly fusterated. "You want something? Stop acting like a hot shot trying to get my attention. I know what you want, I see it in most of the men I worked with. You think I"m another pretty face and an easy lay." "No! I mean I do think your pretty, but that"s not what I want!" Ivy shoved Albert back. "Okay punk, fine. What do you know about me?" "Not much because you won"t talk to me. I know the surface stuff, your a G hunter and Zane"s sister. I"d like to know more." Ivy looked the boy over then stepped back. "Okay, what do you want to know?" Albert sighed in relief. "Okay let"s start with basic, what did you do before you become a hunter?" "Well..." The veteran inhaled slowly then breathed out quickly. "I guess you could say I was your stereotypical good girl. I wore dresses, had longer hair, was well mannered, and baked with my mom when she was home." "Really?" Albert tilted his head. "No not really! Ugh, you"ll believe anything I say." "Hey, that"s not fair! What am I supposed to believe when I know nothing?" Ivy folded her arms then raised her hands to her eyes. "You"re right, I"m sorry it"s just that what happened in the harbor has me rattled." "Okay then." Albert took and seat on the steps, Ivy sat down as well but a little away from him. "Let"s start over. My family is a line of blacksmiths. I was supposed to take up the legacy, but I wanted to hunter monsters, not make weapons out of them." "So how did your parents take it?" "Upset a first, till my little brother showed some talent with a hammer." "You know some hunters are blacksmiths and hunters." Albert nodded in agreement. "Yeah my grandpa was both. Okay your turn." Ivy thought for a moment. "Not everything I said was a lie. I hate dresses, but my hair was longer. Had to cut it to fit in my helmet." "And the well mannered part?" Ivy scowled at Albert. "Are you calling me a barbarian?!" "No, no! Just making conversation." "Okay then." While Albert and Ivy talked Zane came up on deck, after a quick look around he spotted Celes at the front of the ship. Zane went to the front and stood beside her, watched the waves on the sand. "It"s just like the ocean, but not." Celes shook her head with a smerk. "How can something be like something else and not be it at the sametime? You"re trying to hard to be deep." "No I"m not, look at it this way, they"re both vast, both have a lot of life we still don"t know about, and you need a ship to cross them." "I guess so, if you look at it like that. How"s Fenrir?" "He"s fine, a roll barrel below deck have his attention." The watched the desert waves for a little while, Zane thinking back to the night before trysto see if his sister was right. "How are your eyes?" "Fine, my goggles are still good." "I think your prettier with glasses." Celes spun to Zane in suprise. "Where did that come from?" "Just saying what I"m thinking is all." "Well, thank you. That was very sweet of you." Silence fell on the pair again. "Hey Zane, what do you think of me?"

My first one-shot story, hope it"s good. Inspired by Titanfall. +×÷=+×÷=%_€£¥₩=÷×++×÷=()_%=$ The winds were furiously blowing against the mechs casing, Roddick, the second in command piloting the large machine waved his hand through his messy red hair while scanning the landscape. Two months have passed since Romeo was killed; Julius has been working none stop to further the research of robotic Gods Eaters, so that no more lives would be lost. Roddick didn"t believe that one bit, sure robots would cut down on human mortality but they didn"t have the "think out side the box" ability humans did. After a heated debate Roddick convinced him to come to a compromise, the engineering staff would build a mech controlled by a human inside it and see how far that would go. The vice leader patrolled on, listening to the red rain hitting the glass till his com-link came on. "Vice commander report, did you find the marduk? " "Nothing yet J, I"m at point E now." "You"re moving to slow, at this rate you"ll loss the target!" "Lay off J, while you were watching the engineers building this Mech, I was training to pilot it. So get off your high horse, besides I"m watching out to not be blind sided." "I knew this was a bad idea." "You think any idea that isn"t yours is a bad idea." "Just focus on, hey you can"t, no your-" The com buzzed for a few seconds then another voice came on. "Rody you there? Come in Rody!" "Hello Nana." Roddick sighed with relief, the antes of his girlfriend always found a way to cheer him up. "What happened over there?" "Julius wouldn"t let me talk to you! Are you okay? Is the robot protecting you? Are you wearing the helmet? " "I"m fine the rain can"t get me in here I don"t need-" "Put the helmet on now!" Roddick groaned as he looked at the headpiece, unwillingly he put the thing on and took a picture with his phone to send to Nana. "Happy now?" "Yes, please don"t take it off, the rain will kill you Roddick, please come back safety!" "I"ll be fine, besides I"ve got my motivation right here." Roddick ran his hand over a picture in the upper right of the cockpit; it was of him and Nana eating one of her sandwiches from opposite ends. He made a bet with her that he could get to the middle before she could. They"re lips touched as they got to the middle at the same time, it was they"re first kiss and they"ve been a couple ever since. "I"ll be back Nana, save one of your sandwiches for me, Roddick out." The second in command continued to wonder around in the rain, he"s mind wandered back to that day two months back. Was there anything he could have done? Would Romeo still be alive if he was stronger? "Incoming aragami to your left!" Roddick spun around, three vajras climbed down the rubble roaring. "Alright, let"s see what this mech can do." The first vajra looked the robot with interest then charged at it, Roddick swung the machines left arm around and backhanded the aragami away. Mounted in both arms are large god arc cannons, Roddick held out the mech"s right hand and fired ice blasts at the vajra. The vajra got up and jumped at the titan again, Roddick pulled a lever to extend the mech"s wrist blades. "Come on!" The second in command swung a right cross at the vajra, stabbing it as well. With one down Roddick unsheathed his god arc from the titan"s back to bite the core out. The second vajra roared and fired a wave of thunder orbs; Roddick rolled out of the way but as he got up the third tackled him to the ground. Roddick punches the aragami four times before he got it off of him, the second vajra tried to tackle him too but the Gods Eater punched it back. Now back on his feet Roddick kicked the third vajra then turn his attention to the other one, he stomped on the beast"s head and stabbed it in the neck, beheading it. The last vajra charged at him, Roddick sidestepped and grabbed it"s tail. "Let"s go for a ride!" Roddick spun the beast around a couple of times then swings it up and slams its back on the ground. The vajra let out an electric shack wave as it fell, the systems in the cockpit sparked furiously, Roddick was thankful that the pilot suit protect his whole body. "Roddick! You"re titans taken damage!" "I know that J! I felt it!" Roddick elbow dropped on the aragami"s torso. "I"ve got bigger things to, but i"m not done with you yet!" The pilot kept one arm on the aragami to pin it then drew out the other arm"s wrist blade, stabbing the vajra till it was silent. "Roddick, you"ve taken seventeen percent of damage in that fight." "Better then in the VR training, the vajras are down, you still got a beat on the marduk?" "The target is still in the area, it"s in point K." Roddick took off in the mech running as fast as it"ll go, at the site Roddick slowly spun around looking for the marduk, with his fists held up. When a roar was heard Roddick turned to see the target on some rubble, glaring at the mech for a challenge. Roddick fired several ice bombs as the aragami charged at him but it didn"t slow down, the marduk pounced on the mech, knocking it down and biting at the glass casing cover of the cockpit. The marduk"s teeth couldn"t break through the casing but was leaving scratch marks so it was a matter of time before it got could get in, when Roddick got back on the controls he grabbed its neck to keep its mouth away for the casing while punching the beast in the face. "Get off me, bitch!" After a few punches he got the aragami to roll off. The mech rose up to one knee, one hand on the aragami"s neck and the other stabbing it in the back. "This is for Romeo!" The pilot grabbed one of its capes and cut it off. The marduk quickly got up and clawed the mech in the legs, knocking it down on its side. Left arm has sustained moderate damage. "I can see that, this is why I hate AI." Roddick sighed, looking at a side monitor showing the mech"s damaged arm highlighted in yellow. The marduk jumped at the Roddick again but this time the Gods Eater punched it with his good arm, pushing it back. Keeping the momentum Roddick shot it with his right hand till he was close enough to slash the aragami with his left blade in the head, fallowed by a kick to under the chin. The aragami roared and unleashed a field of fire around itself, Roddick"s cockpit temperature monitor was rising fast, forcing him to back away. This gave the marduk time to recover and leap at him, Roddick sidestepped to dodge but was too late, losing his left arm. Left arm is in critical condition. "It"s not in critical condition, it"s been ripped off!" Roddick unsheathed his right blade and cut off the marduk"s tail. "That makes us even." "Roddick! The mech"s taken too much damage, pull out now!" "Shut it J, I"m still at sixty two percent." Roddick stabbed the marduk"s face as it jumped at him then swung it to the side, shooting it in the side. "You"re missing an arm and your casing is damaged, one good it and you"re in the rain." "Good thing I got a suit." The marduk clawed at the mech"s right leg, knocking it down to it"s knee for support. Roddick punched the aragami in the mouth then stabbed it in the neck. "Pull out, that"s an order!" "Again J, shut up I can do this." The marduk circled around and pounced on the mech"s back, knocking it back down and cracking the casing. Roddick elbowed the aragami"s head again and again till he rolled over, throwing it off. Roddick raised his only arm and slammed it on the marduk"s torso over and over, each strike the beast"s cries of agency were growing louder. The marduk bit the mech"s arm, cutting into the metal. Roddick pulled back while shacking off the beast and trying to stand back up. Right arm has taken low damage "I"m going to kill the mechanic who thought a computer that states the obvious was a good idea." "Roddick you-" "Julius I swear to God!" The other end of the comm went silent, Roddick only used Julius" full name was when he was serious. The aragami"s teeth fell off of the, mech"s arm but went straight for the leg, Roddick took the opportunity and stabbed it in the head, then its back, finally its neck. The marduk backed away and howled, Roddick shot it in the chest. "Sorry did I brake your concentration, actually no I"m not sorry. Die demon!" Roddick charged at the beast till his right leg"s hydraulics gave, forcing him to limp. Right leg has taken moderate damage "I know, I can feel it!" Roddick wobbled his way to the foe, the marduk growled and charged, meeting the Gods Eater head on. Roddick stopped running and stood his ground, when the beast jumped at him Roddick lunged his blade into its mouth and down its throat. The force of the tackle was still enough to knock Roddick to the ground, Roddick pushed the marduk off of him then struggled to get up. The pilots panicked when he couldn"t get the mech to stand on own but thankfully the aragami was dead. Roddick pulled out his god arc and bit out the core, Roddick laid the mech on it"s back to watch the sky in one of the cracks he saw a water droplet forming. The vice commander closed his eyes waiting for the drop of death, but it never came. The droplet flouted above him then just rolled off, Roddick sigh deeply. "Thank you Nana." "Roddick! Roddick are you there?! Answer!" "I"m fine J, the mech is in bad shape but it worked. Now we got something to fight in the rain with. I need pick up though." "Understood, the rain will stop in twenty two minutes. Just hang on I"m sending Nana and the others. Julius out." Roddick flipped off the comm switch and just watched the sky; he beat the marduk, avenged Romeo, tested a new mech suit, and proved its worth. Today was a good day. $*/£+¥÷¥_₩^*";#(€_%=×"~|◆》 ■□●□●•○()_%+×÷==÷×+ Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed, please leave a comment and tell me what you think. Till next time, Cosmic Guardian out. Peace! ()_% Chapter. 2 Roddick breathed a sigh of relief as the rain around him was just water. His mech walked through the wailing plains in search of its next target, Roddick flipped on his communication system to call his support. "Is the thing even here? I don"t see it, and hannibals aren"t know for being subtle." "It"s still here Roddick, Just keep up the search." "And?" Roddick could tell that Licca had more to say. "And be careful with your mech this time, it took a week to repair it, and another two to get on all the upgrades." "R and D Licca, you need to test stuff. Sometimes tests mean to break it." "I know that all to well." Licca laughed on the other end. "When you see it, don"t hold back anything. We need to know what that mech can do and what to improve on!" "I got it." Roddick heard a loud roar coming from the twister. "I think I got something, get on those monitors!" He turned his mech to see a hannibal climbing out. "Okay tough guy, let"s dance!" The hannibal roared and charged at the machine. The mech clashed it"s fist together and held out its hands. The aragami crashed it"s hand into the mech"s slowly pushing the machine back. Roddick tightened his grip on the controls to push back. "Roddick it"s pushing you into a building!" "That"s what I was planning!" Roddick fired ice from his mech"s palms, the ice passed through the openings in the beasts palms and into its arms. The hannibal howled in pain, Roddick locked his fingers with the hanibal"s and swung the beast around into the building. "Now let"s have some fun!" Roddick grabbed the hannibal"s neck and punched it repeatedly in the head. The hannibal grabbed onto the sides of the mech and shoved it off, now back on it"s feet the hannibal swung its claws at the mech. Roddick extended the blades in the machine"s arms, one stabbed the aragami"s arm while the other went into its chest. Roddick shoved the hannibal on its back. He pulled his blade out of its hand to thrust it into the hannibal"s neck. The hannibal dodged the blade and breathed fire on the machine. Roddick grabbed the beast"s head and slammed it into the mud. The hannibal clawed at the mech"s body, causing Roddick the grab it"s arms. The hannibal raised its head and breathed more fire on the mech. The heat inside the mech was rising. Roddick tossed the aragami aside and moved away, letting the rain put out the flames. "So struggles are out then." The hannibal growled and turned to flee. "The aragami is trying to feed to heal!" "Not on my watch!" Roddick chased the aragami. The beast stopped by some moss growing on a chunk of rubble. Roddick grabbed the hannibal by the tail then swung it around before letting go, throwing the aragami into build that collapsed on top of it. "The aragami took a lot of damage! That was incredible!" "What did you expect?" Fire rose from the ruins the buried the hannibal. The aragami burst out of the rubble, hovering over it with its wings exposed. Roddick cracked his knuckles, his mech did the same. "Round two. Bring it!" The hannibal landed as Roddick charged. The beast roared and breathed fire at the mech. "Not this time!" Roddick pulled a level to his left, the mech held out its left arm. metal plates extended from the arm to from a shield and block the flames. Roddick bashed his shield into the hannibal"s face. With his free hand Roddick reached behind his back and pulled out a large hammer. The hammer struck the hannibal in the chest and knocked it on its back. The Hannibal rolled away before Roddick could hit it again with his hammer. The aragami swung its right hand to knock the hammer out of the mech"s hand as its other hand sunk it"s claws i to the mech. Roddick pressed his back against his seat as the claws were an inch away from him. Roddick grabbed the hannibal"s arm and twisted it as he pulled the claws out. As the hannibal raised it hand to attack when Roddick slammed his mech"s shoulder into the hannibal, backing up as it staggered away. The two opponents stared at each other, ready for their final clash. The Hannibal charged at Roddrick with its hands out at its sides. Roddrick looked his controls and pulled on the handles to pull the mech away from the hannibal them slam the top of the cockpit into the hannibal. As the aragami was stunned the mech held its hands together and struck the beast in the face with them. Roddick picked up his hammer then grabbed the hannibal by its neck. "End this!" "Say goodnight lizard!" Roddick crashed the beasts head into the ground and struck with his hammer. After a few swings the hannibal"s head was nothing but paste. The mech cockpit opened as Roddick jumped out with his god arc and took out the core. "The hannibal is dead. That was fun." "Great work out there Roddick! I got some great data out of that! With just a bit more and we"ll have an unstoppable aragami killing machine!" Roddick ran his hand through his hair as he looked to the sky. "We"ll prove that man and machine can walk hand in hand without overworking the other." ! #$%^&*()_+ So yeah, this is no longer a one shot. So what aragami would you like to see Roddick and his mech to fight? Till next time, CG out. PEACE! Chapter. 3 The sun had began to set as the blood unit assaulted their former home friar. Gilbert swung his spear to trip a gods eater soldier then impaled it. "I found a way in! Everyone get to my position!" "On my way!" stated Ciel. "One sec!" A load crash was heard on Roddick"s comlink. "Okay on my way!" "Sorry guys, the soldiers got me trapped!" Nana spoke up. "I"ll have deal with these guys first!" "There"s no time, the red rain is almost here!" Shouted Ciel. "Ciel, Gillbert, get inside!" "Captain-" "That"s an order Ciel." Roddick cut his connection as his mech turned to run. Nana stood in the open as four god arc soldiers closed in. Nana tightened her hold on her god arc as she looked to the sky as red clouds formed. "So this is it." The soldiers drew closer and Nana took a step back. "At least I"ll die a hero. Save Julius everyone." "Get away from her!" Nana tapped her earpiece when Roddick"s mech ran into the clearing. The machine slammed its arm into a soldier to knock it away then grabbed another by its head, crushing it. The mech held up it hands and fired thunder mortars at the other two. The mech spun to Nana and opened up to reveal Roddick inside. "Get in!" Nana ran towards the mech and jumped into the cockpit, hugging her boyfriend as she sat in his lap. "You came for me?! But Julius-" "The others can make it. If not then we"ll just have to catch up." "Captain! Do you have Nana?" "Copy Gilbert. Coming to you guys!" "Hurry! There"s a lagre number of god arc soldiers moving towards your position." "Just means there"s less for you. Don"t worry I"ll clean up and get to you all." A couple dozen god arc soldiers broke through a side door on the mobile base friar. The mech took Nana"s god arc and attached it to the side of its leg as the cockpit closed. "All right! You bootlegged Gods Eater wanna be"s! You try to steal our jobs, you break at the worst times, you almost got Ciel killed, Romeo died because of you, AND you tried to give my Nana the black plague. You all just bought a one way trip to the scrap yard!" "And how are you going to beat all of them?" A mix of worry and curiosity hung on Nana"s expression. "Easy, old school style baby." Roddick took a hold of the controls and the mech charged forward. Roddick reached the first machine, he dodged its blade and punched its head off. Roddick picked up the machine"s body and hurled it at the next one running up to him. A god arc soldier run up to Roddick"s left. The mech put up its shield to block the incoming blade, as the blade recoiled Roddick grabbed the machine"s arm twisted it till it broke off. As four more soldiers charged Roddick extended is mech"s blades. Roddick ducked under the first soldier"s sword and cut them in half then plunged his other blade into the second one. "Catch your friend!" Roddick swung his mech"s arm to hurl the impaled soldier into another. The fourth gods arc soldier waited until two more were at its side to attack. The soldier rushed the mech with their blades on their shoulders. When the machines were close enough the mech stabbed the two of them then sheathed his blades. As the two fell the last ran past them and the mech clashed its fists together and crushed the machines head. "Five more incoming!" Pointed Nana. "No trouble." The mech dug its fist into the a soldier"s chest and pulled out it power core. the core pulsed red and Roddick threw it into the coming foes to watch it explode, destroying them all. "Penta-kill!" "That was awesome!" "Nine down!" Another machine dashed towards the mech and swung its blade. Roddick drew his hammer and knocked the sword back then punched the machine"s head off. As another charged at him. Roddick held out his mech"s free hand and blasted it with blasts of thunder till it fell. A gods eater soldier blindsided Roddick as it tackled the mech down. "Oh hell no!" The mech struke the machine in the side with its elbow to knock it off. The mech stood up and grabbed the soldier by its legs and swung it around, hurling it into another upcoming machine. "Anyone else?!" More machine were coming towards them. "Did you have to ask?" "Yes. Yes I did." The mech held up its hands and fired lighting to put down two more soldiers. A soldier got close and raised it sword to bring it down on the mech. Unable to get to his hammer Roddick extended his blades and crossed them to catch the the sword. The mech kicked the soldier in the chest, causing it to let go of its sword. Retracting his blades Roddick grabbed the sword and cut down the machine. The last eight soldiers circled around the mech. "Roddy." Nana was growing nervous. Roddick placed his hand on the back of Nana"s head and pulled her close to kiss her. "I won"t let let anything bad happen to you. You know that, right?" Roddick pulled Nana close again this she put up no resistance and returned the kiss. "Trust me, I got this." The gods eater soldiers closed in on the mech then ran at it with their swords held high. "Roddick!" Shouted Nana. Roddick waited as they drew closer. As they we close enough to strike the mech rushed and tackled the machine in front of him to dive out of the way, letting the machines destroy each other with their swords. Atop the last soldier the mech raised its fists and punched it rapidly, braking it apart. When the fight was over Roddick looked around to see all the destroyed machines in the red rain. "That should do it. Told you-" Nana threw her arms around Roddick, holding tightly onto him. "That was amazing! Your amazing!" Roddick raised his arms and held Nana. "It"s okay. It"s over." Roddick let go as Nana pulled away. "Let"s go finish this." Nana gives a nod as Roddick taps his comlink. "Ciel, Gilbert. The machines are down and we"re on our way." "Understood, please hurry!" Ciel replied. "Let"s go save Julius." Roddick collected his hammer and ran to catch up with the rest of the team. ! ##$%^&*()_+}"?{: Please review, it keeps us writers going. till next time, CG out. PEACE!

Paylor stopped typing. "I know, and this is something that is most interesting." The three passed their gazes on each other. "After speaking with Damien I"ve tried to acquire some information about our new recruit, but there"s nothing on him before becoming a Gods Eater." Paylor turned his monitors around to show them. "See? There"s no record, what I got from the American branch is that Damien showed up one day and said that they had a god arc for him. They tested him and it was true, he then filed a transfer to this den later that day." "So Damien just came out of nowhere, got his god arc, and came straight here?" Asked Kota confusingly. "That would seem to be the case, though the American branch didn"t know about Damien until he came to them." Sakuya brought her hand to her head in a thinking pose. "Damien, who is he?" "I think the better qeastion is "what" is he." Lindow commented. "As many riddles as Damien has, I fear that Alisa has some as well." The attention returns to Paylor. "Damien spoke to Tsubaki about seeing Alisa talking to herself and refering to Lance in persent tense, like he"s still alive." This news gave everyone a sense of concern, Sakuya the most. "But she"s been doing so well! Alisa"s recovered form his dead and took his place as leader." "Think Sakuya, Alisa was the closest one to him. Don"t you find it odd that the one who should"ve been the most devastated was the first to recover from it?" Sakuya considered the idea, how could she not see it, for two years? "Damien thinks she should be removed from her position and Tsubaki seems to agree. What are all of you"re thoughts?" Suprisingly Kota was the first to speak. "Alisa"s had a hard life, in this day and age who hasn"t? Let us talk to her before we do anything." Lindow pats the teen on the back. "I agree, no time like right now to do it. Thanks doc for the news." "My pleasure, please do what you can. It would a shame to loss another outstanding new type to the first unit curse." Once everyone left Paylor tunred his monitor back to himself, bringing up a photo of Damien. "It"s been two years since anything exciting has happened, my only hope is that it won"t end with another death." On the veteran floor they group walked to Alisa"s door. Sakuya was about to knock when they heard Alisa talking on the other side. "That will cover the spine, that will heal the lung... the joints will reconnect... no! You"re not getting anymore metal in it." Sakuya opened the door, inside Alisa jumped from the couch, in front of her were saveral seemingly random aragami parts. Sakuya did a quick look to find no one else was there. "Sorry to interrupt, my we come in?" "Y-Yes please." Everyone gathered inside while Alisa got them all drinks. "What can I do for all of you?" Lindow discided to be tactful. "How are holding up? You can be honest with us leader." "I"m fine Lindow, though I feel you have another meaning to your question." Sakuya sat beside the Russian girl, putting her hand on Alisa"s. "We"re just conserned is all, when Lance died we were all broken up. But you wouldn"t leave your room for a week the when you do it"s like nothing happened." Lindow leaned closer from his side of the couch. "Tell us the truth, are you in denial?" Alisa flicked Sakuya"s hand way, glaring at Lindow. "How dare you! He died, it hurt, it still hurt but we need to move on I"m not going to let his sacrifice go in vain. We all owe our lives to Lance, saving you for the hannibal and us from the venus." An uncomfortable silence hung over the room. "What"s all this for?" When Kota picked up one of the aragami parts Alisa nearly ripped his arm off to gwt ot back. "What was that for!?" "I"m sorry but I can"t let anything happen these items." "What are they all for?" Lindow swiped an avion joint from the table. Alisa fought to get it back but Lindow kept it out of reach. "Tell why you need it." "Lindow you picking on her." Said Sakuya. "No I"m, ow!" The senior felt like someone punched him in the back, Alisa grabbed the joint and started putting away the rest. "Who hit me?" Lindow wondered, it wasn"t Alisa, Sakuya wassitting down and Kota is on he other side of the room. "I would like you all to leave right now." "Alisa we"re just trying to help you." Said Kota. "I"m fine everyone, I really am. I just have something that need my attention, please leave that"s an order." The visitos passed glances with each other then finally left their leader"s room. Alisa locked her door then fell on her bed. "I agree, we"ll have to do something to make it up to them... I know but to be honest I"m glad... and less reports to make. I"m rest a bit... me too." Meanwhile in the sunken grid Damien was being pestered by two other two types, Federico and Annette. "Where did you grow up." "Classified." "Who are your parents." "Classified." "Why did you come here." "Classified." "What"s your favorite color!?" "Grey,maybe?" "Yes!" Annette threw her hands up. "We got something out of him!" Federico looked puzzlingly at Damien. "What do you mean maybe?" "I just don"t think about something like that." "So what do you like to do for fun?" Asked Annette. Damien"s eyes darted all over, looking for something to change the subject. "I don"t really have any recreational activities. When I"m not in he feild I"m training to be stronger." "Then what did you do before you became a Gods Eater?" "That"s classified." "There anything you can tell us about your past?" Asked Federico. "No." "Just no." "Yes." Damien picked up his arc and started walking, the other two confusingly fallowed. Moments later the trio found a ghoro ghoro eating a large pipe, Federico motioned to huddled up and form a plan. "This will a clean job, we move fast we"ll kill it in a minute flat." As the aragami churches on the metal pipe Annette sneaked up from behind, slamming her hammer on its tail. The beast turned around to see Annette backing up to Damien and Federico, both of which are shoot at it. The ghoro roars and charges, but Annette lays a snare trap to stop it. The boys switch to blade mode and all three take a bite, then tare into the aragami in burst mode. Once the trap wears off the three leap away in union, switch to gun mode, give each other their aid links, and finish it. Federico rubs his forehead with a rag and sighs in relief. "That was great, that had to be less then thirty seconds." Damien switches to blade mode to take the core. "Excellent work, now let"s return-" "Ah ah ah." Annette grabs Damien"s arm. "You need to have some fun, Federico, the second unit, and me are have an ogretail race. You in?" "No thank you I"d-" "I"d what? What"s more important?" Damien struggled to get free, he looks to Federico for help. "She won"t let go until you say yes and the second unit is on the way." "Okay, if that"s what you want me to do." "Was that so hard?" Annette let of the rookie. "We never see you spending time with anything but work, after today you won"t be such a workaholic." #$/^ ¥+×÷=&$)(*()*) Please review it keeps us writers going, till next time CG out. Peace! Chapter. 6 "Ready?" Gina, Brandon, Federico, and Kanon lined up at the starting line. "GO!" Annette shout and the race began. Damien watched the four do laps around the sunken grid until Tatsumi tapped his shoulder. "So what do you think?" "I don"t see what the point of this is." "There doesn"t have to be a reason for having fun." A minute later the racers finished the first lap, with Gina in the lead. "I should get my ogretail ready, my race is next." Damien watched a few more races until he decided to leave. "Where are you going?" Federico grabbed Damien, dragging him back. "Come on your ogretail is over there, go get to the starting line." The rookie had no idea what was going as he was lead to the race line. "Ready!?" Damien took a deep breath, mental preparing. "GO!" The others rushed out ahead before Damien knew what happened, the Gods Eaters on the side lines were shouting at him to go. The ogretail sprinted forward, reaching the first turn. Damien gripped the fur and pressed his legs on Noaki"s sides,holding on as best he can. When Noaki made the turn Damien was nearly thrown off, the boy sighed in relief, not noticing the next turn. Damien was thrown off and into a stack of rusted pipes. When you woke up Konon was holding up his upper body. "Damien! Can you hear me!?" He rookie blinked a few times. "What happened?" "Thank God, Damien how many fingers do you see?" "Six?" Konon shook her head. "We need to get him back now." The other Gods Eaters gpt back on their ogretails while Konon called for a copper. "I have the worst luck." "Why"s that?" This is the second time I"ve crashed on an ogretail." Federico patted the new kids shoulder. "I"ve been thrown off a few times learning how to ride one. So don"t feel bad about it, happens to all of us." The next day Damien was in the lobby thinking about which mission to take when Alisa walked passed him. "Hello Hibari, how are you today?" "I"m fine thanks, I heard they took you off leader for awhile. What happened?" "Same thing as last time, they still think I"m going to have a meltdown because it"s near the time Lance died." "I"m sorry, it"s been two years, you"d think that they would have more faith in you by now." "You would think, listen, is there any hannibal missions?" Hibari typed at her computer for a moment, reading the days mission logs. "There is one in the wailing plains, you what to go along as usual?" "Yes thank you." Alisa left the desk and went up the stairs to the lift. "Thought that she was suppose to be taken off duty?"Damien wondered she up too, he also went up the stairs to fallow. Damien rode the lift to storage, grabbed hos god arc and wepent out the door to find his ogretail, arriving just in time to see the griffin fly away. "I"ll find out what you"re up too." He mounted his aragami, when it started running it was getting harder to stay on and had to slow down. He was lossing sight of Alisa but judging the direction he guessed where she would be, a place he"s never been and never wanted too. In the wailing plains the griffin landed gracefully, Alisa climbed off without any trouble. In the distance Damien dismounted his ogretail as well to fallow silently. "What are you up too? And here of all places?" Damien read about the wailing plains back at base and hated everything about it. The endless rain, the overgrowth, Damien was never a fan of nature. The new type crept closer till he found Alisa and could hear her. "What would a holy serpent guard do?" "Something"s not right with her, I need to report this."Damien was about to leave when he heard a loud roar that froze him in place. He looked over the rubble he was hiding behind to see the hannibal climbing out of the twister, it jumped to the ground howling at Alisa. The Russian spun her arc, then swung low. "You ready? Because I saved you last time... good." Alisa dashed to the hannibals sode as the beast lowered itsbody the breath fire, Alisa swung her arc in a three sixty spin but didn"t hit the aragami. Damien watched from his hiding spot, something wasn"t right. The hannibal stomped around trying the reach behind its back while Alisa cut into it legs, nearly tripping it four times before it finally fell down. Alisa attacked the shield even after she distroyed it, the beast stood up and roared when half its face just broke off. The hannibal backed away, it cover its face and ran away. "It"s running in fear for good reason of what you did." Damien came out of hiding and gave chase, he needed to know what he just saw. How did its face break when nothing hit it, why was it fighting like there were more then one? When he sneaked around a corner Alisa dealt the finishing blow by decapitating the hannibal. The veteran"s god arc devoured the core as she pulled her hair back. "It"s not here, again... no, no wait!" A large cut formed in the Hannibal"s side, the cut turned into a hole as blood and guts flew out everywhere. The flow stopped and a sinder crystal flew out, landing in Alisa"s hand. Next the hannibal"s hand flipped over, Damien feared it was still alive. Alisa covered her mouth, giggling as the hannibal"s shield was peeling off. "You do this every time you don"t get what you want... I guess that is the most direct... Hahaha, what?" Alisa"s hand now covered her face while she laughed. Damien thought the sight was disturbing, watching on he saw Alisa hug nothing, even kiss nothing. The rookie took out his phone and snapped a couple of pictures before running back to the den. Alisa returned to the den a couple hours after Damien when she got back her phone went off. "Hello Sakuya, medbay? Okay I"ll be there shortly." She hung up and put it away. "She didn"t sound happy... that is possible, even we have our fights... I doubt you"d be a good marriage councilor right now." Alisa arrived at medbay to find Sakuya and Damien waiting. "What"s going on?" The Russian asked. "Alisa I, we think you..." Sakuya tried to find the words to say, so Damien thought to come out and say it. "You"re current mental health is in question, as such you"re no longer allowed out of the den without an escort." "What do you mean? I"m perfectly fine." "That"s not what this says." Damien showed her his phone. "You spied on me!?" "That"s not important, though what I see it was a good thing I did." Sakuya held Alisa"s gently, trying to comfort her. "Alisa you know you can talk to me about anything, What are keeping from us?" "It"s nothing you need to be concerned about, really." "This aays otherwise." Damien showed her his phone again. "And you, why where you spying on me!?" "It was because he was worried about you Alisa." Said Sakuya. Damien shook his headat the statement. "I was concerned about the den as a whole if one soldier incapable of fighting is on the feild, it would in danger the other with them." "Anyway, I think you should be put on medication. Just for now." Alisa pushed the oldervwoman away. "You think I"m losing it don"t you?" "Alisa listen to me, I know it"s hard but-" Damien stepped up to Alisa. "I"m not going to act I knew Lance but he"s dead, move on you have work to do. And right now you"re failing in your duties." Alisa pinched Damien so hard it send him to the ground. "How dare you." She glared at him, Damien got up to talk but Alisa knocked him down again without another word. Sakuya grabbed Alisa"s arm to get her to stop. "You"re well being is important to me Alisa, you know that right? So please." Alisa calmed down so Sakuya could hand her a bottle of pills. "If is this is nothing then you can stop taking them in a week, two at the latest." The Russian"s eyes darted around the room, she sighed and took the bottle. Alisa took out one of the pills and put it in her mouth when a table was flung arcoss the room. As the other two turned Alisa spit out the pill and left. "What was that?" Sakuya turned back to Alisa, seeing she was gone the gunner left as well to get her. Damien stayed in sickbay looking at the table, no touch it and this wasn"t the first odd thing to happen. When he got to the door his head slammed into it hard, knocking him down for a third time today. As he sat up, rubbing his forehead appaper fell into his lap and the door opened then closed. "That for peeping on us perv." Was writen on the paper. +×÷=%_€£¥₩₩¥£€ )#($*/&^&+₩÷£%_% Please review it keeps us writers going, till next time CG out. Peace! Chapter. 7 A week had passed since the inccedent in the medbay, since then Alisa been on full team missions. She still takes the medicine given to her, but nothing came of it. Damien watched her carefully when he spied on Alisa, something wasn"t right. Aragami would run off, parts became unbound, or they just dropped dead. Other"s haven"t noticed it as it alone happened when she was alone. The recruit sat in the lobby, waiting to meet someone he hasn"t met before. He stared at the roof till someone kicked him in the leg. "Wake up." Damien stood up to met a young man waring a blue hoody with white hair. "I"m Soma, I"ll be babysitting you today." "Well then, I"m Damien the new guy, you"re four minutes late." Damien tried to act like he was more important, but just walked to the lift. Damien jumped into the lift as it began closing. "Honestly I"m amazed by how lax everyone is here, no order what so ever." "Uh huh." "I read that this is to be my first time fighting a chi you." "Uh huh." Damien tapped his foot, think of something to say. "I"ve read about you, you have done great things." Soma didn"t reply. "Any advice for what to expect?" "Whatever shows up just slash it to hell." The door slide open, lletting the two out. An hour later the two arrived at the sunken grid, Damien"s gaze swept the landscape. "WWhat"s the plan." "Find it and kill it." Soma hooped off the ledge. Damien fallowed questionably. "That"s it? You don"t have some plan?" "It"s a simple job, we don"t have to over think it." Damien couldn"t argue with the logic and just went with it, just around a stack of pipes they found the aragami. Soma took the preemptive strike, hitting the chi you in the back of its knees to knock it down. Damien jumped over Soma and stabbed the chi you in the back, the beast stood up and spun around to shack him off. On the second pass Damien let go of his god arc, flying to the ground. The chi you stared him down, about to punch him till Soma cut it in half from the waist. The veteran offered his hand to the rookie. "Don"t ever loss your god arc, go get it." Damien nodded, getting his arc from the chi you. When he put his hand on the hilt Soma grabbed Damien"s arm. "Don"t ever loss your god arc." "I heard you the first time, ow!" Soma tightened his grip. "This weapon is your life, without it your screwed. If you don"t want to die then learn to get a better hold on it." "Yes, forgive my misunderstanding." Soma let go of Damien, who retrieved his weapon. That afternoon Damien set out on his next mission, another chi you, this time in the magma filled subway. When he got to the meeting point he found Soma, Alisa, and Kota waiting for him. "Hey D, how you feeling?" Asked Kota. "I"m in top condition and ready to fight, further more you will refer to me by my full first name or codename." "It"s more professional that way?" The boy nodded. "Why do have to have everything professional and stuffy? And you still haven"t told us anything about yourself." "Let it go Kota." Soma dragged the boy away for the rookie. Kota was about to push the matter till they saw Alisa take off down the tunnel, making the boys fallow. When she found the target Damien held the other two back. "Damien she needs our help!" Yelled Kota. "Trust me on this, watch." The two eased up and fallowed Damien wish. Alisa shot the chi you with a couple of bombs before it fell to its knees, Alisa switched to blade mode and took a bite off the aragami. Now in burst mode she cut off the chi you"s arm and stabbed it in the side. The chi you fell lifeless on the cement. "Thank you for the help!" Alisa shouted sarcastically, ripping the core out of the aragami. Kota and Soma were disgusted with Damien as the looked confused. "Why didn"t you do it!" Alisa turned to the rookie. "Do what?" "Don"t play dumb, I saw it when you fought that hannibal, parts of it were damaged even though you never touched them. How did you do that?" Alisa backed away for Damien. "You sure you weren"t seeing things?" "I saw it! The hannibal"s face broke off and she never touched it." "D your sounding like a mad man." Kota grabbed Damien"s arm trying to get him to stop. "I"m being honest! And don"t call me that!" "Aren"t you the one who said Alisa was losing it?" Said Soma. Alisa nodded. "That"s right, maybe he"s the one who needs to be looked at." Damien shook off Kota, he stepped away from the group pointing at Alisa. "You can"t deny it, I know what happened." "Can you prove it?" Damien was grinded his teeth. "If not then let"s go. You have a problem Damien, you cause problems that don"t need to happen." Damien stood there as the others walked away, he tightened his grip on his weapon. "I will find out what you"re up too." The next morning Damien stood in the hall of the veteran"s floor, waiting for Alisa. Two hours later her door finally came out. He hid behind the vending machine, watching her wait for the lift. The day dragged on for Damien as nothing interesting happening. Alisa went to the lobby and talked to some people, did some training, watched the sky on the roof. Now and then she"d take one of her pills but over all nothing note worthy happened all day. Damien returned to his room after Alisa did the same, he laid on the bed with his face in the pillow. "What I"m suppose to do now? My reason for living is gone." He picked up a little mirror from his headboard and looked at his reflection, mainly his purple eye. "Damn it." He threw the mirror at the couch across the room. "Nature is flawed, who needs it." +×÷=%_€£¥₩ #$/^&*()+×÷=%_€£¥₩ Sorry for the wait, freedom wars has been taking my attention. Also fanfictions for the game became available, so now it"s three storys. The first chapter is already up, if you have time please take a look and tell me what you think.

Zane looked around, all of his friends were out cold, because of him. Zane shook the thought away and took off his shield. her grabbed Ivy"s hunting horn and used it to call the emergency caravan. When that was done Zane took Ivy"s switch awe and placed it on his back. The boy tightened his fists as the gore magala was flying higher into the mountain. "Time for some pay back." Zane chased after the gore, with Fenrir still at his side. ! #$%^&*()_+}"?:{ Please review, it keeps us writers going. Till next time. CG out. PEACE! Chapter. 24 Zane slowly climbed the mountain, looking for ledges low enough for Fenrir to jump up with him. After an hour of climbing the hunter was feeling winded, he spotted a cliff edge big enough for him and Fenrir to rest on. Once on the edge Zane opened his bag and took out a honey steak. "Eat up fur ball." Fenrir didn"t wait and began eating the meat out of Zane"s hand. Zane let go and Fenrir pulled the steak away. Zane smiled as her watched his partner eat. "Why would anyone want to hurt something so small." Zane drew his sister"s switch axe to sharpen it. Fenrir stopped eating and barked loudly. "What is it?!" Zane stood up to fight, not finding anything he turned to Fenrir who was still growling at him. Zane put down the weapon and stepped back. The zinorge lightly growled at it. "You don"t like it?" Zane walked around the switch axe and kneeled down to calm Fenrir. "Why don"t you like it?" Fenrir looked up at Zane with sad eyes. "I"m sorry but I need to use it. We got a gore magala to gore." Zane stood up and put the switch axe on his back. A few minutes later the two found an path deeper into the mountain, on the trail they found several dead jaggi with blackened wounds. Fenrir sniffed the jaggis and backed away whimpering. Zane kneeled down to comfort Fenrir. "It"s okay, I won"t let this happen to you." Zane stroked Fenrir"s fur as the stygian rubbed its head on his torso. "Come on, we have a demon to kill." The two heard some noises further up the path and the two took off to find its source. Fenrir ran on ahead of Zane then stopped to start barking. "What is it?!" Zane caught up to Fenrir and found the gore magala eat a fallen zinogre. The sight made Zane"s anger boil over. "You"re gonna pay for this, for everything you"ve done!" The hunter drew his switch axe and charged. The gore magala roared, stopping Zane and Fenrir then charged them. Fenrir was the first to recover, the zinogre performed a front flip and slammed it"s tail on the gore"s head. Zane saw the wound that Ivy made and stabbed his weapon into it. The magala screamed in pain as the switch axe"s power exploded in its leg. Blood and bits of bone sprayed out as Zane was blown back from the blast. Fenrir leaped onto the gore"s left leg then onto its left wing, Fenrir"s claws getting tangled in the fur. The gore shook its wing to get Fenrir loose but it was doing more damage to itself as Fenrir"s claws pulled up hair. Zane reloaded the switch axe then changed it back to sword mode. The gore magala shook its wing until Fenrir"s claws put a hole in its wing, the gore roared and let out countless hairs into the air and its horns reappeared. When the dark dragon lowered its winged arms Zane stabbed his weapon through the opponent of Fenrir and began cutting. The gore tried to pull its right wing away, Zane pushed against his switch axe and cut through almost the whole wing, now barely hanging on by its humerus bone. The gore swung its wing and slammed Fenrir into a cliff wall then strike Zane with it"s tail. The gore turned to Fenrir and growled. It walked towards Fenrir, trying not to put any pressure on its ruined leg. Its raised its head to eat its prey then howled, awakening Fenrir. Behind the magala Zane sliced off it tail and took his sword back. Fenrir dashed around the gore and saw the wounded leg, Fenrir stood on its front leg and swung its tail into the leg, tearing it off. The gore magala flapped its wings, its bone snapped and its right wing fell off. The gore magala laid on its side from the pain. Zane put his switch axe on his back and pulled his sword out of the severed tail. "We took your leg, your tail, your wing, and put a hole in your other wing." Zane points his sword at the dark dragon. "What else can we take away, before we take your life?" Zane and Fenrir regrouped rushed in to attack. The magala launched a sphere of black fire, blasting to two back then spat a dark mist at them. The gore"s horns lowered as almost all the hairs in the sky were gone. The beast slow approached the mist when Zane and Fenrir emerged form it, both with crimson glowing eyes. Zane held out his sword and the gore caught it with its teeth and bit down, shattering the sword. Fenrir ran to the dragon"s side and slammed its tail on the gore"s neck. Zane drew his switch axe and swung down on the gore"s now lowered neck, cutting halfway through it. The gore magala howled one more time then fell silent. Zane and Fenrir didn"t stop, the hunter slashed at the dragon"s body and the stygian ripped and tore with its teeth and claws. After a few minutes Zane dropped his weapon and held his head, screaming. The crimson glow faded from Zane"s eyes and regained his senses. Zane saw Fenrir was still frenzied and tackled him. Fenrir struggled to get Zane off, the hunter had his right arm around Fenrir"s neck and left arm around it torso. "Fenrir! Fenrir calm down!" The stygian rolled on its back, Zane let go from the weight and Fenrir got up on it feet. The opened it jaws to bite and Zane held up his right arm, Fenrir bit the arm and was breaking the gauntlet. Zane grabbed some nulbarries from his bag and slid a couple through Fenrir"s teeth. Fenrir shook its head and threw Zane to the ground, the hunter opened a latch on the gauntlet and pulled his arm out. Zane watched Fenrir break his gauntlet and glare at him. Fenrir"s eyes were losing the red glow and its growling stopped. Zane fell on his knees and hugged his partner. Higher up the mountain a hunter in zinogre armor watched what happened. The hunter wrote on a piece of paper, rolled it up then attached it to a bird"s leg. The bird took flight and the hunter climbed down the mountain, being careful not to be seen or heard by the two down below. It was late afternoon when Zane and Fenrir returned to Val Harbor. Two hunters in leather armor approached them. "Are you Zane?" "Who"s asking?" "The guild master would like to see you." "Tell him later I need to see my Friends." Zane was about to walk away when one of the hunter put up his arm to stop him. "Your friends are at the hospital, you"ll be able to see them tomorrow. For now, please." Zane nods and fallows the two men. They arrive outside the guild hall and meet the guild master. "Thank you, you two." The hunters bow slightly and leave. "You must be Zane." the guild master examines the boy"s face. "Silver eyes..." "What about my eyes?" The master puts his hand out to Fenrir, who barks at him to stay away. Zane scratches the top of Fenrir"s head and the zinogre calms down. "Could it be? No, I need to make sure." "So what do you need, sir?" "Oh, yes. I"d like to hear your report on the gore magala." Zane tightened his fists. "The demon is dead. you"ll find its body on the mountain." "You killed it? On your own?" "No. I had Fenrir there for me." "Of course." The guild master cleared his throat. "Zane, In light of what you"ve done for Val Harbor and those who"ve fallen fight that monster, I here be make you a high rank hunter." The guild master held out his hand. "Welcome to the big games son." Zane was shocked beyond words, he was a huge step closer to learning the truth. "Thank you sir!" Zane took the master"s hand and shook it. "Now then, with a gore magala"s remains we can study it and learn how to fight back against the frenzy virus, since you killed the gore magala some of the carves are yours to keep." "Thank you and I know just what I want to do with the remains." Walking through the city Zane was on his way to Josephs when a hunter bumped into him. "Sorry!" "You should be." "The hell does that mean?" The hunter stopped. he wore rathalos armor and duel blades. He had sand colored hear, red eyes and looked as old as Zane. "It means know your place, you and your pet." Fenrir growled at the stranger. "RAAAHHH!" The stranger shouted and Fenrir tried to hide behind Zane. "Weak, like its master." "You want to say that again?!" Zane grabbed the hunter by his neck guard. "And I"m not his master, he"s my partner." The hunter shoved Zane back and straightened his armor. "Call it what you will. You"re just raising it till it"s old enough to get some sweet carves." "I would never hurt Fenrir!" The hunter laughed and walked away. Zane petted Fenrir to let him know it was okay. "I"ll never hurt you Fenrir. I swear it." Outside the caravan Nala was sweeping when she was tackled by Fenrir. "Stop! Sasha help!" she struggled as the stygian was licking her. "Fenrir!" The zinogre stopped and ran back to Zane. "Sorry about that, you okay?" "What"s happen- Zane!" Sasha jumped at Zane, clinging to his chest. "Did you rethink my offer?" "No, I"m not marrying you. Now where"s Josephs I need to speak with him." ! #$%^&*()_+}"?:{ Please review, it keep us writers going. Till next time, CG out. PEACE! Chapter. 3 The boat arrived at port, returning the three teens from their first hunt. Celes removed her helmet, runnong her hand through her hair. "Hey let"s go to my place and celebrate our first victory." "Wooo!" Shouted Albert. "I"m all for that." Zane sighed at the antics of his friends, something caught his eye at the canteen, someone wearing gigginox armor. Zane would"ve passed them by if it wasn"t for the all too familiar switch awe. "Hey sis! You going hunting today?" The person turn to reveal it was indeed Ivy. "Well you"re still alive so you must have done something right." "I love you too sis." Ivy turned to see Celes and Albert at the counter to make a report, she quickly turned back, pulling her hood over her head. "You know I found you because of the weapon, so Al can too." Ivy grabbed her drink and downed the whole thing. "I"m so sick of him, always trying to get my attention. He"s going to die if he keeps it up." "From a monster or you?" "Whichever comes first." Ivy hugged her brother and took off. "Hey Zane!" Albert yelled out as he Celes rejoined him. "Who was that?" "My sister." "Really? Come on you should"ve told me!" Zane looked away from his friend, noticing a hunter"s bag on the counter. "Uh oh." He grabbed the bag and headed for the docks. "You two go on without me I need to get this to Ivy, see you at Celes" place." On the ship several hunters talked to their parents about the what monsters they were going after. On the railing Ivy sighed as she looked out over the sea, she took out a pendent in her armor, opening it to see a picture of her family. "Was it a mistake to let Zane into this life?" "Sis you forgot your stuff!" Ivy stuffed the pendent back into her armor before facing her brother. "Zane what, why are you-" "You left your bag in the canteen, pretty clumsy for a G ranked hunter don"t you think?" Ivy didn"t know whether to laugh or be upset about her mishap. "Thank you Zane but-" The ship"s horn blow, sighaling everyone that the ship has set sail. "No, no no no!" She took Zane"s hand, dragging him back the ramp. Only to find it was gone. Ivy immediately dashed to speak with the captain while Zane saw a fellow sword and shield user practicing. The ship landed in the tundra, Ivy walked down the plank with Zane right behind. "Wow it"s cold." Ivy opened her bag, getting a hot drink for her brother. "Zane, stay here." "Okay sis." "I mean it Zane! This is were the toughest of the tough come to hunt. These things will kill you." "I get it Ivy, now think. Who took me on hunts before I became official, showed me what to do." Zane grabbed his sister"s arms. "Every time you tell me to do something I listened, I"m alive because of you. And I saved you a few times as well. Miss G rank." "Alright, just stay here, I"ll be back later." With that Ivy walked away. An hour had passed since then and Zane was started to worry. The hot drink his sister have him had long since wore off, he stayed by the fire whatching ice burgs drift by in the river. "Hungry." Zane got up and left the camp. A little bit away from the camp Zane found a couple of popos walking around. "Okay, just kill one for a snack, cook it then eat it up. Sis doesn"t need to know." Zane drew his weapon and attacked the closest one, after a few stabs to the head the monster was down and Zane started cutting off raw meat. "This is going to be great."Zane took out his BBQ set and began cooking. When it was done the hunter stared at the meat, waiting a minute for it to cool. Just as he was about to take his first bite he was tackled to the ground, Zane rolled with his attacker and shoved them off. He got back on his feet, taking a battle stance. What stood before him was a stygian zinogre, no bigger then a bullfango. Zane kept his shield up, watching the monster growl at him. "Stay, stay back I"ll, uh." He looked at his left hand still holding his food instead of his sword. Zane took a step back and the stygian stepped forward, Zane took another step and the stygian took another as well. The hunter looked at the dead popo then back at the zinogre confused. "You can have the meat over there, this is mine." The monster was unmoved and continued to glare at him. Zane started to get interested in the stygian, finally just tossing the steak to it. Once his hand was free he immediately grabbed his sword, but kept it sheathed. He watched it eat the cooked meat happily, when it finished it looked back at Zane who unsheathed half his sword. The stygian straightened up and took off. Zane put his sword back, watching the monster flee. "What was that?" He turned to the dead popo, then back to were the zinogre ran away, then back to the popo, then back to the running monster now out of sight. The hunter drew his knife to cut more meat of the popo. After the meat was cooked Zane put it on a stick and the stick in the ground. He backed away, watching his surroundings till the stygian came back. "I guess in cold places you like hot food better." Zane took out some of his rations and opened on that consisted of jerky. When the stygian was done Zane held out a piece of jerky as he slowy got closer. It slowy got closer to Zane as well, sniffing the dried meat, finally taking it away. Zane pulled his hand away as it ate the food, he grabbed some more jerky, this time holding a hand full to it, kneeling down. It sniffed the food though not as long as last time. As it ate the hunter moved his hand closer to its head, he flinched when it started looking right at him. The stygian zinogre sniffed the hand, poking it with its nose. Zane tried to keep his breathing under control, though be next to a G ranked monster was making it easy. The zinogre stopped sniffing and Zane froze. The monster pushed its head against his hand, rubbing it as well. The boy"s heart was pumping a mile a minute, he"s hand started petting its head whole his other hand scratched its chin. "This is so cool." The zinogre backed away and took off in a sprint. "Hey wait!" Zane took off after the monster, deeper into tundra. "Sis is going to have a fit when I get back." Zane chased the stygian through a cave, he felt like something was watching him and wanted out fast. Finally outside the zinogre ran to a pile of broken trees, Zane fallowed it by crawling through the same way his monster friend did. When he got up he saw the stygian run towards a bigger one sleeping. Zane backed up against the trees in fear, the smaller zinogre started barking to wake up the big one. "Quiet! You trying to get me killed? I just fed you!" After a while Zane noticed the beast wasn"t getting up he slowy walked towards the bigger monster, his hand on his sword till he was close enough to touch it. Knew he was going to die but put his foot on the monster, tryong to shack it awake. "Hey, hey wake up your kid needs you!" Zane walked around to the front of the beast till he saw a pool of blood near the head, he covered his mouth not willing to get closer. The little zinogre kept barking at its dead parent till Zane kneeled down and hugged it. The little monster finally stopped and started whimpering in Zane"s arms. When it calmed down Zane rubbed its head gently, the zinogre licked Zane"s face and snuggled against his body. "Oh crap." Reality finally it Zane like a hammer to the head. He in a land of deadly monsters that could eat him, his sister might be back at camp waiting to yell at him, to top it all a baby stygian zinogre just imprinted on him. "Well if I"m going to face death, be it monsters or my sister you better have my back little guy." The zinogre barked happily at Zane and walked at his side. "~|{}[]▪○●□■ 》《¤◆¿¡ )#($*^&+₩×¥÷£=€%_$()=÷ Please review it keeps us writers going, till next time CG out. Peace! Chapter. 4 Zame and the zinogre climbed over the fallen trees and entered the cave that would lead them back to camp, inside had the feeling again the he was being watched. The zinogre took up a battle stance and snarled. "What is it? What do you see." Zane looked around, finding an entrance on a league. Two baggis and a great baggi jumped down looking for prey. Zane drew his sword and raised his shield. The smaller baggis attacked first, the stygian pounced on one, biting into its neck. Zane shield bashed the other, knocking it down. The great baggi roared, telling the one still alive to back away so it could fight. The beast charged at the zinogre, knocking it off its fallen kin and spit at the zinogre. Zane jumped in front of it and blocked the spit with his shield, he lowered his defense and was struck in the side by the baggi"s tail. The beast chased after the boy till it fell, feeling a sharp pain in its leg. Looked down the stygian had bit into it. The baggi turned back to Zane, who was already back up and shield bashed it in the face. With its head away Zane swung his sword, cutting off one of its arms then stabbing it. The baggi swung its head around to hit Zane but the boy ducked and cut off its other arm then stab it in the chest. Zane pushed his sword down to widen the wound. The monster cried in pain, calling for any help to come. Zane backed away when the momster howled, his sister told him that the leader is never too far from its pack. Sure enough three mpre baggis appeared from the league. The stygian zinogre let go of the great baggi and faced the new threats. One baggi jumped at Zane, pushing him down. He used his shield to keep it back whole another baggi tried biting at him but kept away as Zane widely waved his weapon. Zane arm was getting tired from keeping the baggi from eating his face, its teeth got closer and closer till zinogre tackled it off him. The other baggi charged and Zane punched at it, hitting it with the rim of his shield. The stygian roared at the great baggi, red lightning forming around its body. The last baggi ran up it Zane and had his sword rammed down its throat. The zinogre did a side flip, launching a blood red orb appear, it hovered for a second then flew at the greeat baggi. The monster was knocked down and Zane stabbed it in the face, ending its life. Zane fell backwards on the ground,felt Iit was cold and sat up. "That was too close." The zinogre stood beside him and licked him in the side of the face. "I know, you saved me. Thanks." Zane pet the monster then lowered his hand to scratch its chin. "You like that better?" The hunter got up and started walking out of the cave. Once outside Zane drank a potion in one go. "That"s a lot better. " "ZAAAAANNE!" "Saw this coming." The boy watched hos sister running full speed at him. "I told you to stay at the camp, you said, get back!" Ivy pulled her brother behind her, drawing her switch axe to kill the stygian. Zane grabbed Ivy"s arm, keeping her back. "No ais stop it"s not going to hurt you!" "What? Just let go!" Ivy shoved her brother away, running at the monster. Zane took out a paint ball and threw it at Ivy, the cloud of colors blinded the girl, letting Zane get a head of her and block her path. "Zane. You are going tell me what you are doing, right now!" She yelled, wiping the paint out of her eyes. "Okay I left the camp, but I was hungry and it was only for a minute." "I told told you-" "Let me finish! You"re so quick to yell, you"re going to kill your voice doing that." Zane explained everything that happened since his sister left, leaving out the part where he fought a great baggi. "Get it now?" Ivy"s eyes darted aroind lookong for anything to look at other then the two before her. "Move." "What?" "I said move! That "thing" behind you is a monster, you"re a hunter, you kill monsters. Now move." "Didn"t you hear me? This animal lost its mother and you want to kill it, don"t you see anything wrong with that? " "This world is full of monster that will kill you given the chance, I told you your too soft hearted."

"Markl, you were utterly useless this morning. Get Calcifer some more wood, would you?" Markl made the appropriate noises of disdain, making faces that caused his children to giggle over their mouthfuls of food as he stood. He muttered something that made Sophie cough, although it sounded more like a laugh from where Ana was sitting. Following his moves with her eyes, Ana finally saw the two little white eyes and pursed mouth floating in the fire Howl had cooked breakfast on. As Markl unceremoniously tossed a couple pieces of firewood on the little flame, Calcifer finally met Ana"s eyes. As he munched on the wood, he looked at her with a considering expression. "You"re prettier when you"re awake," the little flame suddenly said. Ana almost uttered a confused thanks when he continued. "Of course, you didn"t have much to start with..." Her eyes narrowed dangerously, earning an approving laugh from Markl and Howl. Sophie glared at the little flame. "I might not want to drink my juice if you say another word, Calcifer." The flame shrugged, but didn"t appear very nonchalant. He didn"t say anything more, and went back to munching on his fresh wood. Still puzzling over the latest development, Ana turned back to her food. The children were still shoveling as politely as they could manage. The adults ate with more reserve, but no less enjoyment. Over her wonderful breakfast, a plate of some sort of bread, similar to biscuits, cooked with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar, Ana observed the family around her. Howl sat at the head of the table just to her right, and Ana"s assumption that this was lord of the house was correct. His command was thorough, the respect for him resonating from everyone in the family. But it was Sophie who held it all together, and in whom the true power laid. She had provided the silverware, napkins, and juice Howl would never have considered. She quietly told the twins to put their napkins on their laps, and not let them fall to the floor from her queen"s position at the other end of the table. Ana deduced this was a regular occurrence. She caught Markl"s wink he threw at his children, and decided that he had been reprimanded for his manners by Sophie many times during his youth. Diane was the puzzle. Her hair was just the shade of the twins", but no one had mentioned her marriage to Markl, let alone the mothering of the children. And from what Ana had seen, Tommy and Leena looked to Sophie as a motherly figure, which suggested that either they didn"t trust Diane enough, or that she was more absent than Sophie. Either way, where exactly she stood in relation to Markl, Leena, and Tommy was a mystery. The pace slowed, and conversation began to flow. Tommy and Leena still attacking their food like hyenas, the adults began to talk. It was a pleasant, warm flow of words, and Ana basked in it. The topics ranged from weather, health, to work. There Ana lost track of the conversation as references and words were thrown about with little explanation. Finally giving up in confusion, Ana merely enjoyed the warm hum of beautiful voices. Finally, Sophie said something that caught Ana"s attention. "How do you think Felix is doing?" Howl stayed silent, allowing Markl to speak. "I"ll go check on him, drag him down. Some food with do him good." Just as Markl pushed back from the table, a wonderfully familiar voice resonated from the top of the staircase. "No dragging will be necessary, Markl. You"re always too eager to bloody me up a bit." As one, seven pairs of eyes flew up to Felix, who strolled down the stairs with his lanky stride, looking devastatingly handsome and totally at home. He wore a clean linen shirt, a dark emerald waistcoat, and dark breeches. Ana"s throat dried a little at what a picture he made. Leena and Tommy simultaneously shrieked, "Uncle Felix!" before leaping out of their chairs and zooming across the room side by side. Sophie seemed to think about reminding them of at least putting the napkins on the table, but just shook her head with a sigh before bending to pick them up herself. Ana caught the small smile on Sophie"s face, and knew her a little better for it. Felix caught the twins with a groan, making all sorts of noises and faces as he jokingly struggled to pick them up. "When did my little ghoulies become such giants? I can... barely... lift you up!" he roared as he threw each one, laughing and screaming, over his shoulders. He made his comical, staggering way across the room slowly, but for all his complaints about his physical weakness, Ana could see that Felix"s grip was strong and sure on the little bodies that were totally in his hands. Sliding a glance at Markl, she saw that the man trusted Felix with his children completely. His face didn"t even flicker as Felix almost overbalanced on purpose, making the children squeal. "Alright, Felix," Sophie finally said, unable to hold back the chuckle at the children"s obvious joy. "Tommy and Leena have been eating like pigs, and if you keep that up, they"re going to bring it back up all over you." Flashing a theatrical, horrified look at the children, which just made them laugh harder, Felix plopped their little feet back on the ground. "Uncle Felix, Uncle Felix!" they chirped, using a whole different bid for attention. They both started talking at once, which drew Felix down to one knee to listen. Ana tried, but couldn"t decipher their garble of words. Leena seemed to be talking about some animal she had a conversation with, and Tommy kept mentioning stones. While Ana was confused, Felix nodded, his face conveying total understanding. "My, my, you two have been busy. We"ll talk in depth later. Now go finish your breakfast before it gets cold," he commanded, patting them on the rumps as they turned and scampered back to their seats. As the proverbial prince of the realm, Felix started his round around the table. He first approached his mother, pressing a loving kiss to her cheek. "Good morning, Mother. And how are you?" "Fine, Felix," she said, her smile almost shy at the charm oozing out of her son. "And you?" "Oh, I"m grand," he dismissed with a wave, stepping over to Diane"s side. "And you, my lovely Diane," he said, delivering a smacking kiss to her cheek, as well. Deep down, so deep Ana refused to acknowledge it, a little flame of envy and jealousy briefly burned before she determinedly stamped it out. "You look as ravishing as ever." "You aren"t looking too shabby yourself, old man." The two grinned at eachother before Felix slid over to Markl"s side. Punching the other man on the shoulder with some force, Felix then extended his hand for a rough shake. "Drag me down, indeed. As if you could manage," he said in a gruffly masculine tone that Markl repeated. Felix tossed a wink to the twins, who snickered over their toast. "Have to be certain you haven"t turned into a sissy during your time away." Felix"s face lit with a dazzling grin as he clapped a hand on Markl"s broad shoulder. Turning to his father, Ana could see the joking light dim in his eyes, but the loving glow brighten. "Father," he said simply, shaking Howl"s hand with uncharacteristic solemnity. "It"s good to be home." Howl clasped his son"s hand. "It"s good to have you home. You did well, and chose the right course." The two remained still for a heartbeat, until Felix broke away, rounding his father to kneel at Ana"s side. He had come to her. Saving her for last. Why, Ana couldn"t guess. But she was certain now that it was right. He took his hand in hers, and their eyes held. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly, and Ana felt the family watching at her back fade away. "I"m fine, thanks to you. And your wonderful family." He grinned, running gentle fingers through her hair before standing. "It"s a joy to hear you say that," he murmured, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Now where can I get some food?" he said loudly to the table at large, purposefully breaking the intimate moment as he moved to the seat across from Ana. Rushing back to reality, Ana cursed her fair complexion as she noticed the contemplative expressions on Sophie and Diane"s faces aimed her way as the twins raced eachother to get Felix food first, ending up spilling on the table and into their father"s lap. Howl took charge, serving his son with a grin as he conveniently cleaned up the mess on the table with a wave of the hand, but left Markl to deal with his own mess. Markl complained about the toast now in his lap thanks to his children"s overeager efforts, and Diane offered some sniping remark that earned a sneer from Markl. The two continued as the twins argued about who had dumped the food on their father"s lap. Calcifer joined in from across the room, offering shouted inflammatory remarks for both quarrels. Sophie glanced between the two squabbles on either side of her, shook her head, and returned to her plate in surrender. Howl smiled serenely, and followed his wife"s lead. Ana watched the chaos and soaked up the noise with wide-eyed wonder. It was all so alive. Catching Felix"s eye across the table, she focused on the knowing grin he shot her as he enjoyed his father"s toast. "Still think they"re wonderful?" he muttered for her ears only. "Absolutely," Ana returned without hesitation, smiling broadly as she ate another piece of toast. Cookie to anyone who figures out what the title of the chapter means. It"s actually not as hard as you may think... I"ll tell you at the end of the next chapter. Anway, so what do you guys think? I added three more characters to my ever growing list, and I love each and every one of them. Strange story about the twins" names. I was set on a pair that were pretty decent, and I had used in the chapter a couple times. Then, when I was looking up a last name for Diane, I found out that Thomas meant twin. That was just too perfect, and I went looking for a girl name that also meant twin that was in no way derived from Thomas. Linnea was the result. Hope you guys like "em!! My first true family scene, and it was really fun!! The mysteries will start unraveling soon. For now, they"re just enjoying a yummy breakfast. Also, if you"re interested in drawing fanart for Sapphire Mage and post it on DeviantArt, let me know!! I would love to see it, and link it on my profile so all the other readers can see it and appreciate it too! Remember to toss me a review to tell me what you think. Fair warning, it"s going to be a while until the next chapter. Considering I posted four chapters in just over a month, I think I earned a little break. With school starting and all that other crazy jazz, I"ve got to get a little settled, and then my nose will be back to the grindstone. Tentatively, I"d say you"d have to wait no more than a month for Ch 13. Hope you like it!! The meal eventually wound down, and the children were pardoned, sprinting outside to burn off their energy, little streaks of youth and gold. Ana felt exhausted just watching their sheer vigor. After they denied her offer of help, Ana sleepily smiled as Markl and Diane competitively cleared the table. Howl settled down in his chair with regality, slipping half-moon reading glasses onto his long, aristocratic nose after snatching a small book from the side board, its dark leather cover engraved with what looked like silver foil and fragments of malachite. Sophie relaxed with a cup of tea, eyeing her husband until he glanced up with a smile. It was as charming and as breath-taking as the ones his son tossed around, and apparently it melted Sophie"s concern. Felix mirrored his mother, his shoulders and neck relaxing as he sipped on his cup of lightly creamed coffee. Markl snatched a newspaper from the kitchen before plopping his long, broad frame down on a hunter green couch in front of Calcifer. Relaxing her head back against the back of the chair, Ana closed her eyes, trying to wrestle her way clear of the pain that was sparking up and down her spine. It had kept quiet through most of breakfast, and had dimmed the greatest once Felix had descended the stairs. But as she stayed awake, alert, and aware, Ana could feel her bones weakening, her blood pounding through her veins harder than it should. Fighting hard enough to bring drops of sweat to her temple trying to regulate her breathing, Ana opened her eyes very slowly when gentle, cool fingers brushed her cheeks. Diane"s stunning face gazed down at her, a soft, worried smile on her bowed lips. "I"m afraid we wore you out." Straightening hurriedly to deny such an accusation, Ana blinked against the stars that robbed her breath and swirled against the back of her closed eyelids. "No, not at all. Maybe I wasn"t as ready as I believed myself to be," Ana murmured, pressing a numb hand to her forehead. She heard the screeching of wood as a chair was shoved back, closely followed by a deep voice. Ana knew she was very far gone when she couldn"t tell if it was Howl or Felix. "Hush. She"s just tired. Ana, you"d best go relax upstairs." Peering through cloudy eyes, Ana could see that Howl was barely holding back his son, energy thrumming through Felix as if he were a plucked string, concern darkening his cobalt eyes. Markl hopped over the back of the couch, resting a hand on Felix"s shoulder. Like a wolf pack, Ana could feel them closing ranks, moving as a well-oiled machine. It was a little intimidating, and the sensation of being prey snuck under her skin. No matter what, it would be best to follow Howl"s advice, especially with her knees trembling and her bones shivering. Slowly taking to her feet with the tentative step of a woman four times her age, Ana was a little surprised when Diane gently clasped her elbow. Sophie suddenly appeared on her other side, and a brief glance over her shoulder confirmed that Howl and Markl now both stood, holding back Felix as politely as they could manage. A family, they certainly were. But why had she expected it to stop there? They were wizards, warriors under that gentle veneer. They had such a lovely little community, but they protected their prince almost violently. What Ana wasn"t sure about was whether they were protecting her, too, or protecting Felix from her. Sophie settled Ana down with the gentle efficiency of a mother. For a moment, Ana was awash with homesickness. It faded as the soft velvet of sleep closed in, but Ana dreamt of her family, a world that seemed eons away while she was tucked in on some stranger"s couch in a neat study inside a moving castle. Her nap was only about half an hour long-she awoke, completely alert, to a quiet room, totally alone. A gentle fall sun illuminated the dancing dust motes, little reeling stars in the hushed air. Rising from the couch hesitantly, Ana was gratified when the muscles in her legs wept, but held under her weight. A shiver stole across her shoulders as a draft whispered through the castle. She dragged the blue and violet checked quilt off the couch, wrapping it around her shoulders before shuffling to the heavily carved oak door. It was lighter than it appeared, almost knocking Ana on the nose when it swung open easily, the hinges silent. Sighing as the gnawing sensation in her joints winked to life, Ana moved into the hallway, peering right, then left, then right again with the blinking deliberation of an owl. She knew the stairs down to the dining room were to the left, but the corridor to the right remained a mystery. The pain humming at lower levels than it had that morning, Ana noticed that the corridors were paneled in ash. Sturdy, yet elegant. It encompassed her hosts perfectly. Making her careful way down the hall, Ana stumped up a short, winding staircase. The corridors branched, forked, and wound into labyrinthine proportions. Ana would stop at a divergence, totally unsure of where the rest of the castle"s inhabitants were. A soft, cool breeze would tug at the ends of the quilt, pulling her down certain hallways and away from others. Eventually, Ana realized that a whisper of laughter rode on her guiding breath of wind. Someone, somewhere in the castle, was laughing, the silvery sound of joy. Ana ultimately found herself before another oaken door, like the one to Sophie"s study. The handle was faded platinum, the fastenings glowed dull silver. Just as she rested faintly shaking fingers on the metal, the door swiftly opened, the air rushing past Ana with one final sterling-toned note to rustle Sophie"s silver hair. The older woman stood on the other side of the door, a surprised lift to her silver brows and cool observation in her brown eyes. "Come in, dear. Are you cold?" Sophie asked as Ana shuffled into the room, noticing the quilt draped over Ana"s shoulders. Diane looked over her shoulder from her place before a wardrobe full of color and texture, her violet eyes warming as they lighted. "I wasn"t able to get warm. It seems like such hard work now," Ana murmured. Catching the way Sophie"s eyes followed the quilt, Ana dragged it from her shoulders, her arms wavering under the weight as she held it out to the older woman. "Is is special to you?" Ana asked quietly, relieved when Sophie"s face softened, a smile lighting her dark eyes. "No, no, it"s alright." Sophie said, taking the quilt from Ana"s hands to drape over her shoulders, steering the young woman into the room with a hand at the base of Ana"s back. "You"re looking better since breakfast. How did you find us?" Diane said, following Ana"s progress into the room with covert eyes in the mirror set into the wardrobe door. As Ana drew closer, she could see that the wardrobe was antique, made of cherry wood and sporting detailed carvings depicting celestial figures and mythical stories. "Just wandering around," Ana said, taking the seat Sophie offered carefully. With an unintentionally loud sigh, Ana relaxed back, swallowing the whimper that bubbled in her throat. Suddenly, a thought flashed through Ana"s head, bringing her jerking forward. "My pack!" she breathed, her mind racing to the last time she had it. "The ambush. I had it during the ambush!" Sophie rested a gentle hand on her shoulder to calm her as Diane approached, a grubby little canvas bag hanging from her hand. As Ana deflated with relief, Diane grinned. "I figured it was yours," she said triumphantly as she plopped it into Ana"s lap. She fumbled with the ties, struggling with the water-tightened, muddy knot. Finally, the strings gave, and Ana lifted out her earth clothes. With a sigh, she rubbed her hands over the denim jeans, smiling at her U of L sweatshirt. Reverently, Ana withdrew the letter from her father. At the back of her mind, Ana admired Diane and Sophie"s quiet patience as she reread the slightly faded letters on the parchment. In a split second decision, Ana handed the letter to Sophie. "I first got this letter from my mother the day I crossed to this plane. This bracelet came with it," Ana explained, pulling back quilt and sleeve to reveal the silver bracelet gleaming against her skin, still bruised a violent black and purple shade, raucous against her porcelain skin. Diane cradled her hand to inspect the bruising closer, casting heavy glances at her preoccupied old master. Sophie"s eyes travelled quickly across the paper, small smiles flitting across her face like birds as tears gathered heavier and heavier, never falling, but glimmering on the rim of her eyes like stars. Eventually, she looked up, smiling sadly as she handed the letter back. "I knew your father. He"s a good man." Ana handed the letter to Diane with her eyes still plastered on Sophie. She had to swallow the shock that clouded her throat to speak. "You... you knew my father?" Ana whispered as Sophie blinked away tears. "He was Howl"s best man at our wedding." Diane and Ana gazed at Sophie with wide eyes as the seconds wound longer and longer, the unfettered silence glimmering in the air. Finally, Diane cleared her throat, drawing Ana"s attention to her with a soft touch to her forearm. "Do you mind?" Ana"s brows furrowed, confused. Diane"s amethyst eyes gestured to the pile of clothes in Ana"s lap, her jeans and sweatshirt muddy and grass-stained, her t-shirt sweaty and blood-flecked. "They"re rather in need of a good washing." Shaking her head clear of the revolving thoughts that still chased eachother in dancing circles in her mind, Ana nodded her consent, trying to reassure with a smile. She found it harder than expected. Gathering up the clothes in her arms, Diane lifted a pinch of Ana"s linen, mud-stained sleeve between reluctant fingertips, her nose wrinkled comically. "Let me guess," she sighed, apparently exasperated. "Felix got these from some poor stable hand, didn"t he?" "I... I believe so," Ana replied, unsuccessfully swallowing the chuckle that threatened at Diane"s expression, a strange mating of disgust and disbelief. "Tell you what," Diane continued, her face clearing and her eyes all business. "You can go next door and take a nice bath, and I can burn these rags and go make fun of Felix for forcing you to wear such an atrocious excuse for clothing." Ana rose, distracted from Sophie"s statement about her father, as had been Diane"s intent. "They were part of my disguise!" Ana said laughingly as Diane escorted her to the bathroom. The other woman rolled her eyes, clearly not impressed. "Of course they were," Diane muttered sarcastically, closing the bathroom door behind her.

"I would." All eyes whipped to where Shu had suddenly appeared, lounging on the last six steps like a sleepy prince. "So we have the baby delinquent and the deadbeat musician," Kit murmured under her breath. Although he undoubtedly heard her, Reiji ignored Kit in favor of frowning at his brother. "Why do we discover these things only after strangers have arrived on our doorstep?" Shu just shrugged, tapping his foot lazily in time with the music moving through the earbud he"d left in. This must be serious, indeed, if he"d taken one of his headphones out to listen. "That doesn"t explain why she"s here, or who the hell she is," Kanato protested with a frown, hugging his cycloptic teddy bear to his chest. Yui wondered why they were all keeping their relative distance. When they"d advanced on Yui her first night in the house, the brothers had crowded and prodded, licked and sniffed. Now, however, they were like a pack of wary wolves, eyeing the intruder in their midst with bloody interest, but cautious enough to maintain a safe perimeter. Yui had to admit that Kit did not seem like someone who would take a playful nuzzle on the neck very well. "I"m here because the choice is either putting up with me and my colleagues for a short time or having a garrison of High Order knights descending on this lovely house like a plague and snatching Yui away once the threat here has been eradicated." That crisp remark was followed by utter silence, the brothers" eyes falling on Kit with bright, terrible weight. Nothing made these vampires quite as dangerous as provoking their territorial instincts. Except Shu, of course, who still had his head tipped back against a step and his eyes closed. "What are you talking about?" Ayato snapped, surging closer to Yui. Kit shifted between them again, and he was forced to halt his advance, the two locked in a contest of wills. Kit looked away first, back to the two elder brothers on the staircase, but only because Ayato"s shoulders had lowered and his head slowly reared back. "I"m talking about the High Order"s ruling in regards to Yui Komori"s situation." Frowns abounded, and unnaturally bright eyes narrowed. Instead of responding to their expressions, however, Kit turned and faced Yui. The fierceness drained from her face, leaving reassurance and quiet strength. "You are very precious, Yui, and your continued survival is both cause for hope and further investigation. Your father"s faith is what sent you here, but in light of the events involving Richter and these idiots, your safety has been called into question. I"m here to protect you," she said softly, resting a hand lightly on Yui"s shoulder. Once she nodded, Kit turned her eyes back to the brothers and continued. "And to act as assessor. I will judge whether or not it"s wise for Yui Komori to remain in the custody of the Sakimaki brothers. She"s too valuable to leave to a bunch of little boys who are careless with their toys. We can"t risk one of you snapping her neck because you were roughhousing. Tossing her into a pool when she can"t swim and gnawing on her like a dog does his favorite bone is bad enough." "Your judgment in this matter is completely unnecessary," Reiji protested, his tone millimeters from a snarl. Kit inclined her head in acquiescence, a sharp smile shaping her soft mouth. "I completely agree. I proposed that we should just have the knights take her and be done with it. But this is a courtesy paid to one of the oldest full-blood vampiric bloodlines in existence. If I deem you all worthy, you can continue your twisted little game as though nothing has changed." "And if you don"t?" Yui whispered. Kit turned, the green slowly overtaking her eyes as she took in Yui"s expression. "Then you"ll be leaving. Vampires are dangerous under the best of circumstances, and if these nimrods can"t value and protect you, then they damn well don"t deserve you." "Come now, bitch," Laito drawled, having snuck close enough to murmur in Kit"s ear and trail his fingers along her cheek, moving her hair back over the shell of her ear to bare her pale neck. "There"s no need to-" Laito recoiled with a hiss. What happened next had everyone"s eyes going wide. Yui had never seen a mortal move so fast. Kit spun, her skirt belling out around her, and lunged at Laito. Yui couldn"t help it - she squeaked. The tall, dark woman fisted her hand in Laito"s white shirt, and since they were about the same height, yanked him in until they were nose to nose. Her eyes had gone from mossy soft to a silver hard enough to crack concrete, the light of bloodlust making her irises glimmer. But the most shocking aspect was the small, almost delicate stiletto hovering just against the soft underside of Laito"s jaw. After having produced it from seemingly out of nowhere, Kit"s blade glinted with sterling intent. "Fuck. You." The intensity of Kit"s measured words had the silence growing until it pressed against skin. By the time Ayato collected himself enough to move to his twin"s aid, Kit had released him, tucked her blade out of sight, and returned to where Yui was standing, shell-shocked and stunned. Before she leaned down to pick up her bag, she twisted to face Laito again. "And your stupid fucking hat." With that, she snagged her bag and straightened, addressing the hall at large. "My two colleagues will be here in a matter of days. Things got a little messy in Prague, and they stayed behind to mop up. I assume you have somewhere for us to stay in this gargantuan house?" She aimed her question at Reiji, but instead of responding to her, he nodded minimally at Yui. Remembering the bank of rooms across the hall and slightly farther down from hers", she assumed that was Reiji"s intentions. "This way, please, Kit," she bid quietly, leading the way out of the tension-soaked hall. Kit paused, however, near Laito. "Touch me again, and I"ll castrate you and shove you pathetic manhood down your throat until you asphyxiate on it." Flashing a narrow, sphinx-like smile, Kit continued after Yui, who was blushing furiously at the woman"s smoothly delivered threat. Together, they passed through the gauntlet of the eldest brothers, Kit remaining defiantly calm despite moving within feet of two of the most pure-bred vampires currently walking the earth. It wasn"t until the women"s footsteps had disappeared from even their advanced hearing that the brothers finally broke the shocked silence. "Bitch," Laito managed, having recovered his cocky confidence now that Kit"s hostile virulence faded with distance, readjusting his insulted hat and straightening his abused shirt. Thoughtfully, he rubbed the bottom of his chin, where the halo of silver had almost stung. "Indeed," Reiji murmured, his eyes still trained on the hallway the tall woman had disappeared through. "She"s wearing long silver earrings. Who does that?" Laito muttered, rubbing his still-singed fingertips together. He"d brushed against the delicate silver chains when pulling Kit"s damp hair, thick with the scent of rain and skin and herbs, back from the long column of her neck. However, everyone ignored the bitching induced by his wounded pride. Honestly, they were all a little dazed. It had been a very long time, if ever, since any creature besides each other had physically threatened them, with serious intent and weight, and survived. Usually flashing the fangs, manhandling a mortal a little, and tossing out a couple of kill threats was enough to bring any stray easily under command. Not this one, however. Her demeanor was dangerous enough; but there was something else, a kind of aura that felt almost... metallic. "She smells different," Kanato piped up. "Like steel and smoke." "That"s because she"s a hunter," Shu replied with relaxed indifference. However, every other being in the hall stiffened at his proclamation. "You invited a hunter into our home?" Ayato snarled. "And not just any hunter, either," Reiji added, his voice heavy with condemnation. "She"s a member of the Crimson Quarter, isn"t she?" Shu just shrugged again. "What"s the Crimson Quarter?" Kanato asked. Laito, Ayato, and Subaru all looked equally confused. Reiji sighed heavily; infants, all of them. "It"s the High Order"s version of a hit squad. They"re the most dangerous hunters at the Order"s disposal, and are touted to be without equal. If a pack of vampires gets too unruly or careless with their kills, the Order will send in a Crimson Quarter hunter. They usually don"t operate in teams of more than three, so they"re sending us a full squad of their elites under the guise of a truce." "Has to be better than a garrison of knights, though, right?" Ayato said hopefully. He didn"t need to see his older brother"s eyes to know that Reiji was resisting the urge to roll them. Instead, he pinned his magenta gaze on a snoozing Shu, more irritated than he could possibly describe. And his vocabulary was vast. "Not really. In fact, I think that woman and her compatriots are far worse than any army." Shu"s crystalline eyes flickered open briefly at Reiji"s irritated statement. "I thought it would be easier playing host to three rather than three hundred." Reiji"s response to that logic was simple. "Moron." Sighing through his nose, he looked again up to the doorway where he"d last seen the hunter"s straight spine. "We"ll have to be careful about this," he declared to his brothers, the younger ones ringed around the base of the stairs now that Yui and the hunter were gone. "Things could go awry very easily, and we could lose our bride." "I"ll rip them to shreds if they try and take her," Ayato violently promised. Reiji resisted the urge to shake his head, descending into his thoughts as the junior vampires began to bicker. They could likely silence the hunters if their opinion proved unfavorable. But it would cost them. Oh, it would cost the Sakimaki brothers dearly. He"d been right - a garrison of knights would have been far less hassle. But annihilation wasn"t the simplest path; much easier to play by the hunters" rules and wait them out. They were too valuable to post on babysitting detail for long, and if the High Order did send replacements, it was highly doubtful they would be of the Crimson Quarter caliber. No doubt proving easier to quietly dispatch and silence this matter for good. "Regardless," he said with a low voice of command, halting the sniping before it got any louder. "Our guest is to be treated with respect. We will follow the rules and get this over with as quickly as possible. Miss... What is her name, Shu?" "Christine St. Peter," he provided, not bothering to lift his eyelids. Shaking his head at his brother"s complete lack of concern, Reiji continued. "Miss Christine St. Peter is off limits. Give her and her fellow hunters a wide berth, and we have to use kid gloves with Yui. That is all." Like a general dismissing his troops, Reiji pivoted on his heel and marched up the stairs. As he moved towards his rooms, however, he paused in a dim hallway, the echo of his brothers" discontent still ringing in his ears. That, however, wasn"t what was commanding his attention. Pulling off his glasses and slowly polishing the lenses with a snowy handkerchief, Reiji ran his tongue around pointed teeth. No wonder the woman went by a nickname. It was as if her full name had been dipped in holy water, leaving the taste of ash in his mouth upon the speaking of it. Her name marked her as a hunter more thoroughly than her skill or attitude. She could be a serious threat. Well, he"d dealt with worse before. He might even enjoy this. Breaking a hunter of Christine St. Peters" quality would be quite a thrill. Reiji began calculating if it was worth the risk. Yui had picked the second room after hers on the opposite side of the hallway because she thought Kit would appreciate the view of the gardens. That, and the furniture was themed in a lovely, soft jewel green that she hoped would appeal. Clicking on the lights, Yui watched as Kit set her bag on a small side table, striding to the windows and whipping open curtains made of dark emerald damask, lined with a filmy layer of fabric the color of mint. Obviously, her concern had been pointless, as Kit paid zero attention to the fabric in her hands while her gaze swiftly passed over what little landscape was visible outside through the rain. After nodding at her reflection in the window, she prowled the edges of the room, looking for Yui had no idea what. Finally, though, Kit returned to where Yui uncomfortably stood slowly wringing her hands together and undid the clasp holding her bag closed, peeling off the water-hard jacket. Draping it over the back of a chair to dry, Yui could now see the loose, short-sleeved bohemian blouse the color of old blood, bound at her waist by a thick black belt, and a sturdy silver chain that disappeared beneath the gathered neck. She shook her wet hair loose before beginning to rifle through her bag. "Some digs," Kit offered as she began pulling things out. Trying not to stare at the foot long silver crucifix she"d produced or the broad, scrolled silver cuffs, each bisected by a thin stretch of black leather, on each of Kit"s wrists, Yui cleared her throat. "Yes, it"s quite a lovely mansion." Struggling with her concerns, it took Yui a moment to continue. "Umm, Kit?" "What"s up?" she asked as she hung up jeans and shirts in the mirrored cherry wardrobe. This was the only wing of the house with mirrors. They"d been removed by and large from any area the brothers usually occupied. "I was wondering... did you really mean what you said downstairs?" Kit paused while tucking another pair of boots on the wardrobe"s floor, catching Yui"s eyes in the mirror. "Did I look like I was joking?" she asked, arching a brow as she straightened. "No, no, I just... What exactly is the High Order? And why do they have an interest in me?" Kit returned to her bag, continuing to unpack as she explained. "The High Order was initially a group of priests. Some say Knights Templar coming back from the Crusades, others say warrior monks returning from the Orient. Hard to know exactly. Either way, there were two things that set these priests apart from usual men of the cloth; they knew of the existence of vampires, and they had the will and skill to destroy them. The reason humanity is unaware of vampires and not yet extinct is because of our actions. We can"t yet eradicate them, but we are gaining ground. I"m surprised you don"t already know this." Yui cocked her head, trying to absorb the information and follow Kit"s line of logic. "Why do you say that?" "Because your father is a member." Terrible silence reigned for a beat. "But he"s a priest," Yui automatically protested. She felt like her head was full of cotton, all pertinent knowledge and understanding simply sucked away in the aftermath of that bombshell. Kit just nodded and continued. "All members of the Order except those in my sect are ordained. We"re too valuable as killers to quibble over priesthood," Kit added with a thin smile. Yui got the feeling, though, that the last thing she felt in regards to that fact was pride. "Anyway. Your dad had his share of field ops, but he"s largely retired to research and archiving now. He sent you here because he thought you would be safe, that it was your destiny. The path God had made for you." Kit didn"t quite turn away towards the dresser in time to hide the extravagant roll of her eyes. "He was banking on your heart to keep you safe. And it should have, if those psychopaths downstairs had any sense beyond their lust for the hunt." "But why does it matter? I mean, I understand my father"s concern. But why would the High Order care about me?" Yui was almost distracted enough to miss the long, wickedly sharp dagger Kit slipped into her sock drawer. "Because you"re a half breed. Not the first we"ve ever seen, but certainly the first of your kind. The implications of your existence are enormous, and there"s valuable data still hidden in your blood. It"s common knowledge within the community that a bride has never survived awakening, and certainly not with vampiric powers. That makes you very special, and very interesting. We can"t afford to risk it all on a bunch of nutballs who can"t keep it in their pants." Yui"s face flamed, and before she had a chance to stammer a protest, Kit continued. "Metaphorically speaking," she conceded. They shared an awkward smile, woman to woman, before Kit started talking again. "All that notwithstanding, you"re technically Cordelia"s heir. And she was one mean, sexy, evil bitch back in the day. That"s an awful lot of bad mixed in with your inherent good. If a shit storm"s on the horizon, the Order doesn"t want to be caught off guard, and we can"t trust the Sakimakis to keep us honestly informed. So that"s my job. First wave recon. Never a fun gig, but hey," she said nonchalantly with a roll of her shoulders. "I"m a good little soldier. With that, she withdrew a very ugly, very black pistol, checking the clip and slapping it back into place with the relaxed ease of someone extremely experienced with firearms. Cocking it with an awful, echoing series of clicks, Kit set it down next to the crucifix before meeting Yui"s eyes. She didn"t say anything, but the hunter didn"t have to. She wasn"t just a soldier. Kit was a warrior, battle-hardened inside and out. And if anyone, anyone, could kill a Sakimaki vampire, Kit St. Peter could. I bet some of you folks are wondering where the heck the next Phoenix chapter is. Well, my life got shoved into a blender and somebody hit frappe. So, in the meantime, while I regain my momentum, here"s a little something I was toodling with that I hadn"t yet decided whether or not I would post it. I figured, might as well. It starts out pretty obviously Tango, but this one veers a little off course later on. I didn"t particularly like this series, but the boys are so pretty, and so badly deserve a sound ass-kicking. So I dreamt up some hot badasses to do just that. Hope you like it! Love, Tango It was the nature of all predators. No matter their innate inclinations, eventually a predator shifted their active time to match that of their prey. So although Kit was biologically poorly adapted for night-time hunting, her brain had declared two am off limits for REM sleep after a lifetime of wakeful nights. She"d thoroughly warded her room after Yui left, since the limits of an invitation were void inside the vampires" own domain. Although she doubted such a rule would even slow down a band of such ridiculously powerful full bloods as the Sakimakis. Having showered and changed into comfortable clothing that could be worn to battle or to snooze, Kit studiously donned the remainder of her armor. The cross, wrist bands, and earrings all carried a form of pure silver; a vampire could still kill her, but she couldn"t be turned. And she"d have to be incapacitated beyond recovery to allow a vamp to bite her in one of the less vulnerable areas of her body, since they couldn"t get close enough to her more accessible arteries. Although she took off her earrings and bands to sleep, the pendant practically never left her body. She"d worn through four chains in the fourteen years a crucifix had hung around her neck. Even without a stitch of clothing on, Kit didn"t consider herself truly naked unless she was without her cross. She showered with it on; she even had sex with it on. Adamant in her habit of wearing silver in normal situations, she was downright militant about it in this household. The boys had gotten a little more careful, and Yui"s skin did recover better than most, but there were still shadows of bite marks littering her throat and shoulders. Guys were snackers, obviously. Kit shook her head as she strolled down a dark hallway, her eyes adapting to the gloom quickly and easily. Although she was no panther and couldn"t rival a vampire"s senses, hers were more developed than any human"s. In order to become the hunters, she and her comrades had been forced to become more than the prey. Why would Yui want to stay, Kit wondered as she passed through a hallway pierced by shafts of pale blue light, the windows offering glimpses of the cloud-wreathed half-moon, hanging in the sky like a split pearl. She"d looked... well, she"d looked taken aback when Kit had mentioned the possibility that she might get an armed escort out of this demons" hole. Yui might be enthralled, but she didn"t have that smell of black cherries that usually emanated from someone under a vampire"s blood command. Besides, who was the source? From the smell of it, they all drank from her pretty often, Ayato and Laito the most regular offenders. They were like dogs, rubbing their marking scent on what they considered their property. Not to mention, she didn"t even wear protection. Kit knew for a fact that Father Komori would never have sent Yui into this house without at least a cross, but there hadn"t been a glint of silver on her. Of course, if it was any other material other than pure silver, a crucifix would be little better than wet paper trying to stop a freight train. Had she believed them when they"d scoffed at her first instinctive brandishing of it? Oh yes, because a pack of carnivores would positively identify the one weapon you had against them the first time they see it. Seriously. How that girl remained so naïve, and still alive, in this den of monsters, Kit had no idea. One thing was for sure, though. Yui was getting a firm talking-to tomorrow about Vampire Defense 101.

grass-stained, her t-shirt sweaty and blood-flecked. "They"re rather in need of a good washing." Shaking her head clear of the revolving thoughts that still chased eachother in dancing circles in her mind, Ana nodded her consent, trying to reassure with a smile. She found it harder than expected. Gathering up the clothes in her arms, Diane lifted a pinch of Ana"s linen, mud-stained sleeve between reluctant fingertips, her nose wrinkled comically. "Let me guess," she sighed, apparently exasperated. "Felix got these from some poor stable hand, didn"t he?" "I... I believe so," Ana replied, unsuccessfully swallowing the chuckle that threatened at Diane"s expression, a strange mating of disgust and disbelief. "Tell you what," Diane continued, her face clearing and her eyes all business. "You can go next door and take a nice bath, and I can burn these rags and go make fun of Felix for forcing you to wear such an atrocious excuse for clothing." Ana rose, distracted from Sophie"s statement about her father, as had been Diane"s intent. "They were part of my disguise!" Ana said laughingly as Diane escorted her to the bathroom. The other woman rolled her eyes, clearly not impressed. "Of course they were," Diane muttered sarcastically, closing the bathroom door behind her. Cranking the brass knobs to full hot, she busied herself with providing towels and soap for Ana"s bath. The steam quickly filled the room with the viscosity of fog, penetrating Ana"s tight muscles and shivering bones. With a long sigh, she relaxed her hold on the quilt, folding it as best she could manage. Diane finally approached, taking the quilt from her arms and gesturing to the screen Ana could barely see through the steam. "Go ahead and change out of those monstrosities. Take your time," she added. Ana shucked the horribly wrinkled, muddied clothes as best she could, taking more time than it would have normally required, her joints violently protesting the contortions required to wriggle her way free of the clothing. Wrapping a towel around herself, Ana emerged to hand her clothes to Diane. "Go easy on him, OK?" Ana asked with a chuckle. "He"s only a man, after all." Diane laughed approvingly, nodding her head as she made her way out of the bathroom, the open door casting a brief strike of light through the mist before it again closed. Ana was possessed by the strange sensation of being a ghost, floating through the white mist almost soundlessly. Cranking the water off, Ana set aside the towel and stepped into the huge porcelain clawed tub. It was like sinking into nirvana, this time long enough to appropriately accommodate her height. The water was hot enough to instantly turn her skin pink, and would have normally made her squeal. But as she had said, it seemed difficult for Ana to warm now-the heat was a welcome reprieve from the chill that never seemed to leave her. Picking up a bar of soap, this time scented of lilies, Ana went to work. As Diane made her way back into her room, she couldn"t help the muscles that tightened around her mouth, or her angry shake of her head. Apparently, Sophie noticed, which really shouldn"t have surprised Diane. "What is it?" Sophie asked, her voice that quiet, understanding tone that Diane could recognize in her sleep. "She"s in such pain, Sophie," Diane said quietly, mindful of the thin door separating her room from her occupied bathroom. Still, the emotion and concern in her tone was obvious. "I had hoped she would be showing signs of recovery by now, but the bruising isn"t just on her wrist. It"s all down her spine, and on her scalp. Neither of which she can see, of course, otherwise I"m sure she would have mentioned it. And they"re so vivid! Those bruises were incurred a week ago-they should have started to fade by now, but they look as fresh as ever." As Sophie shook her head in anguish for her guest, Diane bit back her tongue. There were many things she had learned from Sophie that Diane had never grasped at home, besides the obvious craft of magic-one was humility. The other was the skill of listening. "Howl told me of a few cases like Ana"s. Most don"t completely recovery until six months to a year after the incident. Some never regain the levels of their magic fully again. At the very least, Ana won"t be able to walk normally again for another month. I don"t know how long until she"s without pain." Diane blanched, clearly contemplating her own mind set if such information was revealed to her. "We can"t tell her that," Diane whispered. Sophie nodded in assent as her pupil continued speaking. "I would go mad at such a prospect. We can only hope for her sake that she"s an incredibly fast healer." "She"ll be welcome here to heal for as long as she needs, and wants. We have to figure out what exactly what we"re going to do with the information presented to us," Sophie continued thoughtfully, referring to the letter and Felix and Ana"s narrow escape from Apollo"s perfumed clutches. Diane"s eyes shifted, her mind drifting to the breakfast that morning. Just as she opened her mouth to tell Sophie something, the bathroom door cracked open, the steam leaking out in small, tentative breaths as Ana slipped out. Her dark hair was plastered to her white shoulders, thick cords of near black. Her eyes, faintly ringed with bruises, seemed huge in her face, her expression unsure and almost wary. A white towel was wrapped around her, the neutral bringing out the peach tone of her skin, pinked from the warm. She padded out on quiet feet, her hands shivering as she quickly began to chill. "Here, Ana," Diane said as she tugged a warm fleece robe free of her wardrobe, draping it over the young woman"s shoulders. She fumbled tiredly with the towel while trying to maintain her modesty; Diane and Sophie averted their eyes politely. Finally, she belted the robe with finality, flicking her heavy hair behind a shoulder and offering Diane a smile of gratitude, only a little weak. "Come sit down, Ana. I"ll brush your hair out," Sophie said, gesturing to the suede mahogany couch near the cherry wardrobe, which still stood open and ready. Diane had been sifting through her clothing when Ana had first entered the room and distracting her from her reluctant task. Once Ana was settled comfortably and Sophie began the first strokes through her thick hair, Diane turned back to the wardrobe, busying herself quietly. A dark grey dress, lovely but too small, spoke a brief message, one that rather surprised Diane. She set it aside, and continued without a thought. She assumed Ana wanted to sleep-perhaps that"s why she was startled when she spoke instead. "Why do your eyes shimmer sometimes?" Pausing as she looked over her shoulder, Diane looked first at Ana, then at Sophie, the smile that bloomed mimicking her teacher"s. "You are very observant, Ana. But I am not the one to explain-I find I am not the most patient of teachers. Sophie rationalizes it much better than I." With a nod, Sophie began to speak. "There are many branches of magic, as I"m sure you can imagine. Some witches and wizards have what are called bents-very focused areas of magic in which they show skill. Others are called star-gazers. They are without bents, their focus is "as broad as the stars in the sky.' Howl, Markl, and Felix are all star-gazers, though Felix shows advanced aptitude in several fields, too many to be labeled as bents." Sophie explained in a measured, scholarly voice. "What"s an example of a bent?" Ana asked. Diane could hear the curious tone in her voice, and, risking a look, was gratified to see a little sparkle of healthy color in her skin and eyes. "Well," Sophie said with a smile, "I have one." Raising a hand, Sophie looked at the plant potted at the foot of the couch. With a small rippling of her fingers, the plant shivered, growing and moving until it blossomed into a giant magenta flower, similar to a lily. Tiny white blooms ringed it, little stars surrounding a bloody sun. "I know plants. I can control them, help them, and understand them." As Ana nodded in wonder and comprehension, Sophie continued. "The twins both have bents. Little Thomas is a stone mason. He can find gemstones like a bloodhound can find a scent. He can also work stones with far more ease than a man with a chisel and hammer. As he gets older, he"ll be able to control them without touching them. Linnea has a way with animals, much like I have a way with plants. As animals are more dynamic, Leena can actually hold a conversation with them. At this point, she has to speak aloud to formulate her thought before sending it to the animal. As she progresses, she"ll be able to project the thought silently, helping in the growth of the bond. And Diane has a bent," Sophie added quietly, her eyes intent on her pupil. "She is of a very rare bend, some of the most famous wizards in history included. Diane is a seer." The two women waited for a reaction from the third. "You can see the future?" Ana asked quietly. Diane nodded regally in response. The younger was quiet for a moment before responding. "Prove it." Diane blinked, then let her lips spread in a very feline, noble smile as she pressed her fingertips gently to the window, the strange ripple of light shivering over her violet eyes. "In twelve seconds, a rock is going to ping against the window. It"s going to startle you, which will make you jump, which will cause Sophie to accidentally rip out a tangle in your hair she was trying to work out gently. You won"t say anything, but it hurts enough to bring tears briefly to your eyes." Ana"s eyes narrowed as she counted down the seconds. Her mouth twisted as she counted to fifteen before the rock rapped against the window, the events unfolding exactly how Diane had predicted it. "I had to fudge the time a little," she explained with a small grin. "Otherwise you would have been expecting it." Ana had to blink back the tears before she spoke. "So what did you see when you met me for the first time at breakfast?" Diane"s expression turned a little wary, her eyes flicking to Sophie before bouncing back to Ana. "You... and Felix." Ana"s expression was not the one Diane expected. It grew chilled, as if with the ice of fear. "Were we running?" she whispered, her eyes telling Diane that she didn"t really want to know the answer. It appeared that telling the truth would be the only way to appease her fear, a fear that was tying knots of guilt in Diane"s stomach. "No, no you weren"t." Taking a breath and stealing a final glance as Sophie, Diane slowly spoke. "You were... making love." The silence that resonated through the room was thick enough to slice and spread on bread. Ana froze, a hunted look on her face. Diane"s only consolation was the fact that she no longer looked afraid. Finally, Sophie huffed, returning to the brushing of Ana"s luxurious hair, which was drying to a most enchanting color. "My son is an adult. I"m merely glad that he chose such a young woman as you, Anastasia, instead of some demon creature like Apollo." Ana"s eyes flickered, something Diane noted with hawk-like attention. "He has in no way chosen me," she said in a quiet, almost regretful voice. "He will," Diane said with certainty. "I am very, very rarely wrong," she added with another grin. With that, the conversation turned to lighter subjects, Sophie at much of the talk"s helm. Diane was gratified to see Ana join in, offering her own, somewhat strange opinions on such things like clothes. Wearing breeches every day. Really now. But Diane and Sophie discovered something they would never have guessed at before-Ana was funny, honest, and engaging. She made both Sophie and Diane laugh more than once with one of her silly expressions or little other-worldly quips. As her hair finally dried, Diane glanced at the dark dress she had set aside, and smiled. "Change into this," she said as she offered the gown to Ana, who took the thin Calimar wool dress with care, gratitude twinkling in her eyes. Before Ana could say anything, Diane merely waved her into the bathroom. As the door clicked close, the teacher and the student spent a few moments in silence. "Ana and Felix, then," Sophie murmured. Diane nodded. "A sight that spawned from both of them." After a moment, Sophie smiled, the curve honest. "She"s a lovely young woman. I rather like her." Diane smiled. "I do, as well." Clearing her throat, Diane slipped on her leather ankle boots. "We should go out to the garden." Never one to argue about spending time with her plants, Sophie also pulled on her shoes. Just as she finished tying up the laces, Ana emerged from the bathroom. "I knew it," Diane breathed. Her long hair braided loosely back and the dark folds of the dress accentuated by tiny flecks of silver, Ana looked like a goddess of the night. "Come on," Diane said, recovering faster than Sophie from the shock as she held out Ana"s shoes. "We"re going to get some fresh air." Felix fought to relax his spine and legs, but Ana"s pale face and glassy eyes still haunted him, the effort of merely being awake robbing her of what little strength she had regained. Against Felix"s advice, Howl had allowed Calcifer to stop the castle. Felix was concerned about them still being tailed, terrified of involving his family in the ugly chase that was unfolding. But somewhere in the rational part of him, Felix acknowledged that even a star could burn out. Restlessly, he paced the green field the twins had claimed as their playground, keeping one eye out for his niece and nephew. Tommy and Leena hadn"t seen him in months-his last fireplace commune had been regretfully brief, right after he had joined with the band of gypsies. A private fire had been difficult to come by, and Felix had felt the separation deeply. The children were very dear to their honorary uncle-it would take something only as worrisome as Ana"s health to distract him from the joy of seeing the twins again. With a panther"s aggression, he circled back to the rock where Howl and Markl lounged, the younger spreading his long frame back in what appeared to be a nap in the sun-Felix knew better. Markl kept a sharp ear out for any yips or cries from his children. If anything were to happen, Felix had no doubt Markl would be the first to be at his children"s" side. Howl leisurely sat on the ground, his legs crossed at the ankles with his back resting against Markl"s rock, his sapphire gaze tracking Tommy and Leena as they romped through the grass in determined competition. Their proprietary grandfather, it always seemed to Felix that the reason his father did so well with children was that it had taken his marriage to Sophie for him to finally grow up. With nervous energy, Felix tightened his course, merely circling Howl and Markl instead of circumventing the entire field. Finally, Howl loosed an impatient sigh through his nose, speaking in a surprisingly mild voice. "Felix, sit down before you wear a furrow in the ground." Instead of sitting, Felix merely stood, vibrating with anxiety. "Felix, sit!" With a humph, Felix flopped down into a jumble of limbs. Tapping his foot against the ground to the beat of a hummingbird"s heart, the man kept his cobalt eyes pinned on the castle. "I am not a dog to be commanded to sit," he muttered, the venom born of worry worming its way into his tone. An uncouth snort erupted from Markl, who earned a scalding glare from Felix that would have burned off his eyebrows had he been able to see it. "Down, Killer," Howl murmured, patting an understanding hand on Felix"s stone-hard, corded shoulders. Howl sensed the growl resonating in his son"s throat, laughing gently to defuse it. Instead, Felix"s hackles rose higher. Markl"s voice sleepily floated down from his splayed-out spot atop the sun-warmed granite entrenched in rich earth that had supported strong farm land decades ago. "We could always dunk you in the lake to cool your hot head." Felix"s anger peaked, then relaxed, Phantom Lake winking with charm not so far in the distance. With a soft laugh, just strong enough to avoid a tremble, he shook his head. "Some family you are. Threatening physical violence and calling me derogatory names in the face of my distress. Mother would understand." "Your mother is a woman," Howl said with finality. It was only here in the company of his men did he dare such a statement. And, in truth, he didn"t even really mean it. Not anymore. Twenty years ago was a different matter. But as Sophie was fond of saying, he was, indeed, a changed man. "She"d knock your block off if she heard that," Markl said, that lazy tone still in his voice. Howl shrugged, but they all knew that he was merely joking. Felix smiled, then sobered, his worried eyes flicking back to the castle, searching the windows, looking fruitlessly for a flash of light or color that would discern where Ana was. "She looked so tired," Felix said quietly, speaking to no one but himself. But, of course, his companions had to answer. "Of course she did. You would too," Markl stated, confident in Ana"s strength to recover. "Maybe we pushed her too hard. Her body is still recovering from what happened during the ambush." Felix"s voice had never taken that tone before-worry, fear, and something none of the men were comfortable discussing. "You know," Markl said as he levered himself upright, "I have yet to hear the whole fantastic tale. Everyone"s being rather tight-lipped about what little they know. Care to elaborate, Felix?" The man sighed, smiling as the children caught his eye without any of his usual spark. "Ana came through in a crossing near Luxton. I was planning on cutting down through the Ruby Forest before making my way to Kingsbury. But I was going to rest and stock up for a few days before moving on. Needless to say, when I saw a lightning crossing starting to build, my plans changed. As soon as she landed, I knew that Ana wasn"t trained. She has massive potential in her blood-no doubt you already noticed that. But you must also have noticed that she has absolutely no training." Howl nodded, already having heard this fragment of the story. "Were there any Arsalans in the area?" Markl asked, intent and involved in the account now. "Of course," Felix muttered, a kernel of bitterness over that bit of rotten luck still burning in his gut. "And you can only imagine how much Apollo would lather after a prize such as Ana. It"s like having your own personal comet. I couldn"t allow her to fall into such hands." "That, and she"s rather gorgeous." Tommy and Leena looked up from their dirt-drawn treasure map at their father"s yelp. He was rubbing his upper arm, and scowling at Felix, who had a small, vicious smile on his face. "Needless to say, we had to move, quickly. I irritated the Arsalans a bit-" "How much was a bit?" Howl asked, a concerned noted flitting through his voice. "Well, they shot at me, so take that as you will." "They shot at you?!" Markl yelled, still rubbing his sore arm. "They threatened the town," Felix said, subsiding Howl and Markl"s concern slightly. "Anyway, the next day, Ana and I made our way out of town, and we had to draw the Arsalans onto our trail to shift their focus, and vengeance, from Luxton. We made good progress, and by nightfall, had established a strong lead." "Do I even want to know how you got your lead?" Markl groaned. Felix grinned that blade-keen, almost frightening smile his father knew so well. "No, not really." Markl made another loud noise, which Felix promptly ignored before moving on with his tale. "So the next morning, the day of the rainstorm-" "The day you called us," Markl interrupted. "Indeed. I had thought the Arsalans were still miles behind us. I echoed to check," he defended at the look on Howl"s face. "I still don"t know how they managed it. They split us up after bursting out of the bushes. I didn"t think Ana would do anything-she has no powers to speak of. What could she do?" Felix shook his head, reliving the intense wonder of watching Ana"s gift burst to life. "I created a diversion." Felix cleared his throat at Markl"s expression with a small grin. It faded as he continued. "I told her to run. I still don"t know why she didn"t listen! Instead of running for cover-" "And abandoning you," Howl interjected, his eyes deep and all too understanding. "Well," Felix murmured, trying to regain the thread of his tale. His father"s gaze dredged up the memory of his pounding heart as Felix had watched the light dance in Ana"s predatory eyes. "She stayed. She stayed, and took on half a dozen Arsalans on her own. She conquered two before she commandeered a horse and a blade." Felix didn"t see Markl"s eyebrows as they winged up. "She showed full mind control-she knocked out a man and controlled an Arsalan"s horse flawlessly. She mind-bound it to her," he added at the soft expressions of disbelief on Howl and Markl"s faces. "She took down three more with a skilled blade-I had no idea she"d ever wielded a sword before in her life! Then she faced down the sergeant, the last of her half-dozen attackers. She lit her blade," Felix stated, his voice heavy with meaning and understanding. Howl and Markl were quiet as they contemplated the implications of Ana"s actions. War magic was one of the most difficult, taxing branches of magic, the other being shape-shifting. And lighting a blade was equal only to creating your

Trotting down the main staircase, trailing a hand down the banister, Yui squinted out the grand windows flanking the door, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever had come calling. But the glass might as well have been warped metal for all the good it served to see outside, painted opaque with a rippling flow of water. With little caution - after all, she had a sextet of hormonal, antagonistic vampires at her back - Yui pulled open the door, the mist of shattered raindrops caressing her face like a cool hand. "Yes?" That, however, was all the more she managed to get out when she caught a full glimpse of who stood on the doorstep. The woman was a little older than Yui, her hair and lashes darkened to near black by the rain, wreathed in drops that caught the light from the chandelier and made her appear to almost sparkle. A flowing peasant skirt, dark teal embroidered with sparkling silver beads, flowed around long legs, ending over brown riding boots that looked comfortably worn and thoroughly damp. Yui couldn"t see much of the loose burgundy blouse she wore, not under the rain-stiffened denim jacket, ending at her hips and accenting strong shoulders. The stranger had a hard jawline, soaring cheekbones, a slightly crooked nose, and lips that were currently pulled in and bloodless. All of that made her look quite intimidating; but it was her eyes that appeared downright lethal, causing Yui"s shoulders to instinctively hunch. At first glance, they were the color of steel, harsh and sharp. They moved over everything beyond Yui with fast, ruthless strokes, taking in her surroundings in a manner that reminded her of a hunter. Not a gleeful sort of stripping, the way the guys often looked at her. No, this woman"s eyes moved like bullets, swift and calculating, with just enough wariness to hint at bitter experience. It was only when her gaze returned to Yui that she saw a soft ring of green around the pupil, a plush hint of color that would disappear when her pupils dilated. "Yui? Yui Komori?" the woman asked in a clipped, brisk tone. Remembering her manners, and the downright ferocious tendencies of her housemates, Yui gestured the newcomer in, noticing the compact leather bag she carried and the strong, swinging gait that took her under the elegant light of the chandelier. She shook back that dense mane of long, dark hair, the small braids running along the top half of her head limp and water-logged. Turning those eyes, granite-hard and piercing like a hawk"s, back to Yui, she raised slightly winged brows, waiting for an answer. "Yes, I"m Yui Komori. Can I help you?" Yui couldn"t quite help it - her voice sounded as small as she felt. The stranger easily towered over half a foot taller than her, and looked more like a fighter than anything else, despite the pretty dangling silver stars that sparkled at her ears. She stuck out a hand, and Yui hesitantly took it, noticing the ridge of callouses, the long, almost delicate bones, and the faint knots from old breaks. "Kit St. Peter. And I"m here to help you." "I-I"m sorry?" Yui stammered, too shocked by this woman"s crazy statement to remember to release her hand. Despite the chilling rain, the coolness of Kit"s skin was only superficial; heat was already radiating back to the surface, and Yui could almost feel the pulse of blood pounding underneath her skin, see it blooming in her previously wan face. Oh, God. If one of the boys came down now- "Well, well. Yui, you little minx. So good of you to go out and bring us something to eat on such a dreary day. Darling little Pancake." Damn. All of the Sakimakis drawled in that tingling, sexual tone that had to be illegal in at least four districts, but only Ayato had that bright, sassy timber. He was also the only one that insisted on still using that annoying nickname. Easily remembering how terrified she"d been during her first encounter with the brothers, Yui scrambled for something to say, something to reassure and defuse Kit"s concerns while getting her out of here. When she looked, though, it was apparent she needn"t have bothered. Kit had slipped her hand from Yui"s grasp, shifting slightly to range herself between Yui and the teenaged vampire slinking down the staircase. Was Kit... trying to protect her? Edging over, trying to read the woman"s face, Yui felt the blood drain from her head when she caught Kit"s expression. It was... brutal. She eyed Ayato with a predatory malice, the naked hatred in her cold eyes belying the fact that she didn"t know any of them. Did she? "You must be the youngest triplet. Ayato, right? The one conjuring up revolting nicknames and childish pranks to amuse his massively enlarged ego?" Good Lord. It had been some time since Yui had witnessed Ayato"s face twist in fury in quite that manner. And it took far less than Kit"s carelessly cruel words, spoken in a cutting, caustic tone, to rouse his temper. "What?!" he hissed vehemently, abandoning his dramatic entrance to leap the last dozen stairs to the entry hall floor, stalking forward, his fangs bared and his eyes lit with fury. Kit stood her ground, however, appearing almost negligent in her regard of the advancing, enraged vampire. Yui had just caught sight of a quick twist of Kit"s wrist when another voice rang through the marble hall. "Who is this?" Kanato had caught the sound of voices, and came to investigate. Before Yui could open her mouth to explain, Kit"s lips, slowly regaining a rosy color, twisted. "Ugh. Kiddy vamps. They"re the worst." If she was aiming to insult every one of the exceedingly dangerous men in this house, then Kit was off to a good start. Kanato"s pale purple eyes first widened in a patented expression of hurt confusion before darkening in vicious look that made Yui"s bones quiver. "I am the same age as my brothers. Which will make no difference when I gut you and knit a sweater for my Teddy with your intestines." This was quickly getting out of hand, but Kit just smiled, an expression quite similar to ones Yui had seen on the Sakimaki brothers" faces before, simply lacking the glint of exaggerated fangs. Briefly distracted by the appearance of his closest kin, Ayato resumed circling Kit and Yui, all but ignoring her in favor of the smart-mouthed stranger. She wasn"t confident that she would be able to stop them from killing Kit if things got any worse. There was really only one person who could- "Ayato. Kanato. That is no way to treat a guest, even if you do plan on draining her dry." As a unit, all four of their heads tilted up to where Reiji stood, straight as a spike, looking down at the rapidly degrading scene from the second-story walkway. Kit"s eyes narrowed, and for the first time since she saw her, Yui watched consideration, a sort of cautious measuring, tint her eyes. "You the one holding their leashes?" In lieu of agreement, Reiji nudged the corner of his glasses up as he started towards the stairs. "Someone has to," he murmured. Ayato and Kanato bristled, but fell silent as their brother began to descend the stairs, aiming a killing glance their way to make his point. "Shu Sakimaki?" His expression didn"t change, but Yui saw the way Reiji"s eyes flickered at the mistake. If Kit had been hoping for an ally, she"d just made certain that the bespectacled vampire wasn"t it. "No. I am the second son, Reiji." Before he could continue, Kit nodded. "Ah. So you"re the clever, cruel one obsessed with rules." Reiji"s brow quirked at the quick, careless summation of his personality, but didn"t deny it. Instead, he smoothly diverted. "It"s a pleasure to have you here, madam, but I must ask. Who are you, and what brings you to our door?" Kit tossed her hair back in what could only be described as a regal gesture. "I was invited" she said coolly, evading Reiji"s first question. "Who would be stupid enough to invite someone like you?" Subaru snarled from the shadows of the staircase, his hair glittering like alabaster and his red eyes simmering with a dislike she earned simply by breathing. "I would." All eyes whipped to where Shu had suddenly appeared, lounging on the last six steps like a sleepy prince. "So we have the baby delinquent and the deadbeat musician," Kit murmured under her breath. Although he undoubtedly heard her, Reiji ignored Kit in favor of frowning at his brother. "Why do we discover these things only after strangers have arrived on our doorstep?" Shu just shrugged, tapping his foot lazily in time with the music moving through the earbud he"d left in. This must be serious, indeed, if he"d taken one of his headphones out to listen. "That doesn"t explain why she"s here, or who the hell she is," Kanato protested with a frown, hugging his cycloptic teddy bear to his chest. Yui wondered why they were all keeping their relative distance. When they"d advanced on Yui her first night in the house, the brothers had crowded and prodded, licked and sniffed. Now, however, they were like a pack of wary wolves, eyeing the intruder in their midst with bloody interest, but cautious enough to maintain a safe perimeter. Yui had to admit that Kit did not seem like someone who would take a playful nuzzle on the neck very well. "I"m here because the choice is either putting up with me and my colleagues for a short time or having a garrison of High Order knights descending on this lovely house like a plague and snatching Yui away once the threat here has been eradicated." That crisp remark was followed by utter silence, the brothers" eyes falling on Kit with bright, terrible weight. Nothing made these vampires quite as dangerous as provoking their territorial instincts. Except Shu, of course, who still had his head tipped back against a step and his eyes closed. "What are you talking about?" Ayato snapped, surging closer to Yui. Kit shifted between them again, and he was forced to halt his advance, the two locked in a contest of wills. Kit looked away first, back to the two elder brothers on the staircase, but only because Ayato"s shoulders had lowered and his head slowly reared back. "I"m talking about the High Order"s ruling in regards to Yui Komori"s situation." Frowns abounded, and unnaturally bright eyes narrowed. Instead of responding to their expressions, however, Kit turned and faced Yui. The fierceness drained from her face, leaving reassurance and quiet strength. "You are very precious, Yui, and your continued survival is both cause for hope and further investigation. Your father"s faith is what sent you here, but in light of the events involving Richter and these idiots, your safety has been called into question. I"m here to protect you," she said softly, resting a hand lightly on Yui"s shoulder. Once she nodded, Kit turned her eyes back to the brothers and continued. "And to act as assessor. I will judge whether or not it"s wise for Yui Komori to remain in the custody of the Sakimaki brothers. She"s too valuable to leave to a bunch of little boys who are careless with their toys. We can"t risk one of you snapping her neck because you were roughhousing. Tossing her into a pool when she can"t swim and gnawing on her like a dog does his favorite bone is bad enough." "Your judgment in this matter is completely unnecessary," Reiji protested, his tone millimeters from a snarl. Kit inclined her head in acquiescence, a sharp smile shaping her soft mouth. "I completely agree. I proposed that we should just have the knights take her and be done with it. But this is a courtesy paid to one of the oldest full-blood vampiric bloodlines in existence. If I deem you all worthy, you can continue your twisted little game as though nothing has changed." "And if you don"t?" Yui whispered. Kit turned, the green slowly overtaking her eyes as she took in Yui"s expression. "Then you"ll be leaving. Vampires are dangerous under the best of circumstances, and if these nimrods can"t value and protect you, then they damn well don"t deserve you." "Come now, bitch," Laito drawled, having snuck close enough to murmur in Kit"s ear and trail his fingers along her cheek, moving her hair back over the shell of her ear to bare her pale neck. "There"s no need to-" Laito recoiled with a hiss. What happened next had everyone"s eyes going wide. Yui had never seen a mortal move so fast. Kit spun, her skirt belling out around her, and lunged at Laito. Yui couldn"t help it - she squeaked. The tall, dark woman fisted her hand in Laito"s white shirt, and since they were about the same height, yanked him in until they were nose to nose. Her eyes had gone from mossy soft to a silver hard enough to crack concrete, the light of bloodlust making her irises glimmer. But the most shocking aspect was the small, almost delicate stiletto hovering just against the soft underside of Laito"s jaw. After having produced it from seemingly out of nowhere, Kit"s blade glinted with sterling intent. "Fuck. You." The intensity of Kit"s measured words had the silence growing until it pressed against skin. By the time Ayato collected himself enough to move to his twin"s aid, Kit had released him, tucked her blade out of sight, and returned to where Yui was standing, shell-shocked and stunned. Before she leaned down to pick up her bag, she twisted to face Laito again. "And your stupid fucking hat." With that, she snagged her bag and straightened, addressing the hall at large. "My two colleagues will be here in a matter of days. Things got a little messy in Prague, and they stayed behind to mop up. I assume you have somewhere for us to stay in this gargantuan house?" She aimed her question at Reiji, but instead of responding to her, he nodded minimally at Yui. Remembering the bank of rooms across the hall and slightly farther down from hers", she assumed that was Reiji"s intentions. "This way, please, Kit," she bid quietly, leading the way out of the tension-soaked hall. Kit paused, however, near Laito. "Touch me again, and I"ll castrate you and shove you pathetic manhood down your throat until you asphyxiate on it." Flashing a narrow, sphinx-like smile, Kit continued after Yui, who was blushing furiously at the woman"s smoothly delivered threat. Together, they passed through the gauntlet of the eldest brothers, Kit remaining defiantly calm despite moving within feet of two of the most pure-bred vampires currently walking the earth. It wasn"t until the women"s footsteps had disappeared from even their advanced hearing that the brothers finally broke the shocked silence. "Bitch," Laito managed, having recovered his cocky confidence now that Kit"s hostile virulence faded with distance, readjusting his insulted hat and straightening his abused shirt. Thoughtfully, he rubbed the bottom of his chin, where the halo of silver had almost stung. "Indeed," Reiji murmured, his eyes still trained on the hallway the tall woman had disappeared through. "She"s wearing long silver earrings. Who does that?" Laito muttered, rubbing his still-singed fingertips together. He"d brushed against the delicate silver chains when pulling Kit"s damp hair, thick with the scent of rain and skin and herbs, back from the long column of her neck. However, everyone ignored the bitching induced by his wounded pride. Honestly, they were all a little dazed. It had been a very long time, if ever, since any creature besides each other had physically threatened them, with serious intent and weight, and survived. Usually flashing the fangs, manhandling a mortal a little, and tossing out a couple of kill threats was enough to bring any stray easily under command. Not this one, however. Her demeanor was dangerous enough; but there was something else, a kind of aura that felt almost... metallic. "She smells different," Kanato piped up. "Like steel and smoke." "That"s because she"s a hunter," Shu replied with relaxed indifference. However, every other being in the hall stiffened at his proclamation. "You invited a hunter into our home?" Ayato snarled. "And not just any hunter, either," Reiji added, his voice heavy with condemnation. "She"s a member of the Crimson Quarter, isn"t she?" Shu just shrugged again. "What"s the Crimson Quarter?" Kanato asked. Laito, Ayato, and Subaru all looked equally confused. Reiji sighed heavily; infants, all of them. "It"s the High Order"s version of a hit squad. They"re the most dangerous hunters at the Order"s disposal, and are touted to be without equal. If a pack of vampires gets too unruly or careless with their kills, the Order will send in a Crimson Quarter hunter. They usually don"t operate in teams of more than three, so they"re sending us a full squad of their elites under the guise of a truce." "Has to be better than a garrison of knights, though, right?" Ayato said hopefully. He didn"t need to see his older brother"s eyes to know that Reiji was resisting the urge to roll them. Instead, he pinned his magenta gaze on a snoozing Shu, more irritated than he could possibly describe. And his vocabulary was vast. "Not really. In fact, I think that woman and her compatriots are far worse than any army." Shu"s crystalline eyes flickered open briefly at Reiji"s irritated statement. "I thought it would be easier playing host to three rather than three hundred." Reiji"s response to that logic was simple. "Moron." Sighing through his nose, he looked again up to the doorway where he"d last seen the hunter"s straight spine. "We"ll have to be careful about this," he declared to his brothers, the younger ones ringed around the base of the stairs now that Yui and the hunter were gone. "Things could go awry very easily, and we could lose our bride." "I"ll rip them to shreds if they try and take her," Ayato violently promised. Reiji resisted the urge to shake his head, descending into his thoughts as the junior vampires began to bicker. They could likely silence the hunters if their opinion proved unfavorable. But it would cost them. Oh, it would cost the Sakimaki brothers dearly. He"d been right - a garrison of knights would have been far less hassle. But annihilation wasn"t the simplest path; much easier to play by the hunters" rules and wait them out. They were too valuable to post on babysitting detail for long, and if the High Order did send replacements, it was highly doubtful they would be of the Crimson Quarter caliber. No doubt proving easier to quietly dispatch and silence this matter for good. "Regardless," he said with a low voice of command, halting the sniping before it got any louder. "Our guest is to be treated with respect. We will follow the rules and get this over with as quickly as possible. Miss... What is her name, Shu?" "Christine St. Peter," he provided, not bothering to lift his eyelids. Shaking his head at his brother"s complete lack of concern, Reiji continued. "Miss Christine St. Peter is off limits. Give her and her fellow hunters a wide berth, and we have to use kid gloves with Yui. That is all." Like a general dismissing his troops, Reiji pivoted on his heel and marched up the stairs. As he moved towards his rooms, however, he paused in a dim hallway, the echo of his brothers" discontent still ringing in his ears. That, however, wasn"t what was commanding his attention. Pulling off his glasses and slowly polishing the lenses with a snowy handkerchief, Reiji ran his tongue around pointed teeth. No wonder the woman went by a nickname. It was as if her full name had been dipped in holy water, leaving the taste of ash in his mouth upon the speaking of it. Her name marked her as a hunter more thoroughly than her skill or attitude. She could be a serious threat. Well, he"d dealt with worse before. He might even enjoy this. Breaking a hunter of Christine St. Peters" quality would be quite a thrill. Reiji began calculating if it was worth the risk. Yui had picked the second room after hers on the opposite side of the hallway because she thought Kit would appreciate the view of the gardens. That, and the furniture was themed in a lovely, soft jewel green that she hoped would appeal. Clicking on the lights, Yui watched as Kit set her bag on a small side table, striding to the windows and whipping open curtains made of dark emerald damask, lined with a filmy layer of fabric the color of mint. Obviously, her concern had been pointless, as Kit paid zero attention to the fabric in her hands while her gaze swiftly passed over what little landscape was visible outside through the rain. After nodding at her reflection in the window, she prowled the edges of the room, looking for Yui had no idea what. Finally, though, Kit returned to where Yui uncomfortably stood slowly wringing her hands together and undid the clasp holding her bag closed, peeling off the water-hard jacket. Draping it over the back of a chair to dry, Yui could now see the loose, short-sleeved bohemian blouse the color of old blood, bound at her waist by a thick black belt, and a sturdy silver chain that disappeared beneath the gathered neck. She shook her wet hair loose before beginning to rifle through her bag. "Some digs," Kit offered as she began pulling things out. Trying not to stare at the foot long silver crucifix she"d produced or the broad, scrolled silver cuffs, each bisected by a thin stretch of black leather, on each of Kit"s wrists, Yui cleared her throat.

"Please. I"ve read the reports. And even if I hadn"t, you guys aren"t all that hard to figure out. Take you, for instance, Reiji. You might as well have been plucked from practically any book or movie about vampires, ever. You present yourself as a mystery, cloaked in cool composure and stern reason. But that"s just a mask, and often the most distant shells hide the ugliest needs or fantasies. Nice clothes and glasses don"t make you dignified; they just shroud a wicked temper and a mile-long mean streak. You"ve probably been a control freak your entire life to compensate for feeling helpless, which has segued nicely into your newest role of tyrant. You"re a bully, Reiji - desperate for attention and unspeakably angry at everything and everyone." The extent of his reaction was no more than narrowing his eyes and pursing already tight lips. "What about you?" he challenged. Well, Kit reflected as she remained silent, this was what happened when you went up against the smart one. She probably had this coming anyway. Tilting her head in invitation, the movement raised her chin and bared her throat. Reiji stalked closer; not enough to touch, but enough to bring him into the light spilling from the windows, highlighting broad shoulders and gloved, long-fingered hands. Enough to feel his presence like the weight of the scent of dark roses. Kit didn"t budge an inch. "You parade around like some valiant hero, but the reality is your bravado"s a ruse, a means to hide your crippling fear. So desperate to prove your worth, to prove that you"re more than your obvious beginnings in the dirt, to your chosen authority - it wouldn"t have mattered if you were an executive or a whore, you always seek adulation for actions you take simply to earn approval. You speak of honor and sacrifice, Christine," he said silkily, a delicate snort emphasizing his contempt, "yet you can"t claim either. You deride us as monsters, but, just like me and my brothers, you play for the kill. You"ve stared into the abyss for far too long, my lady. And the only inevitable end for you is death - either as a young hunter, or an old monster." They stared at each other for what felt like a long, long time. "If I didn"t feel compelled to kill you and every one of your kin, I"d say you"re just about the sexiest thing I"ve ever seen." Kit"s voice had gone husky, even as her stance sharpened into one that communicated aggression. The surprise lit Reiji"s eyes so briefly, it was as if it had never touched the deep color of his irises at all, quickly blanketed over by derision. "You revolt me," he murmured, the same way he"d condemn a poorly made dinner dish. Kit just shrugged with a teasing grin before turning away. "Yeah, well. I try." With that, she strode down the hall. Watching her go, Reiji eventually remembered to look into the shadows, seeing the remainder of the Sakimaki brothers that even Kit"s advanced vision had been blind to. Subtly, he shook his head to call off the hunt, then spun on his heel to head back to his rooms. That little confrontation had left him decidedly unsettled, and he wanted peace and quiet to think. Posting these shotgun style. Story will get awfully quiet after the initial burst is through. Kit is the most amazing bitch. I love her. Hope you like it! Love, Tango Kit wandered until dawn had bloomed bright and pink, the sun doing its best to reclaim the sky from the dark and clouds. She managed to finally fall asleep around six, appreciating the black-out backing to the curtains, keeping out the light of day. Tired enough to fall asleep fast and hard, Kit woke again around noon, too revved to stay down any longer. Cleaning and taking stock of her weapons helped calm nerves frazzled by this prolonged exposure to vampires she couldn"t kill. Checking and rechecking the wards around her room reassured her enough to take the chance to clean up and get dressed. Calm enough for company, Kit decided to seek out Yui. It was unlikely that she would run into a Sakimaki now; although they were likely too well bred to disintegrate in the sun, it would probably be pretty damn uncomfortable. Besides, they couldn"t stalk around being sexy and bloodthirsty all the time. Trotting downstairs in what she hoped was the general direction of sustenance, Kit thought about her encounters last night. Beating the crap out of Laito had gotten her blood up nicely. That confrontation with the albino spaz had made her confused, and a little maternal. The way you could feel maternal towards a baby alligator; they were cute and a little pathetic, but you always maintained the understanding that killing was written in their bones. As for Reiji...Oh, they had gotten in some solid hits last night. It was silently acknowledged that they"d both been pretty on the money with their scathing assessments of each other"s personalities. Despite the touchy subjects, it was understood that the confrontation hadn"t been personal - it was a play for strategic dominance. Knowing the character of your opponent was just as important as knowing their strengths and weaknesses, and last night had been a quick and dirty way to feel out just what they were up against in the other. The other five vamps Kit could probably juggle without too much trouble. But Reiji? His blood was sub-zero, and he would match every move she made with a very lethal maneuver of his own. If anybody could completely fuck this whole thing up, it was him. Any other hunt, and Kit had a feeling she would have enjoyed this enormously. "Oh. Good morning." Turning, she saw Yui approaching, looking fresh and delicate in a thin pink sweater and brown skirt, both adorned with small black bows. In her own dark jeans and indigo blouse with rolled up sleeves left halfway open over a black camisole, Kit felt like a hulking clod compared to her maidenly charge. "Or good afternoon," she amended with a slightly embarrassed laugh, gesturing out the window to the sunshine-filled courtyard. Kit just rolled her shoulders. "Depends on who you ask, I guess. You on the vampires" schedules?" Yui"s shoulders rounded, and she looked abashed. "Yes, I... they insisted on it as soon as I started staying here." "No respect for diurnals" Kit said lightly. "So where can I get some food? "Of course, I"m sorry." Yui led the way to the breakfast room, which Kit imagined went sadly unused in this house. Which was a shame, because it was sunny, warm, and quite cozy. Eggs, toast, sausage and bacon, fresh fruit, and coffee waited for them. Kit was surprised, as she hadn"t seen hide or hair of any staff, and she would bet serious money that none of the guys had managed this. It was quite a bit for one person to pull off, so it probably wasn"t Yui. Deciding to investigate that another time, Kit snagged at least one serving of everything, piling her durable but pretty china plate, white with small violets, high with food and balancing a tall mug of coffee, doctored with a splash of milk, over to the gate leg table overlooking the gardens and a pond. Yui joined her with a small bowl of fruit and something warm in a mug - the scent told her it was black tea. Apparently, they both preferred their caffeinated drinks with milk. For a while, they ate in relative silence, Kit observing the house, the landscape outside, and her breakfast mate. Finally, Yui broke the quiet. "You must have been hungry," she offered, stammering slightly as she pointed with her fork towards Kit"s place, with was steadily being demolished. She didn"t even bother looking chagrined. There was no point apologizing or feeling ashamed for something she couldn"t control. "I need a lot of protein. We"ve all got metabolisms like lightning, and if hunters want to stay on top of our game, we have to eat like horses. That, and I just really like food," she said with a shrug and a lopsided grin as she scooped up another bite of cheesy eggs. "All hunters?" Yui asked lightly. She was a little taken aback, however, when Kit"s smile faded away, and she swung her eyes out to the gardens as she chewed. "Yep. CQ"s are worse than your usual slayers, but any Order hunter has been... altered." "What do you mean?" Yui asked, growing more and more reluctant, and yet, perversely more interested, as Kit"s face slid into an expression of cold distance. "Humans are pretty fragile when you think about it. If we have any hope of going up against vamps and surviving, we have to be more than human. An average hunter will go through some sensory augmentation, some muscular advancement during the course of frankly brutal physical training. Crimson Quarters... well. We"re the best because we can survive anything. And that includes dark magics and some fucked up science to make us better hunters. A side result of all the crap we"ve gone through is that our bodies burn through fuel much faster than a normal person. Our tolerance to lack of food compared to the average human is about halved. You could say that dieting will never, ever be a concern for us." "But why would the High Order do such terrible things to you?" Yui protested. Taking a crunching bite of bacon, Kit sternly met her eyes. "Like I said. A regular human can"t cut it when it comes to battling vampires. You know the old saying, right? Something along the lines of "In order to defeat monsters, we must become monsters.' Those of the Crimson Quarter do that so the rest of humanity doesn"t have to. It"s just the way things are. So we deal, as best we can." Taking a deep drink of coffee, Kit held Yui"s eyes with intent. "Speaking of fragile," she said as she set her mug back down and picked up her fork. "You should think about some steps you can take to keep yourself safe here." "What do you mean?" Yui asked feebly. Kit just sighed hugely. "I mean you shouldn"t let them bite you whenever they want. Clearly your consent is completely irrelevant. Rapey McRapersons. Anyway, if you don"t want them to bite you, you"re going to have to be aggressive about it." "I don"t see what I can do to stop them," Yui said weakly. Kit held out her hand expectantly. "You"ve got a cross, right?" Nodding, Yui produced the pink cross she usually carried and set it in Kit"s palm, the chain clinking as it gathered. Closing her fingers and shaking her fist like she was shuffling dice, Kit frowned. "They told me a cross was useless," she told Kit. "This one is. It"s stainless steel and ceramic. Might as well be cardboard when it comes to warding off a vampire," she explained as she dumped it back into Yui"s hand. "But you didn"t even look at it. How did you know what it"s made of?" Lifting her hips off the chair, Kit rummaged in her back pocket as she answered. "Because, like vampires, hunters can sense silver. And a Crimson Quarter is also sensitive to crosses - that"s how I can tell the composition." Taking Yui"s other hand, Kit pooled another chain and cross, this one very simple, even delicate, into her grasp. "Now you can keep the other one if it has sentimental value, but I want you to have this with you at all times. Both the chain and the crucifix are pure silver. They can"t bite you on the throat if you wear it around your neck, and if you wrap your fist with the chain and punch, even slap them, they"ll think twice about going after you." "Are you sure silver"s effective, even just to the touch?" she asked. Kit finished the last of her food, washing it down with coffee. "There aren"t many advantages in combat against vampires, but the rule of silver never changes, no matter the kind of vamp you"re up against." Slowly running the chain through her fingers, Yui thought it over. "But I"ve seen them handle a silver knife without issue before." "Really? Do you have it with you now?" Nodding, she pulled out the blade from the pocket of her skirt. Subaru had been insistent that she always carry it. Plucking it out of Yui"s hands, Kit inspected it with narrow-eyed precision. Running her thumb down the spine, testing the edge, and tracing the wrappings on the hilt, finally Kit returned it with a nod. "They probably only handled the hilt, right? I mean, what"s so odd about that? It"s a knife. You"re supposed to only touch the hilt. It"s made of iron. Only the blade itself is silver. The wrappings help, too. That"s why they can touch it without incident." Digesting that information, Yui returned the blade to her pocket. "I"d also like to teach you some basic defensive maneuvers. Flailing and flapping isn"t going to do anything but get them worked up." Yui winced. "I don"t think that"s necessary." Gathering up her dishes as she finished off her coffee, Kit carried them to the sink, where she began running water and hunting up dish soap. So stunned by the display of domestic responsibility, it took Yui a moment to recover and clear her place as well. "Whether or not you think it"s necessary is irrelevant." Fast as a viper, Kit reached over and tugged down the neck of her sweater, revealing the bruising stamped over her neck and collarbone, most of the marks bisected by two incisions. Fang marks. Jerking away, Yui yanked her sweater back into place, color staining her cheeks like spilled wine. "The fact is, the only way I"m going to let you stay here is if I"m confident you"ll be safe. And the only ones who can ensure that safety are you or the vampires. And protection isn"t in a vampire"s nature." "They"re not as bad as you think. They"ve defended me before, even saved me." Kit just shrugged as she scrubbed plates and silverware. "Maybe, but you"ve got to remember I"m coming at this from an outsider"s perspective. And all I see are six psychotic brothers doing what needs to be done to stop a usurper from taking over control of the family, and them, by any means necessary. Not to mention, their toy had been altered without their permission into something nasty they"d thought had already been disposed of. If nothing else, that reeks of wounded masculine pride." Setting the dishes on a rack to dry, Kit turned to face Yui as she dried her hands, her face irrevocably set. Yui wasn"t quite sure why, but she felt compelled to defend that pride. "You can"t understand what Cordelia"s resurrection did to them. The awakening drove the brothers a little crazy, and it was painful, for all of them." Setting down the towel, Kit crossed her arms. "That"s assuming that you prescribe to the theory that vampires can feel emotional pain." "Of course they can!" Yui protested, unsure why she was so certain about this. "You have no idea what they"ve suffered, what was done to them when they were so young." "Bad pasts are reasons, not excuses," Kit replied, her voice and face utterly unyielding. "There"s a big damn difference. Some people just get dealt a crappy hand. But it"s up to the individual how it gets played. And those guys didn"t even consider picking a path that didn"t involve bloodshed and destruction. Full bloods have a choice not many vamps ever get to consider. Most don"t take it, but it"s still there. The Sakimakis didn"t even give it a second glance. And that"s on them." Remembering what she"d seen, what she"d discovered, Yui was shocked. "How can you be so cruel?" she whispered. Kit"s face hardly changed, but her eyes flashed, like lightning cutting through the rain as her eyelids dropped ever so slightly. Her voice lowered, and although she didn"t move an inch, Yui suddenly felt danger curling off of her in waves. "You have no idea just how cruel I can be." With that, she turned and strode out, leaving Yui with the sensation of sand coating her throat and tears weighing heavy in her eyes. The brothers often frightened her, but that had been... terrifying. Ten little words had made her blood run cold. Kit"s luck held; she didn"t encounter anyone on the way back to her room. She wasn"t mad, not really. She just wasn"t sure why Yui"s breathy accusation, made with the naïve certainty of someone still in possession of youthful faith and innocence, had dug so deeply under her skin. She wasn"t ashamed of her capacity for cruelty; she couldn"t be. No soldier could. Doubt was a paralytic, and a damn fine way to get yourself killed. So, no, she wasn"t angry. But she was wound tight enough to do damage that she had sworn to restrain herself from inflicting. And the perfect way to snap the last thread of control was to come across an ill-behaved, pretty vampire. Kit reached her room unmolested, however. A little too aggressive to quite settle into the tai chi sets that would kill her bloodlust, she decided to check in with the remainder of her team and see when they were due. She wasn"t sure what she would do if she wasn"t reminded what reason and loyalty sounded like. The phone was only programmed with three numbers: her two team members and their commanding officer, Father Gage Brandt. She dialed the oldest member of the team and paced with long, stressed strides. After what seemed like forever, there was the click of the call being answered. "Hello, Kit," a soft, gentle voice answered, somehow always managing to calm Kit"s rougher edges. "Anna," she acknowledged, still struggling to keep her suddenly ugly attitude from manifesting in her voice. Pronounced with a long "A" in the tradition of the colder realms of Europe, Anna was the eldest of the group, but the least experienced. She had been nine when she joined the Order, and hadn"t been inducted into the Crimson Quarter until she was nearly sixteen. Both Kit and the last member of the team had been CQ hunters since before they were in their teens. "How are things?" she asked, sympathy coloring her tone, knowing without having to be told that Kit was struggling. After all, what hunter wouldn"t be losing their marbles while stuck with their hands tied in a vampires" lair? "Shitty. Surprised?" Anna chuckled quietly. "Not really. That"s why you were sent in first, after all. You"re probably the only one of us who could still follow orders in that situation. No one else would take being hobbled when you"re alone very well." The sound Kit made was somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh. "I wouldn"t say I"m taking it well." "If you"ve gone this long without shooting any of them, I"d say you"re doing beautifully." Even though Anna wasn"t there to see her sarcastic reaction, Kit still let the expression move over her face anyway. "Gee, thanks. Any idea when you guys will be getting here?" She could hear Anna faintly conferring with someone in the background. "Deet says we should be there tomorrow if the weather"s good." "Oh, thank God." Kit could almost hear Anna"s smile over the phone. "Just keep it together a little longer, and then you"ll have all the back-up you could ask for." Kit hummed, leashing the last of her venom under control with Anna"s promise of their imminent arrival. If Kit stood as the best all-around fighter of their trio, then Anna acted as something of their strategist and field medic while Deet was the weapons master. They"d been a team for nearly three years, and had one of the highest success rates of the Crimson Quarter. Kit didn"t consider herself much of a people person, but her team were the two people on this planet she could actually spend a significant amount of time around without becoming irritated enough to puncture lungs. How she was supposed to survive this assignment without being demoted for disobedience because she ripped one of those vampire"s throat out, she didn"t know. But she"d stand a better chance of keeping her rank once her comrades got here. "Haul ass, alright?" she demanded gruffly. Anna just clicked her tongue. "Deet"s driving. Which means, living up to that reputation of driving like a bat-out-of-hell, we"ll be there before you know it." "Can"t be soon enough," Kit growled, secretly relieved by the reassurance. "Whining is unattractive, Christine. You might as well take the time and enjoy the scenery. I"ve heard it"s quite spectacular." Kit just rolled her eyes. Anna was the only person who could call her Christine and not end up with their eyes gouged out. "Not worth the big ass mouths they"re attached to, if you ask me. If I wanted to ogle some pretty man-meat, there are much easier places to do so." "Just trying to think positive," Anna said lightly. Kit nearly smiled. It was surprising, considering the world they lived in and the things they"d done, but she somehow managed to do just that. Deet played like it was all a joke, Kit"s sense of humor was dry as dust and sported sharp fangs, while Anna fought and struggled to maintain the most human, most balanced outlook on the world, not just among their team, but in the entire Order. Shockingly enough, she often succeeded. "You do that, Anna. I"ll see you soon." "Ta, Kit." The connection went dead, and Kit slowly lowered the phone as she heaved a huge sigh. It wasn"t exactly like the relief of going home with a mission completed, but she felt the weight on her shoulders a little less keenly now. This is pretty much all I"ve got. Could play with this some more eventually. Depending on how much you guys and I like it. Hope you like it! Love, Tango

the wrinkles seemed newer, and all the more painful for it. There was a bitterness and sorrow in those eyes that Ana had never seen before. Or perhaps had not wished to see. "Mum, he loved you," Martha huffed gently, shaking her head. "What your father felt for me was paltry compared to the love he felt for you. You were his Ana," she murmured as her mother ran gentle fingers through Ana"s hair. "You were his, more than you were ever mine. It wasn"t fair." Martha sighed as she dropped her hand from Ana"s face, standing slowly. "It wasn"t fair that he was taken. He still had so much to give you." Martha strode away to the kitchen, and Ana could hear the clattering of her mother putting on a kettle of tea. Ana had never seen her mother that way. Martha had a painful tendency to make light of the past, her triumphs and mistakes alike. Ana felt guilty about agreeing with her mother in the idea that she had loved her father more. Perhaps there was more to Martha O"Neill than Ana could have guessed. Returning her attention to the envelope, Ana ran careful fingers over the writing. There was a strange lump in the bottom right corner. Turning it over, Ana slipped her finger under the flap, intent on ripping open the letter, her hand trembling a little. After only an inch, though, the paper"s edge bit into Ana"s skin. With a small indrawn breath, she snatched her hand away, peering at the small cut. Blood welled until poised on her skin like a crimson pearl. Ana watched with a strange fascination as the drop of blood slid off her skin, plopping onto the envelope with a small ring. Ana winced at the blemish upon a rare gift from her father. Glancing towards the kitchen, Ana could hear her mother contentedly humming as she prepared tea. She always was something of a homebody. Satisfied that her mother wasn"t going to return any time soon, Ana determinedly finished the tear, pulling the thick paper out with gentle fingers. Taking her time to unfold it, she placed the letter on her lap with reverent care before looking again inside the envelope. Deep inside was a delicate bracelet. Pulling it out with confusion, Ana held the piece of jewelry up to the light. The metal appeared to be silver at first, but was darker, and almost iridescent. It was worked into the shape of a twisting dragon, green gems that were too misty to be emeralds set in the dragon"s eyes. Clutched in its small claws was a teal stone about the size of a marble. It rippled and shimmered with the light, and a strange buzz flitted into Ana"s blood from her fingertips, tripping up her arm until it hummed in her throat. There was something too powerful about the bracelet to encourage just any person to wear it. Setting it aside along the blood-stained envelope, Ana picked up the letter. She brushed regretful fingers over the spot of blood no bigger than a pea repeated twice, and started to read. But she had gotten no farther than "My dearest Ana," when the paper started to warm. The spot of blood became a pinprick of light, which slowly bled into the words until the whole sheet shone like a star. A soft keening drew Ana"s puzzled attention away from the letter to the bracelet she had set aside. Like the paper, the stone in the dragon"s claws glowed with a bright silver light. She gingerly picked it up, and almost dropped it again to find the bracelet warm as human skin, when only seconds ago, it had been cold to the touch. A gentle wind stirred Ana"s thick hair, and she had to tighten her grip on the paper to keep it in her hands as the air grew more aggressive. The pitch grew even higher, and Ana tucked the letter in her sweatshirt pocket while she slipped the bracelet on. "Mom!" she cried, but her voice barely carried over the wind. "MOM!" Ana could see her mother race out of the kitchen, a look of concern on her face when, quite suddenly, there was no floor beneath her. Ana dropped out of sight without so much a whisper, the hole closing over her head. This wasn"t the floor below, it wasn"t even outside. She was dropping through a field of black, pinpricked with misty stars that flew by in streaks of light. Too shocked to scream, Ana could only hug her arms close as she plummeted, fighting against the bone deep cold that tore through her clothes within seconds. There was terror within her somewhere, an instinctive fear of falling. But it was buried very deeply by confusion and wonder. What was happening, and how could it happen? There was no wormhole beneath her mother"s flat. And what could account for the behavior of the parchment and the bracelet? Ana could no long feel her feet and hands, and her face was a mask of ice. With her blood flow went her reasoning powers. Her stomach still in her mother"s flat, the rush of lights started to make her ill when combined with the cold, so, against all instincts, Ana closed her eyes. Pressing her lips harder and harder together, she couldn"t feel it when they started to bleed. Through her tightly closed eyelids, Ana could sense a change in the light. Glancing down, she clenched her teeth against a wave of sickness. Very, very far away was a little dot of light that was gradually growing larger. She was so cold she no longer shivered, just fell through the space like a block of ice. The dot started to widen until, about five feet across, she could make out blue within the hole. Frost was starting to lace Ana"s eyelashes and hair, and her breath came out in misty gasps. Still, she drew closer to the gap, which widened like a yawning mouth. Then, with a small yelp, Ana was through. Glancing up, she watched again as the hole closed over her head, snipping off a half-inch of hair. Now, she was falling through real air again. For a moment, she sailed through blue sky before slamming into a cloud. Just as she had started to thaw, the cold, this time a very wet and heavy chill, snagged at her clothes and skin. Ana was now blind, and had no gauge to measure her descent. Then, with the snap of the fingers, she was out of the cloud. The sun battled through the mists, shining stingy rays on the very far away ground down below. At the sight of the green slowly taking shape, a realization hit Ana. She had been freefalling for who knew how long, and was rapidly approaching the very hard, incredibly unforgiving ground. And she had no parachute. She was going to die. If she had the presence of mind, Ana might have started screaming, much good it would have done her. But Ana fell for a full fifteen seconds with her mouth gaping open, staring at the ground that she was very soon going to meet. She was only conscious again when an unfortunate bug splatted against her teeth. Sputtering and spitting with a vengeance, Ana was able to flex her fingers enough to wipe at the bug guts strewn across her face, making damn certain that she swallowed nothing. As she wiped away insect remains, Ana slowly began to realize that, beyond all possibility, she was slowing down. Her hair didn"t feel like it was going to be ripped out of her skull, and she could actually flex her legs out a little bit. Ana was still falling far too fast to survive unscathed-she had paid attention during this unit in physics-but maybe her parts wouldn"t be strewn quite so far apart. Yet she kept decelerating, slowly but surely. Ana actually dared to hope that, perhaps, beyond all reason, she wasn"t going to share the same fate as the bug she could still taste and smell. Finally, she drifted down onto a tree, landing without so much as a creak on the branch. Just as she rested her hand against the prickly trunk, a great crack shattered the quiet. "Oh, no," Ana whispered when, sure enough, the branch broke out from under her. It was her mother"s living room all over again, but this time, she was falling through a tree. While it did slow her momentum, Ana was pretty sure she heard the snap of bone when she landed on her side on a particularly large branch. However, for all her scrabbling hands, Ana slid off the branch as if it was greased, and continued her raucous descent, branches catching and clawing at her with all the tenacity of blood-thirsty claws. A particularly springy bow caught her across the cheek with the snap of a slap, and Ana could feel her skin part and blood flow under her left eye. Just as she was clearing the last ten feet of foliage, Ana could make out a person just underneath the tree. Despite her immense problem and rapidly accumulating pain, Ana had enough presence of mind to shout, "Shit! Move!" However, the unfortunate civilian either did not hear her or didn"t understand her heavily accented voice (Ana had a tendency to thicken her normally smooth English when she was stressed or afraid.) So, the circumstances completely out of her control, Ana landed quite ungracefully on the person. Her head smacked against the ground and, for a brief moment, Ana was enveloped in darkness. Felix had been aimlessly wandering through the forest neighboring Luxton the next day in much fairer weather when the first wave of light flowed across the hazy sky with a roar. Resonating from a point nearly directly overhead, the trolling lights pulsed like a heartbeat, deep emerald in color. The surges of color repeated like waves in a pool ringing out from a dropped pebble. After the leading edges of the third wave dimmed, a sharp crack sounded, followed almost instantly by a bolt of light streaking down through the sky to arrow at a tall oak, the light the same color as the waves. Breaking into a sprint, Felix followed the burning spear of light with intent eyes. He knew a crossing when he saw one. Positioning himself beneath the leafy boughs of the tree the frozen green lightning was targeting, Felix rolled back on his heels, burrowing long hands in the pockets of his trousers as he leaned back to watch the spectacle. Narrowing his eyes against the bright light, Felix blinked when the bolt of crackling energy evaporated. In its place, a black disk the size of the ring on Felix"s thumb spread high above, and he felt a fierce crook of his lips when a small figure fell through. It was a high crossing point, lending to the greater distance of the wizard"s travels. Felix had never actually attempted a crossing. His father preferred the castle"s door, but had scribed a circle or two when it was necessary. However, Felix had studied crossings in depth, and was puzzled by the wizard"s stillness. He should have started slowing his fall by now-it took time to halt so much generated momentum. Suddenly, the traveler exploded in a flurry of movement. It was no slowing spell, but at least Felix was certain that the wizard was conscious and wouldn"t splat all over the ground. After what seemed far too long, the wizard"s fall started to gentle. Eventually, he settled softly on a long branch high in the crown of the oak. Felix"s brow lifted at the feminine face he could see through the leaves. So the wizard was actually a witch. Interesting. Felix was just processing the concept when the branch the witch was standing on, presumably recovering from the crossing, snapped like the clashing of teeth. "Damn," Felix muttered. She crashed through the branches of the tree, and Felix rolled his weight back on his toes, following her violent fall with dogged eyes. He couldn"t slow her; she was moving too fast and erratically for Felix to get an appropriate lock on her body mass and slow her down. But he could cushion her landing. Hopefully, she wouldn"t break anything. He heard the witch yell something as she cleared the last ten feet of foliage, but her accent was too thick to understand. It sounded like a warning, but Felix wasn"t about to move right out from under her. His hands ready, Felix softened his spine and knees, ready to lessen the impact. As she tumbled free of the foliage, Felix sucked a deep breath, letting it ease out. The witch was lighter than he"d estimated, but the collision still sent the two of them rolling to the ground. Felix did his best to shield her from the blow, but her head still rapped sharply against the dirt, and Felix winced as her eyes rolled close. She had fallen across his body, the curve of her spine fitting across his ribcage. Moving carefully, his lungs still scrambling for the air knocked out of them, Felix lifted the witch"s legs, slipping out from under her while simultaneously setting her limp limbs slightly over. Pulling a breath deep in his lungs as he rolled to his feet, Felix moved over to her side, dropping down on the ground with a huff. For a moment, he sat still, listening for hoof beats or footsteps. It was unlikely that he was the only one in the area that had recognized the crossing, and it had turned out to be a lightning crossing, no less. There was no doubt that any Arsalans in the immediate area would leap at the chance to drag such a prize back to the capital and their mistress, Lady Witch Sylvia Apollo. However, it wouldn"t have been worth the hunt. The woman bore incredible amounts of power in her blood, but it was wild, and untapped. This was no witch. It was unlikely she"d ever even called upon her gifts. And for all the crackle of energy around her, she lacked a talisman, or a spirit form. So if she hadn"t traveled, Felix deduced, she must have been sent. Silence continued to reign, and Felix let out the breath he didn"t remember holding. Looking back at the woman, he was relieved to see her eyes blinking open, a hand moving to her forehead. She glanced around, a lost expression flitting over her eyes before sinking away again as she caught sight of the tree. She started to get up, but immediately laid back, a grimace twisting gentle lips. "Here," Felix said quietly, offering a hand to help her sit up as he stood again. She took it reluctantly, and he watched her brow furrow as he helped lever her up, shifting to press a supporting hand between her shoulder blades. Kneeling back down in front of her, Felix cradled her pale face in his hands. The pupils in her jade eyes were still rather large, and the cuts scattering her face, especially that large one under her left eye, marred a quiet, regal beauty. Her nose was straight and small, and her slightly gathered brows a mildly darker tone than her midnight fire hair. Gently running his thumb over her cheekbone, just under the wound, Felix started talking to distract her from the pain. "Rotten luck to have landed on a weak branch. I"ve heard crossing is hard enough without having to deal with falling through a tree." Felix made clucking noises with his tongue, keeping his eyes on the woman"s as the wound knit close with a soft blue glow. Once healed, Felix ran gentle fingers up over her face and into her hair, checking the area she had cracked against the ground. She winced, but he didn"t sense any blood gathering heavily under the skin or bone. She watched him with wary eyes, like an animal recently beaten. Felix wasn"t surprised-any human who crossed without prior knowledge of magic was certain to feel afraid. But he was unused to the expression turning his way, and it left an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, justified as it was. Settling back on his heels, he looked over the woman as she studied him, both kneeling only half a foot apart. There was something about her. She was so very different from his time and place; it was like handling a wild animal-foreign and disconcerting. And yet, somewhere deep in the back of his mind, her face tickled like a feather, a memory long forgotten and never touched since. As he looked the stranger over, Felix had to admit that his first impression of beauty was an accurate one. Her hair, though threaded with bits of branches, leaves, and grass, curled wildly, thick as rope and red as a dead sun as it tumbled untamed over her shoulders and down her back. She had a fair complexion, under the smudges of dirt and what little bruising had escaped Felix"s initial once-over. She was wearing some sort of strange, baggy tunic that exclaimed in faded blue letters "University of London." Felix was certain that he had never heard of such a school, or such a city. Her trousers were a strange blue material that Felix had never seen before, frayed at the ends and faded along the thighs and knees. Scuffed, sensible boots completed her ensemble, and left him confused. Where had she come from? Judging from her attire and demeanor, it was certain that she was as confused by him as Felix was by her. So, standing with a sigh and brushing at his legs, Felix offered her a hand to stand. He didn"t miss the wince in her eyes when she stretched the left side of her body upward to swing out her leg. Dropping her hand, Felix looked outwards again, this time sweeping with a spell for anyone in the nearby vicinity. Working something like the sonar of bats, it came back uninterrupted. They had time yet. Turning back to the woman, Felix cordially extended a hand, softly arranging a gentle smile on his face. "My name is Felix, a mage and the son of Howl. And you are?" She swallowed as she took his hand, but her grip was firm-and aspect that reminded him of his mother, and so always earned his respect. "Ana. I suppose I owe you my life, Mr. Felix-" "Please," Felix interrupted with a raised hand. "It"s just Felix. I have too many surnames for any one of them to be of use. And while you would have been in some rather serious trouble had you fallen out of that tree with no one around, I doubt you owe me your life." He pressed his free hand to the one clasped in his other hand, granting her a smile he hoped was warm and gentle. It had been a long time since he"d had to truly comfort or reassure someone. Her accent had softened, her voice rich and smooth like dark cream. She nodded in understanding with a rueful smile. Felix smoothly released her hand as soon as he felt the tendons in her long, almost fragile hand start to tense. "Well, Ana, considering you don"t know how you got to be here, can you tell me where you"re from?" She started a little, surprised at his knowledge. Ana was a private creature, obviously, unused to others knowing pertinent information about her. "Um... I"m from London." At the perplexed look on Felix"s face, she rushed on, lilting her voice to change the statement into a question. "You know, the capital of England?" When his expression didn"t clear, Ana blew out a hitching breath. "Ok, so if I can"t tell you where I came from, can you at least tell me where I am?" Felix was a little worried. Maybe she had hit her head harder than he thought. But where did she get those strange clothes, and that accent? If he listened carefully enough, it sounded like his mother"s. So how did she end up being sent through a crossing? "You"re near the town of Luxton, close to the border." "The Scottish border?" Felix frowned-he"d never heard of such a province. "No. Close to the border of Calimar." Ana started to look upset, pressing a hand to her forehead as she turned slightly away. He could hear her muttering under her breath, catching a few choice snippets. "Crazy," "Calimar," "Martha," and "What the hell?" was all the more Felix could make out of her conversation with herself. Settling his face into benign lines, he folded his hands and waited for Ana to resettle. Talking to yourself was nothing strange-it was just conversations with the other parts of your soul. His father did it all the time. It was just that Calcifer was outside Howl"s body, instead of inside it. While Felix didn"t feel comfortable with pushing Ana while she was clearly upset and disoriented, he caught the faint report of hoofbeats, raising the hairs on the back of his neck almost instantly. It was time to go. Ana was still puzzling away when Felix snatched her arm, tugging her away from the tree, its branches blatantly broken and pointing their broken, irritated fingers straight at them. Felix had been keeping out of Sylvia"s sticky clutches for quite some time-he had no intention of being caught now, especially with some disoriented, upset foreigner in his care. Ana tried a short complaint, but Felix quickly hushed her as he dived into some underbrush, shielding her while he looked out through the leaves. Moments later, a platoon of cavalry men, totaling about 10 or 12, raced by, the shouts and grunts of command edged with the impatience of hunters. Their horses cleared a heavy log blocking the path with the thunder of racing hooves, and silence again fell. Stepping clear of the bushes, Felix set a steady pace back to Luxton, careful to keep away from the main trails that the Arsalans were sure to comb. Ana went along willingly enough, but not without some questions. Felix tried to keep his patience about him-her questions seemed painfully obvious, but he had to remind himself that Ana was not of this world. "Who were those men?" she asked, sensible enough to keep her voice down. "Arsalans," Felix answered shortly, trying to discern a passable way through a thicket of dense huskberry bushes. But Ana continued to talk, and unwillingly drew Felix"s attention away from the puzzle of the bushes. "What are Arsalans?" she queried, her voice wavering a little. Clenching his teeth to swallow the short, disbelieving retort that wanted to shoot out of his mouth, Felix turned back to Ana. She was starting to come out of the daze induced by her fall from her world and the tree. And it was

and towards his new AC. Equipped with the most basic parts and a radar he was to defeat 4 remotely controlled MT"s. When he initiated combat mode the screen was suddenly covered with bar"s, numbers, and a large thin box and instantly it locked on to the nearest MT. The controls were simple enough because John had been an MT pilot for 2 years. "Begin," said the radio and he started firing his rifle. It didn"t take long to run out of ammo and litter the ground with empty shells but he had already taken 3 of them out. Testing the speed of the AC he Over Boosted to the last MT and instinct made him use his left arm function to cut the MT into 4 neat parts. He had passed the test! The next day after he was challenged by a new Raven pilot. It didn"t take long to defeat him and he quickly learned all the basic maneuvers he needed to know. Then John started challenging pilots at higher ranks and easily defeated them. Using his easily earned credits he soon had a laser rifle, hover legs, and an MMW-M/50 missile launcher for his back. After several more wins and losses he was soon at D-rank and learned a considerable amount more. He then started participating in missions. His first one was to take out a small platoon of tanks in Layer 1. He succeeded without getting hit once. The next mission was to help wipe out a factory. John defeated them but busted his left arm and used most of his pay to fix it. Then he was offered for a job with the Trio Of Nature, Leviathan, Aragon, and Twin-Head Z. He was to attack a city and flush out a small contingent of MT"s. John accepted. Before he knew it he was being dropped off with Aragon on the northern side of Section 512 while Twin-Head Z and Leviathan were dropped off in the southern area. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- John and Aragon landed right into a trap. As soon as they touched ground a rocket came speeding at them and blew off 1 of Aragon"s legs. 3 MT"s like the ones John used to pilot rounded the corner and started firing rockets. One lucky shot from his laser rifle blew out the cockpit of a MT and 2 medium sized rockets took out another. The chain gun on Aragon"s back turned the last MT into scrap. Using his howitzer Aragon decided to just bombard the MT"s from long distance and covered John due to the fact that he couldn"t move. At the center John met Leviathan and 3/4ths of Twin-Head Z she was missing an arm. "Lets search the docks," said Leviathan. As they got near the docks the appearance of MT"s became more and more common. Then they saw Twin-Head W and Twin-Head B, the cousins of Twin-Head Z. Using his missiles John blew off several limbs, and too bad Twin-Head B had 4 legs. As a volley of vertical missiles from Leviathan was about to hit Twin-Head W, Twin-Head Z jumped in the way and existed no more. It seemed like the death of their cousins made the deadly duo run. "I can"t believe Z did that. well it was understandable because they were her family but. Z." said Aragon after he heard what happened. There was an unusual amount of silence, even for AC pilots during missions. Then Leviathan broke the silence. "John, how would you like to be part of our trio?" John didn"t know what to say other than "Yes". John woke up with a start. He got up and decided to dress and wash. Then he got out for breakfast in the Global Cortex Burger King. He saw Leviathan and Aragon there and John greeted them. "So what"s up?" asked John as he sat down with them, "Any new missions up?" "Yeah," replied Leviathan "In about 4 hours we"re going to raid a KISARAGI factory" "What"s the pay?" asked Aragon. Leviathan passed them both a slip of paper both read 15,000 credits each. "Oh, I guess it"s not bad. Did they confirm the amount of enemies?" "Yeah," replied Leviathan "There"s about 18 MT"s, and uh I think KISARAGI hired an E-class AC." (Four hours later) "OK we"re ready to drop," announced the transport pilot. "Three, two, one, zero, drop off confirmed" As the 3 AC"s dropped from the sky a message camp up on John"s screen. Area- sector 513 KISARAGI factory Client- CREST Enemies- 18 MT"s, 1 E-class AC Time- 16:00 Objective- Destroy as much equipment and supplies within 5:00 minutes Then John landed. His computer said in a feminine voice "Combat mode initiated". Leviathan, Aragon, and John walked up to a big black blast door. "I"ll take care of it," said Aragon. He fired his howitzer and the door came down in 1 hit. The ENTIRE defense force was waiting for them there. A stream of gunfire and missiles came rushing out of the broken door way. Even with their superior weaponry and armor, the renamed Goliath Squad, was being overrun. Most of the enemy fire seemed to hit Aragon and he lost 1 leg and arm. A carefully aimed stream of fire from Leviathan"s machine gun knocked off the enemy AC"s head. Then he lost his right arm. John"s laser rifle took out several MT"s but not really enough to stem the tide of bullets. Then a large canister comes out from behind Leviathan and blew up all the MT"s. Aragon said "Ha! My launcher still works!" After the mission all 3 of them had to use up their entire pay and more for repairs and ammunition. "God damn it!" cried John "I"m sure that was a trap." "Who cares," said Leviathan, "Not like we can do anything about it." He was still grieving that he lost his one-of-a-kind extension part; it was an MMI- MI/120 extension part, one of the best. After a moment of silence Aragon walked away to order some food for them, they hadn"t eaten since breakfast and it was near 8:00pm. After they ate Leviathan said he was going for a walk. He left in silence. For about another hour Aragon and John argued about the effiencancy of plasma pistols made by CREST and MIRAGE. Aragon then said he was sleepy so both of them went to bed. When John woke up he saw that his apartment was a mess. After he cleaned up his room he left for the Global Cortex. On the way there he saw Leviathan at the shooting range. "So he bought a new gun," thought John. "Hey John," said Leviathan when he saw him walk over. BANG. "Perfect headshot, like my new gun?" After he shot it several times he reloaded, bought ammo, and walked to the Global Cortex with John. "So." John knew he was trying to start a conversation. He was about to help when an explosion went off and a large skyscraper came tumbling down. "Oh crap!" screamed John as he saw bodies falling. Both Leviathan and John ran towards Global to see if they can help out. As John sat down in his cockpit the screen came to life. "Computer, what"s going on?" asked John. The female computerized voice replied, "KISIRAGI is trying to flush out several refugee"s and spy"s, apparently the capture of these people seems more important than the lives of civilians." "Damn!" cried out John, "That is really screwed up." He flipped several switches and initiated combat mode. "Hey Leviathan?" asked John, "I"m going to help out by keeping the KISIRAGI forces off bay as the civilians run. No seven people are worth thousands of civilian lives." "OK, I guess I"ll help out too" replied Leviathan. Both AC"s walked out of the super-reinforced structure at the same time and started firing at the MT"s, disabling them. "Let"s split up" said Leviathan "I"ll take the left." As the 2 AC"s split up at an intersection MT"s were walking around armless and sparking. John was careful not to step on civilians as he met up with tanks. He had no choice but to destroy them completely. "Hey John?" asked Leviathan, "I need some help here-" It ended in static. "Lev? Lev? Are you there Lev?" cried John. "Ah shit." He Over Boosted into the air and saw a big bonfire. He saw the smoldering remains of Leviathan"s AC and Leviathan himself having a shoot out with the giant MT"s, strangely his little pistol seemed to be having an effect on the giant MECH"s. Then a salvo that was unmistakably made up of Aragon"s signature combo spray flew by destroying the last of the MT"s. Then IT came. A giant army flew over the horizon. "What"s that?" asked Aragon. "The Controller"s army is here!" screamed a helicopter as it flew by. The moment seemed hopeless. Chapter 3 The War Begins Most of the Controller"s army had turned north just as they reached the city and headed towards another heavily populated sector. All but 2 AC"s went north, these 2 headed towards the Trio. "These guys aren"t registered!" said John, "They"re not with the Global Cortex." "How can that be?" asked Aragon. As soon as he finished that question the 2 AC"s landed. They touched ground for 1 second then dashed towards the 3 AC pilots. The moment they started firing the Trio returned fire. "AHHH, I"m hit!" cried Leviathan as he crashed into the ground trailing smoke. He was struggling to get up when the unidentified AC boosted up to it and slashed. The moment the blade touched Lev there was an explosion. John noted the blue escape pod launched into the air. "He self-destructed!" said Aragon as he fired a continuous stream of grenades at the remaining AC. The lightweight AC dodged all of Aragon"s grenades and was firing his machine gun. "Damn, I"m overheated, sorry John there"s nothing more I can do" said Aragon as he ejected and his AC blew up. A missile was launched, air was boiled, an escape pod hit, a life lost. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed John as pieces of Aragon"s escape pod and body hit the floor from 400 feet up. His anger at his peak, John gave no mercy. His machine gun hit with pinpoint accuracy. He dodged every shot, his blade cut through the cockpit, and he won the battle. He got out of his AC and walked towards Aragon"s body, nothing but his ashes remained. After seeing Aragon"s remains he walked over to Lev"s pod, it was empty. "Damn!" cursed John as he sat down and thought. "Hey! John! Over here!" echoed Leviathan"s voice through the street. John got up and ran towards Lev"s voice. The pilot was holding a laptop computer and sitting before the untouched shop of Global Cortex. He was going through a list of parts and the giant repair arms were constructing another AC. "Aragon"s dead" said John grimly. "There"s nothing but ash"s." Those 2 sentences almost killed the pilot. He lowered his head and John saw tears. "No." whispered Leviathan as he closed the laptop and cried. 5 days later Leviathan had another AC and both he and John wanted revenge. The scene was hellish. Fire was everywhere and on everything, no building remained intact. In this scene, 2 giant figures stood like angered Gods. The 2 figures were AC"s, one called Vengeance, the other called Phantom. 1 was blood red as the other was dark gray. There were standing among the remains of a fort, a fort that belonged to the Controller"s forces. The 2 pilots wanted to know why the Controller went homicidal. They wanted revenge. "Let"s go," stated Leviathan, he was observing the scene. "There"s nothing left." A bluish haze erupted from their backs and the 2 AC"s flew away. They stopped at sector 324 on Layer 3; it was under attack by 6 MT"s with a considerable armaments. 3 missiles from Phantom"s back got their attention as 2 of them fell from direct hits. Vengeance was behind them before they knew it and his left arm blade slashed and 2 fell, 1 headless and another in 2 equal parts. Machine gun fire and concentrated laser fire felled the remaining MT"s. "That was too easy," said John observing the scene. He was right. Both of the AC"s radar saw 3 other AC"s pop up surrounding them. "Oh crap," whispered John. John detected several TITAN class missiles fly over the buildings; it was a trap. Both the Vengeance and Phantom dodged most of the missiles but one hit Phantom and blew off 3 fingers from his left arm. "Umm. do I need those?" asked John as he shot at the nearest AC, slowly chipping off parts of its armor and head. Several of Leviathan"s missiles launched from the Vengeance"s back and caused an AC to crash into a building and blow up. Leviathan turned to see that the last one held a very large nuclear bomb. "Man." complained Leviathan as if this scenario took place often. Then several yellow greenish bolts came out of nowhere and completely demolished the last AC. John saw an AC fly away barely a black dot against the horizon. "I wonder who that was." Replied Leviathan when he too saw the AC fly away. The next day Lev and John where staying at one of the remaining Global Cortex"s inns in sector 617 on Layer 3. Both of them were eating Taco Bell when the foundation shook. "What was that?" yelled a fellow pilot who was sting at a table next to them. No one needed to answer, the alarm rang and that meant only 1 thing. The Controller"s army was here, or at least a small part of it was. Screens lit up and all the pilots could see 20 MT"s heading their way led by 5 elite-looking AC"s. Both Lev and John looked at each other before rushing towards their AC"s. The lift brought them outside in the midst of fellow AC"s. Several fired missiles prematurely and all they did was hit dirt. All 25 of the opposing force then crouched. Most of the veteran pilots knew what they were doing and decided to close the distance between them by Over Boosting. The less experienced pilots thought they were suicidal and stayed. The grenades over shot the rushing pilots but found their marks on the newer pilots. Less than half of them survived. "Vengeance I"ll take the Heavy AC"s." said John as he stopped right in front of his target and fired. The other 24 giant robots kept firing at the other AC defenders that were only half way there. It was massacre for both sides. The defenders that stayed back were mowed down quickly; the invaders were cut down like scythes harvesting grain. Most of the pilots took the Phantom"s lead and used their blades to destroy their opponents in 1 or 2 strikes. The defenders had won but had lost several younger pilots, pilots that had potential but not experience. All the AC"s went to the garage with heavy hearts and grim faces. The next day 1,000 MT"s wielding chain guns were detected on radar. They reached the Global before the pilots could rally and wiped them out. Many pilots and mechanics fled and survived. Some fought and died, others fought and lived. There were surviving pilots that fought; but were the Phantom and Vengeance was among those? Read the next chapter to find out! Leviathan was sitting in his AC. He had changed his name back to his original name and had a new AC. His name was now Tyler and his AC was medium-weighted, had quadruped legs, and sported only energy weapons, its name was Leviathan. "Crap!" spat Tyler as he observed the scene. The controllers army had swept through most of Layer 5 completely demolishing it. "The army grew double its original size and split in two," Said Tyler to himself. The leader of the 2nd army was a dark light-weighted AC. It resembled John AC. The thought of his deceased friend made Tyler grimace. "Why did he have to die?" asked Tyler. He had seen John"s AC fall before a hail of grenades. Now Tyler was chasing the 2nd army and had recruited several other AC pilots. "Leviathan to Eagle Eye," said Tyler into his radio, "Any sight of the 2nd Controller army?" A face popped up in a screen in Tyler"s cockpit. Eagle Eye was a young teenage boy with blonde hair and the lightest, fastest AC possibly built. The AC was teal-aqua and had a radar back part, the longest sight FCS, and the /002 boosters built by Mirage. "Yeah, I met some of their scouts. Turns out they"re heading towards Layer 5." "OK. Squad head out." As he said this 4 thrusters came alive among the ruins and multiple AC"s was in the air. "Now where"s the closest Layer gate?" whispered Tyler to himself. The nearest one was 2 kilometers away. Meanwhile a Global Cortex garage was under siege on Layer 5. A lone black AC was standing on a hill a few kilometers away from the defense. Suddenly it"s visor came alive and turned green. Boosting into the air it flew towards the giant bunker. The Controller was watching its new general using remotely controlled MT"s. The AC dropped into the bunker between the defending AC"s. They turned to fire but too late, Over Boosting towards a group of AC"s he cut through a lot of them with its moonbeam saber. The torsos of AC"s fell to the ground one by one and one thorough mid-air sweep took out half the remaining defenders. On the other side of the bunker the AC"s fired their weapons where the Phantom had stood there just moments before. It boosted into the shadows and the remaining AC"s couldn"t track it. Behind them a thin green line appeared and a bluish white line sliced through the remaining cockpits and the bunker became clear. The Controller was actually impressed. Was it able to feel impressed or emotions all together? It didn"t know; it started to think things it wasn"t programmed to think since it had started to malfunction. ***********5 hours later*********** Tyler was watching the fire burn up the last of the garage. Surrounding him were 5 AC"s, his recruits. Apparently the 2nd Army had marched in a straight line and destroyed and killed everything along the way, citizens and defenders as well. "Move out, lets go" Tyler got into a transport plane along with 5 other AC"s. Tyler walked into the pilot lounge exhausted. The 6 of them had been chasing the 2nd Army attacking supplies and ambushing scouting parties. Even with other anti-Controller teams and armies they still continue to destroy cities, sections, and layers. Sipping his coffee he sat quietly and thought about things. An alarm sounded and Tyler almost fell out of his seat. Getting to the cargo bay he got ready to launch his new AC. A voice in his helmet started speaking. "Drop off in 5. 4, 3, 2, and 1." A beep went off and a sense of vertigo overwhelmed Tyler. The sensation disappeared as soon as he landed. Eagle Eye and another lightweight AC named Omega went off to scout. Immediately a loud explosion was heard and AC limbs flew everywhere. Tyler and another pilot named Jake went to investigate. Among the remains of several MT"s were Eagle Eye and Omega"s scorched remains, there was one treaded AC aiming one of the most powerful known AC weapon at them, the grenade launcher. Panicking, Jake tried to move away but got caught in Eagle Eye"s remains and the tried to fire at the Controller AC. It took the brunt of the damage but seemed unaffected and fired a grenade at the trapped AC. Using its arm machine guns it started shooting at Tyler but most of it missed as Tyler jumped behind a building. Boosting backwards and firing his pulse cannon he tried to get away from the enemy AC. Apparently its weakness was energy weapons because it fell apart in matter of seconds. The last 3 pilots landed. Their names were Felix, Claude, and David. All of them piloted AC"s with reverse-joint legs and held a type of machine gun. They told him that they were all brothers and the rest of their family died to a Controller MT. Suddenly an explosion kilometers away occurred and gave off the appearance of a large golden dome. "Blast!" thought Tyler "They"re using nukes!" As though they were one all 4 AC"s boosted off in the direction of explosion. When they got there they found the remains of a large battle. Charred remains of AC"s, MT"s, and other military vehicles littered the area surrounding a very large crater. The Controller"s army had won and several black colored AC"s and MT"s were lumbering around looking for survivors to kill. Something happened all of a sudden. First the 4 AC"s flew towards the remains of the Controller"s army guns blazing. Then several AC"s fired TITAN class missiles. Several explosions took place as Felix disappeared from the face of existence and multiple MT"s fell over and exploded or imploded. "Stop!" shouted a familiar voice. Strangely, everything and everyone did. It was the General of the 2nd Controller army. A picture of the pilot appeared in every ones communication box. The general took his helmet off. Nothing could have prepared Tyler of what happened next. The general of the 2nd Controller Army was. John. Stunned by the thought of John being alive and the betrayal of a close friend he could not move or talk. Tyler just stood there. Hoping for an explanation that he never got Tyler just waited. A blue energy blade erupted from John"s left arm. Boosting towards the confused pilots he reared his arm then slashed. Seeing his brothers die Claude fired blindly at the group of black MT"s and AC"s that followed the commands of the killer of his entire family. Flames erupted from the bodies of giant mechanized humanoids as bullets the size of a man impaled them. Under the orders of their general they didn"t retaliate as their numbers dropped drastically. Claude backed into a wall still firing. He didn"t see John"s AC above him drop down. Because of his bloodlust Claude didn"t hear the 10-ton robot land on top of his. John stood there for a moment. Tyler watched hoping John wouldn"t kill the last of his party, remembering how John hated to kill. Then just as he thought John was going to get down, he slashed straight through the center of the AC. The blade went straight through the head, the cockpit, and came out the crotch. Seeing so much death Tyler passed out and didn"t remember what happened for the next few weeks.

Garrett starts hopping from the barrel to the market curtains. When he gets a good camping spot his support arrives, 3 people- 2 with m4a1 carbine assault rifles and 1 with a p90 SMG. "About fucking time you got here!" yells Garrett as David steps over 3 dead terrorist bodies. Garrett then brings his gun up and starts firing, then Feff; a counter-terrorist with a p90 turns and sees that Garrett saved his life by getting clean headshots on 2 terrorists. Being grossed out by all the blood Poo; another counter- terrorist, though female this time decides to go scout. "Hey, I"m gonna scout around, stay here" says Poo as she walks down the alley. Feff then says "Careful". A few minutes later she runs back screaming "AHHHHHH 5 of em with AK"s are chasing me!" Feff then sees that her shoulder is badly bleeding and torn apart. "Your hit! I thought I told you to be careful!" "URGH! I"m sorry. They popped out of nowhere. Wait! Here they come!" Yells Poo just as 5 men in sunglasses; members of the L337 Krew terrorist organization; with AK-47"s walk around a corner firing. Even though they CT"s were outnumbered they killed all the terrorists thanks to Garrett"s 2 headshots. "Is everyone ok?" asked Garrett when he thought they were safe. He looks around and sees Feff with no head and Poo has bled to death. "Oh God." whispers David "Think we"re gonna make it?" Garrett: "No" David then starts praying in Japanese. All of a sudden their team leader"s voice is heard on the radio: "Report in Team!" Several Squad members" voices are heard. "Thank God" says Garrett when it was his turn to report in. "We have 6 dead counter-terrorists here" David cries "SIX?!" "Yeah Amik, Fluke, Taco, and Loom"s bodies are in that corner" states Garrett before resuming to report in "David and I are here in the market, we need backup!" A few seconds later they see Claude rounding a corner then watch in horror as several Desert Eagle bullets pierce his body. "Holy shit!" screams Garrett "Noooooooooo!" "I"m out," whispers David after they shoot up the terrorist that killed Claude. Garrett looks at David and says, "You"re out? What the hell are you talking about?" "No, I"m out of ammo," states David. He then bends over and picks up an Ingram Mac10. Garrett wonders how this could"ve happened. This was supposed to be a simple rescue mission. There weren"t supposed to be ANY deaths on either side. Someone in reconnaissance horribly screwed up. "Fuck." Garrett turns to see David staring at their Squad Leader"s body with a bloody neck and stab wounds on the head. David, now the commander of the mission since the Squad Leader is dead, talks to the radio saying, "Report in Team." No response. He tries again "Report in Team" Still no response. Garrett watches a bouncing cylinder round the corner not realizing that it"s a flash bang. A blinding light renders David and Garrett helpless. "Bang, Cock, Bang, Cock" David feels a magnum bullet run into his torso for half a second and remembers no more. Garrett, hearing the Artic Magnum Warfare go off jumps to the side. Too late, he gets hit in the arm. He yells "FUCK!!! Argh!". He backs off against the wall too weak to do anything else. Garrett starts praying and sees a guy with a ski-mask on the roof . Guy then says "Heh, no use praying. There is no god." He jumps down and pulls out a Glock. "My name"s John so tell the devil I sent you, Good bye faggot" says John as he pulls the trigger. "BANG" Round Two "Go go go!" is heard on the radio as the round starts. "Ready?" asks James, a new member of the squad. Everyone starts picking weapons and putting Kevlar on. Looking around James chooses a M4A1, a HE grenade, Kevlar, a helmet, and a P228 pistol. On the radio he hears the squad leader say "OK guys we heard the briefing, save the hosties and takeout as much terrorists as you can" Many "Roger that"s" were heard. As James headed towards the wine cellar he sees Garrett hop into the apartment. "Good, now I won"t get jumped from behind," thought James. His partner was Claude, a veteran with lots of experience. "Don"t wet your pants James," joked Claude easily seeing James" nervousness "I know this is your first mission but don"t worry I"ll take care of all the bad guys" As James and Claude ran towards the wine cellar they can hear messages on the radio concerning other members. "Turn that off." Said Claude "The T"s can probably hear us cause" of that stupid thing. " Bang! Bang! Bang!" James turns and looks in horror at Claude, he was missing a face. He turns and sees a terrorist with a bandana on and starts shooting. "Bang! Kakakakaka! Bang!" is heard as a one on one firefight starts. Ducking behind a corner James pulls out his HE grenade and throws it. He heard it go off and he hears two screams, not realizing one was his own. Looking at his arm he surprised to see a big shard of glass stuck in his arm, he screams as he pulls it out and blacks out. ****************************In the marketplace*************************** Lots of different gunfire sounds were heard as Garrett jumps behind a curtain during a three on four fights between CT"s and T"s at the market. "SHIT!" scream Garrett as a bullet from a Steyr scout hits him in the leg. He looks over and sees that the T"s are dead, two killed by David"s expert sniping skills and the other two by a grenade thrown by Garrett 10 minutes ago. "So it wasn"t a dud," thought Garrett. Jennifer, a female terrorist pops out behind from a corner killing Feff, Poo, David, and hits Garrett in both arms with a quick spray n" pray shot. "Nice," thought Jennifer observing her work. A loud "Bak!" was heard as Garrett fired his M4 and hits Jennifer once in the leg before running out of bullets. "Oh Fuck NO!" screams Garrett bringing out his pistol but since he was hit in both arms he was lucky to pull the trigger for his rifle so he fumbled and dropped his P228. Jennifer, hit in the leg limped over to Garrett and shot his face with her Desert eagle. To make sure he was dead she kept shooting. "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" "Reload, Repeat". Jennifer limps away satisfied but in pain. **************************In the Hotel******************************** Loom shouts "Hurry! The T"s will be back soon" "Lets get the hell out of here," whispers a hostage following Loom. Four men in scientist suits follow a former German riot police officer. "Thank god for you" cries a hostage as they walk quietly through the wine cellar. They all jump when they hear a loud moan. "God damnit! It"s James! Hey James!" screams Loom as he kicks James in the arm. "ARGHHH!!!! DAMNIT DON"T KICK ME THERE!" cries James as he wakes up abruptly. "Lets get back to the APC I found the hostages," replies Loom, "OH MY GOD! Is that Claude?!" James and Loom run back to their Armored Personnel Carrier and makes the radio command "Hostages rescued!" They wait for the rest of the team for 10 minutes. All those that don"t come back are assumed dead. Only Amik and Fluke came back all holding the dog tags from those who died at the market place. Round 4 "Oh holy shit, you mother fucking bitch" whispers Poo as she starts shooting an unarmed terrorist that killed her boyfriend Gambit, another counter-terrorist from her squad. The terrorist shot up Gambit, Loom, and Amik. Poo shot up his legs and arms completely disabling him. He died with his back to a crate marked "Poison Mushrooms". Walking out horrified, sad, and angry her record is now 24 confirmed kills in action, 2 higher from the last mission. Realizing she"s out of P228 ammo she takes Dual Beretta Elites from a terrorist with a dog tag with the name "John". "Gambit killed this one" grieved Poo, "I"m going to avenge him. Wait and see. now where"s Garrett?" On his way to the "House" Garrett met 3 terrorists and has another 3 confirmed kills. "So Claude have you seen any signs of Team E?" he asked his teammate. "No" replied Claude, "You think everyone is ok?" "No." whispers a grave voice from the shadows, it was Poo, "The rest of Team E is dead." She starts crying and steps out of the shadow and Garrett sees that she"s covered in blood and there was a scratch where a bullet nearly missed. "You ok?" asked Claude, "I"m sorry." Before Poo can reply they hear a loud "Kaka kaka!" Every CT veteran can recognize the sound of an AK-47. They run in time to see Feff beheaded by an AWP bullet and David impaled partially by several pistol rounds. "NOOO!" yells Garrett as the group round the corner firing like crazy. Garrett realizes that Poo is strangely calm. Counting the dead bodies there were 4, one belonged to Feff. He was a great guy, never angry always calm and never arrogant. "I think he had a wife and a few kids," thought Garrett bitterly. As he starts thinking about how it was wrong for Feff to die he sees a round dark cylinder bounce around. Poo noticed it too and both of them ducked out of the way. After the explosion Garrett walked out and saw that David and Claude were no more. "Damn it" he swore, "I"m swear I"m going to kill that damn shit head who took the 4 scientists hostage." Using the "Crusade" tactic Poo and Garrett walked around eliminating all enemies on their way. They found James, Fluke, and a new member, Wok. After killing an infamous female terrorist name Jennifer and a few others they reached the "House" As they walked up Garrett yelled out "Yo VIP!" and starts shooting wall-piercing ammo. Getting worried that Garrett would hit a hostage Fluke asked, "Is that smart?" then he sees that Garrett was aiming at the top area and joins in to smoke out the T"s. A few of them run out with SIG Commando"s and AK"s. One quickly loses his head by Wok"s Steyr Scout and a few others fall to Poo"s expert quick-draws. As the leader walks out Garrett caps his head off instantly with his Desert Eagle. "Enemy Down" whispers Garrett as he sits down fatigued, tired, and exhausted. Fluke and James run in and lead the scientists to the rescue APC while Poo and Garrett, the most tired people on earth at the moment sat down and breathed heavily. "This isn"t right," said Poo "Why all this pain and suffering only for money? What use is this!" Poo throws the suitcase of money at the wall from inside the "House". "Lets go home" said Garrett as he got up trying to calm his own nerves. Because of a devoted reviewer I"m going to make it so Claude DOESN"T die. Please review more often too people!!!! This is like viewing CS rounds but making it more realistic. Round 4 "Storm The Front" is heard on every CT radio. Claude wonders if this is going to go well. Amik has left the Counter-terrorist force and so has Fluke and Feff. "But I guess Wok"s superior sniping skills make up for 1 and 1⁄2 people as so does Garrett"s quick-draw luck" mumbles Claude to himself. David then says, "Follow me" and Loom and Garrett follow him. Wok ran off with Poo. So that leaves only James, Claude, and the squad leader Fuzz. As David"s team runs toward the wine cellar, Wok and Poo got slaughtered running up a long corridor. "Damn it" cries James, "Why do people have to die like this?" To prevent David"s team getting jumped from behind Fuzz suggested that they secure the market place. As the team gets settled in they spot 2 terrorists, Fuzz knocks one"s head off with an AUG while Claude riddles the other"s body with bullets from his M4A1 colt carbine. James was shooting but his accuracy was horrible after he heard Wok and Poo scream, as they died not far from where they were. As David"s team headed towards the house they got boxed in by terrorists twice their number. Multiple screams and gunshots were made in the first few seconds. After 10 minutes 3/4ths of the terrorists were dead but David"s whole team was accounted dead. The only hopes for the CT"s were to some how sneak into the house, lead the hostages back to the APC and pray during the whole time. "Shit" whispers Claude as 4 terrorists were killed but not before James died, "damn idiot." James had run off after hearing David"s teams scream as they died he didn"t see the enemies because of the tears in his eyes. Because of the vast amount of ownerless guns on the floor Fuzz and Claude each had 2 assault rifles in their arms, "not good, not good." whispers Claude. As the only 2 survivors ran up past Wok"s limbless body they saw he was cut up with a knife. They found the group of terrorists that did that to him. Both Fuzz and Claude were covered in blood as they mowed an entire platoon down. "If we were pilots how many times would we be aces by now?" asked Fuzz. Doing some quick math in his head Claude replied, "I"m estimating about 5 times each." As they found the house they found the headless bodies of the hostages, "This is sick" whispers Claude then turns around quickly and shot up several terrorists as they turned around. "We need EVAC," says Claude into his radio. The response wasn"t good; other terrorists attacked the nearest base so it would take 40 minutes for a helicopter got here. "Lets wait at the market," says Claude realizing that is the only place a helicopter could land in the area. Unfortunately for them the terrorists knew that and the surviving 6 were waiting for them. When Fuzz and Claude get to the market a grenade bounce out toward them. Both Claude and Fuzz dive out of the way in time but Fuzz ended up in the open. He was firing as he got up and walked backwards as he kept shooting. When Claude pulled him back he found out Fuzz was hit in multiple areas and was dying. As he died Fuzz mumbled, "I"m sure I got 3, the rest is yours go. good luck. He died with a smile on his face. Claude closed the eyes of the body and salvaged his grenades. He ran out screaming throwing a few grenades, he took a cover behind an upturned table and threw a few flash-bangs. He ran out with 2 AK"s in his arms and fired widely and strangely he hit all of them. He stood still in the market sweating and breathing heavily. Just before a T died however he shot Claude in the leg, he ended up with a face full of lead for that. He grieved on the helicopter ride back home. OK this time I"m going to make Claude die again. MWAHAHAHAHA *COUGH*. Please review if you read this. REVIEW!!! MAKE ME HAPPY!!! Oh yeah I"ve realized that the CT"s are winning too much so. Round 5 "Oh shit!" screams Fuzz as several grenades set a corridor on fire blocking Fuzz, Garrett, and Wok off from everybody else. Spotting the terrorists the small group start firing as James tries to put the fire out. He stood out in the open too long and lost his head, literally. As the 3 CT members desperately try to stay alive they got pinned down in the market place. "Watch the roof," yells Fuzz as he spots two ski mask wielding members of the Phoenix Connection skitter along the rooftops. They obviously had guns with scopes. "Wok take the ones on the roof out!" cried Garrett as he dived out of the way of Steylr Scout shots. Garrett thought that this was weird, how could they have known that they would be coming this way? He then saw a mirror angled so that campers could easily see the corridor. He shot it. All of a sudden Garrett heard a hiss sound. Turning in fear he saw he was leaning against a propane tank. "Uh oh" whispers Garrett. A HUGE explosion occurs in the market place disintegrating Wok and a few terrorists. Well that"s all Fuzz saw before he got hit be a table that shielded him from the blast but knocked him out. "AHHHHH" screams Garrett as he woke up, "Holy SHIT!" He was missing his lower torso and his legs. Garrett was also hanging from his wrist, the wrist that was pierced by a large shard of metal; the hand was missing as well. The CT died by huge loss of blood but died unconsciously due to the huge amount of pain. When Fuzz woke up to find a wooden beam ran him through. "Oh god, I"m dead, I"m so dead" cries Fuzz before he blacked out wondering what that explosion was about. He died a few moments after. "BOOM" "What the fuck was that?" wondered Claude as he, David, Taco, and Loom went down the wine cellar. As they all go through the door a "tink tink" sound was made as a HE grenade bounced to their feet. Everyone but Taco jumped out of the way in time. "Oh fucking piece of monkey crap!" cries David as he runs side to side dodging shots while firing down the corridor hoping the rest of the team can find cover as he keeps the terrorists ducking. He then brings out a flash bang from his satchel and pulls the pin. He jumps behind an upturned table to find cover from the searing light as he throws the flash bang. Closing his eyes and listens to the screams of the terrorists as their eyes burn from his well thrown flash bang. He brings himself up and fires at shadows running in circles and is satisfied by the screams he hears. "Good job" says Loom as he too stands up and fires. Now the entire team is shooting and killing. Loom saw that Claude tapped into some wine but still appeared sober. After realizing there are no more guys alive at that end of the corridor the team inappropriately quietly walk towards the end of the cellar thinking that no one will hear them. Claude steps out into sunlight first and gets several 9mm lead bullets put into his head and falls down dead freaking out David. "Oh my fucking god. NOOO!!!" screams Loom "Shit Claude WHY YOU?" Both David and Loom ran out and starting shooting at all moving objects back-to-back. When Loom hears a moan and a splat he turns to see David slump down dead. "No." whispers Loom and falls down as he gets shot in the back several times. Before he dies he sees a blurred figure stand above him and hears him say "Hmm. Why does the UN bother? Why don"t they just pay the fucking money? Well bye." Several shots are heard by multiple terrorists glad to be rid of annoyance. Claude look in the review. Round 6 Beads of sweat run down David"s head and neck as he tries his best to avoid being hit by bullets. "Shit, where the hell did guerrilla terrorists get PARA machine guns?" screams David ducking just in time as a large bullet flies past and narrowly misses his head but pierces Taco through the neck. "Ah hell!" "Cover Me," cries Wok and jumped out firing at several T"s while several counter-terrorists jumped out of their hiding places and fired at everybody aiming at their best sniper. His Steryl Scout pierced Kevlar and left death marks on people"s foreheads, bloody dark death marks. After several minutes of firing in the Marketplace the CT"s found half of their numbers diminished by the superior firing speed and clip size of the PARA machine gun while only 3 of 9 survives boxed in and fighting for their lives. A well-placed grenade thrown by Claude leaves them to rest forever. Fuzz picks up the PARA on their way out. The surviving CT"s; Fuzz, David, Claude, Loom, and Wok; walked down an alley towards the hostages with grieving hearts for the fallen teammates. As they reach a secluded pathway the team could see the house just a few dozen meters away. As soon as the entire team sees it David"s body is riddled with 9mm bullets from Dual Elite Beretta"s but Loom decapitates 2 sunglass-wielding terrorists with his own 9mm bullets spraying from his TMP sub-machine gun. Fuzz then screamed, "We don"t have time for this! Garrett lead the team through the apartments!" "No" yells Garrett over the firing, "What about you?" "Don"t worry about me!!!" cried Fuzz not bothering to look away from his targets. That"s when Garrett realized Fuzz was hit. There was a gruesome wound on his abdomen and Fuzz wouldn"t probably survive for another hour. "Go with piece." Whispers Garrett barely audible over the firing. He then has Claude, Loom, and Wok follow him to the apartments, a large building structure that has MANY exits. As they reach the door they heard Fuzz say over the radio, "Bye guys, rescue the hostages, ARGH, you guys were great friends." The radio was still on as the terrorist walked up to him to give the killing shot. Wok already knew Fuzz was killed by an AK-47. When the team got through the apartments they already lost David. "Hey guys!" shouts Claude ", I tapped into their radio channel. Bad news the surviving terrorists are gathered at the house, they must really want that money!" When the CT"s rounded the corner a magnum rifle bullet hit Garrett in the face, obviously killing him instantly. "Ah! Shit!" screams Claude trying to find cover and only finds Garrett"s body. "Wok did you take that sniper out?" asks Claude. When not receiving a response he turns to see that he was dead. But since he wasn"t hearing any loud DOOSH sounds he guesses the AWPer was Wok"s first priority. Looking up Claude saw only 3 terrorists and picks up Wok"s SIGG auto-sniper rifle. As he fires he takes one, two out. Then he runs out of ammo. Just as he was sure the guy in the ski mask was about to fire and kill him Claude saw PARA bullets completely riddle the guy spurting blood EVERYWHERE within a 10-foot range. Claude then hears "My last gift to you, Claude" on the radio. It was scratchy but defiantly Fuzz" voice. "Thanks" replies Claude wondering if Fuzz wasn"t already dead. When Claude got to where Fuzz was he was already dead. Claude called for helicopter EVAC on the radio then walks to the house to secure the scientists and to make sure they were still alive. Damn humans can be greedy thought Claude.

"I would." All eyes whipped to where Shu had suddenly appeared, lounging on the last six steps like a sleepy prince. "So we have the baby delinquent and the deadbeat musician," Kit murmured under her breath. Although he undoubtedly heard her, Reiji ignored Kit in favor of frowning at his brother. "Why do we discover these things only after strangers have arrived on our doorstep?" Shu just shrugged, tapping his foot lazily in time with the music moving through the earbud he"d left in. This must be serious, indeed, if he"d taken one of his headphones out to listen. "That doesn"t explain why she"s here, or who the hell she is," Kanato protested with a frown, hugging his cycloptic teddy bear to his chest. Yui wondered why they were all keeping their relative distance. When they"d advanced on Yui her first night in the house, the brothers had crowded and prodded, licked and sniffed. Now, however, they were like a pack of wary wolves, eyeing the intruder in their midst with bloody interest, but cautious enough to maintain a safe perimeter. Yui had to admit that Kit did not seem like someone who would take a playful nuzzle on the neck very well. "I"m here because the choice is either putting up with me and my colleagues for a short time or having a garrison of High Order knights descending on this lovely house like a plague and snatching Yui away once the threat here has been eradicated." That crisp remark was followed by utter silence, the brothers" eyes falling on Kit with bright, terrible weight. Nothing made these vampires quite as dangerous as provoking their territorial instincts. Except Shu, of course, who still had his head tipped back against a step and his eyes closed. "What are you talking about?" Ayato snapped, surging closer to Yui. Kit shifted between them again, and he was forced to halt his advance, the two locked in a contest of wills. Kit looked away first, back to the two elder brothers on the staircase, but only because Ayato"s shoulders had lowered and his head slowly reared back. "I"m talking about the High Order"s ruling in regards to Yui Komori"s situation." Frowns abounded, and unnaturally bright eyes narrowed. Instead of responding to their expressions, however, Kit turned and faced Yui. The fierceness drained from her face, leaving reassurance and quiet strength. "You are very precious, Yui, and your continued survival is both cause for hope and further investigation. Your father"s faith is what sent you here, but in light of the events involving Richter and these idiots, your safety has been called into question. I"m here to protect you," she said softly, resting a hand lightly on Yui"s shoulder. Once she nodded, Kit turned her eyes back to the brothers and continued. "And to act as assessor. I will judge whether or not it"s wise for Yui Komori to remain in the custody of the Sakimaki brothers. She"s too valuable to leave to a bunch of little boys who are careless with their toys. We can"t risk one of you snapping her neck because you were roughhousing. Tossing her into a pool when she can"t swim and gnawing on her like a dog does his favorite bone is bad enough." "Your judgment in this matter is completely unnecessary," Reiji protested, his tone millimeters from a snarl. Kit inclined her head in acquiescence, a sharp smile shaping her soft mouth. "I completely agree. I proposed that we should just have the knights take her and be done with it. But this is a courtesy paid to one of the oldest full-blood vampiric bloodlines in existence. If I deem you all worthy, you can continue your twisted little game as though nothing has changed." "And if you don"t?" Yui whispered. Kit turned, the green slowly overtaking her eyes as she took in Yui"s expression. "Then you"ll be leaving. Vampires are dangerous under the best of circumstances, and if these nimrods can"t value and protect you, then they damn well don"t deserve you." "Come now, bitch," Laito drawled, having snuck close enough to murmur in Kit"s ear and trail his fingers along her cheek, moving her hair back over the shell of her ear to bare her pale neck. "There"s no need to-" Laito recoiled with a hiss. What happened next had everyone"s eyes going wide. Yui had never seen a mortal move so fast. Kit spun, her skirt belling out around her, and lunged at Laito. Yui couldn"t help it - she squeaked. The tall, dark woman fisted her hand in Laito"s white shirt, and since they were about the same height, yanked him in until they were nose to nose. Her eyes had gone from mossy soft to a silver hard enough to crack concrete, the light of bloodlust making her irises glimmer. But the most shocking aspect was the small, almost delicate stiletto hovering just against the soft underside of Laito"s jaw. After having produced it from seemingly out of nowhere, Kit"s blade glinted with sterling intent. "Fuck. You." The intensity of Kit"s measured words had the silence growing until it pressed against skin. By the time Ayato collected himself enough to move to his twin"s aid, Kit had released him, tucked her blade out of sight, and returned to where Yui was standing, shell-shocked and stunned. Before she leaned down to pick up her bag, she twisted to face Laito again. "And your stupid fucking hat." With that, she snagged her bag and straightened, addressing the hall at large. "My two colleagues will be here in a matter of days. Things got a little messy in Prague, and they stayed behind to mop up. I assume you have somewhere for us to stay in this gargantuan house?" She aimed her question at Reiji, but instead of responding to her, he nodded minimally at Yui. Remembering the bank of rooms across the hall and slightly farther down from hers", she assumed that was Reiji"s intentions. "This way, please, Kit," she bid quietly, leading the way out of the tension-soaked hall. Kit paused, however, near Laito. "Touch me again, and I"ll castrate you and shove you pathetic manhood down your throat until you asphyxiate on it." Flashing a narrow, sphinx-like smile, Kit continued after Yui, who was blushing furiously at the woman"s smoothly delivered threat. Together, they passed through the gauntlet of the eldest brothers, Kit remaining defiantly calm despite moving within feet of two of the most pure-bred vampires currently walking the earth. It wasn"t until the women"s footsteps had disappeared from even their advanced hearing that the brothers finally broke the shocked silence. "Bitch," Laito managed, having recovered his cocky confidence now that Kit"s hostile virulence faded with distance, readjusting his insulted hat and straightening his abused shirt. Thoughtfully, he rubbed the bottom of his chin, where the halo of silver had almost stung. "Indeed," Reiji murmured, his eyes still trained on the hallway the tall woman had disappeared through. "She"s wearing long silver earrings. Who does that?" Laito muttered, rubbing his still-singed fingertips together. He"d brushed against the delicate silver chains when pulling Kit"s damp hair, thick with the scent of rain and skin and herbs, back from the long column of her neck. However, everyone ignored the bitching induced by his wounded pride. Honestly, they were all a little dazed. It had been a very long time, if ever, since any creature besides each other had physically threatened them, with serious intent and weight, and survived. Usually flashing the fangs, manhandling a mortal a little, and tossing out a couple of kill threats was enough to bring any stray easily under command. Not this one, however. Her demeanor was dangerous enough; but there was something else, a kind of aura that felt almost... metallic. "She smells different," Kanato piped up. "Like steel and smoke." "That"s because she"s a hunter," Shu replied with relaxed indifference. However, every other being in the hall stiffened at his proclamation. "You invited a hunter into our home?" Ayato snarled. "And not just any hunter, either," Reiji added, his voice heavy with condemnation. "She"s a member of the Crimson Quarter, isn"t she?" Shu just shrugged again. "What"s the Crimson Quarter?" Kanato asked. Laito, Ayato, and Subaru all looked equally confused. Reiji sighed heavily; infants, all of them. "It"s the High Order"s version of a hit squad. They"re the most dangerous hunters at the Order"s disposal, and are touted to be without equal. If a pack of vampires gets too unruly or careless with their kills, the Order will send in a Crimson Quarter hunter. They usually don"t operate in teams of more than three, so they"re sending us a full squad of their elites under the guise of a truce." "Has to be better than a garrison of knights, though, right?" Ayato said hopefully. He didn"t need to see his older brother"s eyes to know that Reiji was resisting the urge to roll them. Instead, he pinned his magenta gaze on a snoozing Shu, more irritated than he could possibly describe. And his vocabulary was vast. "Not really. In fact, I think that woman and her compatriots are far worse than any army." Shu"s crystalline eyes flickered open briefly at Reiji"s irritated statement. "I thought it would be easier playing host to three rather than three hundred." Reiji"s response to that logic was simple. "Moron." Sighing through his nose, he looked again up to the doorway where he"d last seen the hunter"s straight spine. "We"ll have to be careful about this," he declared to his brothers, the younger ones ringed around the base of the stairs now that Yui and the hunter were gone. "Things could go awry very easily, and we could lose our bride." "I"ll rip them to shreds if they try and take her," Ayato violently promised. Reiji resisted the urge to shake his head, descending into his thoughts as the junior vampires began to bicker. They could likely silence the hunters if their opinion proved unfavorable. But it would cost them. Oh, it would cost the Sakimaki brothers dearly. He"d been right - a garrison of knights would have been far less hassle. But annihilation wasn"t the simplest path; much easier to play by the hunters" rules and wait them out. They were too valuable to post on babysitting detail for long, and if the High Order did send replacements, it was highly doubtful they would be of the Crimson Quarter caliber. No doubt proving easier to quietly dispatch and silence this matter for good. "Regardless," he said with a low voice of command, halting the sniping before it got any louder. "Our guest is to be treated with respect. We will follow the rules and get this over with as quickly as possible. Miss... What is her name, Shu?" "Christine St. Peter," he provided, not bothering to lift his eyelids. Shaking his head at his brother"s complete lack of concern, Reiji continued. "Miss Christine St. Peter is off limits. Give her and her fellow hunters a wide berth, and we have to use kid gloves with Yui. That is all." Like a general dismissing his troops, Reiji pivoted on his heel and marched up the stairs. As he moved towards his rooms, however, he paused in a dim hallway, the echo of his brothers" discontent still ringing in his ears. That, however, wasn"t what was commanding his attention. Pulling off his glasses and slowly polishing the lenses with a snowy handkerchief, Reiji ran his tongue around pointed teeth. No wonder the woman went by a nickname. It was as if her full name had been dipped in holy water, leaving the taste of ash in his mouth upon the speaking of it. Her name marked her as a hunter more thoroughly than her skill or attitude. She could be a serious threat. Well, he"d dealt with worse before. He might even enjoy this. Breaking a hunter of Christine St. Peters" quality would be quite a thrill. Reiji began calculating if it was worth the risk. Yui had picked the second room after hers on the opposite side of the hallway because she thought Kit would appreciate the view of the gardens. That, and the furniture was themed in a lovely, soft jewel green that she hoped would appeal. Clicking on the lights, Yui watched as Kit set her bag on a small side table, striding to the windows and whipping open curtains made of dark emerald damask, lined with a filmy layer of fabric the color of mint. Obviously, her concern had been pointless, as Kit paid zero attention to the fabric in her hands while her gaze swiftly passed over what little landscape was visible outside through the rain. After nodding at her reflection in the window, she prowled the edges of the room, looking for Yui had no idea what. Finally, though, Kit returned to where Yui uncomfortably stood slowly wringing her hands together and undid the clasp holding her bag closed, peeling off the water-hard jacket. Draping it over the back of a chair to dry, Yui could now see the loose, short-sleeved bohemian blouse the color of old blood, bound at her waist by a thick black belt, and a sturdy silver chain that disappeared beneath the gathered neck. She shook her wet hair loose before beginning to rifle through her bag. "Some digs," Kit offered as she began pulling things out. Trying not to stare at the foot long silver crucifix she"d produced or the broad, scrolled silver cuffs, each bisected by a thin stretch of black leather, on each of Kit"s wrists, Yui cleared her throat. "Yes, it"s quite a lovely mansion." Struggling with her concerns, it took Yui a moment to continue. "Umm, Kit?" "What"s up?" she asked as she hung up jeans and shirts in the mirrored cherry wardrobe. This was the only wing of the house with mirrors. They"d been removed by and large from any area the brothers usually occupied. "I was wondering... did you really mean what you said downstairs?" Kit paused while tucking another pair of boots on the wardrobe"s floor, catching Yui"s eyes in the mirror. "Did I look like I was joking?" she asked, arching a brow as she straightened. "No, no, I just... What exactly is the High Order? And why do they have an interest in me?" Kit returned to her bag, continuing to unpack as she explained. "The High Order was initially a group of priests. Some say Knights Templar coming back from the Crusades, others say warrior monks returning from the Orient. Hard to know exactly. Either way, there were two things that set these priests apart from usual men of the cloth; they knew of the existence of vampires, and they had the will and skill to destroy them. The reason humanity is unaware of vampires and not yet extinct is because of our actions. We can"t yet eradicate them, but we are gaining ground. I"m surprised you don"t already know this." Yui cocked her head, trying to absorb the information and follow Kit"s line of logic. "Why do you say that?" "Because your father is a member." Terrible silence reigned for a beat. "But he"s a priest," Yui automatically protested. She felt like her head was full of cotton, all pertinent knowledge and understanding simply sucked away in the aftermath of that bombshell. Kit just nodded and continued. "All members of the Order except those in my sect are ordained. We"re too valuable as killers to quibble over priesthood," Kit added with a thin smile. Yui got the feeling, though, that the last thing she felt in regards to that fact was pride. "Anyway. Your dad had his share of field ops, but he"s largely retired to research and archiving now. He sent you here because he thought you would be safe, that it was your destiny. The path God had made for you." Kit didn"t quite turn away towards the dresser in time to hide the extravagant roll of her eyes. "He was banking on your heart to keep you safe. And it should have, if those psychopaths downstairs had any sense beyond their lust for the hunt." "But why does it matter? I mean, I understand my father"s concern. But why would the High Order care about me?" Yui was almost distracted enough to miss the long, wickedly sharp dagger Kit slipped into her sock drawer. "Because you"re a half breed. Not the first we"ve ever seen, but certainly the first of your kind. The implications of your existence are enormous, and there"s valuable data still hidden in your blood. It"s common knowledge within the community that a bride has never survived awakening, and certainly not with vampiric powers. That makes you very special, and very interesting. We can"t afford to risk it all on a bunch of nutballs who can"t keep it in their pants." Yui"s face flamed, and before she had a chance to stammer a protest, Kit continued. "Metaphorically speaking," she conceded. They shared an awkward smile, woman to woman, before Kit started talking again. "All that notwithstanding, you"re technically Cordelia"s heir. And she was one mean, sexy, evil bitch back in the day. That"s an awful lot of bad mixed in with your inherent good. If a shit storm"s on the horizon, the Order doesn"t want to be caught off guard, and we can"t trust the Sakimakis to keep us honestly informed. So that"s my job. First wave recon. Never a fun gig, but hey," she said nonchalantly with a roll of her shoulders. "I"m a good little soldier. With that, she withdrew a very ugly, very black pistol, checking the clip and slapping it back into place with the relaxed ease of someone extremely experienced with firearms. Cocking it with an awful, echoing series of clicks, Kit set it down next to the crucifix before meeting Yui"s eyes. She didn"t say anything, but the hunter didn"t have to. She wasn"t just a soldier. Kit was a warrior, battle-hardened inside and out. And if anyone, anyone, could kill a Sakimaki vampire, Kit St. Peter could. I bet some of you folks are wondering where the heck the next Phoenix chapter is. Well, my life got shoved into a blender and somebody hit frappe. So, in the meantime, while I regain my momentum, here"s a little something I was toodling with that I hadn"t yet decided whether or not I would post it. I figured, might as well. It starts out pretty obviously Tango, but this one veers a little off course later on. I didn"t particularly like this series, but the boys are so pretty, and so badly deserve a sound ass-kicking. So I dreamt up some hot badasses to do just that. Hope you like it! Love, Tango It was the nature of all predators. No matter their innate inclinations, eventually a predator shifted their active time to match that of their prey. So although Kit was biologically poorly adapted for night-time hunting, her brain had declared two am off limits for REM sleep after a lifetime of wakeful nights. She"d thoroughly warded her room after Yui left, since the limits of an invitation were void inside the vampires" own domain. Although she doubted such a rule would even slow down a band of such ridiculously powerful full bloods as the Sakimakis. Having showered and changed into comfortable clothing that could be worn to battle or to snooze, Kit studiously donned the remainder of her armor. The cross, wrist bands, and earrings all carried a form of pure silver; a vampire could still kill her, but she couldn"t be turned. And she"d have to be incapacitated beyond recovery to allow a vamp to bite her in one of the less vulnerable areas of her body, since they couldn"t get close enough to her more accessible arteries. Although she took off her earrings and bands to sleep, the pendant practically never left her body. She"d worn through four chains in the fourteen years a crucifix had hung around her neck. Even without a stitch of clothing on, Kit didn"t consider herself truly naked unless she was without her cross. She showered with it on; she even had sex with it on. Adamant in her habit of wearing silver in normal situations, she was downright militant about it in this household. The boys had gotten a little more careful, and Yui"s skin did recover better than most, but there were still shadows of bite marks littering her throat and shoulders. Guys were snackers, obviously. Kit shook her head as she strolled down a dark hallway, her eyes adapting to the gloom quickly and easily. Although she was no panther and couldn"t rival a vampire"s senses, hers were more developed than any human"s. In order to become the hunters, she and her comrades had been forced to become more than the prey. Why would Yui want to stay, Kit wondered as she passed through a hallway pierced by shafts of pale blue light, the windows offering glimpses of the cloud-wreathed half-moon, hanging in the sky like a split pearl. She"d looked... well, she"d looked taken aback when Kit had mentioned the possibility that she might get an armed escort out of this demons" hole. Yui might be enthralled, but she didn"t have that smell of black cherries that usually emanated from someone under a vampire"s blood command. Besides, who was the source? From the smell of it, they all drank from her pretty often, Ayato and Laito the most regular offenders. They were like dogs, rubbing their marking scent on what they considered their property. Not to mention, she didn"t even wear protection. Kit knew for a fact that Father Komori would never have sent Yui into this house without at least a cross, but there hadn"t been a glint of silver on her. Of course, if it was any other material other than pure silver, a crucifix would be little better than wet paper trying to stop a freight train. Had she believed them when they"d scoffed at her first instinctive brandishing of it? Oh yes, because a pack of carnivores would positively identify the one weapon you had against them the first time they see it. Seriously. How that girl remained so naïve, and still alive, in this den of monsters, Kit had no idea. One thing was for sure, though. Yui was getting a firm talking-to tomorrow about Vampire Defense 101.

"Markl, you were utterly useless this morning. Get Calcifer some more wood, would you?" Markl made the appropriate noises of disdain, making faces that caused his children to giggle over their mouthfuls of food as he stood. He muttered something that made Sophie cough, although it sounded more like a laugh from where Ana was sitting. Following his moves with her eyes, Ana finally saw the two little white eyes and pursed mouth floating in the fire Howl had cooked breakfast on. As Markl unceremoniously tossed a couple pieces of firewood on the little flame, Calcifer finally met Ana"s eyes. As he munched on the wood, he looked at her with a considering expression. "You"re prettier when you"re awake," the little flame suddenly said. Ana almost uttered a confused thanks when he continued. "Of course, you didn"t have much to start with..." Her eyes narrowed dangerously, earning an approving laugh from Markl and Howl. Sophie glared at the little flame. "I might not want to drink my juice if you say another word, Calcifer." The flame shrugged, but didn"t appear very nonchalant. He didn"t say anything more, and went back to munching on his fresh wood. Still puzzling over the latest development, Ana turned back to her food. The children were still shoveling as politely as they could manage. The adults ate with more reserve, but no less enjoyment. Over her wonderful breakfast, a plate of some sort of bread, similar to biscuits, cooked with butter, cinnamon and brown sugar, Ana observed the family around her. Howl sat at the head of the table just to her right, and Ana"s assumption that this was lord of the house was correct. His command was thorough, the respect for him resonating from everyone in the family. But it was Sophie who held it all together, and in whom the true power laid. She had provided the silverware, napkins, and juice Howl would never have considered. She quietly told the twins to put their napkins on their laps, and not let them fall to the floor from her queen"s position at the other end of the table. Ana deduced this was a regular occurrence. She caught Markl"s wink he threw at his children, and decided that he had been reprimanded for his manners by Sophie many times during his youth. Diane was the puzzle. Her hair was just the shade of the twins", but no one had mentioned her marriage to Markl, let alone the mothering of the children. And from what Ana had seen, Tommy and Leena looked to Sophie as a motherly figure, which suggested that either they didn"t trust Diane enough, or that she was more absent than Sophie. Either way, where exactly she stood in relation to Markl, Leena, and Tommy was a mystery. The pace slowed, and conversation began to flow. Tommy and Leena still attacking their food like hyenas, the adults began to talk. It was a pleasant, warm flow of words, and Ana basked in it. The topics ranged from weather, health, to work. There Ana lost track of the conversation as references and words were thrown about with little explanation. Finally giving up in confusion, Ana merely enjoyed the warm hum of beautiful voices. Finally, Sophie said something that caught Ana"s attention. "How do you think Felix is doing?" Howl stayed silent, allowing Markl to speak. "I"ll go check on him, drag him down. Some food with do him good." Just as Markl pushed back from the table, a wonderfully familiar voice resonated from the top of the staircase. "No dragging will be necessary, Markl. You"re always too eager to bloody me up a bit." As one, seven pairs of eyes flew up to Felix, who strolled down the stairs with his lanky stride, looking devastatingly handsome and totally at home. He wore a clean linen shirt, a dark emerald waistcoat, and dark breeches. Ana"s throat dried a little at what a picture he made. Leena and Tommy simultaneously shrieked, "Uncle Felix!" before leaping out of their chairs and zooming across the room side by side. Sophie seemed to think about reminding them of at least putting the napkins on the table, but just shook her head with a sigh before bending to pick them up herself. Ana caught the small smile on Sophie"s face, and knew her a little better for it. Felix caught the twins with a groan, making all sorts of noises and faces as he jokingly struggled to pick them up. "When did my little ghoulies become such giants? I can... barely... lift you up!" he roared as he threw each one, laughing and screaming, over his shoulders. He made his comical, staggering way across the room slowly, but for all his complaints about his physical weakness, Ana could see that Felix"s grip was strong and sure on the little bodies that were totally in his hands. Sliding a glance at Markl, she saw that the man trusted Felix with his children completely. His face didn"t even flicker as Felix almost overbalanced on purpose, making the children squeal. "Alright, Felix," Sophie finally said, unable to hold back the chuckle at the children"s obvious joy. "Tommy and Leena have been eating like pigs, and if you keep that up, they"re going to bring it back up all over you." Flashing a theatrical, horrified look at the children, which just made them laugh harder, Felix plopped their little feet back on the ground. "Uncle Felix, Uncle Felix!" they chirped, using a whole different bid for attention. They both started talking at once, which drew Felix down to one knee to listen. Ana tried, but couldn"t decipher their garble of words. Leena seemed to be talking about some animal she had a conversation with, and Tommy kept mentioning stones. While Ana was confused, Felix nodded, his face conveying total understanding. "My, my, you two have been busy. We"ll talk in depth later. Now go finish your breakfast before it gets cold," he commanded, patting them on the rumps as they turned and scampered back to their seats. As the proverbial prince of the realm, Felix started his round around the table. He first approached his mother, pressing a loving kiss to her cheek. "Good morning, Mother. And how are you?" "Fine, Felix," she said, her smile almost shy at the charm oozing out of her son. "And you?" "Oh, I"m grand," he dismissed with a wave, stepping over to Diane"s side. "And you, my lovely Diane," he said, delivering a smacking kiss to her cheek, as well. Deep down, so deep Ana refused to acknowledge it, a little flame of envy and jealousy briefly burned before she determinedly stamped it out. "You look as ravishing as ever." "You aren"t looking too shabby yourself, old man." The two grinned at eachother before Felix slid over to Markl"s side. Punching the other man on the shoulder with some force, Felix then extended his hand for a rough shake. "Drag me down, indeed. As if you could manage," he said in a gruffly masculine tone that Markl repeated. Felix tossed a wink to the twins, who snickered over their toast. "Have to be certain you haven"t turned into a sissy during your time away." Felix"s face lit with a dazzling grin as he clapped a hand on Markl"s broad shoulder. Turning to his father, Ana could see the joking light dim in his eyes, but the loving glow brighten. "Father," he said simply, shaking Howl"s hand with uncharacteristic solemnity. "It"s good to be home." Howl clasped his son"s hand. "It"s good to have you home. You did well, and chose the right course." The two remained still for a heartbeat, until Felix broke away, rounding his father to kneel at Ana"s side. He had come to her. Saving her for last. Why, Ana couldn"t guess. But she was certain now that it was right. He took his hand in hers, and their eyes held. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly, and Ana felt the family watching at her back fade away. "I"m fine, thanks to you. And your wonderful family." He grinned, running gentle fingers through her hair before standing. "It"s a joy to hear you say that," he murmured, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Now where can I get some food?" he said loudly to the table at large, purposefully breaking the intimate moment as he moved to the seat across from Ana. Rushing back to reality, Ana cursed her fair complexion as she noticed the contemplative expressions on Sophie and Diane"s faces aimed her way as the twins raced eachother to get Felix food first, ending up spilling on the table and into their father"s lap. Howl took charge, serving his son with a grin as he conveniently cleaned up the mess on the table with a wave of the hand, but left Markl to deal with his own mess. Markl complained about the toast now in his lap thanks to his children"s overeager efforts, and Diane offered some sniping remark that earned a sneer from Markl. The two continued as the twins argued about who had dumped the food on their father"s lap. Calcifer joined in from across the room, offering shouted inflammatory remarks for both quarrels. Sophie glanced between the two squabbles on either side of her, shook her head, and returned to her plate in surrender. Howl smiled serenely, and followed his wife"s lead. Ana watched the chaos and soaked up the noise with wide-eyed wonder. It was all so alive. Catching Felix"s eye across the table, she focused on the knowing grin he shot her as he enjoyed his father"s toast. "Still think they"re wonderful?" he muttered for her ears only. "Absolutely," Ana returned without hesitation, smiling broadly as she ate another piece of toast. Cookie to anyone who figures out what the title of the chapter means. It"s actually not as hard as you may think... I"ll tell you at the end of the next chapter. Anway, so what do you guys think? I added three more characters to my ever growing list, and I love each and every one of them. Strange story about the twins" names. I was set on a pair that were pretty decent, and I had used in the chapter a couple times. Then, when I was looking up a last name for Diane, I found out that Thomas meant twin. That was just too perfect, and I went looking for a girl name that also meant twin that was in no way derived from Thomas. Linnea was the result. Hope you guys like "em!! My first true family scene, and it was really fun!! The mysteries will start unraveling soon. For now, they"re just enjoying a yummy breakfast. Also, if you"re interested in drawing fanart for Sapphire Mage and post it on DeviantArt, let me know!! I would love to see it, and link it on my profile so all the other readers can see it and appreciate it too! Remember to toss me a review to tell me what you think. Fair warning, it"s going to be a while until the next chapter. Considering I posted four chapters in just over a month, I think I earned a little break. With school starting and all that other crazy jazz, I"ve got to get a little settled, and then my nose will be back to the grindstone. Tentatively, I"d say you"d have to wait no more than a month for Ch 13. Hope you like it!! The meal eventually wound down, and the children were pardoned, sprinting outside to burn off their energy, little streaks of youth and gold. Ana felt exhausted just watching their sheer vigor. After they denied her offer of help, Ana sleepily smiled as Markl and Diane competitively cleared the table. Howl settled down in his chair with regality, slipping half-moon reading glasses onto his long, aristocratic nose after snatching a small book from the side board, its dark leather cover engraved with what looked like silver foil and fragments of malachite. Sophie relaxed with a cup of tea, eyeing her husband until he glanced up with a smile. It was as charming and as breath-taking as the ones his son tossed around, and apparently it melted Sophie"s concern. Felix mirrored his mother, his shoulders and neck relaxing as he sipped on his cup of lightly creamed coffee. Markl snatched a newspaper from the kitchen before plopping his long, broad frame down on a hunter green couch in front of Calcifer. Relaxing her head back against the back of the chair, Ana closed her eyes, trying to wrestle her way clear of the pain that was sparking up and down her spine. It had kept quiet through most of breakfast, and had dimmed the greatest once Felix had descended the stairs. But as she stayed awake, alert, and aware, Ana could feel her bones weakening, her blood pounding through her veins harder than it should. Fighting hard enough to bring drops of sweat to her temple trying to regulate her breathing, Ana opened her eyes very slowly when gentle, cool fingers brushed her cheeks. Diane"s stunning face gazed down at her, a soft, worried smile on her bowed lips. "I"m afraid we wore you out." Straightening hurriedly to deny such an accusation, Ana blinked against the stars that robbed her breath and swirled against the back of her closed eyelids. "No, not at all. Maybe I wasn"t as ready as I believed myself to be," Ana murmured, pressing a numb hand to her forehead. She heard the screeching of wood as a chair was shoved back, closely followed by a deep voice. Ana knew she was very far gone when she couldn"t tell if it was Howl or Felix. "Hush. She"s just tired. Ana, you"d best go relax upstairs." Peering through cloudy eyes, Ana could see that Howl was barely holding back his son, energy thrumming through Felix as if he were a plucked string, concern darkening his cobalt eyes. Markl hopped over the back of the couch, resting a hand on Felix"s shoulder. Like a wolf pack, Ana could feel them closing ranks, moving as a well-oiled machine. It was a little intimidating, and the sensation of being prey snuck under her skin. No matter what, it would be best to follow Howl"s advice, especially with her knees trembling and her bones shivering. Slowly taking to her feet with the tentative step of a woman four times her age, Ana was a little surprised when Diane gently clasped her elbow. Sophie suddenly appeared on her other side, and a brief glance over her shoulder confirmed that Howl and Markl now both stood, holding back Felix as politely as they could manage. A family, they certainly were. But why had she expected it to stop there? They were wizards, warriors under that gentle veneer. They had such a lovely little community, but they protected their prince almost violently. What Ana wasn"t sure about was whether they were protecting her, too, or protecting Felix from her. Sophie settled Ana down with the gentle efficiency of a mother. For a moment, Ana was awash with homesickness. It faded as the soft velvet of sleep closed in, but Ana dreamt of her family, a world that seemed eons away while she was tucked in on some stranger"s couch in a neat study inside a moving castle. Her nap was only about half an hour long-she awoke, completely alert, to a quiet room, totally alone. A gentle fall sun illuminated the dancing dust motes, little reeling stars in the hushed air. Rising from the couch hesitantly, Ana was gratified when the muscles in her legs wept, but held under her weight. A shiver stole across her shoulders as a draft whispered through the castle. She dragged the blue and violet checked quilt off the couch, wrapping it around her shoulders before shuffling to the heavily carved oak door. It was lighter than it appeared, almost knocking Ana on the nose when it swung open easily, the hinges silent. Sighing as the gnawing sensation in her joints winked to life, Ana moved into the hallway, peering right, then left, then right again with the blinking deliberation of an owl. She knew the stairs down to the dining room were to the left, but the corridor to the right remained a mystery. The pain humming at lower levels than it had that morning, Ana noticed that the corridors were paneled in ash. Sturdy, yet elegant. It encompassed her hosts perfectly. Making her careful way down the hall, Ana stumped up a short, winding staircase. The corridors branched, forked, and wound into labyrinthine proportions. Ana would stop at a divergence, totally unsure of where the rest of the castle"s inhabitants were. A soft, cool breeze would tug at the ends of the quilt, pulling her down certain hallways and away from others. Eventually, Ana realized that a whisper of laughter rode on her guiding breath of wind. Someone, somewhere in the castle, was laughing, the silvery sound of joy. Ana ultimately found herself before another oaken door, like the one to Sophie"s study. The handle was faded platinum, the fastenings glowed dull silver. Just as she rested faintly shaking fingers on the metal, the door swiftly opened, the air rushing past Ana with one final sterling-toned note to rustle Sophie"s silver hair. The older woman stood on the other side of the door, a surprised lift to her silver brows and cool observation in her brown eyes. "Come in, dear. Are you cold?" Sophie asked as Ana shuffled into the room, noticing the quilt draped over Ana"s shoulders. Diane looked over her shoulder from her place before a wardrobe full of color and texture, her violet eyes warming as they lighted. "I wasn"t able to get warm. It seems like such hard work now," Ana murmured. Catching the way Sophie"s eyes followed the quilt, Ana dragged it from her shoulders, her arms wavering under the weight as she held it out to the older woman. "Is is special to you?" Ana asked quietly, relieved when Sophie"s face softened, a smile lighting her dark eyes. "No, no, it"s alright." Sophie said, taking the quilt from Ana"s hands to drape over her shoulders, steering the young woman into the room with a hand at the base of Ana"s back. "You"re looking better since breakfast. How did you find us?" Diane said, following Ana"s progress into the room with covert eyes in the mirror set into the wardrobe door. As Ana drew closer, she could see that the wardrobe was antique, made of cherry wood and sporting detailed carvings depicting celestial figures and mythical stories. "Just wandering around," Ana said, taking the seat Sophie offered carefully. With an unintentionally loud sigh, Ana relaxed back, swallowing the whimper that bubbled in her throat. Suddenly, a thought flashed through Ana"s head, bringing her jerking forward. "My pack!" she breathed, her mind racing to the last time she had it. "The ambush. I had it during the ambush!" Sophie rested a gentle hand on her shoulder to calm her as Diane approached, a grubby little canvas bag hanging from her hand. As Ana deflated with relief, Diane grinned. "I figured it was yours," she said triumphantly as she plopped it into Ana"s lap. She fumbled with the ties, struggling with the water-tightened, muddy knot. Finally, the strings gave, and Ana lifted out her earth clothes. With a sigh, she rubbed her hands over the denim jeans, smiling at her U of L sweatshirt. Reverently, Ana withdrew the letter from her father. At the back of her mind, Ana admired Diane and Sophie"s quiet patience as she reread the slightly faded letters on the parchment. In a split second decision, Ana handed the letter to Sophie. "I first got this letter from my mother the day I crossed to this plane. This bracelet came with it," Ana explained, pulling back quilt and sleeve to reveal the silver bracelet gleaming against her skin, still bruised a violent black and purple shade, raucous against her porcelain skin. Diane cradled her hand to inspect the bruising closer, casting heavy glances at her preoccupied old master. Sophie"s eyes travelled quickly across the paper, small smiles flitting across her face like birds as tears gathered heavier and heavier, never falling, but glimmering on the rim of her eyes like stars. Eventually, she looked up, smiling sadly as she handed the letter back. "I knew your father. He"s a good man." Ana handed the letter to Diane with her eyes still plastered on Sophie. She had to swallow the shock that clouded her throat to speak. "You... you knew my father?" Ana whispered as Sophie blinked away tears. "He was Howl"s best man at our wedding." Diane and Ana gazed at Sophie with wide eyes as the seconds wound longer and longer, the unfettered silence glimmering in the air. Finally, Diane cleared her throat, drawing Ana"s attention to her with a soft touch to her forearm. "Do you mind?" Ana"s brows furrowed, confused. Diane"s amethyst eyes gestured to the pile of clothes in Ana"s lap, her jeans and sweatshirt muddy and grass-stained, her t-shirt sweaty and blood-flecked. "They"re rather in need of a good washing." Shaking her head clear of the revolving thoughts that still chased eachother in dancing circles in her mind, Ana nodded her consent, trying to reassure with a smile. She found it harder than expected. Gathering up the clothes in her arms, Diane lifted a pinch of Ana"s linen, mud-stained sleeve between reluctant fingertips, her nose wrinkled comically. "Let me guess," she sighed, apparently exasperated. "Felix got these from some poor stable hand, didn"t he?" "I... I believe so," Ana replied, unsuccessfully swallowing the chuckle that threatened at Diane"s expression, a strange mating of disgust and disbelief. "Tell you what," Diane continued, her face clearing and her eyes all business. "You can go next door and take a nice bath, and I can burn these rags and go make fun of Felix for forcing you to wear such an atrocious excuse for clothing." Ana rose, distracted from Sophie"s statement about her father, as had been Diane"s intent. "They were part of my disguise!" Ana said laughingly as Diane escorted her to the bathroom. The other woman rolled her eyes, clearly not impressed. "Of course they were," Diane muttered sarcastically, closing the bathroom door behind her.

grass-stained, her t-shirt sweaty and blood-flecked. "They"re rather in need of a good washing." Shaking her head clear of the revolving thoughts that still chased eachother in dancing circles in her mind, Ana nodded her consent, trying to reassure with a smile. She found it harder than expected. Gathering up the clothes in her arms, Diane lifted a pinch of Ana"s linen, mud-stained sleeve between reluctant fingertips, her nose wrinkled comically. "Let me guess," she sighed, apparently exasperated. "Felix got these from some poor stable hand, didn"t he?" "I... I believe so," Ana replied, unsuccessfully swallowing the chuckle that threatened at Diane"s expression, a strange mating of disgust and disbelief. "Tell you what," Diane continued, her face clearing and her eyes all business. "You can go next door and take a nice bath, and I can burn these rags and go make fun of Felix for forcing you to wear such an atrocious excuse for clothing." Ana rose, distracted from Sophie"s statement about her father, as had been Diane"s intent. "They were part of my disguise!" Ana said laughingly as Diane escorted her to the bathroom. The other woman rolled her eyes, clearly not impressed. "Of course they were," Diane muttered sarcastically, closing the bathroom door behind her. Cranking the brass knobs to full hot, she busied herself with providing towels and soap for Ana"s bath. The steam quickly filled the room with the viscosity of fog, penetrating Ana"s tight muscles and shivering bones. With a long sigh, she relaxed her hold on the quilt, folding it as best she could manage. Diane finally approached, taking the quilt from her arms and gesturing to the screen Ana could barely see through the steam. "Go ahead and change out of those monstrosities. Take your time," she added. Ana shucked the horribly wrinkled, muddied clothes as best she could, taking more time than it would have normally required, her joints violently protesting the contortions required to wriggle her way free of the clothing. Wrapping a towel around herself, Ana emerged to hand her clothes to Diane. "Go easy on him, OK?" Ana asked with a chuckle. "He"s only a man, after all." Diane laughed approvingly, nodding her head as she made her way out of the bathroom, the open door casting a brief strike of light through the mist before it again closed. Ana was possessed by the strange sensation of being a ghost, floating through the white mist almost soundlessly. Cranking the water off, Ana set aside the towel and stepped into the huge porcelain clawed tub. It was like sinking into nirvana, this time long enough to appropriately accommodate her height. The water was hot enough to instantly turn her skin pink, and would have normally made her squeal. But as she had said, it seemed difficult for Ana to warm now-the heat was a welcome reprieve from the chill that never seemed to leave her. Picking up a bar of soap, this time scented of lilies, Ana went to work. As Diane made her way back into her room, she couldn"t help the muscles that tightened around her mouth, or her angry shake of her head. Apparently, Sophie noticed, which really shouldn"t have surprised Diane. "What is it?" Sophie asked, her voice that quiet, understanding tone that Diane could recognize in her sleep. "She"s in such pain, Sophie," Diane said quietly, mindful of the thin door separating her room from her occupied bathroom. Still, the emotion and concern in her tone was obvious. "I had hoped she would be showing signs of recovery by now, but the bruising isn"t just on her wrist. It"s all down her spine, and on her scalp. Neither of which she can see, of course, otherwise I"m sure she would have mentioned it. And they"re so vivid! Those bruises were incurred a week ago-they should have started to fade by now, but they look as fresh as ever." As Sophie shook her head in anguish for her guest, Diane bit back her tongue. There were many things she had learned from Sophie that Diane had never grasped at home, besides the obvious craft of magic-one was humility. The other was the skill of listening. "Howl told me of a few cases like Ana"s. Most don"t completely recovery until six months to a year after the incident. Some never regain the levels of their magic fully again. At the very least, Ana won"t be able to walk normally again for another month. I don"t know how long until she"s without pain." Diane blanched, clearly contemplating her own mind set if such information was revealed to her. "We can"t tell her that," Diane whispered. Sophie nodded in assent as her pupil continued speaking. "I would go mad at such a prospect. We can only hope for her sake that she"s an incredibly fast healer." "She"ll be welcome here to heal for as long as she needs, and wants. We have to figure out what exactly what we"re going to do with the information presented to us," Sophie continued thoughtfully, referring to the letter and Felix and Ana"s narrow escape from Apollo"s perfumed clutches. Diane"s eyes shifted, her mind drifting to the breakfast that morning. Just as she opened her mouth to tell Sophie something, the bathroom door cracked open, the steam leaking out in small, tentative breaths as Ana slipped out. Her dark hair was plastered to her white shoulders, thick cords of near black. Her eyes, faintly ringed with bruises, seemed huge in her face, her expression unsure and almost wary. A white towel was wrapped around her, the neutral bringing out the peach tone of her skin, pinked from the warm. She padded out on quiet feet, her hands shivering as she quickly began to chill. "Here, Ana," Diane said as she tugged a warm fleece robe free of her wardrobe, draping it over the young woman"s shoulders. She fumbled tiredly with the towel while trying to maintain her modesty; Diane and Sophie averted their eyes politely. Finally, she belted the robe with finality, flicking her heavy hair behind a shoulder and offering Diane a smile of gratitude, only a little weak. "Come sit down, Ana. I"ll brush your hair out," Sophie said, gesturing to the suede mahogany couch near the cherry wardrobe, which still stood open and ready. Diane had been sifting through her clothing when Ana had first entered the room and distracting her from her reluctant task. Once Ana was settled comfortably and Sophie began the first strokes through her thick hair, Diane turned back to the wardrobe, busying herself quietly. A dark grey dress, lovely but too small, spoke a brief message, one that rather surprised Diane. She set it aside, and continued without a thought. She assumed Ana wanted to sleep-perhaps that"s why she was startled when she spoke instead. "Why do your eyes shimmer sometimes?" Pausing as she looked over her shoulder, Diane looked first at Ana, then at Sophie, the smile that bloomed mimicking her teacher"s. "You are very observant, Ana. But I am not the one to explain-I find I am not the most patient of teachers. Sophie rationalizes it much better than I." With a nod, Sophie began to speak. "There are many branches of magic, as I"m sure you can imagine. Some witches and wizards have what are called bents-very focused areas of magic in which they show skill. Others are called star-gazers. They are without bents, their focus is "as broad as the stars in the sky.' Howl, Markl, and Felix are all star-gazers, though Felix shows advanced aptitude in several fields, too many to be labeled as bents." Sophie explained in a measured, scholarly voice. "What"s an example of a bent?" Ana asked. Diane could hear the curious tone in her voice, and, risking a look, was gratified to see a little sparkle of healthy color in her skin and eyes. "Well," Sophie said with a smile, "I have one." Raising a hand, Sophie looked at the plant potted at the foot of the couch. With a small rippling of her fingers, the plant shivered, growing and moving until it blossomed into a giant magenta flower, similar to a lily. Tiny white blooms ringed it, little stars surrounding a bloody sun. "I know plants. I can control them, help them, and understand them." As Ana nodded in wonder and comprehension, Sophie continued. "The twins both have bents. Little Thomas is a stone mason. He can find gemstones like a bloodhound can find a scent. He can also work stones with far more ease than a man with a chisel and hammer. As he gets older, he"ll be able to control them without touching them. Linnea has a way with animals, much like I have a way with plants. As animals are more dynamic, Leena can actually hold a conversation with them. At this point, she has to speak aloud to formulate her thought before sending it to the animal. As she progresses, she"ll be able to project the thought silently, helping in the growth of the bond. And Diane has a bent," Sophie added quietly, her eyes intent on her pupil. "She is of a very rare bend, some of the most famous wizards in history included. Diane is a seer." The two women waited for a reaction from the third. "You can see the future?" Ana asked quietly. Diane nodded regally in response. The younger was quiet for a moment before responding. "Prove it." Diane blinked, then let her lips spread in a very feline, noble smile as she pressed her fingertips gently to the window, the strange ripple of light shivering over her violet eyes. "In twelve seconds, a rock is going to ping against the window. It"s going to startle you, which will make you jump, which will cause Sophie to accidentally rip out a tangle in your hair she was trying to work out gently. You won"t say anything, but it hurts enough to bring tears briefly to your eyes." Ana"s eyes narrowed as she counted down the seconds. Her mouth twisted as she counted to fifteen before the rock rapped against the window, the events unfolding exactly how Diane had predicted it. "I had to fudge the time a little," she explained with a small grin. "Otherwise you would have been expecting it." Ana had to blink back the tears before she spoke. "So what did you see when you met me for the first time at breakfast?" Diane"s expression turned a little wary, her eyes flicking to Sophie before bouncing back to Ana. "You... and Felix." Ana"s expression was not the one Diane expected. It grew chilled, as if with the ice of fear. "Were we running?" she whispered, her eyes telling Diane that she didn"t really want to know the answer. It appeared that telling the truth would be the only way to appease her fear, a fear that was tying knots of guilt in Diane"s stomach. "No, no you weren"t." Taking a breath and stealing a final glance as Sophie, Diane slowly spoke. "You were... making love." The silence that resonated through the room was thick enough to slice and spread on bread. Ana froze, a hunted look on her face. Diane"s only consolation was the fact that she no longer looked afraid. Finally, Sophie huffed, returning to the brushing of Ana"s luxurious hair, which was drying to a most enchanting color. "My son is an adult. I"m merely glad that he chose such a young woman as you, Anastasia, instead of some demon creature like Apollo." Ana"s eyes flickered, something Diane noted with hawk-like attention. "He has in no way chosen me," she said in a quiet, almost regretful voice. "He will," Diane said with certainty. "I am very, very rarely wrong," she added with another grin. With that, the conversation turned to lighter subjects, Sophie at much of the talk"s helm. Diane was gratified to see Ana join in, offering her own, somewhat strange opinions on such things like clothes. Wearing breeches every day. Really now. But Diane and Sophie discovered something they would never have guessed at before-Ana was funny, honest, and engaging. She made both Sophie and Diane laugh more than once with one of her silly expressions or little other-worldly quips. As her hair finally dried, Diane glanced at the dark dress she had set aside, and smiled. "Change into this," she said as she offered the gown to Ana, who took the thin Calimar wool dress with care, gratitude twinkling in her eyes. Before Ana could say anything, Diane merely waved her into the bathroom. As the door clicked close, the teacher and the student spent a few moments in silence. "Ana and Felix, then," Sophie murmured. Diane nodded. "A sight that spawned from both of them." After a moment, Sophie smiled, the curve honest. "She"s a lovely young woman. I rather like her." Diane smiled. "I do, as well." Clearing her throat, Diane slipped on her leather ankle boots. "We should go out to the garden." Never one to argue about spending time with her plants, Sophie also pulled on her shoes. Just as she finished tying up the laces, Ana emerged from the bathroom. "I knew it," Diane breathed. Her long hair braided loosely back and the dark folds of the dress accentuated by tiny flecks of silver, Ana looked like a goddess of the night. "Come on," Diane said, recovering faster than Sophie from the shock as she held out Ana"s shoes. "We"re going to get some fresh air." Felix fought to relax his spine and legs, but Ana"s pale face and glassy eyes still haunted him, the effort of merely being awake robbing her of what little strength she had regained. Against Felix"s advice, Howl had allowed Calcifer to stop the castle. Felix was concerned about them still being tailed, terrified of involving his family in the ugly chase that was unfolding. But somewhere in the rational part of him, Felix acknowledged that even a star could burn out. Restlessly, he paced the green field the twins had claimed as their playground, keeping one eye out for his niece and nephew. Tommy and Leena hadn"t seen him in months-his last fireplace commune had been regretfully brief, right after he had joined with the band of gypsies. A private fire had been difficult to come by, and Felix had felt the separation deeply. The children were very dear to their honorary uncle-it would take something only as worrisome as Ana"s health to distract him from the joy of seeing the twins again. With a panther"s aggression, he circled back to the rock where Howl and Markl lounged, the younger spreading his long frame back in what appeared to be a nap in the sun-Felix knew better. Markl kept a sharp ear out for any yips or cries from his children. If anything were to happen, Felix had no doubt Markl would be the first to be at his children"s" side. Howl leisurely sat on the ground, his legs crossed at the ankles with his back resting against Markl"s rock, his sapphire gaze tracking Tommy and Leena as they romped through the grass in determined competition. Their proprietary grandfather, it always seemed to Felix that the reason his father did so well with children was that it had taken his marriage to Sophie for him to finally grow up. With nervous energy, Felix tightened his course, merely circling Howl and Markl instead of circumventing the entire field. Finally, Howl loosed an impatient sigh through his nose, speaking in a surprisingly mild voice. "Felix, sit down before you wear a furrow in the ground." Instead of sitting, Felix merely stood, vibrating with anxiety. "Felix, sit!" With a humph, Felix flopped down into a jumble of limbs. Tapping his foot against the ground to the beat of a hummingbird"s heart, the man kept his cobalt eyes pinned on the castle. "I am not a dog to be commanded to sit," he muttered, the venom born of worry worming its way into his tone. An uncouth snort erupted from Markl, who earned a scalding glare from Felix that would have burned off his eyebrows had he been able to see it. "Down, Killer," Howl murmured, patting an understanding hand on Felix"s stone-hard, corded shoulders. Howl sensed the growl resonating in his son"s throat, laughing gently to defuse it. Instead, Felix"s hackles rose higher. Markl"s voice sleepily floated down from his splayed-out spot atop the sun-warmed granite entrenched in rich earth that had supported strong farm land decades ago. "We could always dunk you in the lake to cool your hot head." Felix"s anger peaked, then relaxed, Phantom Lake winking with charm not so far in the distance. With a soft laugh, just strong enough to avoid a tremble, he shook his head. "Some family you are. Threatening physical violence and calling me derogatory names in the face of my distress. Mother would understand." "Your mother is a woman," Howl said with finality. It was only here in the company of his men did he dare such a statement. And, in truth, he didn"t even really mean it. Not anymore. Twenty years ago was a different matter. But as Sophie was fond of saying, he was, indeed, a changed man. "She"d knock your block off if she heard that," Markl said, that lazy tone still in his voice. Howl shrugged, but they all knew that he was merely joking. Felix smiled, then sobered, his worried eyes flicking back to the castle, searching the windows, looking fruitlessly for a flash of light or color that would discern where Ana was. "She looked so tired," Felix said quietly, speaking to no one but himself. But, of course, his companions had to answer. "Of course she did. You would too," Markl stated, confident in Ana"s strength to recover. "Maybe we pushed her too hard. Her body is still recovering from what happened during the ambush." Felix"s voice had never taken that tone before-worry, fear, and something none of the men were comfortable discussing. "You know," Markl said as he levered himself upright, "I have yet to hear the whole fantastic tale. Everyone"s being rather tight-lipped about what little they know. Care to elaborate, Felix?" The man sighed, smiling as the children caught his eye without any of his usual spark. "Ana came through in a crossing near Luxton. I was planning on cutting down through the Ruby Forest before making my way to Kingsbury. But I was going to rest and stock up for a few days before moving on. Needless to say, when I saw a lightning crossing starting to build, my plans changed. As soon as she landed, I knew that Ana wasn"t trained. She has massive potential in her blood-no doubt you already noticed that. But you must also have noticed that she has absolutely no training." Howl nodded, already having heard this fragment of the story. "Were there any Arsalans in the area?" Markl asked, intent and involved in the account now. "Of course," Felix muttered, a kernel of bitterness over that bit of rotten luck still burning in his gut. "And you can only imagine how much Apollo would lather after a prize such as Ana. It"s like having your own personal comet. I couldn"t allow her to fall into such hands." "That, and she"s rather gorgeous." Tommy and Leena looked up from their dirt-drawn treasure map at their father"s yelp. He was rubbing his upper arm, and scowling at Felix, who had a small, vicious smile on his face. "Needless to say, we had to move, quickly. I irritated the Arsalans a bit-" "How much was a bit?" Howl asked, a concerned noted flitting through his voice. "Well, they shot at me, so take that as you will." "They shot at you?!" Markl yelled, still rubbing his sore arm. "They threatened the town," Felix said, subsiding Howl and Markl"s concern slightly. "Anyway, the next day, Ana and I made our way out of town, and we had to draw the Arsalans onto our trail to shift their focus, and vengeance, from Luxton. We made good progress, and by nightfall, had established a strong lead." "Do I even want to know how you got your lead?" Markl groaned. Felix grinned that blade-keen, almost frightening smile his father knew so well. "No, not really." Markl made another loud noise, which Felix promptly ignored before moving on with his tale. "So the next morning, the day of the rainstorm-" "The day you called us," Markl interrupted. "Indeed. I had thought the Arsalans were still miles behind us. I echoed to check," he defended at the look on Howl"s face. "I still don"t know how they managed it. They split us up after bursting out of the bushes. I didn"t think Ana would do anything-she has no powers to speak of. What could she do?" Felix shook his head, reliving the intense wonder of watching Ana"s gift burst to life. "I created a diversion." Felix cleared his throat at Markl"s expression with a small grin. It faded as he continued. "I told her to run. I still don"t know why she didn"t listen! Instead of running for cover-" "And abandoning you," Howl interjected, his eyes deep and all too understanding. "Well," Felix murmured, trying to regain the thread of his tale. His father"s gaze dredged up the memory of his pounding heart as Felix had watched the light dance in Ana"s predatory eyes. "She stayed. She stayed, and took on half a dozen Arsalans on her own. She conquered two before she commandeered a horse and a blade." Felix didn"t see Markl"s eyebrows as they winged up. "She showed full mind control-she knocked out a man and controlled an Arsalan"s horse flawlessly. She mind-bound it to her," he added at the soft expressions of disbelief on Howl and Markl"s faces. "She took down three more with a skilled blade-I had no idea she"d ever wielded a sword before in her life! Then she faced down the sergeant, the last of her half-dozen attackers. She lit her blade," Felix stated, his voice heavy with meaning and understanding. Howl and Markl were quiet as they contemplated the implications of Ana"s actions. War magic was one of the most difficult, taxing branches of magic, the other being shape-shifting. And lighting a blade was equal only to creating your

Trotting down the main staircase, trailing a hand down the banister, Yui squinted out the grand windows flanking the door, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever had come calling. But the glass might as well have been warped metal for all the good it served to see outside, painted opaque with a rippling flow of water. With little caution - after all, she had a sextet of hormonal, antagonistic vampires at her back - Yui pulled open the door, the mist of shattered raindrops caressing her face like a cool hand. "Yes?" That, however, was all the more she managed to get out when she caught a full glimpse of who stood on the doorstep. The woman was a little older than Yui, her hair and lashes darkened to near black by the rain, wreathed in drops that caught the light from the chandelier and made her appear to almost sparkle. A flowing peasant skirt, dark teal embroidered with sparkling silver beads, flowed around long legs, ending over brown riding boots that looked comfortably worn and thoroughly damp. Yui couldn"t see much of the loose burgundy blouse she wore, not under the rain-stiffened denim jacket, ending at her hips and accenting strong shoulders. The stranger had a hard jawline, soaring cheekbones, a slightly crooked nose, and lips that were currently pulled in and bloodless. All of that made her look quite intimidating; but it was her eyes that appeared downright lethal, causing Yui"s shoulders to instinctively hunch. At first glance, they were the color of steel, harsh and sharp. They moved over everything beyond Yui with fast, ruthless strokes, taking in her surroundings in a manner that reminded her of a hunter. Not a gleeful sort of stripping, the way the guys often looked at her. No, this woman"s eyes moved like bullets, swift and calculating, with just enough wariness to hint at bitter experience. It was only when her gaze returned to Yui that she saw a soft ring of green around the pupil, a plush hint of color that would disappear when her pupils dilated. "Yui? Yui Komori?" the woman asked in a clipped, brisk tone. Remembering her manners, and the downright ferocious tendencies of her housemates, Yui gestured the newcomer in, noticing the compact leather bag she carried and the strong, swinging gait that took her under the elegant light of the chandelier. She shook back that dense mane of long, dark hair, the small braids running along the top half of her head limp and water-logged. Turning those eyes, granite-hard and piercing like a hawk"s, back to Yui, she raised slightly winged brows, waiting for an answer. "Yes, I"m Yui Komori. Can I help you?" Yui couldn"t quite help it - her voice sounded as small as she felt. The stranger easily towered over half a foot taller than her, and looked more like a fighter than anything else, despite the pretty dangling silver stars that sparkled at her ears. She stuck out a hand, and Yui hesitantly took it, noticing the ridge of callouses, the long, almost delicate bones, and the faint knots from old breaks. "Kit St. Peter. And I"m here to help you." "I-I"m sorry?" Yui stammered, too shocked by this woman"s crazy statement to remember to release her hand. Despite the chilling rain, the coolness of Kit"s skin was only superficial; heat was already radiating back to the surface, and Yui could almost feel the pulse of blood pounding underneath her skin, see it blooming in her previously wan face. Oh, God. If one of the boys came down now- "Well, well. Yui, you little minx. So good of you to go out and bring us something to eat on such a dreary day. Darling little Pancake." Damn. All of the Sakimakis drawled in that tingling, sexual tone that had to be illegal in at least four districts, but only Ayato had that bright, sassy timber. He was also the only one that insisted on still using that annoying nickname. Easily remembering how terrified she"d been during her first encounter with the brothers, Yui scrambled for something to say, something to reassure and defuse Kit"s concerns while getting her out of here. When she looked, though, it was apparent she needn"t have bothered. Kit had slipped her hand from Yui"s grasp, shifting slightly to range herself between Yui and the teenaged vampire slinking down the staircase. Was Kit... trying to protect her? Edging over, trying to read the woman"s face, Yui felt the blood drain from her head when she caught Kit"s expression. It was... brutal. She eyed Ayato with a predatory malice, the naked hatred in her cold eyes belying the fact that she didn"t know any of them. Did she? "You must be the youngest triplet. Ayato, right? The one conjuring up revolting nicknames and childish pranks to amuse his massively enlarged ego?" Good Lord. It had been some time since Yui had witnessed Ayato"s face twist in fury in quite that manner. And it took far less than Kit"s carelessly cruel words, spoken in a cutting, caustic tone, to rouse his temper. "What?!" he hissed vehemently, abandoning his dramatic entrance to leap the last dozen stairs to the entry hall floor, stalking forward, his fangs bared and his eyes lit with fury. Kit stood her ground, however, appearing almost negligent in her regard of the advancing, enraged vampire. Yui had just caught sight of a quick twist of Kit"s wrist when another voice rang through the marble hall. "Who is this?" Kanato had caught the sound of voices, and came to investigate. Before Yui could open her mouth to explain, Kit"s lips, slowly regaining a rosy color, twisted. "Ugh. Kiddy vamps. They"re the worst." If she was aiming to insult every one of the exceedingly dangerous men in this house, then Kit was off to a good start. Kanato"s pale purple eyes first widened in a patented expression of hurt confusion before darkening in vicious look that made Yui"s bones quiver. "I am the same age as my brothers. Which will make no difference when I gut you and knit a sweater for my Teddy with your intestines." This was quickly getting out of hand, but Kit just smiled, an expression quite similar to ones Yui had seen on the Sakimaki brothers" faces before, simply lacking the glint of exaggerated fangs. Briefly distracted by the appearance of his closest kin, Ayato resumed circling Kit and Yui, all but ignoring her in favor of the smart-mouthed stranger. She wasn"t confident that she would be able to stop them from killing Kit if things got any worse. There was really only one person who could- "Ayato. Kanato. That is no way to treat a guest, even if you do plan on draining her dry." As a unit, all four of their heads tilted up to where Reiji stood, straight as a spike, looking down at the rapidly degrading scene from the second-story walkway. Kit"s eyes narrowed, and for the first time since she saw her, Yui watched consideration, a sort of cautious measuring, tint her eyes. "You the one holding their leashes?" In lieu of agreement, Reiji nudged the corner of his glasses up as he started towards the stairs. "Someone has to," he murmured. Ayato and Kanato bristled, but fell silent as their brother began to descend the stairs, aiming a killing glance their way to make his point. "Shu Sakimaki?" His expression didn"t change, but Yui saw the way Reiji"s eyes flickered at the mistake. If Kit had been hoping for an ally, she"d just made certain that the bespectacled vampire wasn"t it. "No. I am the second son, Reiji." Before he could continue, Kit nodded. "Ah. So you"re the clever, cruel one obsessed with rules." Reiji"s brow quirked at the quick, careless summation of his personality, but didn"t deny it. Instead, he smoothly diverted. "It"s a pleasure to have you here, madam, but I must ask. Who are you, and what brings you to our door?" Kit tossed her hair back in what could only be described as a regal gesture. "I was invited" she said coolly, evading Reiji"s first question. "Who would be stupid enough to invite someone like you?" Subaru snarled from the shadows of the staircase, his hair glittering like alabaster and his red eyes simmering with a dislike she earned simply by breathing. "I would." All eyes whipped to where Shu had suddenly appeared, lounging on the last six steps like a sleepy prince. "So we have the baby delinquent and the deadbeat musician," Kit murmured under her breath. Although he undoubtedly heard her, Reiji ignored Kit in favor of frowning at his brother. "Why do we discover these things only after strangers have arrived on our doorstep?" Shu just shrugged, tapping his foot lazily in time with the music moving through the earbud he"d left in. This must be serious, indeed, if he"d taken one of his headphones out to listen. "That doesn"t explain why she"s here, or who the hell she is," Kanato protested with a frown, hugging his cycloptic teddy bear to his chest. Yui wondered why they were all keeping their relative distance. When they"d advanced on Yui her first night in the house, the brothers had crowded and prodded, licked and sniffed. Now, however, they were like a pack of wary wolves, eyeing the intruder in their midst with bloody interest, but cautious enough to maintain a safe perimeter. Yui had to admit that Kit did not seem like someone who would take a playful nuzzle on the neck very well. "I"m here because the choice is either putting up with me and my colleagues for a short time or having a garrison of High Order knights descending on this lovely house like a plague and snatching Yui away once the threat here has been eradicated." That crisp remark was followed by utter silence, the brothers" eyes falling on Kit with bright, terrible weight. Nothing made these vampires quite as dangerous as provoking their territorial instincts. Except Shu, of course, who still had his head tipped back against a step and his eyes closed. "What are you talking about?" Ayato snapped, surging closer to Yui. Kit shifted between them again, and he was forced to halt his advance, the two locked in a contest of wills. Kit looked away first, back to the two elder brothers on the staircase, but only because Ayato"s shoulders had lowered and his head slowly reared back. "I"m talking about the High Order"s ruling in regards to Yui Komori"s situation." Frowns abounded, and unnaturally bright eyes narrowed. Instead of responding to their expressions, however, Kit turned and faced Yui. The fierceness drained from her face, leaving reassurance and quiet strength. "You are very precious, Yui, and your continued survival is both cause for hope and further investigation. Your father"s faith is what sent you here, but in light of the events involving Richter and these idiots, your safety has been called into question. I"m here to protect you," she said softly, resting a hand lightly on Yui"s shoulder. Once she nodded, Kit turned her eyes back to the brothers and continued. "And to act as assessor. I will judge whether or not it"s wise for Yui Komori to remain in the custody of the Sakimaki brothers. She"s too valuable to leave to a bunch of little boys who are careless with their toys. We can"t risk one of you snapping her neck because you were roughhousing. Tossing her into a pool when she can"t swim and gnawing on her like a dog does his favorite bone is bad enough." "Your judgment in this matter is completely unnecessary," Reiji protested, his tone millimeters from a snarl. Kit inclined her head in acquiescence, a sharp smile shaping her soft mouth. "I completely agree. I proposed that we should just have the knights take her and be done with it. But this is a courtesy paid to one of the oldest full-blood vampiric bloodlines in existence. If I deem you all worthy, you can continue your twisted little game as though nothing has changed." "And if you don"t?" Yui whispered. Kit turned, the green slowly overtaking her eyes as she took in Yui"s expression. "Then you"ll be leaving. Vampires are dangerous under the best of circumstances, and if these nimrods can"t value and protect you, then they damn well don"t deserve you." "Come now, bitch," Laito drawled, having snuck close enough to murmur in Kit"s ear and trail his fingers along her cheek, moving her hair back over the shell of her ear to bare her pale neck. "There"s no need to-" Laito recoiled with a hiss. What happened next had everyone"s eyes going wide. Yui had never seen a mortal move so fast. Kit spun, her skirt belling out around her, and lunged at Laito. Yui couldn"t help it - she squeaked. The tall, dark woman fisted her hand in Laito"s white shirt, and since they were about the same height, yanked him in until they were nose to nose. Her eyes had gone from mossy soft to a silver hard enough to crack concrete, the light of bloodlust making her irises glimmer. But the most shocking aspect was the small, almost delicate stiletto hovering just against the soft underside of Laito"s jaw. After having produced it from seemingly out of nowhere, Kit"s blade glinted with sterling intent. "Fuck. You." The intensity of Kit"s measured words had the silence growing until it pressed against skin. By the time Ayato collected himself enough to move to his twin"s aid, Kit had released him, tucked her blade out of sight, and returned to where Yui was standing, shell-shocked and stunned. Before she leaned down to pick up her bag, she twisted to face Laito again. "And your stupid fucking hat." With that, she snagged her bag and straightened, addressing the hall at large. "My two colleagues will be here in a matter of days. Things got a little messy in Prague, and they stayed behind to mop up. I assume you have somewhere for us to stay in this gargantuan house?" She aimed her question at Reiji, but instead of responding to her, he nodded minimally at Yui. Remembering the bank of rooms across the hall and slightly farther down from hers", she assumed that was Reiji"s intentions. "This way, please, Kit," she bid quietly, leading the way out of the tension-soaked hall. Kit paused, however, near Laito. "Touch me again, and I"ll castrate you and shove you pathetic manhood down your throat until you asphyxiate on it." Flashing a narrow, sphinx-like smile, Kit continued after Yui, who was blushing furiously at the woman"s smoothly delivered threat. Together, they passed through the gauntlet of the eldest brothers, Kit remaining defiantly calm despite moving within feet of two of the most pure-bred vampires currently walking the earth. It wasn"t until the women"s footsteps had disappeared from even their advanced hearing that the brothers finally broke the shocked silence. "Bitch," Laito managed, having recovered his cocky confidence now that Kit"s hostile virulence faded with distance, readjusting his insulted hat and straightening his abused shirt. Thoughtfully, he rubbed the bottom of his chin, where the halo of silver had almost stung. "Indeed," Reiji murmured, his eyes still trained on the hallway the tall woman had disappeared through. "She"s wearing long silver earrings. Who does that?" Laito muttered, rubbing his still-singed fingertips together. He"d brushed against the delicate silver chains when pulling Kit"s damp hair, thick with the scent of rain and skin and herbs, back from the long column of her neck. However, everyone ignored the bitching induced by his wounded pride. Honestly, they were all a little dazed. It had been a very long time, if ever, since any creature besides each other had physically threatened them, with serious intent and weight, and survived. Usually flashing the fangs, manhandling a mortal a little, and tossing out a couple of kill threats was enough to bring any stray easily under command. Not this one, however. Her demeanor was dangerous enough; but there was something else, a kind of aura that felt almost... metallic. "She smells different," Kanato piped up. "Like steel and smoke." "That"s because she"s a hunter," Shu replied with relaxed indifference. However, every other being in the hall stiffened at his proclamation. "You invited a hunter into our home?" Ayato snarled. "And not just any hunter, either," Reiji added, his voice heavy with condemnation. "She"s a member of the Crimson Quarter, isn"t she?" Shu just shrugged again. "What"s the Crimson Quarter?" Kanato asked. Laito, Ayato, and Subaru all looked equally confused. Reiji sighed heavily; infants, all of them. "It"s the High Order"s version of a hit squad. They"re the most dangerous hunters at the Order"s disposal, and are touted to be without equal. If a pack of vampires gets too unruly or careless with their kills, the Order will send in a Crimson Quarter hunter. They usually don"t operate in teams of more than three, so they"re sending us a full squad of their elites under the guise of a truce." "Has to be better than a garrison of knights, though, right?" Ayato said hopefully. He didn"t need to see his older brother"s eyes to know that Reiji was resisting the urge to roll them. Instead, he pinned his magenta gaze on a snoozing Shu, more irritated than he could possibly describe. And his vocabulary was vast. "Not really. In fact, I think that woman and her compatriots are far worse than any army." Shu"s crystalline eyes flickered open briefly at Reiji"s irritated statement. "I thought it would be easier playing host to three rather than three hundred." Reiji"s response to that logic was simple. "Moron." Sighing through his nose, he looked again up to the doorway where he"d last seen the hunter"s straight spine. "We"ll have to be careful about this," he declared to his brothers, the younger ones ringed around the base of the stairs now that Yui and the hunter were gone. "Things could go awry very easily, and we could lose our bride." "I"ll rip them to shreds if they try and take her," Ayato violently promised. Reiji resisted the urge to shake his head, descending into his thoughts as the junior vampires began to bicker. They could likely silence the hunters if their opinion proved unfavorable. But it would cost them. Oh, it would cost the Sakimaki brothers dearly. He"d been right - a garrison of knights would have been far less hassle. But annihilation wasn"t the simplest path; much easier to play by the hunters" rules and wait them out. They were too valuable to post on babysitting detail for long, and if the High Order did send replacements, it was highly doubtful they would be of the Crimson Quarter caliber. No doubt proving easier to quietly dispatch and silence this matter for good. "Regardless," he said with a low voice of command, halting the sniping before it got any louder. "Our guest is to be treated with respect. We will follow the rules and get this over with as quickly as possible. Miss... What is her name, Shu?" "Christine St. Peter," he provided, not bothering to lift his eyelids. Shaking his head at his brother"s complete lack of concern, Reiji continued. "Miss Christine St. Peter is off limits. Give her and her fellow hunters a wide berth, and we have to use kid gloves with Yui. That is all." Like a general dismissing his troops, Reiji pivoted on his heel and marched up the stairs. As he moved towards his rooms, however, he paused in a dim hallway, the echo of his brothers" discontent still ringing in his ears. That, however, wasn"t what was commanding his attention. Pulling off his glasses and slowly polishing the lenses with a snowy handkerchief, Reiji ran his tongue around pointed teeth. No wonder the woman went by a nickname. It was as if her full name had been dipped in holy water, leaving the taste of ash in his mouth upon the speaking of it. Her name marked her as a hunter more thoroughly than her skill or attitude. She could be a serious threat. Well, he"d dealt with worse before. He might even enjoy this. Breaking a hunter of Christine St. Peters" quality would be quite a thrill. Reiji began calculating if it was worth the risk. Yui had picked the second room after hers on the opposite side of the hallway because she thought Kit would appreciate the view of the gardens. That, and the furniture was themed in a lovely, soft jewel green that she hoped would appeal. Clicking on the lights, Yui watched as Kit set her bag on a small side table, striding to the windows and whipping open curtains made of dark emerald damask, lined with a filmy layer of fabric the color of mint. Obviously, her concern had been pointless, as Kit paid zero attention to the fabric in her hands while her gaze swiftly passed over what little landscape was visible outside through the rain. After nodding at her reflection in the window, she prowled the edges of the room, looking for Yui had no idea what. Finally, though, Kit returned to where Yui uncomfortably stood slowly wringing her hands together and undid the clasp holding her bag closed, peeling off the water-hard jacket. Draping it over the back of a chair to dry, Yui could now see the loose, short-sleeved bohemian blouse the color of old blood, bound at her waist by a thick black belt, and a sturdy silver chain that disappeared beneath the gathered neck. She shook her wet hair loose before beginning to rifle through her bag. "Some digs," Kit offered as she began pulling things out. Trying not to stare at the foot long silver crucifix she"d produced or the broad, scrolled silver cuffs, each bisected by a thin stretch of black leather, on each of Kit"s wrists, Yui cleared her throat.

"Please. I"ve read the reports. And even if I hadn"t, you guys aren"t all that hard to figure out. Take you, for instance, Reiji. You might as well have been plucked from practically any book or movie about vampires, ever. You present yourself as a mystery, cloaked in cool composure and stern reason. But that"s just a mask, and often the most distant shells hide the ugliest needs or fantasies. Nice clothes and glasses don"t make you dignified; they just shroud a wicked temper and a mile-long mean streak. You"ve probably been a control freak your entire life to compensate for feeling helpless, which has segued nicely into your newest role of tyrant. You"re a bully, Reiji - desperate for attention and unspeakably angry at everything and everyone." The extent of his reaction was no more than narrowing his eyes and pursing already tight lips. "What about you?" he challenged. Well, Kit reflected as she remained silent, this was what happened when you went up against the smart one. She probably had this coming anyway. Tilting her head in invitation, the movement raised her chin and bared her throat. Reiji stalked closer; not enough to touch, but enough to bring him into the light spilling from the windows, highlighting broad shoulders and gloved, long-fingered hands. Enough to feel his presence like the weight of the scent of dark roses. Kit didn"t budge an inch. "You parade around like some valiant hero, but the reality is your bravado"s a ruse, a means to hide your crippling fear. So desperate to prove your worth, to prove that you"re more than your obvious beginnings in the dirt, to your chosen authority - it wouldn"t have mattered if you were an executive or a whore, you always seek adulation for actions you take simply to earn approval. You speak of honor and sacrifice, Christine," he said silkily, a delicate snort emphasizing his contempt, "yet you can"t claim either. You deride us as monsters, but, just like me and my brothers, you play for the kill. You"ve stared into the abyss for far too long, my lady. And the only inevitable end for you is death - either as a young hunter, or an old monster." They stared at each other for what felt like a long, long time. "If I didn"t feel compelled to kill you and every one of your kin, I"d say you"re just about the sexiest thing I"ve ever seen." Kit"s voice had gone husky, even as her stance sharpened into one that communicated aggression. The surprise lit Reiji"s eyes so briefly, it was as if it had never touched the deep color of his irises at all, quickly blanketed over by derision. "You revolt me," he murmured, the same way he"d condemn a poorly made dinner dish. Kit just shrugged with a teasing grin before turning away. "Yeah, well. I try." With that, she strode down the hall. Watching her go, Reiji eventually remembered to look into the shadows, seeing the remainder of the Sakimaki brothers that even Kit"s advanced vision had been blind to. Subtly, he shook his head to call off the hunt, then spun on his heel to head back to his rooms. That little confrontation had left him decidedly unsettled, and he wanted peace and quiet to think. Posting these shotgun style. Story will get awfully quiet after the initial burst is through. Kit is the most amazing bitch. I love her. Hope you like it! Love, Tango Kit wandered until dawn had bloomed bright and pink, the sun doing its best to reclaim the sky from the dark and clouds. She managed to finally fall asleep around six, appreciating the black-out backing to the curtains, keeping out the light of day. Tired enough to fall asleep fast and hard, Kit woke again around noon, too revved to stay down any longer. Cleaning and taking stock of her weapons helped calm nerves frazzled by this prolonged exposure to vampires she couldn"t kill. Checking and rechecking the wards around her room reassured her enough to take the chance to clean up and get dressed. Calm enough for company, Kit decided to seek out Yui. It was unlikely that she would run into a Sakimaki now; although they were likely too well bred to disintegrate in the sun, it would probably be pretty damn uncomfortable. Besides, they couldn"t stalk around being sexy and bloodthirsty all the time. Trotting downstairs in what she hoped was the general direction of sustenance, Kit thought about her encounters last night. Beating the crap out of Laito had gotten her blood up nicely. That confrontation with the albino spaz had made her confused, and a little maternal. The way you could feel maternal towards a baby alligator; they were cute and a little pathetic, but you always maintained the understanding that killing was written in their bones. As for Reiji...Oh, they had gotten in some solid hits last night. It was silently acknowledged that they"d both been pretty on the money with their scathing assessments of each other"s personalities. Despite the touchy subjects, it was understood that the confrontation hadn"t been personal - it was a play for strategic dominance. Knowing the character of your opponent was just as important as knowing their strengths and weaknesses, and last night had been a quick and dirty way to feel out just what they were up against in the other. The other five vamps Kit could probably juggle without too much trouble. But Reiji? His blood was sub-zero, and he would match every move she made with a very lethal maneuver of his own. If anybody could completely fuck this whole thing up, it was him. Any other hunt, and Kit had a feeling she would have enjoyed this enormously. "Oh. Good morning." Turning, she saw Yui approaching, looking fresh and delicate in a thin pink sweater and brown skirt, both adorned with small black bows. In her own dark jeans and indigo blouse with rolled up sleeves left halfway open over a black camisole, Kit felt like a hulking clod compared to her maidenly charge. "Or good afternoon," she amended with a slightly embarrassed laugh, gesturing out the window to the sunshine-filled courtyard. Kit just rolled her shoulders. "Depends on who you ask, I guess. You on the vampires" schedules?" Yui"s shoulders rounded, and she looked abashed. "Yes, I... they insisted on it as soon as I started staying here." "No respect for diurnals" Kit said lightly. "So where can I get some food? "Of course, I"m sorry." Yui led the way to the breakfast room, which Kit imagined went sadly unused in this house. Which was a shame, because it was sunny, warm, and quite cozy. Eggs, toast, sausage and bacon, fresh fruit, and coffee waited for them. Kit was surprised, as she hadn"t seen hide or hair of any staff, and she would bet serious money that none of the guys had managed this. It was quite a bit for one person to pull off, so it probably wasn"t Yui. Deciding to investigate that another time, Kit snagged at least one serving of everything, piling her durable but pretty china plate, white with small violets, high with food and balancing a tall mug of coffee, doctored with a splash of milk, over to the gate leg table overlooking the gardens and a pond. Yui joined her with a small bowl of fruit and something warm in a mug - the scent told her it was black tea. Apparently, they both preferred their caffeinated drinks with milk. For a while, they ate in relative silence, Kit observing the house, the landscape outside, and her breakfast mate. Finally, Yui broke the quiet. "You must have been hungry," she offered, stammering slightly as she pointed with her fork towards Kit"s place, with was steadily being demolished. She didn"t even bother looking chagrined. There was no point apologizing or feeling ashamed for something she couldn"t control. "I need a lot of protein. We"ve all got metabolisms like lightning, and if hunters want to stay on top of our game, we have to eat like horses. That, and I just really like food," she said with a shrug and a lopsided grin as she scooped up another bite of cheesy eggs. "All hunters?" Yui asked lightly. She was a little taken aback, however, when Kit"s smile faded away, and she swung her eyes out to the gardens as she chewed. "Yep. CQ"s are worse than your usual slayers, but any Order hunter has been... altered." "What do you mean?" Yui asked, growing more and more reluctant, and yet, perversely more interested, as Kit"s face slid into an expression of cold distance. "Humans are pretty fragile when you think about it. If we have any hope of going up against vamps and surviving, we have to be more than human. An average hunter will go through some sensory augmentation, some muscular advancement during the course of frankly brutal physical training. Crimson Quarters... well. We"re the best because we can survive anything. And that includes dark magics and some fucked up science to make us better hunters. A side result of all the crap we"ve gone through is that our bodies burn through fuel much faster than a normal person. Our tolerance to lack of food compared to the average human is about halved. You could say that dieting will never, ever be a concern for us." "But why would the High Order do such terrible things to you?" Yui protested. Taking a crunching bite of bacon, Kit sternly met her eyes. "Like I said. A regular human can"t cut it when it comes to battling vampires. You know the old saying, right? Something along the lines of "In order to defeat monsters, we must become monsters.' Those of the Crimson Quarter do that so the rest of humanity doesn"t have to. It"s just the way things are. So we deal, as best we can." Taking a deep drink of coffee, Kit held Yui"s eyes with intent. "Speaking of fragile," she said as she set her mug back down and picked up her fork. "You should think about some steps you can take to keep yourself safe here." "What do you mean?" Yui asked feebly. Kit just sighed hugely. "I mean you shouldn"t let them bite you whenever they want. Clearly your consent is completely irrelevant. Rapey McRapersons. Anyway, if you don"t want them to bite you, you"re going to have to be aggressive about it." "I don"t see what I can do to stop them," Yui said weakly. Kit held out her hand expectantly. "You"ve got a cross, right?" Nodding, Yui produced the pink cross she usually carried and set it in Kit"s palm, the chain clinking as it gathered. Closing her fingers and shaking her fist like she was shuffling dice, Kit frowned. "They told me a cross was useless," she told Kit. "This one is. It"s stainless steel and ceramic. Might as well be cardboard when it comes to warding off a vampire," she explained as she dumped it back into Yui"s hand. "But you didn"t even look at it. How did you know what it"s made of?" Lifting her hips off the chair, Kit rummaged in her back pocket as she answered. "Because, like vampires, hunters can sense silver. And a Crimson Quarter is also sensitive to crosses - that"s how I can tell the composition." Taking Yui"s other hand, Kit pooled another chain and cross, this one very simple, even delicate, into her grasp. "Now you can keep the other one if it has sentimental value, but I want you to have this with you at all times. Both the chain and the crucifix are pure silver. They can"t bite you on the throat if you wear it around your neck, and if you wrap your fist with the chain and punch, even slap them, they"ll think twice about going after you." "Are you sure silver"s effective, even just to the touch?" she asked. Kit finished the last of her food, washing it down with coffee. "There aren"t many advantages in combat against vampires, but the rule of silver never changes, no matter the kind of vamp you"re up against." Slowly running the chain through her fingers, Yui thought it over. "But I"ve seen them handle a silver knife without issue before." "Really? Do you have it with you now?" Nodding, she pulled out the blade from the pocket of her skirt. Subaru had been insistent that she always carry it. Plucking it out of Yui"s hands, Kit inspected it with narrow-eyed precision. Running her thumb down the spine, testing the edge, and tracing the wrappings on the hilt, finally Kit returned it with a nod. "They probably only handled the hilt, right? I mean, what"s so odd about that? It"s a knife. You"re supposed to only touch the hilt. It"s made of iron. Only the blade itself is silver. The wrappings help, too. That"s why they can touch it without incident." Digesting that information, Yui returned the blade to her pocket. "I"d also like to teach you some basic defensive maneuvers. Flailing and flapping isn"t going to do anything but get them worked up." Yui winced. "I don"t think that"s necessary." Gathering up her dishes as she finished off her coffee, Kit carried them to the sink, where she began running water and hunting up dish soap. So stunned by the display of domestic responsibility, it took Yui a moment to recover and clear her place as well. "Whether or not you think it"s necessary is irrelevant." Fast as a viper, Kit reached over and tugged down the neck of her sweater, revealing the bruising stamped over her neck and collarbone, most of the marks bisected by two incisions. Fang marks. Jerking away, Yui yanked her sweater back into place, color staining her cheeks like spilled wine. "The fact is, the only way I"m going to let you stay here is if I"m confident you"ll be safe. And the only ones who can ensure that safety are you or the vampires. And protection isn"t in a vampire"s nature." "They"re not as bad as you think. They"ve defended me before, even saved me." Kit just shrugged as she scrubbed plates and silverware. "Maybe, but you"ve got to remember I"m coming at this from an outsider"s perspective. And all I see are six psychotic brothers doing what needs to be done to stop a usurper from taking over control of the family, and them, by any means necessary. Not to mention, their toy had been altered without their permission into something nasty they"d thought had already been disposed of. If nothing else, that reeks of wounded masculine pride." Setting the dishes on a rack to dry, Kit turned to face Yui as she dried her hands, her face irrevocably set. Yui wasn"t quite sure why, but she felt compelled to defend that pride. "You can"t understand what Cordelia"s resurrection did to them. The awakening drove the brothers a little crazy, and it was painful, for all of them." Setting down the towel, Kit crossed her arms. "That"s assuming that you prescribe to the theory that vampires can feel emotional pain." "Of course they can!" Yui protested, unsure why she was so certain about this. "You have no idea what they"ve suffered, what was done to them when they were so young." "Bad pasts are reasons, not excuses," Kit replied, her voice and face utterly unyielding. "There"s a big damn difference. Some people just get dealt a crappy hand. But it"s up to the individual how it gets played. And those guys didn"t even consider picking a path that didn"t involve bloodshed and destruction. Full bloods have a choice not many vamps ever get to consider. Most don"t take it, but it"s still there. The Sakimakis didn"t even give it a second glance. And that"s on them." Remembering what she"d seen, what she"d discovered, Yui was shocked. "How can you be so cruel?" she whispered. Kit"s face hardly changed, but her eyes flashed, like lightning cutting through the rain as her eyelids dropped ever so slightly. Her voice lowered, and although she didn"t move an inch, Yui suddenly felt danger curling off of her in waves. "You have no idea just how cruel I can be." With that, she turned and strode out, leaving Yui with the sensation of sand coating her throat and tears weighing heavy in her eyes. The brothers often frightened her, but that had been... terrifying. Ten little words had made her blood run cold. Kit"s luck held; she didn"t encounter anyone on the way back to her room. She wasn"t mad, not really. She just wasn"t sure why Yui"s breathy accusation, made with the naïve certainty of someone still in possession of youthful faith and innocence, had dug so deeply under her skin. She wasn"t ashamed of her capacity for cruelty; she couldn"t be. No soldier could. Doubt was a paralytic, and a damn fine way to get yourself killed. So, no, she wasn"t angry. But she was wound tight enough to do damage that she had sworn to restrain herself from inflicting. And the perfect way to snap the last thread of control was to come across an ill-behaved, pretty vampire. Kit reached her room unmolested, however. A little too aggressive to quite settle into the tai chi sets that would kill her bloodlust, she decided to check in with the remainder of her team and see when they were due. She wasn"t sure what she would do if she wasn"t reminded what reason and loyalty sounded like. The phone was only programmed with three numbers: her two team members and their commanding officer, Father Gage Brandt. She dialed the oldest member of the team and paced with long, stressed strides. After what seemed like forever, there was the click of the call being answered. "Hello, Kit," a soft, gentle voice answered, somehow always managing to calm Kit"s rougher edges. "Anna," she acknowledged, still struggling to keep her suddenly ugly attitude from manifesting in her voice. Pronounced with a long "A" in the tradition of the colder realms of Europe, Anna was the eldest of the group, but the least experienced. She had been nine when she joined the Order, and hadn"t been inducted into the Crimson Quarter until she was nearly sixteen. Both Kit and the last member of the team had been CQ hunters since before they were in their teens. "How are things?" she asked, sympathy coloring her tone, knowing without having to be told that Kit was struggling. After all, what hunter wouldn"t be losing their marbles while stuck with their hands tied in a vampires" lair? "Shitty. Surprised?" Anna chuckled quietly. "Not really. That"s why you were sent in first, after all. You"re probably the only one of us who could still follow orders in that situation. No one else would take being hobbled when you"re alone very well." The sound Kit made was somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh. "I wouldn"t say I"m taking it well." "If you"ve gone this long without shooting any of them, I"d say you"re doing beautifully." Even though Anna wasn"t there to see her sarcastic reaction, Kit still let the expression move over her face anyway. "Gee, thanks. Any idea when you guys will be getting here?" She could hear Anna faintly conferring with someone in the background. "Deet says we should be there tomorrow if the weather"s good." "Oh, thank God." Kit could almost hear Anna"s smile over the phone. "Just keep it together a little longer, and then you"ll have all the back-up you could ask for." Kit hummed, leashing the last of her venom under control with Anna"s promise of their imminent arrival. If Kit stood as the best all-around fighter of their trio, then Anna acted as something of their strategist and field medic while Deet was the weapons master. They"d been a team for nearly three years, and had one of the highest success rates of the Crimson Quarter. Kit didn"t consider herself much of a people person, but her team were the two people on this planet she could actually spend a significant amount of time around without becoming irritated enough to puncture lungs. How she was supposed to survive this assignment without being demoted for disobedience because she ripped one of those vampire"s throat out, she didn"t know. But she"d stand a better chance of keeping her rank once her comrades got here. "Haul ass, alright?" she demanded gruffly. Anna just clicked her tongue. "Deet"s driving. Which means, living up to that reputation of driving like a bat-out-of-hell, we"ll be there before you know it." "Can"t be soon enough," Kit growled, secretly relieved by the reassurance. "Whining is unattractive, Christine. You might as well take the time and enjoy the scenery. I"ve heard it"s quite spectacular." Kit just rolled her eyes. Anna was the only person who could call her Christine and not end up with their eyes gouged out. "Not worth the big ass mouths they"re attached to, if you ask me. If I wanted to ogle some pretty man-meat, there are much easier places to do so." "Just trying to think positive," Anna said lightly. Kit nearly smiled. It was surprising, considering the world they lived in and the things they"d done, but she somehow managed to do just that. Deet played like it was all a joke, Kit"s sense of humor was dry as dust and sported sharp fangs, while Anna fought and struggled to maintain the most human, most balanced outlook on the world, not just among their team, but in the entire Order. Shockingly enough, she often succeeded. "You do that, Anna. I"ll see you soon." "Ta, Kit." The connection went dead, and Kit slowly lowered the phone as she heaved a huge sigh. It wasn"t exactly like the relief of going home with a mission completed, but she felt the weight on her shoulders a little less keenly now. This is pretty much all I"ve got. Could play with this some more eventually. Depending on how much you guys and I like it. Hope you like it! Love, Tango

the wrinkles seemed newer, and all the more painful for it. There was a bitterness and sorrow in those eyes that Ana had never seen before. Or perhaps had not wished to see. "Mum, he loved you," Martha huffed gently, shaking her head. "What your father felt for me was paltry compared to the love he felt for you. You were his Ana," she murmured as her mother ran gentle fingers through Ana"s hair. "You were his, more than you were ever mine. It wasn"t fair." Martha sighed as she dropped her hand from Ana"s face, standing slowly. "It wasn"t fair that he was taken. He still had so much to give you." Martha strode away to the kitchen, and Ana could hear the clattering of her mother putting on a kettle of tea. Ana had never seen her mother that way. Martha had a painful tendency to make light of the past, her triumphs and mistakes alike. Ana felt guilty about agreeing with her mother in the idea that she had loved her father more. Perhaps there was more to Martha O"Neill than Ana could have guessed. Returning her attention to the envelope, Ana ran careful fingers over the writing. There was a strange lump in the bottom right corner. Turning it over, Ana slipped her finger under the flap, intent on ripping open the letter, her hand trembling a little. After only an inch, though, the paper"s edge bit into Ana"s skin. With a small indrawn breath, she snatched her hand away, peering at the small cut. Blood welled until poised on her skin like a crimson pearl. Ana watched with a strange fascination as the drop of blood slid off her skin, plopping onto the envelope with a small ring. Ana winced at the blemish upon a rare gift from her father. Glancing towards the kitchen, Ana could hear her mother contentedly humming as she prepared tea. She always was something of a homebody. Satisfied that her mother wasn"t going to return any time soon, Ana determinedly finished the tear, pulling the thick paper out with gentle fingers. Taking her time to unfold it, she placed the letter on her lap with reverent care before looking again inside the envelope. Deep inside was a delicate bracelet. Pulling it out with confusion, Ana held the piece of jewelry up to the light. The metal appeared to be silver at first, but was darker, and almost iridescent. It was worked into the shape of a twisting dragon, green gems that were too misty to be emeralds set in the dragon"s eyes. Clutched in its small claws was a teal stone about the size of a marble. It rippled and shimmered with the light, and a strange buzz flitted into Ana"s blood from her fingertips, tripping up her arm until it hummed in her throat. There was something too powerful about the bracelet to encourage just any person to wear it. Setting it aside along the blood-stained envelope, Ana picked up the letter. She brushed regretful fingers over the spot of blood no bigger than a pea repeated twice, and started to read. But she had gotten no farther than "My dearest Ana," when the paper started to warm. The spot of blood became a pinprick of light, which slowly bled into the words until the whole sheet shone like a star. A soft keening drew Ana"s puzzled attention away from the letter to the bracelet she had set aside. Like the paper, the stone in the dragon"s claws glowed with a bright silver light. She gingerly picked it up, and almost dropped it again to find the bracelet warm as human skin, when only seconds ago, it had been cold to the touch. A gentle wind stirred Ana"s thick hair, and she had to tighten her grip on the paper to keep it in her hands as the air grew more aggressive. The pitch grew even higher, and Ana tucked the letter in her sweatshirt pocket while she slipped the bracelet on. "Mom!" she cried, but her voice barely carried over the wind. "MOM!" Ana could see her mother race out of the kitchen, a look of concern on her face when, quite suddenly, there was no floor beneath her. Ana dropped out of sight without so much a whisper, the hole closing over her head. This wasn"t the floor below, it wasn"t even outside. She was dropping through a field of black, pinpricked with misty stars that flew by in streaks of light. Too shocked to scream, Ana could only hug her arms close as she plummeted, fighting against the bone deep cold that tore through her clothes within seconds. There was terror within her somewhere, an instinctive fear of falling. But it was buried very deeply by confusion and wonder. What was happening, and how could it happen? There was no wormhole beneath her mother"s flat. And what could account for the behavior of the parchment and the bracelet? Ana could no long feel her feet and hands, and her face was a mask of ice. With her blood flow went her reasoning powers. Her stomach still in her mother"s flat, the rush of lights started to make her ill when combined with the cold, so, against all instincts, Ana closed her eyes. Pressing her lips harder and harder together, she couldn"t feel it when they started to bleed. Through her tightly closed eyelids, Ana could sense a change in the light. Glancing down, she clenched her teeth against a wave of sickness. Very, very far away was a little dot of light that was gradually growing larger. She was so cold she no longer shivered, just fell through the space like a block of ice. The dot started to widen until, about five feet across, she could make out blue within the hole. Frost was starting to lace Ana"s eyelashes and hair, and her breath came out in misty gasps. Still, she drew closer to the gap, which widened like a yawning mouth. Then, with a small yelp, Ana was through. Glancing up, she watched again as the hole closed over her head, snipping off a half-inch of hair. Now, she was falling through real air again. For a moment, she sailed through blue sky before slamming into a cloud. Just as she had started to thaw, the cold, this time a very wet and heavy chill, snagged at her clothes and skin. Ana was now blind, and had no gauge to measure her descent. Then, with the snap of the fingers, she was out of the cloud. The sun battled through the mists, shining stingy rays on the very far away ground down below. At the sight of the green slowly taking shape, a realization hit Ana. She had been freefalling for who knew how long, and was rapidly approaching the very hard, incredibly unforgiving ground. And she had no parachute. She was going to die. If she had the presence of mind, Ana might have started screaming, much good it would have done her. But Ana fell for a full fifteen seconds with her mouth gaping open, staring at the ground that she was very soon going to meet. She was only conscious again when an unfortunate bug splatted against her teeth. Sputtering and spitting with a vengeance, Ana was able to flex her fingers enough to wipe at the bug guts strewn across her face, making damn certain that she swallowed nothing. As she wiped away insect remains, Ana slowly began to realize that, beyond all possibility, she was slowing down. Her hair didn"t feel like it was going to be ripped out of her skull, and she could actually flex her legs out a little bit. Ana was still falling far too fast to survive unscathed-she had paid attention during this unit in physics-but maybe her parts wouldn"t be strewn quite so far apart. Yet she kept decelerating, slowly but surely. Ana actually dared to hope that, perhaps, beyond all reason, she wasn"t going to share the same fate as the bug she could still taste and smell. Finally, she drifted down onto a tree, landing without so much as a creak on the branch. Just as she rested her hand against the prickly trunk, a great crack shattered the quiet. "Oh, no," Ana whispered when, sure enough, the branch broke out from under her. It was her mother"s living room all over again, but this time, she was falling through a tree. While it did slow her momentum, Ana was pretty sure she heard the snap of bone when she landed on her side on a particularly large branch. However, for all her scrabbling hands, Ana slid off the branch as if it was greased, and continued her raucous descent, branches catching and clawing at her with all the tenacity of blood-thirsty claws. A particularly springy bow caught her across the cheek with the snap of a slap, and Ana could feel her skin part and blood flow under her left eye. Just as she was clearing the last ten feet of foliage, Ana could make out a person just underneath the tree. Despite her immense problem and rapidly accumulating pain, Ana had enough presence of mind to shout, "Shit! Move!" However, the unfortunate civilian either did not hear her or didn"t understand her heavily accented voice (Ana had a tendency to thicken her normally smooth English when she was stressed or afraid.) So, the circumstances completely out of her control, Ana landed quite ungracefully on the person. Her head smacked against the ground and, for a brief moment, Ana was enveloped in darkness. Felix had been aimlessly wandering through the forest neighboring Luxton the next day in much fairer weather when the first wave of light flowed across the hazy sky with a roar. Resonating from a point nearly directly overhead, the trolling lights pulsed like a heartbeat, deep emerald in color. The surges of color repeated like waves in a pool ringing out from a dropped pebble. After the leading edges of the third wave dimmed, a sharp crack sounded, followed almost instantly by a bolt of light streaking down through the sky to arrow at a tall oak, the light the same color as the waves. Breaking into a sprint, Felix followed the burning spear of light with intent eyes. He knew a crossing when he saw one. Positioning himself beneath the leafy boughs of the tree the frozen green lightning was targeting, Felix rolled back on his heels, burrowing long hands in the pockets of his trousers as he leaned back to watch the spectacle. Narrowing his eyes against the bright light, Felix blinked when the bolt of crackling energy evaporated. In its place, a black disk the size of the ring on Felix"s thumb spread high above, and he felt a fierce crook of his lips when a small figure fell through. It was a high crossing point, lending to the greater distance of the wizard"s travels. Felix had never actually attempted a crossing. His father preferred the castle"s door, but had scribed a circle or two when it was necessary. However, Felix had studied crossings in depth, and was puzzled by the wizard"s stillness. He should have started slowing his fall by now-it took time to halt so much generated momentum. Suddenly, the traveler exploded in a flurry of movement. It was no slowing spell, but at least Felix was certain that the wizard was conscious and wouldn"t splat all over the ground. After what seemed far too long, the wizard"s fall started to gentle. Eventually, he settled softly on a long branch high in the crown of the oak. Felix"s brow lifted at the feminine face he could see through the leaves. So the wizard was actually a witch. Interesting. Felix was just processing the concept when the branch the witch was standing on, presumably recovering from the crossing, snapped like the clashing of teeth. "Damn," Felix muttered. She crashed through the branches of the tree, and Felix rolled his weight back on his toes, following her violent fall with dogged eyes. He couldn"t slow her; she was moving too fast and erratically for Felix to get an appropriate lock on her body mass and slow her down. But he could cushion her landing. Hopefully, she wouldn"t break anything. He heard the witch yell something as she cleared the last ten feet of foliage, but her accent was too thick to understand. It sounded like a warning, but Felix wasn"t about to move right out from under her. His hands ready, Felix softened his spine and knees, ready to lessen the impact. As she tumbled free of the foliage, Felix sucked a deep breath, letting it ease out. The witch was lighter than he"d estimated, but the collision still sent the two of them rolling to the ground. Felix did his best to shield her from the blow, but her head still rapped sharply against the dirt, and Felix winced as her eyes rolled close. She had fallen across his body, the curve of her spine fitting across his ribcage. Moving carefully, his lungs still scrambling for the air knocked out of them, Felix lifted the witch"s legs, slipping out from under her while simultaneously setting her limp limbs slightly over. Pulling a breath deep in his lungs as he rolled to his feet, Felix moved over to her side, dropping down on the ground with a huff. For a moment, he sat still, listening for hoof beats or footsteps. It was unlikely that he was the only one in the area that had recognized the crossing, and it had turned out to be a lightning crossing, no less. There was no doubt that any Arsalans in the immediate area would leap at the chance to drag such a prize back to the capital and their mistress, Lady Witch Sylvia Apollo. However, it wouldn"t have been worth the hunt. The woman bore incredible amounts of power in her blood, but it was wild, and untapped. This was no witch. It was unlikely she"d ever even called upon her gifts. And for all the crackle of energy around her, she lacked a talisman, or a spirit form. So if she hadn"t traveled, Felix deduced, she must have been sent. Silence continued to reign, and Felix let out the breath he didn"t remember holding. Looking back at the woman, he was relieved to see her eyes blinking open, a hand moving to her forehead. She glanced around, a lost expression flitting over her eyes before sinking away again as she caught sight of the tree. She started to get up, but immediately laid back, a grimace twisting gentle lips. "Here," Felix said quietly, offering a hand to help her sit up as he stood again. She took it reluctantly, and he watched her brow furrow as he helped lever her up, shifting to press a supporting hand between her shoulder blades. Kneeling back down in front of her, Felix cradled her pale face in his hands. The pupils in her jade eyes were still rather large, and the cuts scattering her face, especially that large one under her left eye, marred a quiet, regal beauty. Her nose was straight and small, and her slightly gathered brows a mildly darker tone than her midnight fire hair. Gently running his thumb over her cheekbone, just under the wound, Felix started talking to distract her from the pain. "Rotten luck to have landed on a weak branch. I"ve heard crossing is hard enough without having to deal with falling through a tree." Felix made clucking noises with his tongue, keeping his eyes on the woman"s as the wound knit close with a soft blue glow. Once healed, Felix ran gentle fingers up over her face and into her hair, checking the area she had cracked against the ground. She winced, but he didn"t sense any blood gathering heavily under the skin or bone. She watched him with wary eyes, like an animal recently beaten. Felix wasn"t surprised-any human who crossed without prior knowledge of magic was certain to feel afraid. But he was unused to the expression turning his way, and it left an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, justified as it was. Settling back on his heels, he looked over the woman as she studied him, both kneeling only half a foot apart. There was something about her. She was so very different from his time and place; it was like handling a wild animal-foreign and disconcerting. And yet, somewhere deep in the back of his mind, her face tickled like a feather, a memory long forgotten and never touched since. As he looked the stranger over, Felix had to admit that his first impression of beauty was an accurate one. Her hair, though threaded with bits of branches, leaves, and grass, curled wildly, thick as rope and red as a dead sun as it tumbled untamed over her shoulders and down her back. She had a fair complexion, under the smudges of dirt and what little bruising had escaped Felix"s initial once-over. She was wearing some sort of strange, baggy tunic that exclaimed in faded blue letters "University of London." Felix was certain that he had never heard of such a school, or such a city. Her trousers were a strange blue material that Felix had never seen before, frayed at the ends and faded along the thighs and knees. Scuffed, sensible boots completed her ensemble, and left him confused. Where had she come from? Judging from her attire and demeanor, it was certain that she was as confused by him as Felix was by her. So, standing with a sigh and brushing at his legs, Felix offered her a hand to stand. He didn"t miss the wince in her eyes when she stretched the left side of her body upward to swing out her leg. Dropping her hand, Felix looked outwards again, this time sweeping with a spell for anyone in the nearby vicinity. Working something like the sonar of bats, it came back uninterrupted. They had time yet. Turning back to the woman, Felix cordially extended a hand, softly arranging a gentle smile on his face. "My name is Felix, a mage and the son of Howl. And you are?" She swallowed as she took his hand, but her grip was firm-and aspect that reminded him of his mother, and so always earned his respect. "Ana. I suppose I owe you my life, Mr. Felix-" "Please," Felix interrupted with a raised hand. "It"s just Felix. I have too many surnames for any one of them to be of use. And while you would have been in some rather serious trouble had you fallen out of that tree with no one around, I doubt you owe me your life." He pressed his free hand to the one clasped in his other hand, granting her a smile he hoped was warm and gentle. It had been a long time since he"d had to truly comfort or reassure someone. Her accent had softened, her voice rich and smooth like dark cream. She nodded in understanding with a rueful smile. Felix smoothly released her hand as soon as he felt the tendons in her long, almost fragile hand start to tense. "Well, Ana, considering you don"t know how you got to be here, can you tell me where you"re from?" She started a little, surprised at his knowledge. Ana was a private creature, obviously, unused to others knowing pertinent information about her. "Um... I"m from London." At the perplexed look on Felix"s face, she rushed on, lilting her voice to change the statement into a question. "You know, the capital of England?" When his expression didn"t clear, Ana blew out a hitching breath. "Ok, so if I can"t tell you where I came from, can you at least tell me where I am?" Felix was a little worried. Maybe she had hit her head harder than he thought. But where did she get those strange clothes, and that accent? If he listened carefully enough, it sounded like his mother"s. So how did she end up being sent through a crossing? "You"re near the town of Luxton, close to the border." "The Scottish border?" Felix frowned-he"d never heard of such a province. "No. Close to the border of Calimar." Ana started to look upset, pressing a hand to her forehead as she turned slightly away. He could hear her muttering under her breath, catching a few choice snippets. "Crazy," "Calimar," "Martha," and "What the hell?" was all the more Felix could make out of her conversation with herself. Settling his face into benign lines, he folded his hands and waited for Ana to resettle. Talking to yourself was nothing strange-it was just conversations with the other parts of your soul. His father did it all the time. It was just that Calcifer was outside Howl"s body, instead of inside it. While Felix didn"t feel comfortable with pushing Ana while she was clearly upset and disoriented, he caught the faint report of hoofbeats, raising the hairs on the back of his neck almost instantly. It was time to go. Ana was still puzzling away when Felix snatched her arm, tugging her away from the tree, its branches blatantly broken and pointing their broken, irritated fingers straight at them. Felix had been keeping out of Sylvia"s sticky clutches for quite some time-he had no intention of being caught now, especially with some disoriented, upset foreigner in his care. Ana tried a short complaint, but Felix quickly hushed her as he dived into some underbrush, shielding her while he looked out through the leaves. Moments later, a platoon of cavalry men, totaling about 10 or 12, raced by, the shouts and grunts of command edged with the impatience of hunters. Their horses cleared a heavy log blocking the path with the thunder of racing hooves, and silence again fell. Stepping clear of the bushes, Felix set a steady pace back to Luxton, careful to keep away from the main trails that the Arsalans were sure to comb. Ana went along willingly enough, but not without some questions. Felix tried to keep his patience about him-her questions seemed painfully obvious, but he had to remind himself that Ana was not of this world. "Who were those men?" she asked, sensible enough to keep her voice down. "Arsalans," Felix answered shortly, trying to discern a passable way through a thicket of dense huskberry bushes. But Ana continued to talk, and unwillingly drew Felix"s attention away from the puzzle of the bushes. "What are Arsalans?" she queried, her voice wavering a little. Clenching his teeth to swallow the short, disbelieving retort that wanted to shoot out of his mouth, Felix turned back to Ana. She was starting to come out of the daze induced by her fall from her world and the tree. And it was

Eleanor shook her head, "No, Robert, then my mum and then you can go up there." Sarah Alice grinned, aware of the small parcel she"d hidden under the table. Robert Henstridge took to the stage, "When Eleanor first met Jasper I was stranded on the island and that probably was quite a good thing, because I"ve always been too overprotective of my sister. As a result of that, these two managed to grow closer and fall in love. Now I know a lot of you are aware that Jasper and I aren"t as close as Liam is to Jasper, but that"s not because I think he"s a bad match for my sister- he wouldn"t be sitting here today if I didn"t approve of him. Inviting Jasper into our family has opened up my eyes, we live in different times and in a different world. Maybe it"s time I gave being all proper a bit of a rest, then we won"t let good people like Jasper pass us by. I want to join everyone in raising a glass, to Jasper and Eleanor, and of course, little Henry Edmund. Cheers!" Eleanor gave Jasper a mortified look, "You promised not to tell anyone!" "I didn"t," Jasper replied, "Except my mom, and she promised not to tell anyone. I swear, I have no idea how this happened." Eleanor shook her head, "Ok, fine. I"m not going to blame you for tell your mom, I told my mum and James too. Maybe it just came out by accident." Jasper sighed, "Well judging from the whispers everyone seems to like the names. I just hope the general public does too." Helena took to the stage, "Judging by the hushed whispers you"re all still reeling from that name reveal, so I"m going to keep this short and sweet. When Jasper came to the palace I knew immediately that there was connection between him and my daughter. At first I didn"t think he was good enough for her, but over time he proved himself more than worthy. Few of you here know that it was Jasper that found out about Ted Pryce. Jasper"s never been one to brag about that, he just does what he does because he cares for all of us, and for Eleanor especially. Which is now why I support you two and of course, Henry, as well. And I know Simon is smiling down on both of you right now." Sarah Alice grinned realising that it was her turn and grabbing the parcel from under the table. "And now, of course," Helena said, "A very very important speech." Sarah Alice darted towards the stage, grinning as she climbed up the steps and took the microphone. "Hi," Sarah Alice said, "Just so you all know King Robert has been very very naughty tonight." The crowd laughed. "He wasn"t supposed to tell anyone the baby"s name until he was born," Sarah Alice explained, "But anyway, I"m not really sure what to say. I"ve never been to a wedding before. So I guess I"ll just tell you about why Eleanor and Jasper Caterpillar are my best friends in the whole wide world. When I came to palace for the first time I was really really nervous because it was so huge and my daddy had just been made the head of security so I knew he was going to be super busy. Daddy always talked about how much he loved working for the royal family and being the Princess"s security detail, even if she was quite naughty a lot of the time. "But Eleanor and Jasper Caterpillar were there for me. They didn"t mind putting up with me. Or going behind my Daddy"s back to give me chocolate and ice cream. "Jasper Caterpillar was even my boyfriend for a little while- before I knew that he loved Eleanor. And I knew that the Caterpillar and the Princess needed to have their happily ever after, because all princesses get their happily ever afters. So I helped them realise how much they loved each other, by forcing them write their own love letters after they tried to get my daddy to write their love letters for them, and by sneaking into the princess"s room so that Jasper would have to find me and then he"d be there when the princess returned. Oh, and on Christmas Eve, Jasper and I made a storybook to give to the Princess- Frosty the Caterpillar and The Princess"s adventures with Alice in the palace. Jasper Caterpillar was really sad when he couldn"t give it to Eleanor on Christmas Day, he even cried. But he had to go away and slay a dragon, so instead I gave the present to Eleanor because I thought it was silly of Jasper Caterpillar to make her wait such a long time for her Christmas present. Then they got back together, and now they"re going to live happily ever after for ever ever which is awesome. It"s awesome that they"re going to have their own little caterpillar too. I don"t know where Croatia is, but I hope that you really enjoy your holiday. Oh, and Eleanor, Jasper and I really hope you like the sequel." Eleanor smiled as Sarah Alice raced towards her with the present, and she hugged the little girl, trying to hold back tears, as they crowd clapped and cheered. "Good job, little elf," Jasper told her, giving her a high five. "Open it!" Sarah Alice cheered, "Open it!" Eleanor smiled, as she carefully tore the wrapping paper to reveal the story book inside. "Jasper Caterpillar, the Princess and their baby caterpillar live happily ever after," Eleanor read, "This is beautiful, Sarah Alice, thank you." The little girl grinned. "The plane is ready your highnesses," Rosie told Jasper and Eleanor as they stood up. "I"m going to miss you," Eleanor told her little friend, as she hugged her. Sarah Alice grinned, "Me too. But please make sure you have a great time." "What about me?" Liam asked, "Are you not going to miss me?" Eleanor shook her head, "Why on earth would I miss you?" Liam sulked before hugging his sister. "Have a great time," Helena told them both, "Things are going to get crazy very very soon." James smiled, "Yes, have a great time your highnesses." "I hope you can find a good temporary babysitter," Jasper answered. "Don"t worry, Rosie and Liam will cover for you," Sarah Alice announced despite Liam trying to protest. "Come on you two," Rosie said, "Wheels are up in fifteen." The sun was setting over the rocky coastline of Dubrovnik, weaving its way through the old stone walls of the old city, casting shadows here and there and bouncing off of the red roofs as it disappear behind the mountains of another island. Jasper and Eleanor strolled through the narrow streets and for once in her life it felt weird to the young Princess to not be followed by stares and whispering all of the time. In fact given her dark hair and tanned skin she seemed to blend right it and could even pass for one of the locals; Jasper on the other hand, with his fairer looks, was obviously foreign. Eleanor told herself that once she got home she"d make a point of finding out if they had any Yugoslav ancestors. "It"s going to be sad to leave this place," Jasper told her, "We should come here again in the future." Eleanor nodded, as they walked hand in hand, "Yeah, I"m going to miss Dubrovnik too. But I"m sure we"ll both love the Plitvice lakes as well." Jasper smiled, looking forward to their across country trip that would start the following morning. They"d be travelling north and inland over the mountains to visit Lika County and the Plitviče Lakes and the Dinaric Alps before travelling to Zagreb. They were half-way through their honeymoon and had already visit several of the islands along the Dalmatian Coast, Istria and the city of Zadar. Jasper could still hear the sound of the Zadar sea-organ playing in his ears. He was happy to in Croatia- he"d wanted to visit ever since he"d first seen a picture of country when he was ten, and he was a Game of Thrones fan too so he knew that Dubrovnik was King"s Landing. He had never expected to travel to such a beautiful place, and to also fall in love with such a beautiful woman. "You know we"ll be able to do this a lot now," Eleanor told Jasper, "I"m not at uni and you"re not officially Liam"s security detail anymore. We"ll be expected to go on a royal tour very soon- a few months after Henry arrives. Liam and I- we"re arguing over somewhere very very special. I really hope I get it. But with the way Liam and Robert are at the moment- well I can see him sending Liam to the other side of the world." Jasper grinned, "Yeah, but you"re forgetting that your brother doesn"t particularly like me either." Eleanor smiled, "I think you"re growing on him." Jasper shrugged, "I don"t know. I just hope he"ll be a good uncle." Eleanor smiled, "Now, let"s go celebrate our last night in Dubrovnik in style. Holden and Ivan used to go here every summer to party- and they"d always go to this fancy Greek restaurant and apparently it serves the best non-alcoholic wine in the whole of Dubrovnik- although I have no idea how they know that, their father is Russian so it"s not like they weren"t raised on vodka." Jasper smiled, "It"s going to take a while for me to get used to fine royal food. I"ve always been more of a Target ready meal kind of guy." Eleanor smiled, "Well, leave it to me. I"ll give you a good initiation into royal life. Now, dinner first, and then there"s a street party later on tonight that I"d love to check out." "Street party?" Jasper asked worriedly. Eleanor grinned, "Stop fretting, I"ve been in far racier nightclubs. It"s just dancing, Jasper. I want to do something normal, and around here I can get away with being non-princessy and being a normal girl." Jasper smiled, "Ok, but I insist on being by your side the whole time." Eleanor rolled her eyes, "Of course you will be, now let"s go, I"m starving." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Sarah Alice sat in her father"s office re-reading her postcard from Jasper and Eleanor. They"d been Skyping as often as they could and sending them lots of pictures and despite only going to Spain a month and a half before Sarah Alice wished she could be there with them. She didn"t quite understand the concept of honeymoons and despite knowing she shouldn"t, she was upset that they hadn"t taken her with with them. "Hey little elf," Willow said, as she spotted the little girl. Willow and Sarah Alice had become good friends in the past couple of weeks. With no Jasper and Eleanor to hang around with, Sarah Alice had attached herself to Liam and his new, albeit secret, girlfriend. Whilst Liam was still not very princey and a little boring at times, Willow was fun and cool and always knew the best restaurants and cereal bars and never worried about what her Daddy would say if he found out that Willow had been sneaking her down to the kitchen to get ice cream. Of course, Sarah Alice had still been hanging out with Rosie, but she was too sensible for the little girl. Whilst they had conspired before when Jasper needed help to get back in Eleanor"s good books, they weren"t very close. Sarah Alice missed Eleanor and Jasper and she knew that they wouldn"t be home for another two weeks which seemed like such a long time to the little girl. Sarah Alice picked up the book that sat next to the postcard on the desk, it had been a gift from Jasper- a going away present. It was a book about fairies, the cover was glittery and sparkly, and the story was very good. Sarah Alice concluded that she was going to make sure that there was a fairy included in the next Jasper Caterpillar and the Princess book. "Hi, Willow," Sarah Alice said, as Willow look through one of the files, finding what she needed and placing it in the file she was holding, "What are you doing?" "I"m writing a report for the Memorial Garden," Willow explained, "You know, it will be opening soon. I"ll make sure you"ll be invited to the opening ceremony." Sarah Alice grinned, "Thank you." "Well, I"ll see you later," Willow said as she waved to the little girl and Sarah Alice waved back. Sarah Alice sat bored for a few moments- she could always go exploring she thought. She hadn"t done much exploring recently, and the palace always had secret doors and corridors. It wasn"t like the London palace with the secret tunnels. There was nowhere here where she could wander off and not be found. Of course that was always an issue when she played hide and seek with Jasper. She knew he cheated by looking at the security cameras. But of course having the cameras meant that she was allowed to wander wherever she wanted. Right now she was headed towards the King"s room. She"d managed to sneak into Eleanor"s room so many times that it was no longer fun and she"d snuck into Liam"s room before, but there was nothing cool to look at- no art work and nothing sparkly. But the King"s room- that was something different, something far more exciting. Of course, it would only be exciting if she wasn"t seen. So she tip-toed carefully looking both ways as she hurried across the corridor- hoping her Daddy wasn"t watching the cameras because he probably thought she was up to no good and about to steal food from somewhere. Once Sarah Alice reached the other side of the corridor she quickly raced down the narrow pathway to where the King"s room was situated at the far end of it. She reached up to open the door and found that it was fortunately unlocked. She walked inside and dragged a chair to where the light switch was standing on it to turn the lights on, hopping down to walk around the room. It was very plain and simple with a neatly made bed and imposing mahogany furniture. There were no personal affects- which didn"t surprise the young girl- this was only the King"s holiday room and he"d left quickly after the wedding reception, taking everything with him. Well almost everything. Sarah Alice walked across to the dustbin and pulled out a single sheet of crumpled paper. Opening it. Maybe it was a love letter. Sarah Alice frowned as she read it though- it was definitely not a love letter- and she was too young to know what a contract looked like. Instead, hearing someone close by, and knowing she"d get in a lot of trouble if she was found to be snooping through the King"s things- especially his letters- she stuffed the piece of paper into her shoe and made a hasty exit. She"d hide it later- she had the perfect hiding place and doubted anyone knew about it. Maybe Jasper would know what it was- she"d ask him once he got back- he wouldn"t care about her snooping in the King"s room. "What are you doing in there?" James asked his daughter as she tried to sneak out of the King"s room. "Just exploring," Sarah Alice said nonchalantly. "Bored?" James asked his daughter. Sarah Alice nodded. "I heard Liam was going to the beach today," James said earning a smile from the little girl, "Go on. I"ll join you later." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAKHelena and her son were enjoying a late lunch in their private dining room, something which most of the time they were unable to do, on account of them being so busy with their charity work and other important meetings. In fact, it was more of a working lunch, although a relaxed one. Helena was selecting pieces for her fashion show and emailing Eleanor to see what her thought were. Unlike the year before when they"d been competitors, they were now working together- with the tunnel as their location. Helena knew that Eleanor would probably not be able to attend the show but she still wanted to make it special for her daughter- especially as Eleanor planned to design the stage and backdrop. Robert on the other hand was reading a few newspapers an idea churning in his mind. "Mother," Robert began. "Yes, dear?" Helena asked. "I"ve been concerned about something," Robert admitted, "Recently the papers have been discussing that we"ve glossed over Father"s proposal- the referendum. That it hasn"t been discussed enough. I wanted to know what you suggest- I mean, it was Father"s idea, not mine- but I want to respect his point of view and show the people that I respect it. I don"t want a referendum, and I"m not sure that, given the opinion polls, it would actually change anything. Maybe I should meet with anti-monarchists- see whether or not we can come to some agreement." Helena shrugged, "They"ve always backed the referendum idea." "Really?" Robert asked, "I thought they always supported your idea to make my cousins look like half-wits and for you to be the final monarch." Helena rolled her eyes, "I am sorry about that Robert, but I thought you were dead, and that Liam wouldn"t be able to handle the responsibility. Anything better than Cyrus, that was what I was thinking." Robert nodded, "And what do you make of Eleanor climbing these opinion polls?" "Good on her," Helena replied. "I think a lot of people want her to be Queen," Robert answered, "She"s certainly become iconic in recent months. You know sometimes I wonder, what with the murder of Father, Ted Pryce and that whole fiasco, and the drama surrounding us. I wonder just how much Eleanor had kept us afloat. Maybe we should work on elevating her position within the royal family." Helena frowned, "What do you mean?" "Well," Robert said, "She is having a little boy, with a name that"s been carried through our family for centuries. He"ll be third in line to the throne. But, given that I won"t be marrying for a little while yet- I was wondering, maybe we could get Liam to step down, for the sake of our nephew, so that if, god forbid, anything were to happen to me, Henry would be the next King, with Eleanor and you as regents." Helena frowned, "So you"re saying that if you were to die without a male heir?" Robert nodded, "Yes, Henry would be King." Helena nodded, "I think Liam would be happier to abdicate to Henry than to anyone else." "Yes," Robert said with a smile, "If we elevate Eleanor"s position to make it seem as if she is raising the heir, at least until I have an heir, then the public will rally behind that- and ultimately public opinion will improve." Helena nodded, "It"s a good idea. People always love the idea of an infant prince or princess." Robert smiled, "Yes. But that worries me too. Sandringham is private but not as private as I think I or Eleanor or Jasper would really like. It"s fine for a girl like Sarah Alice, but it will be hard on Henry. If only there was a way for him to have a normal life.I think Father always regretted me having to like under the pressure I was exposed to." Helena nodded, "It"s just what we have to deal with. Henry will rise to the challenge." "Maybe he shouldn"t," Robert answered, "Maybe he should have a normal life for as long as possible." Helena frowned, "What do you mean? Eleanor would never let Henry out of her sight." Robert nodded, "I know that. But I was thinking maybe you could persuade her to consider some kind of arrangement, for Henry"s sake, to allow him to grow up in normal background- a boarding school, once he"s old enough, or breaks away- Eleanor and Jasper are loving Croatia, they enjoy being normal for once. I just want my nephew to be happy." Helena nodded, "I"ll see what I can do. But your sister will likely not agree with this." "I know," Robert said, "But with time and experience I think she will change her mind. Eleanor and Jasper are young and naive, they just want a happy family life- I think Eleanor would give anything to give Henry a happy and normal life." Helena smiled, "I know. But we"re the royal family- in that respect we can never have what we want." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAKLiam and Willow poured over the file. "So you don"t think it"s a mistake?" Liam asked, "Them turning up here." "Did you really think it was?" Willow asked, "Even for a moment. No, once you told me what they used to do I knew immediately that something was going on. I just hope I"m wrong and that they really are here just for their son and you sister, and their grandchild. I could never imagine my parents doing something like that. Poor Jasper." Liam nodded, "I swore to protect him, and we"ll do that, don"t worry, Willow. If something is going on here we"ll stop it." Willow smiled, "So why would they be here?" Liam shrugged, "I"m not sure. But I know Robert only found out about Henry"s name from Jasper"s mother. They only people who knew his full name were Jasper, Eleanor and James. Even Sarah Alice and I didn"t know his middle name- not even my mother. Someone must have told him." Willow nodded, "But why? Why would they betray Jasper"s trust, just when they appear to be earning it again? Oh, obviously, it"s because they"re ex-criminals." Liam nodded, "I"m willing to be open-minded. Maybe it was accident, or Robert said something about them having to tell him because he"s the King. I don"t know. I mean given their track record it certainly doesn"t look good." Willow sighed, "And what about this? This is clearly an invite." "Ok," Liam said, "So Robert invited them here. But why didn"t they just walk through the front door like anyone else who gets invited?" Willow shrugged, "Yes, that seems suspicious. What might they be up to?" Liam shook his head, "I don"t know. Well- I don"t know. It sounds ridiculous, the idea." "You always suspected something wasn"t right with Robert," Willow said, "And that turned out to be true. I trust your judgement." Liam sighed, "I think he might be trying to get Jasper"s parents to adopt Henry. By giving them an opportunity to show they"ve changed and then showing Eleanor how much happier Henry would be in America."

"I still think we should have called Meinir," Matei told Imara and TJ as they were waiting for Jana and Selina to arrive, "Emilia respects her, and Meinir gets being sidelined by her alpha." "You think Emilia feels threatened by Jana?" Imara asked, intrigued. Matei nodded, "Not just Jana. All girls really. Because of her scars- she was bullied a lot. But Jana- well, you should have seen Emilia yesterday, she"s got a lot of alpha traits in her. It"s easy to overlook them when she"s stood next to Jana. And then Jana and our pack- we went and revealed the wolfblood secret. I know Emilia, she hates being treated like a little cub- I think she feels put out and feels that Jana should have talked to her." TJ sighed, "Yeah because that was an option, obviously." Matei rolled his eyes, "Yes, well, there are bigger problems than pack rivalry. I can"t sleep knowing that Maddoc"s poisoning her mind. And her new BFF, Hafren- Meinir told me all about that girl, apparently she"s a power-crazy loony. Emilia"s being used as a pawn, Maddoc and Hafren are the master minds. I should have dragged Emilia home, I shouldn"t have let her stay in the wild." "You trusted Aran to look after her," Imara told him, "And we can trust Aran. He"s in an interesting situation to say the least. Completely wild, but at the same time so accepting of the human world. He"s been exceptionally helpful these past weeks- supplying us with so much information about wild wolfblood traditions. The sort of things Hartington might know. He"s even gone to Alric, asked to be sent out again to find Emilia." "And what did Alric say?" TJ asked. "He needs to know how much of a threat Emilia poses to wolfbloods and humans," Imara said a sigh, "If she"s not a threat, then it"s just our problem. If she"s a threat to all wolfbloods then Alric"s pack will intervene. He"s not going out of his way to rescue a delinquent cub." Matei sighed, "Not even for Jana?" Imara sighed, "No. And besides, Alric has to run all decisions past the council of elders. Even if he wanted to, it might not be an option. He said he would pass along any information he found out. I"m sorry, Matei." Matei sighed, "Let"s just hope that Jana can talk some reason into her. She"s knows Hafren, wildbloods. She"s sort of a wolfblood princess, according to what Meinir has told me, her family had a lot of influence. I don"t know. It"s all we"ve got anyway." "Hey!" TJ yelled, "Stop being so pessimistic. This is Emilia. No matter what she says or does, we know she"s only doing it because she"s scared, not because it"s really her." Matei shrugged, "I don"t know. I think she might have really changed." The doorbell sounded, and Matei jumped up from the sofa where he was sitting, just as Imara opened the door. "What are you doing?" TJ asked with a grin. "I er..." Matei replied, flustered as he smoothed the creases out of his shirt, "I"m making an effort. Unlike you." TJ rolled his eyes. "Hi," Imara said to the young girls, "We"re almost ready." "We"ve got everything we need," Jana said, gesturing to a carrier bag, "Courtesy of the Kafe." TJ happily took the carrier bag from her, and began to dig through it, "Tell Katrina and Robyn thanks. You know I can"t believe they"re... you know." "I can," Selina said, "I always suspected Katrina had a bit of a crush on Jana. I"m happy for them though, it can"t be easy, being so open. And putting themselves in the spotlight like that. It"s hard enough being LGBT, without becoming the poster-children of wolfblood-human relationships as well. Good on them." Matei paled a little, "Katrina had a crush on Jana?" "Sounds like someone"s jealous," TJ teased quietly. Jana shrugged, "Katrina and I were always just friends. And she knew I er... am straight." "How?" Selina asked, "I mean it"s not like you"ve ever been on a date with anyone." "I, er," Jana began with a false bravado, "I"m just not someone who kisses and tells." Imara tried to suppress a laugh, whilst TJ and Selina grinned. "Anyway," Jana said, changing the conversation, "Should we get going?" "Yeah," Matei replied, "We should." He looked Jana in the eye, and she looked away from him quickly. Jana, other boyfriends? He"d never thought of that, it was bad enough that Katrina might have been crushing on her once. Was this why Jana was holding back, why even in spite of him being honest she seemed disinterested? Was she secretly dating someone else and didn"t know how to tell him? Jana sighed, "Ok, let"s do this." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Emilia was busy making a dream catcher when Hafren walked into her tent, Emilia grinned at her best friend as Hafren grabbed a bowl of meat from the side, offering Emilia some. Emilia just shook her head, now that she had her own pack she could finally go back to eating cooked meat. She"d even managed to get Hafren to try some- she said it tasted strange, but that it was likely an acquired taste. Hafren stared at the dream-catcher. "Homesick?" Emilia asked her. Hafren shrugged, which was the closest the girl would come to saying yes. "Maddoc said he"s ready," Hafren replied, "He got the supplies last night. Face masks, stuff like that..." Emilia nodded, "I can"t believe I have wear one of those things. I haven"t been gone that long, I have a city wolfbloods immunity. I should be fine." Hafren nodded, "It"s not just that. What if they try to gas us?" Emilia sighed, "You"re right. Maddoc knows what he"s doing. And I should trust my council of elders. No alpha can stand alone." Hafren smiled, "No, of course not. Which is why I think we should try again, with Matei? No, Emilia, you need him here, without him, you"re distracted. You"ll slip up, make mistakes." Emilia nodded, and then smiled, "And you want him here too? I saw the way you looked at him." "I want to smash his head into a tree and string him up at the Kronock for a week," Hafren told her friend, "If I"m being brutally honest, I mean no offence to you." Emilia grinned, "Don"t worry, I"m not offended. And anyway, brutally maiming a guy is your way of showing them you care about them." Hafren shrugged, "Your brother... is complicated. He"d do anything for Jana." "I know," Emilia replied, "But I don"t think she"d do anything for him. I know I was winding him up yesterday. With the whole Jana didn"t bother to teach you Eolas or Ansian thing. But I don"t know, Jana seems a bit, apathetic. I always thought it was just because she was busy being alpha." "But she"ll always be busy, and always be alpha," Hafren said, "See that"s the thing. She can"t make time for Matei, like I could." Emilia nodded and smiled, "I trust you. In time maybe Matei will too. But I"m not going to tell him who he should be with, especially not when I have bigger things to be worrying about." Hafren nodded, "But you know it would make things easier if..." Emilia shook her head, grinning, "No, no. I know what you want me to do, but I can"t." Hafren grinned, "Get those silly little human rules out of your head. You"re fourteen now, Emilia, it"s more than time that you thought about settling down. Or you know, playing the field, depending on what you prefer. You"re an alpha, you can have it all." Emilia rolled her eyes, smiling, "No, and definitely not Jayden, he"s just... weird. I know life is different out here, wildbloods get married at my age but... not Jayden..." "Well then someone else?" Hafren asked. Emilia shrugged, "Maybe, I don"t know. He isn"t in our pack though." "A human?" Hafren asked worriedly. "Gods know," Emilia said, "He"s a wolfblood. But I er... I don"t even know how I feel about all of it." Hafren smiled, "Oh, well you figure it out and then I"ll drag Cad-." "Enough!" Emilia yelled embarrassed, before sniffing their air, "Matei"s back, but he"s brought Jana- and TJ and Selina too." Hafren growled. "Let"s go," Emilia told her, "And bring the elders." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Matei stood behind his pack, not really wanting to see his sister as she walked into the clearing. Jana stood in front of TJ and Selina but Matei hung back. He wanted to support his alpha, stand by her side. But he didn"t know where he stood with Jana, and moreover, he didn"t really want to have to see how damaged his sister had become because of Maddoc and Hafren. "Hello, handsome," a familiar voice said, as the blonde haired girl jumped out of the tree behind him, and then let out a loud laugh, "Guess you must have reconsidered. Just couldn"t stay away." Jana shot Matei an angry look and he just shrugged. Hafren was weird. "Look at you," Jana said with a smile as Emilia walked into the clearing, taking Emilia"s hands in hers, "Emilia, the alpha." Emilia grinned. "I always knew you"d do well in the wild," Jana told her. "The wild pack was holding her back," Hafren said, "Now Emilia gets to be the strong alpha we always knew she was. Now she will bring humans to their knees and help bring about a new era where wolfbloods can live free from fear." Jana shot Hafren an irritated look, "That might be your dream, Hafren, but Emilia I knew wanted humans and wolfbloods to live in peace." "The Emilia you knew," Emilia began with a sour smirk, "Was a cub, always following behind her alpha and her brother. The Emilia you knew was lie. Wolfbloods and humans living together in peace- I was never that naive. Even when I lived in the human world, I knew that was never going to be possible. Humans are bullies, they turn against their own packs, bring nothing but war and destruction, they know nothing of loyalty. They have no sense of loyalty like a wolfblood does. You are not equal to humans. There is a superior species and it is us!" Jana shook her head, "No, humans know loyalty. Katrina, Shannon, Tom, do you remember nothing of what I taught you?" Emilia shot Matei a knowing look,"Oh, I remember everything you told me about Stoneybridge. I guess that explains so much. But humans don"t belong in packs, do they? That video, we saw it on the television, tell me Jana, who filmed us? Who betrayed us? Was it a wolfblood, or a human?" "Katrina was afraid," Jana replied, "She only acted that way because she was afraid." "What does it matter?" Emilia replied, "Fear or no fear, a wolfblood remains loyal. Humans are fickle, weak, easily swayed. I am no human, I know my own mind." "Yeah and that"s exactly why you sound like Maddoc," TJ replied. Emilia frowned, "I pity you. You try to be human- try to like their music, clothes, show off in front of human girls- you"re so desperate to be one of them, to be accepted by them. You should accept yourself- accept that you"re a wolfblood." "If we"re talking about self-acceptance," Matei began passionately, "Then we should really address how much you"ve thrown your old self under the bus. Doesn"t sound like you"ve accepted yourself one bit, does it? Just sounds like you"re scared and you"re too proud to admit it." Emilia growled, "Back off, you"re not the alpha here, Matei." Emilia turned to look at Jana, "And you never will be." Matei stepped back, feeling as if someone punched him in the guts. "Wolfbloods are the superior species," Emilia said, "And we will not live in fear." "It sounds as if you want a war," Jana said. "We need a war," Emilia replied, "Wolfbloods used to be strong, we used to rule the world. Now, now, we"re nothing more than pet dogs, even you, Jana. And you"ve got the most royal blood out of the lot of us. Hafren told me, about your family, the land they used to rule- wolfblood kings and queens ruling from the cold north all the way to the south of France. Feared and admired. How the mighty have fallen." "You have no place speaking for my ancestors," Jana told her, "And clearly Hafren forget to tell you the most important part. My family has always broken with tradition." Emilia sneered, "You mean caused problems? Five wolfbloods, decided what was right for all us. But you had no right? Maybe it"s time that the might do fall, your family"s dynasty, and then the humans." Matei growled, "How dare you?! Jana is your alpha, what you just said is treason!" "Leave it!" Jana snapped, "Other wolfbloods have said and done worse. Even Meinir. It"s just empty words." "Believe whatever you want to believe," Emilia told her, "You"ll see." Jana sighed, "You"re doing all this to get back at the bullies, aren"t you?" Emilia shifted awkwardly, "They were part of a bigger problem. The same behaviours occur at varying scales across the human world." "You know, Hannah"s in our pack now," Selina told Emilia, "We"re training together." Emilia face lit up with fury, "How dare you?! How dare you betray your pack?" "Enough!" Jana told her, "Selina"s right, Hannah is in our pack. She changed. And we need humans on our side, all wolfbloods do. Because you might want a war, fair enough, I understand that. And you"re an alpha, no doubt about that. But you know that less than a million wolfbloods can"t take on over seven billion humans. It"s ridiculous!" "We are stronger," Emilia said. "Humans have guns." Jana said, "Bombs. Fire. You know, there"s a human who"s developed microchips to take away wolfblood powers, and he"s planning to use them on every wolfblood in the UK." "Sounds like that"s your problem," Emilia said with a grin, "The problem with city bloods is that they"re too easy to catch." Selina rolled her eyes, "Oh, get real. Wildbloods aren"t invincible, wolfblood safari ring any bells. The humans will find you, like it or not." "And they"ll come after whoever is the biggest threat first," Jana told Emilia, "We should be working together. You have the man power, we have the access to Segolia files. If you want to take a stand against the humans who are trying to hurt us, then this is the way to do it." "There you go again," Emilia said, "Trying to pretend you know what"s best for us. Well tell me this, why are you not preparing your pack? No Eolas, no Ansian. That doesn"t make sense to me.... unless of course, you just want all the power for yourself. You want to be the centre of attention, the special one, don"t you?" "Emilia, don"t be so ridiculous," Jana replied, "You know working together is the best solution for all of us. And as for Eolas, Ansian, I am teaching my pack." "Really?" Emilia asked with a grin, "That sounds like news to them." Jana sighed, "I should have taught them earlier, but I got caught up in other things." "Caught up trying to be the special one," Emilia said, before standing only a few centimetres away from Jana, "Don"t even pretend that you care about any of us. Especially not my brother. He"s going to wake up and realise just how much you don"t care and then you"ll be all alone." "You"re wrong," Jana told her. "Really?" Emilia said with a callous smile, "How many of the wolfbloods in your old Stoneybridge pack knew Eolas?" Jana sighed, "That was different." "Yes, well it was Rhydian wasn"t it?" Emilia said with a sly smile, "So that probably explains a lot of things." Jana growled at the young girl, "I"m not listening to this rubbish. You need to back down, no more talk of war, no more trying to attack humans. And try to see sense before you get us all killed." Jana darted off away from the clearing as TJ and Selina stood dumbstruck, unsure whether to follow her. "Go," Matei told them, "I need to stay here." Emilia smiled, before hugging her brother, "I knew you"d come back to stay." Matei sighed, "Maybe I"ll stay, but only if you accept me onto your council of elders." Emilia grinned, "You"re my brother. Of course you can have a place on my council. Come on, let"s go back to camp. That stupid human food is doing you no good." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Jana stared at her plate of spaghetti glumly, recalling her conversation with Emilia. It could have gone better, but then Emilia had brought up Rhydian and Jana had just lost it. She didn"t mean to, and wouldn"t have ordinarily, but with things, changing, in her mind, she"d been dealing with a lot of what her old wolfblood friend had brought into her life. And his rejection, it had still stung. She needed to move past it, and make the right choice. Now, she had no idea if she could ever make things right, because whilst TJ and Selina had followed her, Matei had stayed. She just had to trust him. "I haven"t heard of pasta killing anyone, Jana," the woman from the Organisation said with a grin, "As I was saying, we"ve made progress, we"ve found out more about Hartington"s bank accounts, we"ll explore all the addresses linked to them- carefully, of course. This is good news, Jana." Jana nodded, "I know. I just feel like I should be doing more." "You"re doing all you can," Imara told her, "We all are." "I made copies of the chemical stored in the chip," Dr Whitewood told her, "I checked them this morning... it would have been better if I could have made new copies, but working with what I have is a good option. I may be able to create a serum that can neutralise the effects of the chips. At this point in time it won"t be the best version, but we"re going for something that works, not something pretty." Jana nodded, "And how will you know if it works, without the chip?" "Well, fur-ball," a familiar voice said, "Because I"ll start ordering my cafe latte with a side of rare steak." Jana smiled, before hugging Meinir. "This has to be the first time ever that you"ve been pleased to see me," Meinir said with a grin as she sat down at the table, "Dr Whitewood texted Gerwyn last night, to see if I"d be up for the trial. Of course, I said yes. But if it does work, well I"ll probably stay. I doubt you ever thought I"d say that." Jana grinned, "Things have really changed around here. At the moment nothing surprises me." Meinir smiled, "So this Hartington guy? Have we got any news? Other than the bank accounts." Imara shook her head, "No, although we are going to start sending undercover teams to each of the addresses." Meinir sighed, "He"ll still get suspicious. Even if you have a great disguise. If you"re going to these addresses, well you need to send people who he"ll never believe are a threat." "What do you have in mind?" the woman from the organisation asked. Meinir smiled. "Seriously!" Jana yelled, before sighing, "I guess it could work, perhaps." "Have a little faith," Meinir replied, "I"ve never failed before." Jana sighed, "I know." Imara frowned, "Would someone care to explain?" "How old is this Hartington guy?" Meinir asked. Imara sighed, "Late thirties, forties, perhaps." "Perfect," Meinir replied, with a grin. "You plan to flirt with him?" Dr Whitewood asked incredulously. Meinir nodded, "I"m going to pretend to be wasted and throw myself on him, knock him out and steal his personal details." The whole table looked at her, astounded- well the whole table, apart from Jana. "Don"t give me that look." Meinir replied, "What was your plan anyway?" "I don"t know," Imara said, "But it would have been something... sensible." Meinir sighed, "And you would get caught. He needs to be unsuspecting, else he"ll pack up everything and run away. If he thinks there"s even a chance. A drunk girl- there"s no way he"d believe she"d be able to tie her own shoelaces let alone steal anything from him." The woman from the organisation sighed, "Ok. I can"t believe I"m agreeing to this." "It"s Meinir," Jana told her, "She"s er... persuasive and er... well.... a bit... promiscuous." Meinir thumped the young girl, "I am comfortable in my own sexuality. Just like your two housemates who are playing tonsil tennis in the kitchens.""May!" Jana yelled. "Oh, come on," Meinir said, "Aran hunts for both packs too. Like I care." Imara sighed, "If you want to try, fine. But don"t screw this up." "I won"t," Meinir replied confidently. BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Matei sat in Emilia and Hafren"s tent devouring a large bowl of venison, as Hafren watched him adoringly and Emilia pretended to be invested in the dream-catcher she was making. "You know only alphas are usually allowed venison," Hafren told him, "Well at least in the old pack, that was the rule. But here, everyone gets the best, it was one of the first things Emilia changed." Emilia smiled, "Well it was a bit of a silly rule. And we are preparing for war, so we need to eat well." Matei nodded, "Yeah, it"s not nice out there at the moment. In the human world. There"s been a lot of hate crime." "Like that night with the humans," Emilia said, "At the Kafe. I knew you were in trouble." Matei smiled, "Yeah, I should probably have thanked you, you were only trying to protect me. I"m sorry, I was just scared, the humans were looking for you, they wanted to lock you up." Hafren growled. "It"s ok," Emilia told her friend, "We can handle them. And I understand, Matei. Look, I know you don"t think going to war is a good idea. But you have to believe that we should at least be prepared." Matei nodded, "Yeah, of course. Jana was going to start Eolas training with me tonight." Emilia sighed, "You think she"d ever teach you?" Matei sighed, "No idea. I hope so. We do need to learn." Emilia nodded, "I"ll teach you the basics. After lunch. You can practise whilst I"m off collecting supplies." Matei frowned, "What? In the human world?"

"Congratulations," Spencer said to Jasper and Eleanor, "The cars are all ready to go to the reception." "Oh, for goodness sake, Spencer," Helena said, "Can you be off duty for once?" "Is this never speaking of it again?" Spencer said with a smile. Helena rolled her eyes, sighing. "Figgy pudding guy?" Eleanor asked. Helena sighed, "Not a word to anyone, any of you. Understood?" Jasper and Eleanor smiled, before nodding. "Come on caterpillars!" Sarah Alice yelled, "Come on!" Eleanor grinned, "Maybe I was wrong in my scepticism, and there really is a higher power we all have to answer to." Jasper smiled, "Yeah, you were wrong to be sceptical." Jasper put an arm around Eleanor"s waist and James passed her the flower bouquet. "Mustn"t keep the little elf waiting," Jasper said as he and Eleanor walked towards the door. BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Sarah Alice jumped up and down giddily as she waited for Jasper and Eleanor, everyone was standing along the side of the path with their bags of confetti. Sarah Alice remembered the conversation she and Eleanor had had about the confetti, it seemed strange to the little girl that she was actually allowed to throw something at someone without getting into trouble for it. Although in all fairness, she had thrown a tennis ball at Jasper once when he"d said her was "too busy" to play catch with her. "I wonder who will catch the bouquet?" Sebastian asked. Sarah Alice shrugged. "I just hope I no one gets in hit in the face with it," Rosie replied, "It was pretty heavy." Everyone cheered as the young couple left the church, the Queen, Liam and Jasper"s parents following them. Immediately confetti flew up into the air, transforming the sky into a blue, green and silver snow storm. Eleanor and Jasper grinned as they stopped and waited for the confetti snow storm to stop as Sebastian took photos. "Come on, let"s see who"s getting married next!" Eleanor yelled, before she threw the bouquet, and a scream sounded moments later. Everyone turned to see a flustered Rosie who instantly grinned, and Beck who held the bouquet awkwardly. "It"s not a rattlesnake, Rosie," Jasper told her, as she tried to become composed again. Beck just smiled, "Third time"s the charm, apparently." Eleanor grinned, looking at her ex-sorta-boyfriend and her bodyguard wondering if they would work ok. Maybe she"d be surprised. Jasper and Eleanor walked towards their car, noticing the tin cans tied to the rear spoiler and the sign saying "newly-wedded caterpillars" that had clearly been made by Sarah Alice. "Someone really needs to explain this whole caterpillar thing to me," Beck said. Eleanor smiled at her friend, before turning to her husband, "Come on, Jasper, we"ve got a huge party awaiting us." Jasper danced with Sarah Alice for what must have been the fifteenth time that night whilst Eleanor looked on with Liam, grinning her head off as Sarah Alice nagged Jasper for not dancing properly. Perhaps it would have been easier, Jasper thought, if he"d been allowed to pick the music, but Sarah Alice had insisted on the DJ playing that heinous "Lemon Tree" song that she"d learnt at school and was now teaching Jasper all of the moves that she"d been taught by her teacher. Jasper sighed giving Eleanor a pleading look, but of course she just smiled and told him to get on with it. "Not like that Mr Caterpillar!" Sarah Alice complained as he did it wrong again. Liam walked over to them, "Why don"t I give it a go?" Sarah Alice contemplated that, "Yeah,ok. You can"t be any worse than Jasper Caterpillar." "Charming," Jasper said as he walked towards his wife. "The problem was the song," Eleanor told him, "Not you." "No," Jasper said, "I"ve never been a good dancer. I always avoided homecoming dances and prom. I tend to embarrass myself." "You"re not that bad," Eleanor told him, "Do you remember the masquerade dance? You danced well then. Fast paced dances just aren"t your thing, I guess." Jasper nodded, "Maybe." "And I don"t think that awful Lemon Tree song is anyone"s thing," Eleanor added as she tried to stop herself laughing as Liam danced like a drunk Dad at a Christmas party. Jasper laughed, "I wonder what it will be like when Henry is born. What he"ll be like? If he"ll be quiet or loud, if he"ll have your eyes or my hair. I just hope he"s a good kid." "He will be,"Eleanor reassured Jasper, "He"s going to be stubborn, because let"s face it, we both are. But he"s going to be kind and caring too. He"s going to be the best dressed in school, and bullies are never going to mess with him because they"ll be too afraid of us. And he"ll be loved by everyone. I just know it." Jasper nodded, "Yeah, everyone always loves kids. I"m just really hoping I don"t do anything to screw him up." Eleanor nodded understandingly, "You won"t, if you believe it what you can already do, then everything will be fine. You"re goodness, your kindness, it"s easy to see, and yes it was masked for a while, but it was always there, just waiting and now you can be that and have that fully. You don"t need to be something more or different for our son, you just need to be Jasper. You"re perfect the way you are." "We both know that"s not true, Len," Jasper said, "I"m far from perfect." "Hey," Eleanor answered, "Being perfect isn"t about doing everything right and keeping everyone happy all of the time. Being perfect is about being a real person- being messy and a shit-show at times, but trying your hardest to stick by your values and live according to them- yes, not everyone is going to like that, not everyone"s going to agree with your perspective or the things you value but you just have to let them get on with that. Just be you, Jasper- don"t try to be another Beckwith or another Robert, there"s plenty of twats like that out in the world- open your eyes up to what makes you you, and embrace it, and learn how to use it. Henry doesn"t need a second-rate Beckwith, he just needs a first-rate you." Jasper sat in silence a while pondering her words, "Thanks, Eleanor. You"ll be a great mother. I think your ability to not let other people"s opinions get to you, to be defiantly yourself- it"s inspiring." Eleanor grinned, "Thank you. There"s nothing wrong with wanting to be loved for the person you are, Jasper. Maybe your parents didn"t always do that, but I"ll always love you for who you are. There"s nothing wrong with wanting people to tell you that you"re a good person, it"s human- and to be honest, it"s stupid that people haven"t told you that enough times in the past, because you are good person, Jasper, and anyone can see that. Yes, you ran off and left me in the dark, but that"s only because you were trying to be a hero. You are a good person, Jasper, and someone that deserves to be loved so much." Jasper quickly brushed away a tear, "I"d like to get to a point where I can really believe that." Eleanor grinned, holding his hand in hers, "I"m going to damn well make sure that you get to that point." Jasper smiled, "I love you, Eleanor." "I love you too," Eleanor added. "So," Jasper began with a sigh, "I need your opinion on something. If I got this way because of my parents, do you think it"s a good idea to let Henry around them?" Eleanor sighed, "They"re your parents, Jasper. I"m not going to tell you whether or not you should speak to them. And Henry is their grandson. I understand your wanting to protect him, but I think they might have changed- your mum at least. I get that they caused you a lot of grief, gave you trust issues. But hey, I have trust issues too and my dad was awesome." Jasper nodded, "I"d feel better if one of us was there. To make sure they"re not saying or doing anything bad." Eleanor nodded, "That"s fair." Jasper smiled, "I don"t really want to cut them out of my life. Not anymore. They"ve been amazing to us over the past few weeks. I really want to believe they"ve changed. If people like that can. I think it"s important that I at least give them a chance." Eleanor nodded, "I support you in that. But make sure you impress on them that they need be on their best behaviour. Not just for Henry, but because you need their support and their love too, they need to be there for you. Because people who are good people, and are worthy of being in our lives, they are there for us when we need them. They might not always do the right thing, but they try to most of the time." Jasper nodded, "Yeah, I"ll make sure they understand that I believe that I"m worthy of being loved and that I"m not putting up with the way they used to act." Eleanor smiled, "Good. Now, we should dance. This party is for us, you know." Jasper grinned, "Someone should tell that to Sarah Alice." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK"So plan A didn"t work," Robert said as he walked with Robert Frost past the cocktail table, grabbing a couple for him and Jasper"s father. Rob shook his head, "No. They definitely want to keep the child. Adoption and fostering aren"t option." The King nodded solemnly, "Ok, I suspected that Eleanor"s maternal instincts would overcome her fears. But I put another plan in place. The same outcome should be produced. Are you still game?" "If you are," Rob said, downing his drink, "You"re right, this isn"t Jasper"s place. Him and Eleanor belong in different worlds. And their family... well you were too young to know anything about apartheid or segregation in the US when it was occurring but their child, he"s going to like a half-white half-black child. Only he can escape from being stuck in the middle, because this is only a class thing not a physical thing that"s unchangeable." "Precisely," King Robert answered, "My sentiments exactly. Will Marissa still go for it?" Rob nodded, "Absolutely. She gets what she wants, I get to put Jasper back in his place, and you get the family you desire. We"re all winners in this." "Except Jasper and Eleanor, of course," Robert said with a grin, "Though it serves them right. They"ve gotten to big for their boots. I should have been there to nip it in the bud. Same problem with my brother, Liam." Rob nodded, "Yeah, it"s an issue with people like us who care too much. We end up putting our family on a pedestal and they believe they"re gods. If there"s anything I can do to help out with Prince Liam?" Robert was about to shake his head when he gazed out across the dance floor. There was "Jaspenor", the two besotted love sick idiots clinging onto each other like shipwreck survivors, little Sarah Alice- who despite her yapping was actually a sweet thing, and then Liam standing with Willow as Sarah Alice tried to get them to dance with her. Robert saw the way Liam and Willow glanced at each other- friends, like hell! The King pondered the situation, running his mind over various ideas, "Yes, yes there might well be." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK It was around eleven when things started to slowly wind down. Sarah Alice had crashed and now was sleeping with her head resting on the table, her father"s jacket rested over her shoulder. Eleanor, Liam, Jasper and Willow sat chatting as James and Rosie crazily tried to put everything into place in time for the speeches. When everything was ready Helena took to the stage. "I hope everyone is having a good time," Helena began, "Now of course no wedding reception would be complete without a few speeches. But before that, Eleanor, dear, would you tell us where your honeymoon is taking place?" Eleanor smiled before getting up carefully and walking towards the stage. "Yes," Eleanor started, "I know that a lot of you having been placing bets on where it"s going to be. But I haven"t heard any of you get it right so far. Not even Jasper or Liam." Liam and Jasper grinned. "Oh, get on with it," Liam yelled out, earning a laugh from everyone. Eleanor rolled her eyes at her sibling, "Well, you"ll be pleased to know that Jasper and I will be going to... Croatia. So whilst you lot are here moaning about the awful British spring weather, try not to be to jealous of the sunshine, good food, good booze and amazing scenery that we"ll be enjoying, ok?" Jasper laughed as Eleanor walked down from the stage, and everyone clapped. "Do you like?" Eleanor asked as she sat next to Jasper and he put an arm around the back of her chair. "Croatia," Jasper said, "I told Liam it was at the top of my travel list." "Really?" Eleanor asked, feigning ignorance. Jasper shook his head, "I love it, Len. Thank you." Eleanor grinned. Liam walked towards the stage. Jasper gave Eleanor a panicked look, "Is he? Please tell me he"s not going to talk about how I slept with your mother or tried to rob you." Eleanor smiled, "No, Jasper. He won"t. He has plenty of other things to talk about." Liam grinned as he took the microphone from his mother, then he looked out, looking straight at Jasper, "Jasper, I don"t think you know what you"ve gotten yourself in to." Eleanor rolled her eyes. "When Jasper told me he was going to marry my sister," Liam continued, "Half of me wondered if he was insane, and the other half waited for him to tell me that they"d already had a secret Vegas wedding because I just couldn"t believe they weren"t already married. You see, I"d known for the best part of year that those two would get their happily ever after, and it"s good to see that they"ve now realised that they belong together. "Jasper has always been a great friend to me and amazingly loyal to my family. It feels good to finally call him brother. And as for you, little sister by four minutes, I"m just glad to see you happy. I know Dad would be happy for you too." Eleanor grinned, blinking back tears, clapping. Sarah Alice looked up groggily, and gave Eleanor a worried look, "Is it my turn?" Eleanor shook her head, "No, Robert, then my mum and then you can go up there." Sarah Alice grinned, aware of the small parcel she"d hidden under the table. Robert Henstridge took to the stage, "When Eleanor first met Jasper I was stranded on the island and that probably was quite a good thing, because I"ve always been too overprotective of my sister. As a result of that, these two managed to grow closer and fall in love. Now I know a lot of you are aware that Jasper and I aren"t as close as Liam is to Jasper, but that"s not because I think he"s a bad match for my sister- he wouldn"t be sitting here today if I didn"t approve of him. Inviting Jasper into our family has opened up my eyes, we live in different times and in a different world. Maybe it"s time I gave being all proper a bit of a rest, then we won"t let good people like Jasper pass us by. I want to join everyone in raising a glass, to Jasper and Eleanor, and of course, little Henry Edmund. Cheers!" Eleanor gave Jasper a mortified look, "You promised not to tell anyone!" "I didn"t," Jasper replied, "Except my mom, and she promised not to tell anyone. I swear, I have no idea how this happened." Eleanor shook her head, "Ok, fine. I"m not going to blame you for tell your mom, I told my mum and James too. Maybe it just came out by accident." Jasper sighed, "Well judging from the whispers everyone seems to like the names. I just hope the general public does too." Helena took to the stage, "Judging by the hushed whispers you"re all still reeling from that name reveal, so I"m going to keep this short and sweet. When Jasper came to the palace I knew immediately that there was connection between him and my daughter. At first I didn"t think he was good enough for her, but over time he proved himself more than worthy. Few of you here know that it was Jasper that found out about Ted Pryce. Jasper"s never been one to brag about that, he just does what he does because he cares for all of us, and for Eleanor especially. Which is now why I support you two and of course, Henry, as well. And I know Simon is smiling down on both of you right now." Sarah Alice grinned realising that it was her turn and grabbing the parcel from under the table. "And now, of course," Helena said, "A very very important speech." Sarah Alice darted towards the stage, grinning as she climbed up the steps and took the microphone. "Hi," Sarah Alice said, "Just so you all know King Robert has been very very naughty tonight." The crowd laughed. "He wasn"t supposed to tell anyone the baby"s name until he was born," Sarah Alice explained, "But anyway, I"m not really sure what to say. I"ve never been to a wedding before. So I guess I"ll just tell you about why Eleanor and Jasper Caterpillar are my best friends in the whole wide world. When I came to palace for the first time I was really really nervous because it was so huge and my daddy had just been made the head of security so I knew he was going to be super busy. Daddy always talked about how much he loved working for the royal family and being the Princess"s security detail, even if she was quite naughty a lot of the time. "But Eleanor and Jasper Caterpillar were there for me. They didn"t mind putting up with me. Or going behind my Daddy"s back to give me chocolate and ice cream. "Jasper Caterpillar was even my boyfriend for a little while- before I knew that he loved Eleanor. And I knew that the Caterpillar and the Princess needed to have their happily ever after, because all princesses get their happily ever afters. So I helped them realise how much they loved each other, by forcing them write their own love letters after they tried to get my daddy to write their love letters for them, and by sneaking into the princess"s room so that Jasper would have to find me and then he"d be there when the princess returned. Oh, and on Christmas Eve, Jasper and I made a storybook to give to the Princess- Frosty the Caterpillar and The Princess"s adventures with Alice in the palace. Jasper Caterpillar was really sad when he couldn"t give it to Eleanor on Christmas Day, he even cried. But he had to go away and slay a dragon, so instead I gave the present to Eleanor because I thought it was silly of Jasper Caterpillar to make her wait such a long time for her Christmas present. Then they got back together, and now they"re going to live happily ever after for ever ever which is awesome. It"s awesome that they"re going to have their own little caterpillar too. I don"t know where Croatia is, but I hope that you really enjoy your holiday. Oh, and Eleanor, Jasper and I really hope you like the sequel." Eleanor smiled as Sarah Alice raced towards her with the present, and she hugged the little girl, trying to hold back tears, as they crowd clapped and cheered. "Good job, little elf," Jasper told her, giving her a high five. "Open it!" Sarah Alice cheered, "Open it!" Eleanor smiled, as she carefully tore the wrapping paper to reveal the story book inside. "Jasper Caterpillar, the Princess and their baby caterpillar live happily ever after," Eleanor read, "This is beautiful, Sarah Alice, thank you." The little girl grinned. "The plane is ready your highnesses," Rosie told Jasper and Eleanor as they stood up. "I"m going to miss you," Eleanor told her little friend, as she hugged her. Sarah Alice grinned, "Me too. But please make sure you have a great time." "What about me?" Liam asked, "Are you not going to miss me?" Eleanor shook her head, "Why on earth would I miss you?" Liam sulked before hugging his sister. "Have a great time," Helena told them both, "Things are going to get crazy very very soon." James smiled, "Yes, have a great time your highnesses." "I hope you can find a good temporary babysitter," Jasper answered. "Don"t worry, Rosie and Liam will cover for you," Sarah Alice announced despite Liam trying to protest. "Come on you two," Rosie said, "Wheels are up in fifteen." The sun was setting over the rocky coastline of Dubrovnik, weaving its way through the old stone walls of the old city, casting shadows here and there and bouncing off of the red roofs as it disappear behind the mountains of another island. Jasper and Eleanor strolled through the narrow streets and for once in her life it felt weird to the young Princess to not be followed by stares and whispering all of the time. In fact given her dark hair and tanned skin she seemed to blend right it and could even pass for one of the locals; Jasper on the other hand, with his fairer looks, was obviously foreign. Eleanor told herself that once she got home she"d make a point of finding out if they had any Yugoslav ancestors. "It"s going to be sad to leave this place," Jasper told her, "We should come here again in the future." Eleanor nodded, as they walked hand in hand, "Yeah, I"m going to miss Dubrovnik too. But I"m sure we"ll both love the Plitvice lakes as well." Jasper smiled, looking forward to their across country trip that would start the following morning. They"d be travelling north and inland over the mountains to visit Lika County and the Plitviče Lakes and the Dinaric Alps before travelling to Zagreb. They were half-way through their honeymoon and had already visit several of the islands along the Dalmatian Coast, Istria and the city of Zadar. Jasper could still hear the sound of the Zadar sea-organ playing in his ears. He was happy to in Croatia- he"d wanted to visit ever since he"d first seen a picture of country when he was ten, and he was a Game of Thrones fan too so he knew that Dubrovnik was King"s Landing. He had never expected to travel to such a beautiful place, and to also fall in love with such a beautiful woman.

Katrina turned away and texted quickly. OMG! Jana, he"s here! And you"re right he is so fit! You better go get him wolf! XXXXX SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 5 (SERIES 4): So I think we may as well say that Jatei (Jana and Matei) are now canon after today"s episode. There were some many little exchanges between them that my heart almost died. The Taylor Swift love quiz scene was some funny- Katrina "You"re in a love with someone but you are too afraid to admit it", Matei constantly staring at Jana and completely ignoring Katrina. And then there was the scene where Matei that he"d seen better fighters than Selina- I think maybe he meant Jana... Can"t wait for tomorrows episode. Jana shook her head in disbelief. She couldn"t believe what she had just read. Behind her Imara paced backwards and forwards nervously, making Jana feel nervous too. She felt sick and torn between her duty to help Imara and her loyalty to the young wolfblood boy who she already felt strangely connected to. "I thought this threat had already been dealt with," Imara began, "By Victoria"s team a good few months ago. Obviously there is more to this than we previously thought. If we could trace the IP address of the main blogger then we could track them, but chances are this wolfblood might be good at covering it"s tracks. Which would place us all in grave danger. Did you know anything about any of this Jana?" Jana shook her head, despite the uneasiness in her stomach, "It was never mentioned to me." "That"s strange," Imara pondered, "This was the biggest headache that the security team had to handle in quite a while. Well, apart from the Kincaid fiasco of course. What was the blogger"s username again?" Jana cringed, "MrHotWolfbloodGN." Imara rolled her eyes, "Obviously someone young, probably a teenager. But what would the GN stand for?" Jana shrugged, "Maybe it"s some kind of code for a person"s status in the group." "I like your thinking," Imara commented, "Or maybe it could point to the blogger"s location." Jana shook her head, "I think it would be more likely to be some status thing." Imara regarded Jana with a puzzled expression, "Why do you think that would be more likely?" "Well you know how humans put initials after their names," Jana began uncertainly, "Maybe it"s like that." Imara smiled, "I highly doubt they would have got this idea from humans. You read the comments yourself, this is a group of human hating wolfbloods. Ultra-purist wolfbloods. Whoever the kid is, he needs help." "You can"t be sure it is a kid," Jana said quickly, "And what would Segolia do to them?" "Help them," Imara said simply. "How?" Jana asked. "Well it would depend on how much trouble they caused," Imara concluded solemnly. BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK "My friend is going to be here in a couple of minutes," Matei said for what seemed like the billionth time, but still Katrina too no notice of him. He was receiving the full Spanish inquisition from the girl and also, the Kafe had officially closed half an hour before, so really Matei shouldn"t be there. Why was Katrina keeping him there? "Yeah, I know," Katrina replied, "But you never answered my question. So are there any girls in Newcastle that you think are cute?" Matei sighed, "Yeah, tons. I can"t move for cute girls." "Aw," Katrina said, "I bet you"re a real ladies man, aren"t you?" "Yup, that"s me," Matei said nodding. "I knew it," Katrina said, "So have you got your eye on anyone in particular?" Matei sighed, "I"m sorry, Katrina. You"re nice but... blondes aren"t my type." "Oh," Katrina said shocked, "I wasn"t asking for me. It"s just a friend of mine wanted to know..." "Well I am single," Matei began, "But I"m more of the lone wolf." "I understand," Katrina responded, "A lot of boys believe in treat them, mean keep them keen. I guess a ladies" man like you just wants to be there for all the girls." "Mostly just my sister," Matei responded, "I tend not to care too much about other girls." "It"s sweet that you care so much about your sister," Katrina responded, "But you need to look after yourself too." "I do," Matei replied, "I"m perfectly capable of looking after myself." "I don"t doubt it," Katrina replied, "But I think you are longing for someone." Someone to rescue me, Matei thought to himself, where on earth was Jana? Katrina smiled, "And I sense that you do have someone in mind." Matei smiled, as he thought about Jana. She was cute, he had to admit that much... he should have just asked TJ for her number. Any normal boy would have done that. But it didn"t seem right, to go behind her back like that... "I knew it," Katrina replied, "So why haven"t you asked her out yet?" "Her?" Matei answered, knowing full well he was going to regret playing this card later on. But he had to get out of here. "Oh, my god, I"m so sorry," Katrina responded, "I didn"t realise you were..." "Yeah, just don"t tell the whole world," Matei said rudely, as he threw the money down on the table and left. BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK The sun peaked through Jana"s curtains and she groaned, pulling the covers over her head. She hated dark moon days and was immensely glad that Segolia allowed wolfbloods to have the day off. Well, she was immensely glad until now. Jana bit her trembling lip. I guess some things, some people, Jana thought to herself, are just too good to be true. She had fallen asleep with her laptop next to her. As much as the comments dug at her and hurt her soul she had kept on reading, hoping that she might find some shred that might show that Matei had changed his mind and become less tyrannical. Despite every ounce of common sense, she opened the webpage again and continued reading. Sobs shook through her with every letter, every word and every sentence... MrHotWolfbloodGN: Tame wolfbloods, yeah they"re the worst. They think it"s all so perfect... let"s have human friends, oh, yeah that will be so cool, lol. But they can"t ever tell them. They"re just lying to themselves the whole time. SociallyAwkwardWB: You are so right. I just wish I could meet you, we"d be such a team. What do you think about wild ones who go tame? MrHotWolfbloodGN: I can"t really say too much, because my parents were wild then went tame. Its humans fault most of the time, stealing our land or threatening us. So it"s not always the wolfblood"s fault if they go tame. Just another reason why we can"t all play happy families right? Wolfbloodsforthewin: So true, mate. But what about wildies who choose to though? Like totally because they just prefer the lifestyle, not because they have no other option. MrHotWolfbloodGN: Oh gods, they are the worst. If I ever met one... SociallyAwkwardWB: Go on, what would you do? MrHotWolfbloodGN: Depends on how well I knew them, what they"re like. If they"re misguided, then I"d help them see it all from our point of view. If they"re dead set however... well then they"re just standing in our way, and they need to be dealt with. If you know what I mean ;) SociallyAwkwardWB: You"re killing me, go on? I love it when you go all inventive :D MrHotWolfbloodGN: Well where to start... I better not say too much... I got blocked for a week last time... but yeah, something like I said before. SociallyAwkwardWB: You are such a bad boy, but so cool. I love your outlook on life. MrHotWolfbloodGN: Well, thanks. But it"s all undeniably true. Wolfbloods and humans just can"t ever live together, end of. And unions between them, that"s just unbelievably wrong. Worst still are these so called wild wolfbloods who corrupt their packs. You know I heard about one who taught her pack how to read? That"s just sick. MrHotWolfbloodGN: It"s just destroying everything about how we are. I have to fit into this stinking human world. :( Because there"s no way for me to run away... But once I"m old enough, I"m going back to the wild. I"m sure I"ll be able to raise an army there. SociallyAwkwardWB: Could I come with you? ;) We could fight against that sick tame wolfblood you were just talking about. MrHotWolfbloodGN: That would be absolutely awesome. Jana shut the laptop and sobbed into her pillow. First Rhydian, now Matei, how many times was she going to end up holding out hope for a guy who only ended up breaking her heart? She heard a knock on her bedroom door, and quickly dried her eyes, "Come in." TJ opened the door, and smiled but his smile soon disappeared. "Jana, what"s wrong?" he asked, concerned. "What did you tell Matei about me?" Jana asked. TJ shrugged, "I don"t know. He was asking me about wildies that go tame, but that was ages ago, and I mentioned you and about your ideas on how to integrate wildies and the modern world a lot more- you know, reading and buying human medicine. He seemed really interested. Then when you moved in, well I thought you were going to meet him anyway, eventually, so I didn"t really say anything else." Jana tried as hard as she could to fight the feeling of nausea in her stomach. "Did something happen between you and Matei?" TJ asked, "Because I swear..." Jana shook her head quickly, "No, no. I just heard a few rumours. But it"s all cool. Thanks TJ." TJ nodded, smiling, but he knew that something wasn"t right. BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK "Sick, again?" Amanda said, as she put a hand on Matei"s forehead, "Twice in a week. I"m going to have to call the doctors, I think. This isn"t like you Matei. I know your anaemia comes and goes a bit, and that"s why you get so tired sometimes but now, now I"m just worried." Matei smiled sadly at his foster mother, "I"ll be ok. It"s probably just that 24hr stomach bug going around." "Well, just get some rest," Amanda replied, "But if you"re not better by tomorrow I"m taking you straight to the doctors, ok?" Matei nodded tiredly, "Sure. Have a good day at work." "I"ll try to," Amanda said, hugging her clearly feverish foster son, "You just get better." Matei nodded before falling asleep. Sometime later, he awoke suddenly, aware of someone shaking him. "Honestly, you really need to man up," Emilia complained, "First you cut your hand. Then you spend a whole week sulking, just because you haven"t been able to talk to Jana. Now you"re skiving. Come on, it"s just a baboon day." Matei smiled, "Baboons are evil. Mum told you that." Emilia rolled her eyes, "I go to school every dark moon day. And anyway how did you convince Amanda to let you stay of school?" Matei held up two boiling hot water bottles, "These and about a litre of herbal tea. I just couldn"t go in today. Not after the past week. I thought Katrina wouldn"t say anything not even to Kay." Emilia shrugged, "You were rude to her. I guess it"s just karma. Did you really have to tell Katrina that story though?" Matei shrugged, "I was just trying to get her to shut up. I guess in doing so I lost my chance with Jana too." Emilia rolled her eyes, "I"m going to school. Try not to spend the whole day pining." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK 13 Glenn Gardens, again. Jana trembled with nerves and anger. He had to hear, he had to. Because he need to be stopped, before someone like Imara found him and he was locked away forever... Because from what Jana had managed to find out from Imara, it sounded as if Matei"s life would be torn to shreds if he was ever found. And Jana would never get to see him again, which hurt her more than she thought it could at the moment. A dishevelled Matei answered the door. He looked exhausted and a little flushed, but he became more alert as he saw her and smiled, in that way that made Jana feel like a bag of mush... Oh pull yourself together, Jana chided herself, you"re supposed to be an alpha. "Hello MrHotWolfbloodGN," Jana said quietly, trying to keep her voice even. Matei"s eyes widened with surprise and horror and he looked like he was about to faint from shock. "Jana, please," Matei begged, "I can explain." "Yeah, you know what you can," Jana began, "Why don"t you tell me what you and that other girl wanted to do to me? What you planned to do to the girl who taught her pack to read?" "Jana, please," Matei continued, "I was in bad place. But I"ve changed now, I promise." "You want me to believe that you"ve changed so much in the space of a month?" Jana responded disbelievingly, "You know what I"m glad I stood you up that night. I don"t ever want to see you again." Jana"s breathing was uneven, haggard and fast. "You don"t mean that," Matei answered, "I know you don"t. I saw the way you looked, when you healed me, I saw..." "So you want a medal?" Jana exploded, "For playing with my emotions." "Jana, I never meant for you to know anything about any of this," Matei responded pleadingly, "I want us to be friends, I swear. I was going through a bad time then. It was close to the anniversary of the fire and I... I thought that doing this would make them proud. They were all for putting wolfbloods first, maybe not to the extent that I wanted to... Please believe me. Jana, please." Jana tried to remain strong outside, because inside she was like a barbequed marshmallow. "The people on there, they are twisted," Matei continued, "Manipulative. I got in to deep and went too far. I made assumptions about you that I know now could never be true. You have to believe me." "Why?" Jana exploded, "You were living this double life. Why should I believe you?" "Because I..." Matei began. "Yeah, I thought so," Jana replied. "Matei!" Emilia yelled into her phone, "How could you? I know Mum and Dad had their views on wolfbloods and humans however that doesn"t mean you should have done something like that. Now look at the mess you"ve made... Yeah, I can tell you"re sorry about it... well I don"t know what to do, do I? Look I"ll speak to TJ, maybe he"ll be able to help." "Care to explain?" TJ asked. Emilia sighed loudly, "You know that group of friends my brother was hanging around with about a month ago." "The ones that thought wolfbloods were better than humans?" TJ asked, "You know, they thought that wolfbloods should have more power over humans, didn"t they?" Emilia nodded, "I only knew Matei had some friends with some odd views. I mean Mum and Dad were kind of in to the more controversial paths of wolfblood life. They used to transform outdoors, eat raw meat, weren"t always that careful to not reveal themselves. They felt that wolfbloods have enough powers to merit them being given more positions of authority and that humans should be aware that they are no longer the top dogs, pardon the pun." TJ sighed, "I can see where Matei let it snowball out of control. But how could your parents not see the danger of letting humans know about us?" Emilia shrugged, "To me, it"s obvious that humans pose a risk. I think they were just complacent, believing Segolia could sort out everything for them if something went wrong. Then the fire happened... and Darren saw us... we were lucky no one found out about what we really were. I don"t really understand, I think they never really told me a lot about all the conspiracy theories and groups they were a part of. As for Matei, I guess things were different. But why he decided to do this? To take this particular path is beyond me." "Mr Popular"s more sensitive than he looks," TJ began, "I know he goes for the big tough save the world brother attitude around everyone but it"s not really the truth." "I know that he"s vulnerable," Emilia replied, "He saw them, when... I didn"t. It changed him." "Changed him how?" TJ asked in shock. "Before the fire," Emilia started with a shaky voice, "Before the fire, Matei was a little bit of a rebel, by my parents standards at least. He thought that governments should have more posts for wolfbloods, but apart from that he didn"t really see eye to eye with our parents views. After they died, he threw himself into being the son that they"d wanted him to be. He started hanging around with a whole load of people I"d never seen before, from all over the place. He spent loads of time on-line. Amanda and John just thought he was grieving, and I guess he was but... it"s only ended up hurting him. We need to help him TJ, promise me you will help him." TJ nodded, "There"s someone else that might be able to help too." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK "I thought you"d be at work Jana," Katrina said puzzled, as she passed Jana her second cup of chocolate chip iced frappé. "Day off," Jana said simply. Inside she was still raging and torn up. "So what happened the other day?" Katrina asked, "Did you not get my text?" "I did," Jana said with a sigh. Katrina looked at Jana worriedly, "Go on." "Matei"s..." Jana began with a smile and a sad half laugh, "He"s complicated. It turns out he wasn"t who I thought he was, and now he swears that he"s a better person but I don"t know what to believe." "Go with your gut instincts," Katrina advised, "Follow the ivy." "Follow the ivy?" Jana asked with a grin. "Yeah, you know the way you just knew where to go," Katrina began, "Even though you had no compass or a map or anything. You just trust that you knew the right way to go and that was that and then we beat Jimi, which was awesome." Jana smiled, "Yeah it was. Thanks, Katrina." "No problem," Katrina, "But if that boy ever hurts you again." Jana smiled, "I really hope he doesn"t." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK "Hey Selina!" TJ yelled as he saw the girl sat at one of the cafeteria tables, reading a book. Selina looked up smiling, "TJ, I"m supposed to be revising. You know you"re such a bad influence." "Says the taekwondo super girl," TJ responded. Selina rolled her eyes, "Go on, what is it this time?" "You know Matei Covaci," TJ said. "Well sort of," Selina replied, "He"s one of us. I"ve not had a conversation with him but he comes across as the silent and deadly type. Why, what"s he been up to?" "Oh, where to start?" TJ answered, "He"s been blogging and hanging around with these guys who think wolfbloods should dominate the world, that humans should be subservient, and that tames are full of-." "Yeah, ok TJ," Selina responded. "We need to come up with a plan to help him," TJ replied, "But we have no idea where to start." Selina shrugged, "I guess you should help him find something he loves more than world domination." TJ laughed, "Well there might be one thing, except for his sister of course, that he loves more than world domination. Or at least likes I guess. Love might be a little too soon." "A girl?" Selina asked. TJ nodded with a sigh, "The world can be cruel Selina." "Whatever," Selina said, before turning back to her book. BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Matei hated dark moon days. Well all wolfbloods hated dark moon days, but if there was an award for the wolfblood who had the most hatred for them, it would have gone to Matei. This dark moon had to be one of the worst in his life. He sat scrolling through the web-page on his phone, trying to ignore his exhaustion and the throbbing headache that he had. It was sad really, that he was using google to answer this question. He wanted to ask his foster mum for advice, but what could he say? Hi Mum, what do I say to a girl who I"m not sure if I like and that has just found out that I used to belong to a group of radical werewolf puppies? Matei smiled to himself, smiling at the ludicrous idea. Now he just having to make do with wiki-how. Not that it was much better. He was sitting up near the stone wall that overlooked the city, and favourite full moon haunt of his that had slowly become a day time get away too. No doubt Amanda would panic when she found out he had skipped school. But Matei couldn"t very well curl up in a ball in the middle of maths class... That was all he wanted to do at that moment, given the morning he"d just had. Matei kicked at the ground miserably, but really he wanted to kick himself. Why he let himself get in with wrong pack? Since when had he ever really been that strongly against humans or pro-wolfblood in that way? In truth, he was mostly apathetic towards humans, humans were horrible to his sister, wolfbloods weren"t but it couldn"t be helped, humans were just prejudiced and they didn"t know any better. And as for Jana... He couldn"t have been more of an idiot, he thought to himself. Now that grief no longer clouded his vision he saw her modernisation of the wild pack as a miracle rather than a massacre. Teaching wildies how to read and write and how to use modern medicine- it must have been hell trying to achieve that. Jana deserved respect not ridicule. And she had his respect, really. Although she might never realise it now. A familiar and heart-warming scent filled the air and he looked up to see his sister approaching. Emilia smiled to him sadly before sitting next to him on the wall. "Why, Matei?" Emilia asked, "Why do you always put yourself through hell?" Matei sighed haggardly, "I"m an idiot. That"s why. I can never do the right. I never did what Mum and Dad wanted, and now I"ve hurt Jana too. And Amanda and John are going to be angry at me for cutting class." Emilia smiled, "I called Amanda, I said you were having a bad day- she just wants us to be happy and safe. They"ll let us bend the rules a little if we need to. As for Mum and Dad, you were right not to do everything they said, you were right to question their beliefs and I know the only reason why you got in with the wrong people was because you felt a duty to uphold their beliefs and their legacy. But you have to know that you can just be you and you"ll still make them proud, they"ll still love you know matter what, just like they always did."

"And if there is?" Eleanor asked. "If there is then tell the world," Robert said, "But the chances of that..." Eleanor just rolled her eyes, "I wouldn"t be so sure." The car engine started. "Five minutes, Len," Robert said, "Then we"ll know." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK "I wish we could have said goodbye to the Princess and Jasper Caterpillar," Sarah Alice said as she threw herself on top of her suitcase, "What, Daddy? This is how the Princess packs." James laughed, picking up his daughter, "They said they"d Skype us later. Once we arrive at the villa." "I wish they could come with us," Sarah Alice said. "I know," James replied, "But we haven"t done family things in quite a while and you"ve been wanting to go to Spain for months. And the Princess promised us the villa would be like a palace, didn"t she?" Sarah Alice nodded, "Our Spanish palace, before we move into the big palace at Sand-sandy..." "Sandringham," James said, "Yes." "Will we ever go back to London again?" Sarah Alice asked. "From time to time," James reassured her, "But Sandringham will be our new home, and I"m sure you"ll love it lots. You"ll even be going to the school the Princess went to when she was a little girl." "Really?" Sarah Alice asked. James nodded. "How could we ever afford that?" Sarah Alice asked. "Present from the Queen," James explained. "Wow!" Sarah Alice said, "I love being friends with the Princess and Jasper Caterpillar." James scrolled through his phone one last time, stopping and pausing. "What"s wrong, Daddy?" the little girl asked worriedly. "Nothing," James said, with a smile, "Jasper Caterpillar and the Princess are official now." Sarah Alice took the phone from her father, smiling, looking at the picture, "Yay! Now we"re all going to live happily ever after!" BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Eleanor looked at the screen nervously as Dr Cohen looked at it too. Jasper held her hand, giving her reassuring smiles whenever she looked his way, and Robert paced backwards and forwards becoming smugger and smugger by the moment. "I can"t see anything," Dr Cohen said, "You say you think you are...?" Eleanor nodded. If she was being fair she didn"t have to lie about baby related symptoms- the past week she had been feeling sick, and other things had gone about wacky for her too, she"d definitely been more emotional lately. But stress did those things anyway, and the past few weeks had been stressful. "So she isn"t," Robert concluded, barely containing a smile, "Eleanor was wrong." "Well," Dr Cohen said, "Ah, no, there it is!" Eleanor jumped up, "WHAT?" Jasper and Eleanor shared a confused look, whilst Robert just looked scared. "Yes, definitely," Dr Cohen said with a grin, "And I"d say closer to three months than two. Nearly twelve weeks I"d say." Eleanor took in a shaky breath, "So you mean, that, I... I"m actually..." "Yes, twelve weeks pregnant," Dr Cohen said, "We"ll have to start you on vitamins and iron immediately. And no more alcohol. And we"ll get a blood test done to determine gender too." Jasper sighed, "This is actually really happening?" Dr Cohen nodded, "Yes, congratulations." Eleanor sighed, giving Jasper an exasperated look, "How?" Jasper shrugged, "I don"t know. You must have just forgotten or something." Eleanor nodded, "Yeah, probably." Robert rolled his eyes, "Well you two need to be more responsible. Especially you"re going to become parents and I"m going to be... an uncle." Eleanor grinned, "We"re going to be parents, Jasper." Jasper grinned, "Yeah, that"s going to take some time to sink in." "We should call James, and Mum," Eleanor said, excitedly, "Wait until Sarah Alice hears? Oh, and Liam, Liam"s going to be so happy." "I"m sorry, Len," Robert answered, "For doubting you. And you too Jasper. I would never have tried to break you two up if I knew you were... I guess you"ll have to start planning for your wedding." Eleanor grinned, "I know. But we"ll need to talk later, Robbie, about everything. You shouldn"t have tried to break up Jasper and I anyway, and you"ve been an ass to us all day. Now, if you don"t mind Jasper and I and er... the... er... well you know... we should spend a moment alone." Robert nodded, "Like I said I"m sorry. I"ll head back to the palace and order a car to pick you up." "Don"t," Eleanor said with a sigh, "We"ve been talking, and decided that I should move in with Jasper." "What?" Robert said. "I need to be away from the drama for now," Eleanor said, "And I meant what I said about wanting to away from you. Robert I haven"t forgiven you, and I won"t for quite a while, and neither will Liam. Dad always wanted Liam and I to move away from London anyway, he would have wanted the same for you if that was an option. Jasper and I and... we"re a family now. We need our space, Robert." Robert nodded, "Ok, well I guess I"ll see you when I do. And er, congratulations." Eleanor smiled as Robert walked away, before letting out a sigh, "Jasper, I"m really sorry." "Sorry?" Jasper asked, "Don"t say that. Our child... everything is going to be fine." "Then why does it feel wrong?" Eleanor asked, "Not our child. I just mean, this whole situation. We"re barely back together again and now we"re getting married, starting a family." "Yeah, but in the grander scheme of things this is kind of mundane for us," Jasper said, stroking Eleanor"s hair. Eleanor nodded, "Yeah. I guess so." "We"ll figure this out," Jasper reassured her. Eleanor nodded, "Yeah but in a seven months time there" s going to be another one of us. I need to text Liam, he"s going to freak out, I"m freaking out." Jasper nodded as Eleanor reached for her phone, "Yeah, and I need to call James..." "Parenting advice, yeah good idea," Eleanor said. Jasper smiled, placing a hand on Eleanor"s stomach,"It"ll be ok." "It?" Eleanor asked, "We"re really going with it?" "Well Bubba sounds like a ridiculous name for a future Prince," Jasper replied. "Princess," Eleanor replied. "No, no, Prince," Jasper answered. Eleanor narrowed her eyes, "I think you mean Princess." "Well," Dr Cohen said, "In two days time you two will know for certain. Congratulations." Eleanor and Jasper smiled at each other, just before Eleanor"s phone announced a new message. "Liam says congratulations," Eleanor replied, "He says Mum knows too and, oh, god, has seen the photo of us kissing in the park and wants to talk to us early tomorrow morning. Oh, and she says she thinks it will be a girl too." "What?" Jasper said grinning, before placing a hand over Eleanor"s stomach, "Don"t worry, little one, they"ll know the truth soon enough." Eleanor rolled her eyes, "Don"t listen to Daddy he"s being an idiot." "Don"t worry about Mummy," Jasper said, "She gets like this sometimes." "You better have organised an amazing date for tonight," Eleanor replied, "For me and my little princess." "Don"t worry, you and the little Prince will be taken very good care of tonight," Jasper replied before kissing Eleanor. "So, when should we tell Crenshaw?" Eleanor asked as she began to demolish the plate of bacon in front of her. She"d always loved bacon, but it seemed that Bubba loved bacon too now. The Queen gave her daughter a concerned look, "Maybe give it a few more weeks. It really won"t make any difference, but what with Jasper being so new to all of this, and a wedding to plan, and of course, moving to Sandringham. I think that would be easier on the both of you, just to wait a few weeks." Jasper nodded, holding Eleanor"s hand in his, earning a quiet and stern look from Robert, who, Eleanor realised, must be having a hard time dealing with seeing his sister grow up and be with the guy who he wanted to banish from their world forever. Eleanor felt uneasy, when Robert was upset he tended to be quite explosive until he found some way of getting what he wanted. "And what about the charity events? Are you sure you"ll be ok arranging them Len?" Liam asked, "I could take them over if..." "No, Liam," Eleanor replied, "I"m more than capable of handling a few charity garden parties and galas. I"m not an invalid." Liam smiled, "I was just trying to be nice. And really what I was thinking more about the renovations to the Sandringham palace, I know you"ll want to be involved with the designers." Jasper smiled, "Don"t worry, Eleanor"s already go that all sorted out. I swear we spent most of our date last night discussing colour schemes for the nursery and Sarah Alice"s room." Eleanor smiled and blushed. Maybe she had gone a little bit, but she was excited- excited about moving, excited about the baby, and still trying to handle the buzz she"d got yesterday for her and Jasper finally going public and being able to do simple things like taking a walk in the park or going on a date outside of the palace. Their date had been great. Jasper had booked a table for them at one of Eleanor"s favourite restaurants and afterwards they had come back to the palace and watched a movie together. Eleanor was so happy that they could finally be themselves and not have to hide from the world. "Robert?" Helena asked, "What"s your opinion on all of this? The going public and the pregnancy, of course. Crenshaw might well what to interview you today." "No doubt he will," Robert said glumly, "And I"ll be polite but not especially generous. Everyone here knows I"m not a fan of "Jaspenor". But I guess I"ll have to tolerate it. And I am sorry for calling Len and Jasper liars yesterday. I"m just concerned about the royal family"s image, we can"t be seen to just let anything go. We have to have high standards. It"s what Dad would want us to do." "Do I need to repeat Liam"s Christmas speech?" Eleanor repeated, "Jasper"s family now. Like it or not Robert." "Yes, and #jaspenor," the Queen added glancing at her phone, "Has been trending in the top 10 worldwide tweets since yesterday afternoon. So as far as family image goes we"re doing very well at the moment. Robert, what the people need at this moment is hope, and a happy story. You are our newly appointed King, and what with Eleanor and Jasper"s child arriving so soon after your coronation it will symbolise the beginning of a new era. A happier one." "Yes, and so will my marriage to Willow, of course," Robert added and Eleanor noticed that Liam was giving him a look that conveyed how much he wanted to strangle the new King. "Yes, Willow," the Queen said, "A very nice girl." "Why do I sense you don"t want us to marry?" Robert asked. "It"s not that," Helena answered, "It"s just, well, what about that other girl?" "Kathryn?" Robert said, "I can"t marry a commoner." Eleanor coughed. "Yes, but you"re third in line, it"s different for you," Robert said. "I don"t see the issue," The Queen replied, "Like Eleanor said to you yesterday, we"ve got to move forward and be relevant to the 21st century. Marriage before children and marrying into the same social class these are 1950s ideals, if we want to connect with the people then we need to send a strong message about what we stand for and show that we share the same ideas and values as them. It"s what endeared Simon to the people, the fact that he was a father and husband first and a King second." Robert nodded, "Fair enough. But I prefer Willow." "And what would Kathryn think of that?" Liam asked, "I thought you two were dating." "We called it off," Robert replied. "Not very Kingly of you," Liam answered. "Well compared to your track record it"s hardly a shitshow," Robert answered. "Yes, but you shouldn"t break up with someone just because they"re common," Robert answered, "Besides I"m sure she"ll find someone quickly enough, if she hasn"t already." "Enough," The Queen replied, "Robert I have no objection to you marrying Willow, that is if she wants to marry you and isn"t in a relationship with someone else, and Liam, I understand your point, and what you are saying is fair." Robert sighed, "Yes, but mother we do have some standards to maintain. Marrying into common normal families is beneath us." Jasper sighed, "Yeah, because you haven"t done that before." "Excuse me?" Robert replied. "Catherine de Valois and Owen Tudor," Jasper replied, "Your whole family, our whole family is built on the marriage between a servant and a Queen." "And what about Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Richard Woodville," Eleanor added, "A princess and a squire. Parents of Elizabeth Woodville who was the great-grandmother of Elizabeth I, one of the most respected royals in history. Jasper"s right, our family history is connected to that of normal common families, and if we"re going to survive we need to show people that side of us, and show that it doesn"t diminish us but that we both need each other- they need us and we need them. I was right, Robert, what I said about you being hubris. You"re just pushing yourself away from the people, and turning your back on people who can help you too." "So you"d rather I marry a commoner?" Robert replied. "Know, that"s not at all what we"re saying," The Queen replied, "We"re just saying that maybe you need to take a different stance. Understand that good can come from changing tradition." Robert contemplated that, "No, I think I prefer tradition." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK It was around eleven when Liam finally escaped from his meeting with the MPs and made his way down into the tunnels. He was still seething from hearing Robert be so blase about his breakup with Kathryn. Liam had begun to reluctantly accept their relationship, thinking that maybe he would be better off with Willow. But now Robert was taking that relationship far more seriously than Liam ever thought he would. Liam, deep down, knew that Robert suspected something about Kathryn and him, and maybe even knew that Willow and Liam used to be close. And of course Robert liked to play mind games, just like the one he"d tried to catch Eleanor and Jasper in before it turned out that Eleanor was in fact not lying at all. Liam grinned, grateful to his future niece or nephew. "I don"t know why we need to meet here," Willow said as she stepped out of the shadows. Liam sighed, "There"s something I need to talk to you about. This was the best place to do it. Jasper, my security detail, he set it all up so no one can watch us, or hear what I"m about to say." Willow nodded, "Jasper is a bit of shady guy isn"t he?" "You have no idea," Liam said, "But we can trust him. And he"s family now anyway." Willow nodded, "Go on." "I went to the island a few weeks ago," Liam began, "And I found out that Robert didn"t come home the first time a boat came past, in fact that boat must have gone past him at least twenty times and Robert just ignored it." Willow sighed, "He probably has his reasons. I mean royal life is tough, maybe he needed a break." "Yes," Liam answered, "But we needed him, the country, our family. And there"s something else, Willow, you need to know the man you might be marrying." Willow nodded, "Go on, Liam, tell me the worst." "My father, King Simon, never wanted him to be King," Liam said, "He said that shortly before Robert left for the army. An army officer told Jasper, and it"s been confirmed, that Robert staged his death, to hurt us. To try to get King Simon, my father, to change his mind. But my father, he was a level-headed sensible person, he didn"t tell Robert he wouldn"t be King because he hated him, he did it because he knew what Robert could be capable of. See when Robert was younger, my father was worried that he wasn"t like most other kids, not just that he was the heir, but that he wasn"t as caring, he didn"t like to share. He used to bully Eleanor a little bit too, and he"s always been a bit possessive of her. Most of us read into it the wrong way, thought he just loved Len a lot. But since he"s come back, and the whole Jasper thing, it"s become a lot clear to see." Willow nodded. "My Dad took Robert to a psychiatrist," Liam continued, "When he was nine. They diagnosed him with psychopathy." "Robert"s a psychopath?" Willow asked, "They really said that?" Liam nodded, "Yes, and people like him, they can be dangerous. They don"t love people in the way that most ordinary individuals do, they only love when they can get something from someone by doing so. They mostly target those who are overly-sensitive, like Len. He"s been manipulating her for years- at the Privy Council, he got her to go along with his plan to bad-mouth Cyrus. Eleanor even believed that she was going along with out of choice." Willow sighed, "I"m going to need proof Liam, a doctor"s note, something like that. I know that you and Robert don"t really get on. It"s not that I don"t trust it"s just, I need to be certain, to really know what"s going on here?" "Fair enough," Liam said, "I"m just trying to be a good friend to you." Willow smiled, hugging Liam, "Thank you." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Robert knew exactly where he"d find his sister. He walked out into the church hall, past his grandfather and great-grandfathers" graves to King Simon"s memorial. Eleanor stood before it and it sounded as if she was crying. "Leni?"Robert asked walking towards her, "Leni? Are you ok?" Eleanor quickly brushed the tears out of her eyes, before turning to him smiling, "Yeah, I was just talking to Dad. I know, it"s crazy." "No, it isn"t really," Robert said, "I know he"s watch over us." Eleanor nodded hugging him, "I wonder what he would think of us. Of Jasper and I." "Dad would be happy that you"re happy," Robert said, "Although I"m not sure he would have completely approved of the way you"re going about things. I know we haven"t seen eye to eye about Jasper. But moving out, you don"t need to move out Len. And there"ll be other project around here that you can get involved with." Eleanor nodded, "Yeah, but I need a break. I can"t help but think that it"s living here that"s caused so many problems for me. The drugs, the guys, the alcohol- it was my way of dealing with living here." "And you think that will all change at Sandringham?" Robert asked, "No, that changed because you made the decision to change it. You can"t run away, and you shouldn"t. Besides, I know that our father loved Sandringham, but I also know you Len, you come here a lot, to speak to Dad. It"ll be hard not having that." Eleanor nodded, "I know. That"s why I"m designing a memorial garden. You know how Dad always wanted to be a fisherman. Well it"s going to be on the cliffs overlooking the sea. I"ve already started making some plans, calling around. It should be ready to open by the summer." "That"s a wonderful idea," Robert said, "But it"s not exactly private." Eleanor nodded, "I know. But I do need to move out, Robbie, this isn"t a good place for Jasper and I to raise a child. And of course Sarah Alice and Rosie and James, they"ve packed up their lives here to move with us." "They"ll understand," Robert said, "They"d understand if you changed your mind." "I know," Eleanor replied, "I just-" "It"s important not to rush into things," Robert answered. "Yeah, I know," Eleanor answered, "But I have these plans, rooms for Sarah Alice, and the nursery." "Nursery?" Robert asked, "Isn"t it a little early for that?" Eleanor shook her head, "No, I want everything to be perfect." "I know you do," Robert said, "And it"s only right to, given that your child is going to be the center of attention. A royal baby, there hasn"t been one of those in almost twenty-three years." Eleanor nodded, "I know, and that"s the point, Sandringham is private. It"s a good idea for us to move there." Robert smiled, "Dad did always want us to have as normal a life as escape from our royal duties and just be ourselves. He was an idealist. I think the reality is that we won"t be able to escape, it certainly weighs heavy on you, doesn"t it?" Len nodded, "Yes, I mean. I"d give anything for my baby to have a normal life free of all this constant drama." "Anything?" Robert asked. Eleanor nodded, "Yeah. I mean, no offence, but if the monarchy was abolished I"d be happy." Robert grinned, "I won"t take that personally. All I mean is that, there might be a way, you know considering you and Jasper aren"t married yet, your child could have a normal childhood." "What, adoption?" Eleanor asked horrified at the idea. "No, no," Robert said, "All I mean is that you and Jasper are new to all of this, and if you want to protect your child from this world then you need to know how to protect yourselves first. Maybe you need some headspace to figure things out, the last thing I want is for you and Jasper to get married and be miserable and for that to hurt your child. You know you and Jasper have a tumultuous past, do you think you"ll have figured it out in seven months?" "Probably not," Len admitted. "So until you do," Robert said, "Maybe having someone take care of your child might be a good option. You"d still get to choose the kind of life your child would have, make sure it"s right, but it would take some pressure off of Jasper and you, whilst giving your child a relatively normal life." "I don"t know it would feel like I was abandoning-," Eleanor said. "No, it wouldn"t be abandonment," Robert said, "Look, why don"t I put a list together and you consider who might suitable?"

"Jana?" Amanda asked with a concern look, "If you need to leave then that"s ok." "No, Rhydian can handle it this time," Matei said in a stern voice, "I said I"d be here, and I"m going to stay." "Yeah, but this is Jana," Emilia replied. "Well I"m not married to her," Matei replied, "At least not that I"m aware of." "Did you two have a fight?" Amanda asked. "Not exactly," Matei replied, "I just need a break. It"s hard. Helping Jana with her exercises, trying to keep her calm and happy all the time, helping her with eating and little things like that. Maybe Ceri is right and she should just be sent away." "Matei!" Emilia yelled in disbelief. "Well I"m sorry if just not able to do everything," Matei snapped, "I never asked for this and I didn"t understand that being someone"s soulmate meant you instantly had to be by their side twenty fours a day, seven days a week. It would be nice if other people helped a little more often." "I"ll talk to Imara in the morning," Amanda replied quietly, somewhat shocked by Matei sudden outburst, "I"m sure they"ll be able to sort out more nurses. We just all thought Jana was doing so well." Matei felt the pain in his chest and sniffed hard, trying not to show how much his eyes were filling with tears. "Well you were all wrong," Matei replied, before rushing upstairs. BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK "So, where does the horsey go again?" Aran asked, earning a laugh from Jana. "It"s a knight, remember silly," Jana answered and although Jana would never call him silly in the past, Aran couldn"t help but smile. Jana"s moods did seem to be getting better- she wasn"t crying as much, she no longer hurt herself when she was upset. But she did have moments where she would just switch off and disappear into her own little world. Aran could live with that. He was just happy to be able to peer through the cracks and see the little parts of his alpha coming back again. And, he thought to himself, if I do things like this- getting Jana to teach me more about the human world- well that might help too. At least it would have everyone feel a little more normal. "Right," Aran said, with a wide smile, "So my knight is going to destroy your castle?" Jana nodded, "Exactly." "You"re letting me win, aren"t you?" Aran replied, "And you know that if this was wolfblood chess then a beta wolf night would never be allowed to destroy an alpha"s castle? No unless he wanted to be exiled by the alpha queen." Jana laughed loudly, and exuberantly, and for a little too long, "I never said we were playing wolfblood chess." "Yes, you did," Aran said, suddenly concerned. Was Jana suffering some kind of relapse? Was she losing her memory? Or was this all just normal, well at least as normal as it could be right now. "Oh, yeah, I remember," Jana answered, "I said it right after Meinir went to get some Elixir of the Devil." Aran chuckled a little. Meinir certainly had a love hate relationship with instant coffee. "You know I"m going to be ok, right?" Jana began, suddenly serious, and as Aran looked into her youthful emerald eyes he safe his alpha there. Completely- his Jana- for the first time in a long while. Aran smiled, before hugging her tightly, "You"ll always be my alpha, Jana." "You"ll always be the best beta wolf I"ve ever known," Jana replied, "Just don"t tell Meinir I said that." Aran laughed, "I"m glad that you"re getting better so quickly. Didn"t the fee-sea-o-thingy say you were going to try to walk today?" Jana nodded happily, but not over exuberantly, "The physiotherapist. She said it"s time. If I wait to long I"ll be in danger of more muscle wasting. And the more I walk, the quicker I"ll be able to go home." "And where will home be?" Aran asked. "Oh, Aran," Jana said, hugging him again, "When I am a lot better, I promise, I"ll come and stay for a while. I"ll bring all the new pack with me too, and the Stoneybridge pack if they"re around too." Aran smiled, "As long as you keep Emilia on a tight leash. She"s been driving me half mad with all her questions. Do you prefer Snowdonia or Scotland for winter? What are your traditions? Do you prefer deer or rabbits?" "Well we"ve always know you"re a rabbit"s man, Aran," Jana teased, with a wink. "Ha ha," Aran replied, "That joke is older than Ben Nevis." Jana smiled, "Whatever. I don"t care about what you and Maddoc"s son get up to, just as long as you don"t turn into one of those sappy puppies who constantly go about their significant others." "Like you you mean," Aran replied, "Oh Rhydian, oh Rhydian, wherefore art thou Rhydian?" Jana growled, "I"m your alpha, Aran." Aran shrugged, "But I guess it"s you and Matei now. I did overhear your father and Meinir talking about ritual plans a few days ago." Jana rolled her eyes, "Can"t they just leave us alone. This isn"t the wild pack." "But you still have responsibilities, Jana," Aran continued, "You might have abdicated, but your father is back in power and he needs a new heir. And you"d know he"d never remarry." "So run along and get pregnant, like a good little alpha"s daughter?" Jana asked explosively, "Is that what you"re trying to suggest?" "Jana, calm down, please," Aran said. But Jana didn"t calm down, she just started laughing and laughing, even when it started to be beyond awkward. Aran just sat there frozen with fear, did he just push over the edge? What would Alric and Matei say? Jana was doing so well, and then he had to go ahead and say something like that. He tried to hold Jana still, to stop her rocking backwards and forwards, a new habit that she"d developed. He held tried to hold back his tears, but unsuccessfully, instead he buried his face in her soft hair, breathing in her warm and welcome scent. There was still a long way to go, he reminded himself, and Jana was already doing so well. No more bandages- he"d been tasked with brushing her hair that morning and the amounts of tangles...- her coordination when she was eating was beginning to get better, she"d even had a full conversation in Welsh that morning with her father. But she was far from fixed, that would take months. So Aran just breathed in her scent and allowed his mind to transport him back to the memories he had of Jana as a child. Teaching her how to fight Meinir, teaching her how to hunt, playing chase through the camp, watching her sleep on dark moon days... His little alpha, happy and healthy. And he"d make sure she"d be like that again, no matter what he had to do. BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK "I"m hardly suggesting sending her to Siberia, Rhydian!" Ceri yelled back at her son, "It"s just if we"re not going to medicate Jana, than having her live here might not be the greatest idea." "But she needs us," Rhydian protested, "She needs her pack." "I"m not arguing against that," Ceri replied, "But having Jana live somewhere more secure, but still close to us. That would be ideal." "I agree with Rhydian," Gerwyn argued, "Jana needs to be amongst her own people. Not locked up somewhere with a bunch of stiff wolfbloods who only care about feeding her up and keeping her sedated. And you know what the doctors said, Ceri, she needs to be constantly kept mentally active. The more she uses her mind, the quicker she will heal." "I"m not doing any of this out of malice," Ceri replied, "I love Jana like a daughter. I"m just thinking about how best to protect her." "We all love Jana," Gerwyn answered, "And that"s why she needs to live with us. She needs love. That will help her heal." "Ok," Ceri answered, "But on two conditions." "Ok," Rhydian replied, "Let"s hear them." "One, if there is the slightest bit of a chance of Jana getting hurt then we have to send her to facility," Ceri began, "Two, unless her moods drastically improve, I want Jana medicated." "Agreed," Rhydian said. "I don"t like the idea of medicating her," Gerwyn replied, "But if it"s the only thing stopping her from staying here, then I agree." "So she"ll stay with us," Ceri concluded with a sigh. Just hoping she was making the right decision. BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Matei sipped moodily at his drink, as he slouched in his seat, trying to ignore Katrina"s worried looks. She was already giving him free drinks and cupcakes- surely he didn"t look that pitiful. Katrina walked over to him, and sat opposite him, placing a bright pink magazine on the table. "They"ve got a new Taylor Swift love life quiz," Katrina replied, "Don"t you want to know if you"re more like Harry Styles or Joe Jonas?" "Not really," Matei answered. Katrina sighed, "Well Maddy"s taking over now, so I can always go with you to see Jana. Did you know she"s going to start practising her walking today? It"s amazing how far she"s come in just under two weeks. She might even be here the grand finale Romeo and Juliet show." "She won"t," Matei responded. "Well I was talking to Dr Whitewood," Katrina began, before seeing the irritated and miserably look on Matei"s face, "Matei, has something happened? With you and Jana? It"s just yesterday you were in here excited about how well Jana was doing and now-." "I know she can"t help it," Matei began, feeling the pain again like a stuck cog turning in his stomach, "I know she has little to no control over her emotions. Maybe it was immoral of me to start a relationship with her." "Immoral?" Katrina asked, "How on earth could it be immoral? She loves you and you love her, and you"d never hurt her. Jana would be devastated if she didn"t have you." "That"s the thing," Matei replied, "Jana wants too much of me and too soon." Matei played back the memory in his mind. He"d been reading to her, Jeffries book, and replacing Rhydian"s name with his own, making Jana laugh loudly but in a healthy and normal way. Soon, they"d reached the end of the book and Jana had begged him to carry on, making up the story. It was all going well, until Jana got a little too excited. They"d been kissing and then all of sudden she"d just grabbed at his shirt, talking about how much she wanted him, needed him and about his "duties" as her soul mate. About how he should be serving, and, pleasing her... Matei felt sick at the memory. Sure, he loved Jana. But seeing her behave like that, it was so unlike her that he felt for a moment as if his girlfriend had died and been replaced with someone knew and unbelievably wrong for him. He couldn"t do anything except get up and leave the room. He felt like he"d died inside too. "Oh God!" Katrina replied, "Matei, I"m so sorry." "I just never know how to react to anything Jana does," Matei said, "I feel like I"m constantly tip toeing around her trying to make sure she"s calm and happy. And I just find it so exhausting." "If you need us to help more then just say," Katrina said, placing a comforting hand over Matei"s, "You don"t need to be afraid of admitting how you feel. Even to Jana. She might be different, at least for now, but we"ve not lost her forever. If you tell her how you feel she"ll understand." Matei nodded, "Thanks, Katrina. I"m going to see her now, do you want to come with me?" "I promised Maddy that I"d organise a little something," Katrina replied, "But don"t you dare tell Jana anything." Matei nodded, smiling, slipping his hands into the pockets of his coat, "I promise. Thank you, you"ve helped me a lot." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK Jana was standing, holding onto the edge of the table tightly, when Matei walked into the room. She tried her hardest not to lose her focus, but ended up wobbling a little anyway, making Matei rush to her side, and taking a lot of weight off her unsteady legs. "No fair surprising me like that," Jana complained, as she once again, tried to figure out how to use the crutches. The physiotherapist had made it look so easy, and for a while Jana had been able to stand, using one of them, and holding onto the table for dear life. "Were you practising all on your own?" Matei asked, with a look of clear shock on his face, "What if something had happened?" "I wanted to surprise you," Jana said, "And I wanted to apologise, for last night. What I did was totally out of order and I can"t help but feel ill at the thought of just being so... Seductive like that? I hope you understand I wasn"t really myself then." Matei cupped her cheek with his free hand, "Of course I understand. But I do need to talk about some things. Maybe you should sit for a little while. We can practise in a while." Jana nodded, with a yawn, "My legs do feel quite achy." Matei brushed a strand of hair away from her face, and then decided to grab her hairbrush off the side table. "Thank you," Jana said with a wide grin, "I"m sorry if it"s all tangly." Matei smiled, "It"s not too bad actually. Although Aran can"t do braids to save his life." "He"s better than you," Jana replied playfully, "I missed you. When you walked out last night, I was just so afraid that..." Matei placed a hand gently under her chin and turned her head carefully, so that she could look straight into his eyes, "You won"t ever lose me Jana. I"m your enaid cymar alffa- your soulmate alpha. I love you so much." "Fy enaid cymar alffa," Jana replied, "Rwy"n dy garu di." Jana kissed him passionately, but with her usual playfulness and nothing unusual or worrisome seeping through. She ran her hands through Matei"s hair, using her full wolf senses to take in the way that every single strand felt under her fingers. She breathed in his scent- woodland and fresh books. And perhaps a little too much aftershave...hopefully he hadn"t been taking dating advice from Tom. Jana ran her hands down his back, as Matei"s hands tangled in her hair, always careful to avoid the still sore scar that run along the side and back of her head. Jana pulled Matei closer to her, allowing her hands to trace Matei"s muscular frame. Was he just naturally muscular, she wondered, or had he been working out? "Jana," he whispered, as he pulled back momentarily, trying to catch his breath, a smile filling every part of his face, his dark eyes shinning like obsidian. Jana looked away shyly, "It"s me. I"m absolutely here Matei and I"m absolutely in love with you." Matei smiled, blinking away his tears, "For so long. I thought I"d lost you. Every day I was worried that you were moving further and further away from me and I might never find you again. That you might never find you again." "Oh, Matei,"Jana said, tearing running down her cheeks, "I could never leave you. Never." Matei kissed her again, deeply, wrapping his arms carefully around her back. "I never knew what to say," Matei said, "Or how to react. I didn"t know how to tell you how I felt." "You never need to be afraid to tell me how you feel," Jana said, "Fy enaid cymar alffa." "Fy enaid cymar alffa," Matei echoed, "Rwy"n dy garu di too." Jana smiled, "Your Welsh is almost perfect." "It could never be as perfect as you," Matei replied. Jana laughed and looked at him with suspicious eyes, "I bet you got that line out a book." "You know me too well, fy enaid cymar alffa," Matei answered, "But this time, it was all me." "Of course I know you too well," Jana answered, "Fy enaid cymar alffa, I know your heart by heart..." "It"s not evil, Meinir," Emilia said reassuringly as the older girl stared at the cup of coffee with intense worry. "The gods commanded that wolfbloods should only drink water," Meinir answered, "I have sinned so many times since being here that if I was sent to the Kronock for a month I still wouldn"t have repented enough." "You haven"t sinned," Emilia replied in a slightly panicked voice, "And Matei is a much bigger sinner-he"s practically addicted to chocolate milkshakes." Meinir laughed, "Well if they"re as good as the coffee in here then I will turn a blind eye to his sins." She looked around her. They were at the Kafe- Jana"s home and workplace, her territory. It still hurt to look at all the bright colours and lights and the noise could be so overwhelming that at times it gave Meinir a headache. But the coffee made it all better- that sweet elixir of the devil. "So tell me," Emilia began excitedly, "I want to know everything. What are fire-walkers? Why are they so special? What is my destiny?" Meinir smiled, "Well little cerddwr tân. Where to start? I was only your age when my mam told me all of the pack legends, see in the wild, beta wolves, like myself, we have three options as to how we can serve the pack. We can become healers, hunters or occasionally priest and priestesses. My mam wanted my to be a priestess. And well, it"s not great secret that I thought I could do much better than that. I even challenged Jana for leadership once. I was Alric"s heir too once, well before Jana was born. Jana"s mam, Arianne, she was Alric"s enaid cymar alffa and really alpha"s aren"t supposed to make love matches unless their enaid cymar is especially strong and powerful and can do Ancian and Eolas. Arianne was only barely a beta wolf and her Eolas was weak at best. "But my mam taught me all the legends. I never thought I"d get to meet a cerddwr tân." "So what makes us so special?" Emilia asked. "Well asides from a lack of a fear of fire," Meinir began, taking a sip of her coffee, "The legends say that you can take fire from others, bend it to your will and most importantly, destroy it." "What is that even supposed to mean?" Emilia pondered. Meinir shrugged, "It was just meant to be poetic nonsense, and no one took it seriously until you came along. The likelihood is that it"s half truth half-rubbish and you shouldn"t take it seriously. But don"t worry you still have an important destiny." Emilia smiled, "I just wish I knew what it was." "You will soon enough," Meinir answered. Emilia nodded understandingly, "There"s only one thing that worries me- it sounds so stupid in light of all the other things I should be worried about." "If it worries you then it is important," Meinir said seriously and with a concerned expression on her face, "Go on." "Well, you get stared at," Emilia began awkwardly, "But you don"t seem to care. How do you just ignore the comments?" Meinir sighed with a smile, "Well, it"s not easy, carriad. I guess I spend most of my time worrying about Aran, because I"m older than him and it"s my job protect him, so I don"t get so much time to worry about myself. But whenever I am trouble, I just remind myself of my wolf- what it feels like to run wild on a full moon and to use Eolas and Ancian to be one with my pack- and then I can"t help but feel sorry for those humans because they don"t get to see the beauty that we see." "But they don"t hate me for being a wolfblood," Emilia argued, "They hate me because of my scars." "Only a fool would hate you," Meinir said, reaching out to touch the young girl"s face, "We know the truth. No great wolfblood leader ever ruled without threats on his leadership. Remind yourself of what you know to be true, about your role as a cerddwr tân, and remember that when they attack, they are not attacking you but rather the idea of you that they have in their heads. And that idea couldn"t be more wrong." Emilia smiled, "I wish I could stay in the wild. But I think I"d miss Matei and Jana too much." "If I"d stayed here," Meinir began, "I would have missed Aran so badly that- well it is such cowardice to do such things but I wouldn"t have wanted to carry on my life without him. Jana is lost here. If we can convince her to go back to the wild, then Matei will follow too and you"ll everything you want, carriad. But don"t put all your hope on the happening. If they decide not to, then it"s up to you what you choose, whether or not you could leave your brother behind." Emilia nodded, "But I"d find out more about who I am, about the fire walkers, I mean." Meinir smiled sympathetically, she could understand Emilia"s excitement at the idea. But she was older, no longer a cub trying to find who she was meant to be, and she had a good amount of well deserved battle scars too. Meinir knew that Emilia might not make the right decision. Yes, she would have Cadwr and Gwyn and herself, and likely Aran too if she ever stopped constantly asking him questions about the wild. She"d find out her destiny a lot easier in the wild. But she"s seen the way that Matei and Emilia interacted- the way that Matei would never leave her side, no matter how much Emilia yelled at him to back off, the way that both knew what each other wanted to eat or drink even before that person said it, the way that Matei would sing to Emilia as she fell asleep. She wasn"t about to let one quick and careless remark rip the sibling apart. "Come on, let"s go down that human thing called shopping," Meinir suggested, taking Emilia"s hand in hers. All she could do was hope that Jana changed her mind. Otherwise... Well... Meinir didn"t want to think about it." BREAK_BREAK_BREAK_BREAK TJ cussed as he once again covered himself in glitter, earning a laugh from Selina and an eye roll from Rhydian. "Hey, no fair," TJ said, "Just because you"re the art student, Rhydian, doesn"t mean you have a right to laugh at me." "You better not be getting glitter all over the floor," Katrina nagged, "I only moped two hours ago. God, I miss Jana so much. That couple came in again today, the ones that always order the fancy steak dish and I swear I almost lost it. I mean only Jana knows how to cook rare steaks properly. I didn"t have a clue. I just wish there was some magic potion that could make her suddenly better and have her running around here again."

Shannon asked, not wanting to seem rude, but wanting to know why she was being stared at. Stella blushed and said "sorry, I was just thinking about how well you will fit in here! You seem so cool and confident, not at all like Grace, who by the way was sleeping with Josh for soooo long and none of us knew it until right before she died, which is like creepy and also Grace was married at the time so that"s extra creepy." Shannon just looked at Stella, a bemused expression crossing her face. She figured that Stella was the gossiper of the team but that she was also focussed and driven. She didn"t hear Stella continue talking until she waved a hand in front of Shannon"s face. "Hey anyone there?" Stella asked, laughing. Shannon quickly snapped back into reality. "Huh? Oh sorry, was just thinking" she said, smiling. Stella looked interested but continued her rant about Josh, Zara, Michael, Dom and everyone else. "Then Zara arrived and Josh hated her at first but now he"s totally in love with her and she"s much better for him than Grace ever was, like Zara"s not married, she isn"t blonde, she kicks butt better than anyone I"ve ever seen, she"s an ace with a gun and her collection of knives is huge AND she is a former intelligence operative! Dom on the other hand, you will LOVE him, he"s got the cutest baby at the moment! Her name is Gracie-Rose. Michael is my boyfriend and we"ve been together for ages! He so cute and funny and I love him to bits! Lawson and Kerry are cool, and we all secretly think they are seeing each other because they keep locking themselves in Kerry"s office for "meetings". Leon is lovely but BADLY needs a haircut and new clothes! But yeah Josh is the one you have to be careful of because he is still touchy if you mention Grace, which is kinda fair enough but yeah she"s dead and that is that. He is also the really tall guy with the scar on his face." Shannon felt someone watching her and looked up to see the person that Stella just described looking directly at her. When she met his eyes Shannon saw Josh"s pain clearly showing. As quietly as he had arrived, he turned silently and walked away. Shannon looked back down at Stella. At that moment, Michael himself came running into the locker room looking worried and stressed, but as soon as he saw Stella, his frown became a huge smile and he relaxed. Stella turned to see who it was who had come in and was excited to see it was Michael. Michael gave Stella a hug then waited expectantly to be introduced. Stella, quick to pick up on Michael"s curiosity, introduced Shannon. "Shan, this is my boyfriend Michael Sandrelli. Michael, this is Shannon, our new team member and Grace"s replacement." Stella said, oblivious to the pained look that crossed over Shannon"s face when she heard the word "replacement". Michael also looked pained and Stella immediately noticed it. She put her hand over her mouth. "Oh no I did it again! I"m sorry Michael!" she said honestly. Michael just shrugged and gave her another hug. Stella looked at her watch. "Oh crap I"m late to meet Josh and Zara! Got to go! Bye!" she said quickly and left the room. Shannon and Michael stood and stared at each other for a moment, neither knowing what to say and if they did say something, was it the right thing? Finally Shannon spoke. "Well that was interesting!" she said, keeping the tone of her voice light. Michael grinned. "Yeah well Stella does say some weird stuff at times" he said laughing. "So Shannon, tell me a bit more about you" Michael said, curiosity getting the better of him. Shannon could see he was genuinely interested in knowing about her past, so she told him. "Well I was born in Sydney, went to school, finished school, went to uni and did a Bachelor degree in Forensic Science. After that I went on to do a Masters in Forensics and from there I got hired by the AFP. I was there until your inspector requested a new team member and since I wanted to broaden my experience, I put my hand up." Shannon said. Michael was stunned. He had only met a few AFP officers because TR didn"t really mix with the Feds, but he knew straight away that Shannon was different from the AFP officers he had met. "Well I think you should meet the rest of the team now! I hope Dom has arrived! You should see his baby! She"s really cute!" Michael said happily. Shannon laughed at seeing his face light up at the mention of Dom"s baby. Michael walked out of the locker room with Shannon following. On the way they passed a woman dressed in normal clothes. She looked preoccupied so they just stepped out of her way. Once they were past her, Michael whispered "That"s Zara. She"s our resident assassin." Shannon looked scared. Michael laughed and said "She"s also Josh"s girlfriend. They are very protective of each other so just don"t say anything to annoy either of them. Oh and stay away from Zara when"s she is angry and has a stapler in her hands. She"s deadly with that thing! She was also with Mossad which is the Israeli Intelligence group and she also worked for ASIS. She came here as our Liaison Officer." Shannon glanced back at the retreating form of the former Mossad agent and wondered why someone with that much experience and training would be working with a TR team. She made a mental note to find Zara and ask her that very question. But for now, she apparently had to meet Dom and his new daughter. As they entered the bullpen, Shannon once again felt those eyes on her. She glanced around quickly but saw no-one. She shook off the feeling and kept following Michael. Suddenly the main door to the bullpen swung open and Dom himself hurried in looking harried and worn. "Hey Dom! Come here for a minute!" Michael said, waving to Dom. When Dom stood in front of them, Michael did the introduction. "Dom, this is Shannon our new team member. Shannon this is our bomb expert, Dom." Dom and Shannon shook hands. Michael excused himself saying something about paperwork and left. "So you are our newest member?" Dom said curiously. Shannon nodded and replied "Yep sure am." Dom grinned and said "welcome to the team. Most likely you will be with me, Stell and Michael. Lawson, Josh, Zara make up the other team. Leon is our resident geek and Zara only does specialized jobs. Don"t ask me why coz even I don"t know! But yeah, you should have no problems here. Just be wary of Josh, at the moment he"s touchy because he sees you as a replacement for Grace, our team member who died recently. Even though he is with Zara who worked miracles with him in terms of his behaviour towards us as he was snappy and rude, he can still be a bit funny. Just don"t say anything that might upset him. Zara"s cool though, she"s very approachable and social even though she doesn"t seem like it. She is also very talented in many areas of police work including bombs and I have learnt a lot from her in that regards. But she does have a bad side and that only shows if someone threatens us or especially Josh. She and Josh are inseparable. If one leaves a room, the other will either follow or sit and stress, or if one is sick the other will constantly worry. Anyway enough about them. You probably want to know about me." Dom said laughing. Shannon grinned. "Sure why not!" she said. Dom smiled and continued. "Well obviously im the only married one on the team and I have a new daughter called Gracie-Rose." Dom whipped out his wallet and showed Shannon a pic of his daughter. Shannon, like most women who saw babies, reacted instinctively. "Oh how cute is she! Wow you and your wife are so lucky!" Shannon said honestly. Dom looked pleased and said so. "Yeah we are. Say, would you like to come over for dinner tonight and meet Sandy and Gracie-Rose?" Shannon looked ecstatic. "Definitely! I would love to!" she said excitedly. Dom once again looked pleased. "Excellent, say around 7pm?" Shannon nodded enthusiastically. "Yep I will be there and I will bring the wine and a present." Dom looked taken aback. "Oh that is very kind of you but totally not necessary!" he exclaimed. Shannon shook her head. "No, no, I feel like I haven"t contributed anything!" she said honestly. "You only just got here!" Dom said, trying to pacify Shannon. Shannon grinned at Dom, and he knew she was only teasing. He felt relief at that, but was grateful she was coming to dinner as it would be interesting to find out what life with the AFP was like and also forensics interested Dom immensely but he told no-one about it because he was afraid he would get laughed at, so he became a bomb disposal expert instead because he could still do forensics but dealt with bombs as well. "So, apart from being the bomb expert, what else do you specialize in?" Shannon asked. Just as Dom was about to answer, he was saved by a person entering the room. Suddenly the main door swung open and none other than Zara walked through. Seeing Zara, Dom called her over. The former Mossad agent, to Shannon, looked serene and calm, but from what Michael had told her, Zara was an expertly trained killer. Shannon smiled and hoped it didn"t show that she was a little afraid of Zara. But she need not have worried. When Zara reached them she smiled a genuine smile which immediately put Shannon at ease. After Dom had introduced them and had left due to being called to a job, Zara and Shannon started chatting. Shannon looked at Zara. She was slightly hesitant, given the fact that Zara was a highly trained killer. Zara however, picked up immediately on Shannon"s unease. "Hey, I"m not going to kill you." Zara said laughing. Shannon looked visibly relieved which made Zara laugh harder. "Sorry, the others must have made me out to be some kind of psycho killing machine!" Zara said, chuckling. Shannon grinned then nodded. Shannon then asked her the burning question she wanted to ask. "Just wondering, what made you decide to be transferred here? Surely someone with as much experience and training as you have would be better suited to an intelligence job?" Shannon held her breath, fearing she had annoyed Zara. Instead the ex-Mossad agent just laughed. "I came here because my skills are more useful here and also I was sick of working Intel. I am still a very high-ranking Mossad officer and have a reasonable rank within ASIS, but both agencies played down my skills and I became bored with schlep work." Shannon was amazed. She then dared to ask her about Josh. "So, everyone"s been telling me about you and Josh..." she trailed off lamely. Zara"s face took on a wistful look for a brief moment, and then she smiled and blushed. "Yes Josh. He really is one of a kind. He can seem a bit cold sometimes but that"s just him. If he causes you any problems, come and tell me. I do not want him ruining your first day here; otherwise I will ruin HIM. Anyway yes we are together and he is my rock. I cannot live without him and I know he feels the same way about me." Zara got a faraway look on face for a split second, and then it was gone. "Sorry, I must be boring you with my mushy talk!" she said apologetically. Shannon shook her head. "No, of course not. When two people love each other as much as I can see you and Josh obviously do, then its only natural to get sentimental when mentioning them." She said. Zara smiled. "So I hear you are a forensics specialist?" she said, curiously. Shannon nodded. "Yeah I trained with the AFP for 4 years." She said quickly. Zara looked impressed. "I"ve always wanted to work for the AFP but my skills are too high for me to be of any use to them." She said, looking disappointed. Shannon laughed. "Nah the AFP isn"t all it"s cracked up to be. You"re better off here with Josh." Zara looked pleased. "You have to meet Josh eventually, but I suspect he"s hiding because he knows that you being here means that he has to face the fact that Grace is truly gone and that life does go on after you lose a loved one. I should know. My now deceased husband was killed by a sniper." The last part saw a shadow of grief cross the pretty agent"s face. Shannon put her arm around Zara. "My former husband was also killed by a sniper. He was an army captain." Zara looked at Shannon, sympathy clearly showing on her face, glad that someone could relate to her past. Shannon and Zara hugged for a brief minute. In that moment, they became best friends, united by their shared past. Just at that moment, who should show up, but Josh, the one person Shannon had not met yet. Seeing the scene before him, Josh thought about backing out of the room, but Zara"s voice stopped him. He loved her more than anything else in the world and he had heard what she said about her past. He fell in love with her again. And in that moment, he also privately acknowledged Shannon as the new member and laid Grace and those memories to rest. "Josh, I know you are there, try and run and the stapler will get its revenge" Zara said without turning around. She and Shannon separated and she led Shannon to meet Josh. At first glance, Josh did not think Shannon was much of anything, but seeing her with Zara made Josh take a second look. He knew that she was not Grace, but she was someone with new ideas and goals and he felt a sense of duty to make sure that she fit in. He mentally cursed Zara for making him lose his "cool image" or what HE thought was a "cool image". In his mind, he was the tough copper by day but inside he was the grieving brother and lover. Until Zara came along, he had wallowed in his grief and loss, hadn"t eaten or slept and his work suffered. When Zara had arrived, she had taken him under her wing and made him talk through all his emotions without protest. That was when she had made him realize that there was love and life after Grace. That was when he allowed himself to fall for Zara. The beautiful yet deadly former Mossad assassin who could pick locks so quickly he barely had time to blink and whose use of a stapler as a weapon actually scared him. She was also very very good with guns and knives, often scaring him when a knife suddenly embedded itself into the partition in front of him without warning. He would look to see where she was but could never find her, only hear her soft laughter. He thought back to that stapler incident. He was in a bad mood that day and was walking back to the bullpen after a particularly trying shift and Zara had said something to him and he had been particularly rude to her, given the fact she had only been at base for three days. He remembered with guilt how that conversation had panned out and how he had been left literally hanging. "So Josh, are you going home tonight or do you need somewhere to stay" Zara had asked him innocently. He had turned on her with such ferocity that the rest of the team dashed for cover. He had shoved her up against a wall, his face lacking all expression, yet his narrowed eyes betrayed his fury. He had told her in a deadly voice "NEVER mock me again, you got that Mellerton? Coz I hate people who mock me. You know all about Grace and everything I went through and am still going through and you MOCK me?! You need to get a real life and stop living mine." With that he shoved her away roughly not caring whether she hurt herself or not. Looking back, he should have seen it coming. He knew it was wrong to take out his anger on the one person who cared deeply for him but at that moment he was too caught up in his own depression to care. What came next shocked him deeply. One minute he was facing the wall, the next he was spun around and a VERY angry Zara was staring him in the face. Her expression reeked of murder. He knew how dangerous she could be and that her temper did get the better of her some times, but he also knew he was in serious trouble. "You will wish you had never spoken to me like that" she had said, her voice dangerously quiet. In a matter of minutes, she had grabbed the first thing she could see, being a stapler and had stapled him to the wall. He had been so surprised that all his anger had faded and quickly replace with shock. And what made it worse was that after she had put the last staple in, she walked off completely ignoring his protests and had left him there until the end of the second shift when she had only release him when he apologised profusely and meant it. After that, Josh had massive respect for Zara and learnt very quickly that she was nothing like Grace and he found that attractive because he didn"t like to be reminded about Grace. He also remembered their first kiss. Funny enough it was on Valentines Day. He was rummaging through his Christmas decorations from years ago that he had never bothered to throw out, yet since Zara had never had a proper Christmas since she was little, he decided to go through them and make this years Christmas special for her. He had found some fake mistletoe in with all the decorations and had taken it downstairs with him after he had finished rummaging and sorting. He had glanced at the calendar that day and noticed that it was Valentines Day. He had planned to take Zara out to dinner and also ask her out at the same time. He had the restaurant all booked, his black suit freshly dry-cleaned and hanging up, his shoes polished and clean socks and underwear laid out on his bed as well as a crisp, white shirt hung next to his suit. Since it was a very high class restaurant, the dress code was formal. He wondered what Zara would wear, He imagined her in an emerald green floor length backless dress with a halter neck and a hem that swept the floor. Snapping back to reality, he had looked at the mistletoe in his hand and had on impulse hung it above his front door. Later that evening, Zara had arrived and the dress she wore made his jaw drop. She looked absolutely breath-taking in a sweeping ebony backless dress with gold embroidery on the bodice and a strip of gold material peeked through the train of the dress at the back. She had her hair up with stray waves framing her face and simple jewelry consisting of a gold and onyx choker, gold and onyx ring and a beautiful gold onyx and diamond bracelet. She also wore small diamond drop earrings and her makeup was not only flawless but accentuated her natural beauty even more. He had pointed to the mistletoe, hoping to steal a kiss but she had realized his intentions and told him that mistletoe was for Christmas not Valentine"s Day, yet he would still get his kiss. He had blushed which was very unusual for Josh, practically never heard of, and she had laughed. After dinner, they were walking back up the front path to his house when it had begun to snow. Josh had seized the opportunity when the flakes started to fall faster, to gently pull her towards him, tilt her face towards him and whisper "I love you" before kissing her softly to begin with, yet it turned passionate very quickly and they stood in the middle of Josh"s front yard holding onto each other, neither wanting to pull away. The rest of the night had been a blur, yet he remembered that kiss as clear as day. Josh suddenly snapped back to reality when he realized he was blushing and Shannon was laughing at him as was Zara. "Thinking about snow again Josh" Zara grinned seeing the recognizable look on his face. Josh laughed and looked at Shannon. He walked over with his hand out. "I"m Josh. I"m glad you are here Shannon because we really need a balance here and I"m sure that you will fit right in with us. I do not know what the others told you but I"m hoping it was not to stay away from me because if it is, they will hear about it. Any time you need help or are in trouble, call either Zara or I. I heard about what happened to your husband and it seems that we three are united in a common tragedy, that we all lost someone we care about, but we found each other and that should make us stronger. I"m sorry I haven"t approached you sooner, but I just did not know what to say and you also seemed caught up in being introduced and dragged around like a show pony that I felt it rude to intervene and save you. I should have done it sooner but I also had some personal issues to deal with and now they have been dealt with I feel free. Welcome to the team Shannon." Shannon shook his hand, grateful for his honesty and feeling like she had been truly accepted into her new team. Later that night, after a lovely dinner with Dom and Sandy and Gracie-Rose, Shannon found herself lying in her bed in the dark just remembering her first day and the feelings that she had experienced were only positive. She was thankful that everyone had accepted her in one way or another. She, Zara and Josh had become firm friends after that Dom even nicknaming them the Three Musketeers with one being deadly (which had earned him a mocking glare from Zara yet Josh had cracked up laughing until she had waved a stapler at him then had burst out laughing when his face changed from laughter to fear. He had then started laughing which set everyone off including Shannon. The rest of that day had been filled with laughter and joking around. "It was nice to meet you all today" she had said to a resound chorus of "hear hear" from the rest of the team. For once in her life, Shannon felt welcomed and included and to her it was the best feeling in the world. And with that thought and a happy smile on her face, she closed her eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

packed them all into an ambulance and they were rushed to hospital as well. News spread of the terrible crash and everyone in the Bay flocked to the Hospital to support Ric and keep a vigil over Steph who was in a coma and fighting for her life. Within that week, suddenly the heart machine attached to Steph started whining. Ric, who was pronounced fine, as were the others, ran to the room but the doctors had got there before him and had locked the door. All he could do was to wait until they came out. It was around 30mins later that they emerged, all looking sad and tired. Ric jumped up, concern written across his face. The head doctor shook his head. Ric broke down and screamed. He collapsed against the wall, sobbing brokenly. The group surrounded him and comforted him. They didn"t notice a lone figure standing a fair way from the group. Ric suddenly sensed someone else. He stood up and slowly turned around, but whoever had been there had gone. He did however spot something lying on the floor. He ran to it, and picked it up. It was a red rose and had a white ribbon tied to it. He put it to his nose and inhaled its scent. The scent was strong and the rose was fresh. There was only one person who left a red rose tied with a white ribbon. Steph. It was her trademark. Suddenly Ric noticed a rolled up piece of paper surrounding the stem and being held on by the ribbon. He gently removed it and read it. His face went from hope to despair. Cassie, seeing his sad expression said "She faked her own death and isn"t coming back is she." Ric nodded silently not trusting himself to speak. Cassie removed the letter from Ric"s hands and quietly read it to the group. My darling Ric, When you get this, I will be gone. Not from this world, but from your life. I know when im not wanted. You have Matilda and the baby to think about now. I was just a fill in. I have only one request. That you have a funeral for the person they brought in as me and forget I ever exist after that is over. Do not hold a memorial service. I would rather be forgotten than continually remembered. I should never have let myself trust again. I kept telling myself that but when I was with you, I let it lapse. Im sorry to have to leave this way, but it"s for the best. Maybe we will meet again some day. All my love, Stephayni De Walscott. As Cassie finished reading, Belle broke down as did Mattie. She never meant to hurt anyone, just to have Ric involved in his child"s life. Beth had told her it was a bad idea to go around to Ric"s house expecting a warm reception. Later that night, Belle was in her bedroom when she noticed the rose and ribbon on her desk. She quickly crossed the room and picked it up and unfurled the note. Belle, Im so sorry for having to leave like this. None of it was your fault, neither was it Ric"s. I was stupid and thoughtless for thinking that he could have cheated on me, which is the reason I left in such a hurry tonight. You know where all the keys are for the cars, take your pick as to what you want and give the rest to the others. They deserve them. I wont have any use for cars where im going. I can only hope that you won"t blame Ric for any of this, nor Matilda, but see it as my fault. Matilda tried to speak to me about a month ago but I brushed her off. Now I realise why, she was trying to tell me about her baby. Anyway, thankyou for everything. You have been a great friend. I have enclosed my funeral plans. Everything has been organised and paid for. Just go and collect it all, don"t ask questions of the staff as they wont tell you anything. The service has been set for next Tuesday at 10am. Do not expect me to be there. Im supposed to be dead. Im going to miss you! All my Love, Stephayni De Walscott. Belle put the letter down and cried. She pictured Steph, driving away, with a determined look on her face, leaving Summer Bay and everyone"s lives forever. The next morning Belle rang the police station to inform them that Stephayni had passed away during the night and that her funeral was next week on the Tuesday. They all agreed to come and Belle also requested that Johnny be present as he was her husband. The day of the funeral came and the entire town of Summer Bay, including the Police, Ambulance officers, Fire Brigade, Hospital Staff and Johnny were there. Johnny was openly crying as was Ric. The service began. "I have been instructed to make this brief." He unfolded a piece of paper. "Stephayni was a good person. She was well liked and respected by all in the Summer Bay community. She is preceded by her former husband Johnny Cooper to whom all entitlements are left to. Stephayni requested that the following letter be read at her funeral should she ever pass on. To everyone in attendance today, Thankyou for coming, I know that this is a sad day for you, but try and think of the good things. I have lived my life as I wanted to but now it is time for me to pass on. Im sorry not to have said goodbye but it was better this way. Not so many tears. Please do not cry at my funeral today. A funeral is meant to be a joyous occasion, no matter how sad it seems. I have requested that the only flowers to adorn the wooden crate that is called a coffin, should be red roses tied together with white ribbon. Thankyou all once again for the best year of my life. I wish you all the best for the rest of your life and hope that you fulfil your dreams like I did. All my love, Stephayni De Walscott. That was the letter I was sent about six months ago." The priest stated. Everyone was too focused on the funeral to notice the lone figure standing apart from the rest. Ric felt that weird sensation that there was someone staring at him and he turned slightly but once again there was no-one there. He felt Johnny trying to catch his attention subtly and locked his gaze onto Johnny"s. He saw Johnny nod almost imperceptibly, but Ric saw it and realised Johnny knew who it was and that he had seen who it was. Later, after the funeral was over, Ric approached Johnny and asked him quietly who he had seen. All Johnny said was "I"ve seen her before. She"s still here and she"s alive. She faked her own death so technically she isn"t actually dead. Forget I told you this. She does this every time she"s mixed up. That"s the third car she has smashed up in 5 years. She always does it when she"s upset. Of course the car companies know she isn"t dead and she gets another car. I spoke to Steph yesterday. She came to see me. She asked me to tell you not to worry about her; she"s fine for the time being. She will make herself known when she is ready. Don"t look for her and don"t alert the cops that she is still alive or else. That"s not my warning but hers. Please Ric, let her be alone for awhile. She poured out the whole story to me and I told her what to do. I have to go. The cops are starting to look at me strangely. Just remember the warning bro." With that, he sauntered over to where the cops were waiting and they handcuffed him and led him away. Ric realised that Johnny and Steph never divorced. That"s why Steph had acted so quiet when he asked her when the court date was. She had lied to him. She had never really loved him, she just needed security. Well Steph could go and rot in hell for all he cared. She used him and he didn"t want her back even if she begged and bribed him. He wouldn"t budge. Then a voice spoke in his head. "Do you love her with all your heart and soul? Then if you do, write all your feelings down in a letter and post it to her. She may not get it, but at least it will get your feelings out of your system." Ric left the wake that moment, and headed home. When he got there, he went to his room, sat down at his desk and wrote. He used an entire pad of paper and it took him 5 hours to finish. Then he put it into a manilla envelope, addressed it to Steph and drove to her house and pushed it under her door. Again, he felt the presence of someone watching him. This time he looked quickly and spotted a shape moving quickly away from the window. He knew it was Steph, but how to talk to her? He quickly ran up the stairs and unlocked the front door quietly so as not to alert her, although how he could manage not to do that when Steph was the best stealth operator was hard, but somehow he knew she would be waiting for him in their bedroom. He picked up his envelope and quietly removed his shoes and padded up the hallway to their bedroom, walked into the darkened room shut the door quietly and locked it. He knew Steph was watching him so he sat down on the bed and waited for her to make the first move. It didn"t take her very long. "Why are you here Ric? There is no need. You cant be in my life anymore. Johnny told you that. Please leave me alone." She said, in barely a whisper, stepping out from behind a door that seemed to appear from the seemingly solid wall. She stood in the doorway, her hair wet and straggling around her face as though she had just had a shower. Ric knew better. He crossed the room in four strides and caught her before she collapsed. Ric carried Steph"s limp form over to the bed and laid her gently on it. He then fetched a blanket and put it over her, then lay down beside her, gently wrapping his arms around her before falling asleep. He woke later that day to find her still asleep in his arms. He gently unwound himself from her and headed downstairs to find something to eat. About half and hour later, Steph emerged looking tired and cranky. Ric wisely kept quiet. Steph, after finding something to eat, spoke. "Why Ric? Why did you come here? Johnny told you that you could not come near me. Why didn"t you listen to him?" she said quietly. Ric replied in the same tone "I came here to give you a letter I wrote. I was heeding Johnny"s warning, but then my feelings overcame my thoughts and I acted on my love for you rather than thinking rationally. I know you and Johnny are still married and that you lied to me about the court hearing." Steph looked surprised. "Who said Johnny and I are still together? We divorced last week." She rummaged around in a drawer and pulled out a folder labelled "Divorce" and held it up for Ric to see. She then pulled a piece of paper out and handed it to Ric for him to read. It said all the usual details of both Steph and Johnny but under the heading "divorce reason" it was stated as being "irreconcilable differences" and had a date for the previous week stamped on it. Ric read it slowly, fearing that it was all a dream. He looked up and met Steph"s steady gaze. He tried to read her thoughts but couldn"t. He handed her back the paper in silence. Steph then put it back in the folder and put it back in the drawer and shut it. She then stood facing Ric, waiting for him to say something. When he didn"t, she spoke instead. "Come with me. I have to show you something" she said, taking his hand and leading him upstairs. She led him into what had been their bedroom when they had been together and went and lay down on the bed. Ric shut the door without a sound. Steph looked at him steadily, her eyes locked onto his, but this time he could read the message behind the gaze. He went and lay down next to her, his heart pounding in anticipation, his head swimming with one thought "she wants me". He rolled over to face her, and then it was apparent that her desire showed as her eyes literally burned with desire. Suddenly, Ric turned away. "This is not how I want it to be Steph. I want our first time to be. I want it to be special, not rushed" he said trying to fight his urge to grab and kiss her. Steph ran her fingers down his chest to just above his belt, making Ric emit a soft moan. She trailed her fingers back up and Ric shuddered with arousal. She whispered in his ear "This is how I want it to be. I want control and power. I control the speed, rhythm and pace." Ric felt his erection growing as Steph kept murmuring the things she was going to do to him. Suddenly, Ric sat up. Steph stared at him in shock. He rolled over and opened the drawer next to his side of the bed and withdrew a packet of condoms. Steph looked disappointed at this. Ric stared at her. "What"s wrong?" he asked concerned. "I want to have no barriers between us and that includes protection" she said simply. She ran a hand up and down his chest again, this time, on the way back down, she began undoing his shirt buttons. Ric softly moaned as her fingers lightly caressed his abdomen. He trailed his fingers up her sides, marvelling at how soft her skin was. He quietly unbuttoned her shirt so that she was as exposed as he was. He pulled her close to him, loving the way their bodies fit together so perfectly. Ric began to gently nip at the skin between her jaw and her collarbone making Steph gasp at the intensity. She cupped his face in her hands and made him look eye to eye with him. She said two words. "Go Slow." In a moment, everything can change. The next evening, Steph awoke and found herself wrapped in Ric"s arms. The events from last night returned in a rush, and her eyes snapped open in horror and shock. Her phone beeped quietly on her bedside table. She rolled over and retrieved it, quickly noting that she had a message. It read "The time is now. We call for the dragon, to save us from the perils of death." That was what she nicknamed her "bat signal". She was wanted by her gang. Obviously another execution needed to be performed. She had to hurry. She quickly untangled herself from Ric"s arms, grabbed her underwear and other items of clothing off the floor and quietly padded to the downstairs bathroom where she had a shower and dyed her hair, dried her hair, got into fresh clothes (a short leather mini, black fishnets, black knee-high boots, dark red low cut top, dark red gothic style lace jacket and then a black overcoat) and then went and did her nails black with red tips. She then did her makeup which was her normal routine but added black and red eyeliner and dark red lipstick. She then brushed and styled her hair as per the gang"s rules: dead straight and out and down. The end result was to the effect that had Ric seen her, he would have done her right there and then. She looked hot as! Steph only took care with her appearance when she was wanted by the gang as no-one could know her identity. She quickly headed down to her garage where her CCX was kept. The one she had crashed was actually a Toyota Celica with the CCX shell. It"s true, we"re all a little insane.But it"s so clear,Now that I"m unchained. Fear is only in our minds,Taking over all the time.Fear is only in our minds but it"s taking over all the time. One day I"m gonna forget your name,And one sweet day, you"re gonna drown in my lost pain.You poor sweet innocent thing.Dry your eyes and testify.And oh you love to hate me don"t you, honey?I"m your sacrifice. (I dream in darknessI sleep to die,Raise the silence,Erase my life,Our burning ashesBlacken the day,A world of nothingness,Blow me away.) So you wonder why you hate?Are you still too weak to survive your mistakes? She started the CCX which now bore the decals and graphics of her gang. Everyone who was anyone knew that if her car was spotted in the area it meant trouble or even death for the unfortunate gang members to whom she was headed for. For her to be called meant something really unpleasant had happened. She was only very rarely called in by any of the gangs. She purred out of the garage and glided down the street, the automatic doors closing silently behind her. She was not in that much of a hurry. They could wait. Suddenly her phone rang. She checked the caller ID. It was Ric. "Shit" Steph swore. She pressed the "answer" button. At once she heard Ric"s voice, tense with worry. "Where are you Steph? What happened? Did I do something wrong?" His voice grew more anxious with each question he asked. Steph, staring straight ahead at the road in front of her, said slowly "Im going for a drive, nothings wrong and no you didn"t. Last night was wonderful. Now unless you want me to be pulled over by the cops for talking while driving, you"re going to have to hang up. Oh by the way Ric, if anyone, and I mean anyone, rings the bell or anything, don"t answer the door. Just stay inside. Actually, go into the closet in my room and push on the wall there. It will slide aside to reveal a secret room. Go and wait for me in there. You will be perfectly safe in there. Just don"t open any windows or turn the air conditioning system on. Make sure that the wall closes behind you and that you shut the wardrobe door and lock it. Once inside, you will hear a clear panel slide and lock, then a panel disguised as a normal wall will slide and lock. That panel is the sound proofing, the clear panel is the bullet proof, bomb proof and attack by any means proof glass. You will know when I am home because I will come up the internal stairs and open the secret door. I"m also the only one who knows where it is besides you. Not even Johnny knew about it. There are a mass load of DVDs and CDs in there for you, literally every DVD and CD ever made. There is also a fridge, small bathroom and a small bedroom. Make yourself comfortable." She said in a quiet voice and hung up. Ric stared at the phone for several minutes then did as he was told. On his way up, he stopped and retrieved all the car keys then closed the painting securely and made his way up the stairs as quickly but quietly as possible. On his way through the bedroom, he stopped to pick up a photo of him and Steph that Lucas had taken last year. He was amazed that Steph had kept it. But the photo beside her bed was different. It was one of her and Johnny. He realised that being married to someone for as long as Steph and Johnny had, took a lot of time to get over and that there would always be the lingering feelings and emotions whenever the subject was raised. After locking himself in as per Steph"s instructions, Ric walked over and scanned the DVDs. There were literally thousands! Suddenly, a voice spoke from out of nowhere. "Welcome to the Secret Room. Please make your selection of the DVD library or the CD library now." Ric did as requested, and found that the DVDs must have been on some kind of slot/slide machine thing, as there was a collection bin marked "Please Take Here". Once his selections had come through, he took them over to where the TV and stereo system were set up, and popped a DVD in the player, fetched himself a beer and some chips and sat down to watch and wait. Meanwhile Steph was still driving. She knew where she was going and that she was going to be quite early when she got there, so she decided to see Johnny for a few minutes to while away the time. She pulled up outside the formidable looking jail and was admitted immediately. She was shown into a room to wait for Johnny. He appeared 10 minutes later. As soon as the door had been locked, Johnny rushed over to Steph, pulling her close and kissing her deeply. He had hated the divorce proceedings and longed to be married to Steph again. She knew that he still loved her even though he had never actually hurt her. Once Steph pulled away from Johnny, he looked at her sadly, knowing that she had not actually come to see him specifically, but to get some info out of him. He sat down next to her on the couch and then suddenly bent forwards as though in pain. Steph crouched beside him, asking him what was wrong. No-one noticed a piece of paper fall from Johnny"s pocket and see Steph pick it up and pocket it. Johnny then stood up and stretched as the guards came in to see what was wrong. He assured them that he had felt a small pain but nothing severe. Nevertheless, the prison doctor was alerted and came in to check him out. Pronouncing him healthy, the doctor left, as did Steph. She got back in her car and continued driving. Once she arrived at the destination, she opened the piece of paper Johnny had given her and smiled at the content written there. She then stuffed the paper in her glove box and got out of the car, locking it behind her. Once the job was done, she got back in her car and headed for home. Once there she quietly slipped upstairs and opened the secret door into the room beyond. She spotted Ric asleep on the King size bed. She quietly slipped out of the room and went to her other closet and picked out a black silk nightgown and dark red silk floor length dressing gown. She was about to close the secret door behind her, when the lights went out. She quietly made her way to the bed and crawled onto it, sensing someone was close to her. She felt under the pillow and activated the emergency power. When the lights came back on, she immediately noticed that Ric was gone. She became anxious and stressed, pacing the floor, looking under things, the bathroom, closets, everything. Suddenly the hidden panel opened and Steph froze where she was in the closet. Ric entered the room alone. The panels slid shut behind him and that was when Steph jumped him. His yell snapped her out of her mood and she realised who he was. "Ric! What did I tell you about leaving the room!" she said, her shock getting the better of her. Ric, surprised himself, didn"t fail to notice the terrified look on Steph"s face however. "What happened? The lights went out suddenly." He said looking a trifle scared. "I don"t know. Must have been a blackout. Go into the bedroom and check the

- Juliette, Auggie, David, Daisy, Ezra, Shelby and Scott will all be seniors this school year. - Shelby came back to Horizon during the summer. It was revealed that she was raped by her mother"s new boyfriend, Glenn. Her mom didn"t believe her and later decided to give full custody of Shelby to her dad. Shelby"s dad is going to allow her to continue school at Horizon. He is going to visit before the start of the school year. - Juliette"s mother wants to send her to an all-girls" boarding school in France to give her more culture. Juliette emailed Auggie about it, but then wouldn"t respond to him. Auggie called Peter, very worried, and vowed to do whatever it takes to have Juliette back at Horizon. Back to Basics - Prologue " Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace." - Amelia Earhart "Peter, they"re going to be here any minute!" Sophie Becker Scarbrow stared anxiously out the window, then glanced back over her shoulder toward the bedroom. "Why are they coming here first, instead of the main lodge?" Peter Scarbrow walked out of the bedroom and put his arms around his wife, giving her a peck on the cheek. "I thought it would be nice to make Troy and Claire feel as much at home as possible. I know he was a little nervous about this transition, I just wanted to make it easy on him." Sophie turned and gave her husband a small smile before resuming her gaze out the window. "I just hope this works out okay," she said to herself, almost forgetting that Peter was standing over her shoulder. Peter frowned, surprised at Sophie"s statement. "Why wouldn"t it work out okay?" he asked, moving so he was standing in front of her now. Sophie shrugged, turning away from the window and walking into the kitchen. "I"m sure it will be fine," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. Peter shook his head, following her into the kitchen. "Uh-uh, Soph. Don"t tell me what I want to hear. Look, if you have misgivings about Troy"s ability to be a counselor, I want to hear about it." Sophie busied herself, unloading the dishwasher. "I don"t have any misgivings about his abilities. I"m sure he"ll be a great counselor. So will Maria." Peter thought back to Maria Sanchez, silently agreeing with Sophie. Maria had attended the second "Discover Yourself" summer program. Being a product of the foster care system had stemmed her desire to improve the system by becoming a social worker. Already, though, after just three years of working, Maria was disillusioned with all the state"s rules and regulations that she had to abide by. She wanted more satisfaction in her work and craved more interaction with kids. After weighing the pros and cons, Maria decided to become a Horizon counselor. Forcing his mind back to the conversation at hand, Peter wondered what was bugging Sophie. "So, you don"t have any misgivings about Troy or Maria"s abilities. Then why do I get the feeling you have some doubts about Troy coming here?" Sophie turned to face Peter, wiping her hands off with the dishtowel. "It"s nothing. Don"t worry about it, Peter." She paused as they both heard a car door slam shut. "They"re here! Let"s go greet them, shall we?" Giving Peter a little smirk, she brushed past him and out the front door. "Troy, hi!" Sophie greeted him with a smile and a wave. She had liked Troy since she first met him at the beginning of the summer. He seemed to have a positive effect of people, and had a very easygoing manner about him. Troy smiled and waved at Sophie as he unbuckled the car seat where Claire was strapped in. Unsure of what was happening, Claire kept her wide eyes on her father and seemed to relax a bit when he picked her up. The two came toward the Scarbrow house, where Peter had now joined Sophie on the front porch. "Good to see you, Troy," Peter said warmly, welcoming Troy with a hearty handshake. "And who is this pretty young lady?" Claire smiled before burying her head in her daddy"s shoulder. Troy, Peter and Sophie all laughed. "This is Claire," Troy said proudly. "She can be a little shy. Honey, I want you to meet these nice people Daddy"s going to be working with. This is Peter and Sophie." Claire slowly raised her head to look at the smiling couple, then hid her face again. "She"ll come around. I"m afraid with all the excitement today, she hasn"t gotten her usual nap in." "Well, come on inside. Maybe she can lay down in one of the bedrooms," Peter suggested. Once inside, Troy asked where he could put Claire down. "Why not in Shelby"s room?" Peter directed. "Where is Shelby?" Troy asked, remembering the sullen teenager from earlier that summer. "Oh, she"s helping Maria get settled in," Sophie responded. Troy gave her a questioning look. "Maria is the other new Horizon counselor," Sophie explained. "We have several new kids this year and realized we need not just one, but two new counselors." "You and Maria will be heading up the Starcatchers group," Peter informed Troy. "Look, why don"t you go ahead and put Claire down for a nap, then we can go over everything. Maybe later, we can meet up with Maria." Troy shrugged, glancing at his daughter, who now had her eyes closed with her head resting against his shoulder. "Sounds good, I"ll be back in a minute." He headed toward Shelby"s bedroom. "You know, we should probably get out of the habit of referring to the guest bedroom as "Shelby"s room"," Sophie said, a hint of sadness in her voice. "She"ll be moving back into the Cliffhangers girls" dorm soon." "Yeah, that"s going to be quite a transition for her," Peter acknowledged. *For us, too,* he thought silently. "Well, we all knew it was coming," Sophie said matter-of-factly. *I"m just not quite ready for it to happen,* she thought, *and I don"t think Shelby is, either.* Shelby Merrick studied the 24-year old woman as she unpacked boxes. "You sure you want to do this? It"s not too late to back out, you know," Shelby remarked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. Maria Ramirez stopped for a moment to glance up at Shelby. "I"m sure. Now, why don"t you give me some help instead of sitting there, scrutinzing every move I make?" She waited, hands on her hips, looking at Shelby expectantly. "Fine, whatever," Shelby mumbled, hopping down from her perch on the kitchen counter. She wouldn"t have admitted it to anyone, but Shelby secretly liked Maria. They had met during the second summer session. Maria had a no-nonsense approach and didn"t let anything get by her, qualities that Shelby admired. At the same time, Maria reminded Shelby of Daisy, because Maria had a gift of being able to read people. Her frankness with other people about themselves was almost overwhelming at times. *The difference between Maria and Daisy, though, is that Daisy isn"t open about her own feelings, like Maria is,* Shelby thought ruefully, wondering how anyone could be so direct while seeming fearless of getting hurt. "Have you heard from Daisy?" Maria asked, almost like she could read Shelby"s thoughts. Shelby had told Maria before that Daisy was her only friend at Horizon. "No, but her father called Peter and Sophie. I guess he"s bringing her back here next week." Shelby was less than thrilled at the thought of all the other Cliffhangers returning. That would mean classes starting again, and even worse - group sessions, something Shelby was absolutely dreading. Maria had yet to be clued in to Shelby"s problems by Peter or Sophie, but she could sense that Shelby was full of pain. She decided it best to drop the subject of friends until she had a better understanding of the demons Shelby was battling. "So, do you have any plans before classes start again?" she asked Shelby. Shelby pursed her lips together, trying not to look worried. "Uh, yeah, my dad is coming to visit," she said dully. "Oh." Maria wondered where this story went. "When"s the last time you saw your dad?" Shelby groaned inwardly, wishing for once that Maria wasn"t so forward. "It"s been awhile," she said curtly. "Look, I"m finished here. Do you need me to do anything else?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject. "No, but thanks for your help. I can drive you back to Peter and Sophie"s," Maria suggested, but Shelby shook her head. "I"ll walk," Shelby said, heading out the door before Maria could even bid her farewell. Maria shook her head as she turned on the radio and continued to unpack. *That kid has some major issues,* she thought, curious as to what they were. Shelby sighed as she hiked back to Peter and Sophie"s house. She kept hearing Maria"s question in her head: "When"s the last time you saw your dad?" Shelby knew exactly how long it had been, almost two years. After living a year on the streets and turning to prostitution and drugs, Shelby had turned to her natural father for help. #Flashback# "You"re only 15 years old! I... I just don"t know how to help you." Steven Merrick looked down at his daughter with a mixture of pity and disgust. "Please... Dad." It was difficult for Shelby to call him that, he hadn"t been much of a father to her or Jess. "At least give me some money," she begged. "Money?! For what, more drugs?" Steven forced himself to calm down, realizing that yelling at his daughter wouldn"t help the situation any. He sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I"m sorry, Shelby. I have to let the authorities deal with this. They will know what is best for you, they deal with this kind of thing all the time." "With what kind of thing, Dad? With hookers who live on the streets?" Shelby"s buzz was dying, and she was starting to regret ever coming to her father for help. Seeing her friend, Patty, lying lifeless after overdosing on heroine had been too much for Shelby to handle. For the first time in the past year, it finally hit Shelby what could happen to her if she continued down this destructive path. Going back to her mom"s was not an option, so Shelby had turned to the only source of help she could think of - her father. Shelby"s dad picked up the phone and dialed the local police. "I"m sorry, honey," he said dejectedly. "This is the best thing for you." He silently hoped he was doing the right thing, as he explained the situation to the seargent. Within an hour, a squad car came out to the house. Shelby was escorted to the car by two policemen, without so much as a backward glance to her father. "What"s going to happen to her?" her father asked one of the policemen. "Chances are, she"ll go to juvie hall," he shrugged. "If she"s lucky, there"s an outward-bound type school for troubled teens she could get sent to. It"s the judge"s call." Steven Merrick watched as the car carrying his daugther drove away, his mind still reeling after her unexpected appearance. *Please, God, let the judge send her to that school,* he prayed. *And watch over my little girl.* #End Flashback# *I wish he weren"t coming,* Shelby thought bitterly. *Why should he start acting like a father now? He never has been a father to me before.* She blinked back tears as she continued the trek to the house. "Could I please speak with Juliette?" Auggie Ciceros stood in the phone booth in suburban Los Angeles, impatiently cradling the speaker against his ear. "She isn"t here right now." The soft, proper voice on the other end of the line belonged to Juliette"s mother, Mrs. Rowe. "Who is this?" she demanded. "This is Augusto Ciceros, her... friend. From Horizon." Auggie nervously waited for a response. "Mr. Ciceros, I suggest you do not call here again. My daughter will not be returning to Horizon this year, and she does not wish to speak with you. Good day." The line went dead as Mrs. Rowe hung up. Auggie stared at the receiver, not wanting to believe that Juliette wouldn"t want to talk to him. He pulled out a map and began walking down the street. An hour later, he was standing in front of Juliette"s house. *It"s now or never,* he thought, gathering the courage to knock on the massive oak door. He heard someone inside scurry to the door. "Can I help you?" came a voice over the intercom. Auggie looked around to find the intercom box, and pressed the button to speak. "Augusto Ciceros, here to see Juliette Wayborne." He tried to sound very professional. A minute went by with no response. Just as Auggie was about to knock again, the door flew open. A butler directed Auggie to enter. "Right this way," he motioned. Auggie followed him through the foyer, gazing in awe at the golden chandelier that hung high over their heads. "Please, step into the parlor," the butler instructed Auggie, who obliged. "She will be with you shortly," he said before departing. Auggie couldn"t believe how easy it had been to get inside. He was practically bursting with excitement, he hadn"t seen Juliette in so long. He didn"t hear someone enter the room. "Mr. Ciceros." The voice was cold, saying his name as if it were a disease. Auggie turned around to see Mrs. Rowe standing before him. "I thought I made myself clear over the phone." Auggie took a deep breath, almost flinching under Mrs. Rowe"s harsh gaze. "I"m sorry, Mrs. Rowe. I mean no disrespect, but I had to hear from Juliette herself that she doesn"t want to talk to me." Getting no response from Mrs. Rowe, Auggie kept talking. "I care for your daughter very much, Mrs. Rowe. She means the world to me. I just can"t imagine never seeing her or talking to her again." He stopped as she held up one hand. "I"m afraid I underestimated you, Mr. Ciceros. I had no idea, the depth of your feelings for my daughter" Mrs. Rowe approached Auggie, her eyes narrowing into slits. "Listen to me. You are not good for Juliette, and I believe she has finally realized that." "But - ," Auggie tried to interrupt. "Shut up!" Mrs. Rowe hissed. "You have one minute exactly to get out of my house before I call the police. You are never to contact me or my daughter again - EVER. Your minute starts...," she looked down at her watch, "now." "Please, let me - ," Auggie started to say. "Fifty-eight, fifty-seven," Mrs. Rowe kept counting. Auggie quickly weighed his options. He could try to run upstairs, but he"d probably never find Juliette"s room in this huge house. Plus, he didn"t even know if she were home. And he didn"t even want to think what his parents, not to mention Peter and Sophie, would do if he was arrested again. "Okay, I"m going." He held up his hands in the surrender position before bolting for the door. The butler was waiting for him, holding the door open. "Have a nice day, sir," the butler said, slamming the door behind Auggie. "Who was at the door?" Juliette asked the butler, coming down the stairs to the foyer. "Hello, dear," Mrs. Rowe said, grabbing hold of Juliette"s hand and pulling her into the kitchen before the butler could respond. She smiled at her daughter, brushing back her hair from her big brown eyes. "Come, let"s practice your French." Troy looked around the small but cozy cabin and smiled. *It"s different than what I"m used to, but we"ll make it our home,* he thought with conviction. It had been a very busy day, and Troy was starting to feel its effects. Yawning, he checked on Claire, who was fast asleep in her new room. Sitting down at his desk, Troy thumbed through the folders of his soon-to-be students. He had already met Maria, and they had agreed to sit down together to go over the teens" information together. Troy smiled in anticipation as he set the folders aside and picked up the phone, dialing the number he"d already put to memory. He"d been looking forward to making this call all day. "Hello," said a breathless voice. "Hi, Lynn. It"s Troy." He smiled into the receiver, picturing her on the other end. "Troy, hi!" Lynn exclaimed in surprise. "I didn"t expect to hear from you for another few days. I thought you"d be busy moving and all," she explained hurriedly, hoping he didn"t think she didn"t want to hear from him. Troy laughed. "Do you always talk so fast?" he teased. "I figured I"d go ahead and call, and see if you had any plans this weekend." He paused, not hearing a response. "I"d love to see you before the school year starts and everything gets crazy. Plus, I would love for you to meet Claire." Lynn hesitated, torn on what to do. *Go for it,* an inner voice urged. "This weekend looks open for me," she said casually. "What did you have in mind?" Troy was now grinning ear to ear. "Well, how would you like to come back to Horizon for the weekend? The weather is just perfect right now, and the air is so clean." Lynn chuckled. "It sounds like you"re already loving the place. Sure, that sounds great. Where will I stay, in the dorm again?" *With me,* Troy wanted to say, but knew it wouldn"t be appropriate, especially with Claire around. "Maybe in the dorm, I"ll check with Peter and Sophie. We"ll figure it out." He was secretly hoping to get someone to babysit Claire Saturday evening so he could take Lynn out to dinner. "I"m really looking forward to seeing you," he said softly. "Yeah, me too," Lynn answered sincerely. "So, I"ll see you Saturday?" "Saturday it is," Troy agreed, sighing contentedly. The next day, Sophie and Shelby walked out of the hospital and headed toward Sophie"s car. They started the ride back to Horizon in silence. Sophie glanced over at Shelby, who was brooding, arms crossed. "Do you want to talk about it?" Sophie asked quietly. "I"m not going back there," Shelby said stubbornly. "Shelby, maybe you need to give it more of a chance," Sophie suggested, before Shelby cut her off. "Why, Sophie? Why do I need to sit there and listen to these people"s sob stories? I don"t see how it"s supposed to help me, to hear over and over again how they were all raped and then share all our feelings." She angrily wiped her moist eyes. Sophie sighed, mulling over the decision. The truth was, she didn"t like going to the group counseling, either. It brought back painful memories of the night Ted had attacked her all those years ago. She had tried to bury those memories, unsuccessfully. "Tell you what, I"ll discuss it with Peter. Maybe there"s a better way for you to "share your feelings", as you put it." "Okay, fine." Shelby looked over at Sophie, noticing her distraught expression. "You don"t like going, either, do you?" she asked quietly. *She"s so perceptive,* Sophie thought in amazement. "It"s not on my top ten list of favorite ways to spend an afternoon," Sophie admitted. She reached over and squeezed Shelby"s hand, who didn"t pull away. "Shelby, Peter and I are just trying to do what"s best for you. It may take a while to figure it out, but the important thing is that we keep moving forward. Not only did you go through hell and back once before, but now something unthinkable has happened to you again." Shelby stared out the window but continued to allow Sophie to hold her hand. "There"s no right or wrong reaction here, Shel, except for violence. You know that." Sophie let go of Shelby"s hand, debating whether or not to push her luck. *We"ll have to talk about it sometime soon, might as well be now,* she thought apprehensively. "Shelby, you know that the rest of the Cliffhangers, and Jess, will be coming back soon," Sophie said slowly. "Peter and I are going to have to insist that you participate in group. And that means talking, not just sitting there." Shelby nodded slightly. "I know," was all she said. "You"ll also be moving back into the Cliffhangers girls" dorm within a week or so. Are you okay with that?" Sophie inquired. "Yeah. Why wouldn"t I be?" Shelby replied, hostility creeping into her voice. Sophie sighed, trying to stay concentrated on the road. "Don"t get defensive, Shelby. I"m just concerned, that"s all. It will be a big adjustment." Sophie pulled into the Horizon driveway. "I"m sure you and Peter will be glad to have me out of your hair," Shelby muttered, wishing things could be different. She didn"t want any Cliffhangers to find out what had happened to her, but it wasn"t going to be easy to hide if they heard her screaming from the constant nightmares. Sophie pulled up to the house and turned off the ignition. She turned to face Shelby, who looked absolutely miserable. "Shel, look at me." Shelby obeyed and looked over at Sophie, the sadness in her eyes practically tearing Sophie"s heart in two. Sophie grasped both of Shelby"s hands in her own. "You are NEVER in our hair. We just have to go by the rules here, that"s why you have to go back to living in the dorm." Shelby looked down and barely whispered something Sophie couldn"t quite hear. "What did you say, sweetie?" Sophie asked, still holding onto her hands. Shelby looked back up at Sophie. "I"m scared, Sophie." She couldn"t contain the tears any longer, they spilled over onto her cheeks. Sophie put her arms around Shelby as best she could in the car, and held her as she sobbed. "We"ll get through this together, Shelby. We will." Coming Attractions: - Peter receives another call concerning Juliette"s future. - Shelby"s dad visits, and he has a suprise for Shelby. - How will Lynn and Troy"s first date go? - Jess returns to Horizon as part of the Starcatchers group, along with 5 other students. - Sophie is surprised to hear from a family member.

the floor. "Skye, I can smell alcohol on your breath," Rae said quietly, then was surprised when Skye laughed derisively. "Really, Rae." Skye turned once again to her mother, looking at her with contempt. "Is that the best you can do to deflect attention away from your own behavior?" "Skye, you"re in the same clothes as last night. I can smell it on your breath! My God, what conclusion am I supposed to come to?" Rae could feel the heat rising to her face as she became more and more frustrated. "How about this, Mother?" Skye sneered. "I don"t care what conclusion you come to. In fact, I don"t care if I ever see you again in my life! Or better yet, why don"t you just stay the hell out of my life?" Skye turned, opened the door, and slammed it shut. Rae stood in front of Skye"s door, tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn"t even begin to suspect that her daughter was having the exact same reaction on the other side of the door. "Morning," AJ greeted Alan and Monica half-heartedly as he walked into the Quartermaine sitting room. "Well, you don"t sound too happy," Monica observed with a raised eyebrow. "Alan, get me some more coffee, would you?" Alan stood up and obliged as AJ also poured himself a cup of coffee. "So, what"s going on, AJ?" Alan asked, turning to look at his eldest son. "What is this mood of yours all about? Did something happen with Michael?" AJ took a sip of coffee before answering. "No, it"s not Michael." He stood in thought for a minute as Alan and Monica looked on, confused. "Are you going to tell us what is going on?" Monica asked with slight exasperation, standing up and moving over to where her husband and son were standing. "It"s Skye," AJ said simply with a grimace. Monica rolled her eyes and threw her hands up. "Oh, great - what has she done now?" "Would you please lay off my daughter?" Alan demanded. "Let AJ talk, for goodness sake." "I went to see her at the hotel last night," AJ began. "I can"t put my finger on it, but something was definitely up." "Well, of course something was up, she"s always up to something," Monica observed wryly but then stopped when Alan gave her a warning glare. "Go on, AJ," Alan directed. "Like I said, Dad, I"m not sure what is going on, but she just seemed... different. I"m not sure how, or why, but she made up some story about having a date to avoid talking to me. And she refused to come back and live here. I just don"t know what to make of it." Monica retrieved her coffee and sat back down on the sofa with a sigh. "I can"t believe Skye wouldn"t want to come back here," she commented. "AJ, I don"t know what"s going on with her, either. I saw her yesterday morning - she was acting a bit strangely, yes, but then I haven"t seen her in quite some time. Maybe she just needs some time on her own to become adjusted to Port Charles again. Besides, Rae"s here now to help her out." Alan smiled as he mentioned Rae"s name. Monica put down her cup and looked at Alan sharply. "Rae is here?" "Yes, Monica, but she brought her boyfriend with her," Alan remarked. "Oh, well then in that case, we should have them over for dinner!" Monica had the grin of a Cheshire cat at the news of Rae bringing John to town with her. AJ cleared his throat. "Uh, back to the subject at hand, what do you think we should do about this, Dad?" Monica stood up and walked over to AJ once again. "Look, I know you weren"t necessarily asking my opinion on this, but maybe Skye is in fact trying to turn over a new leaf. Maybe she wants to make a fresh start here, and not under the shadow of this family." Alan turned and looked at Monica in surprise. "Does this mean you"re willing to give her another chance?" Monica hedged a bit. "I don"t know about that exactly, but maybe she is trying to change." Alan looked at his watch. "I"m late for a hospital meeting, I have to go. AJ, can we talk about this more later?" "Sure," AJ said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "Mom, thanks for offering some advice. Listen, I"ve got to go and pick up Michael." AJ strode out of the room, hands in pockets and shoulders hunched. It was obvious he was still concerned about his sister. Monica let out a sigh as she once again sat down with her cup of coffee. "What are you up to, Skye?" she mused aloud. "Whatever it is, I"m going to find out." 2.1.1.1.1.1.6 Chapter 7 John looked up, startled, as Rae barged into their hotel room and slammed the door. "That"s it, I"ve had it, John! I can"t deal with her, she"s not rational!" Rae braced herself against a table, blinking back her tears of hurt and anger. John came over to Rae and put his arms around her tightly, not quite knowing what to say. Rae let herself be held for a few moments, sinking back into her fiancé"s strong arms. Finally, she gently broke free of his grasp and started pacing the room. "I just don"t know what to do, John. She"s such a loose cannon. She opened up to me in San Francisco. I thought we were making progress. I thought she trusted me!" Rae gritted her teeth, remembering Skye"s face as she told Rae to stay out of her life. Rae shook her head as she thought back to her and Skye"s latest argument. "I don"t know, John, I don"t know. Maybe the best thing to do would be to leave Port Charles." Rae looked solemnly to John for his reaction. John"s eyes widened at her suggestion of leaving. "Rae, you know I want to support you, but you seem to be forgetting something." "What?" Rae asked, clearly puzzled. "I just landed a great job here in Port Charles. Now, if you really want to leave, then I could always find a job elsewhere..." "No, John, no, I"m sorry." Rae bit her lip, upset with herself over forgetting such an important detail about John"s life. "I"ll work it out, somehow. I... I guess I"ll just have to figure out how to either get along with Skye or how to avoid her, as much as I hate that idea." Exhausted, Rae flopped down on the bed. John moved behind her and started to rub her shoulders. "We"ll get through this, we always have," he reminded her softly. Rae turned around and looked at John with tenderness. "I know we will. I can get through anything with you by my side." John gathered her in his arms. Rae allowed him to hold her once again. She always felt so safe in his arms She tried to push away the thoughts in her head, of Skye"s ugly words, and of her suspicions that Skye was once again drinking. Skye woke up to a knock at the door. She didn"t remember falling asleep, but she guessed that she must have crashed on the bed just as soon as she had come in the door, since she hadn"t even bothered to take off her shoes. Her head still pounding from her hangover, Skye looked through the peephole to see who her visitor was. "Skye? Are you in there?" Stefan Cassadine stood on the other side of the door. From Skye"s perspective, he didn"t look too happy. Stefan continued to knock on the door. "Skye, if you"re in there, please open the door. We need to talk." Skye stepped away from the door, almost as if Stefan could see her. She bit her lip and waited until his persistent knocking finally subsided. Breathing a sigh of relief, Skye walked slowly to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. "You"re a mess," she muttered disgustedly at her reflection. When had everything gone so wrong? She had a right to be angry with Rae, didn"t she? Rae had opened her mouth, and now so many people knew what she had to endure during her childhood. It made her feel weak and vulnerable, two emotions she abhorred. Skye decided a shower was just what she needed to clear her head. Even thought the hot water felt like a little slice of heaven to her aching body, nothing could rid her of the headache caused from last night"s inebriation. Skye stayed in the shower until she felt like she was turning into a prune. Reluctantly, she shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. She had barely put on her robe and wrapped a towel around her wet hair when she heard another knock on her door. "Ugh, what now?" she grumbled, once again looking through the peephole. Surprised to see whom her visitor was, Skye opened the door. "Hello, Skye." Monica"s expression was anything but jovial. "Monica, hello. Umm... would you like to come in?" Skye opened the door further and allowed Monica into her room. "Look, Skye, I"ll get right to the point." Monica moved closer to Skye, her eyes never leaving Skye"s. "I want the truth, Skye - what are you doing back here, and what do you hope to gain by playing on Alan and AJ"s feelings?" "What in the world are you babbling about, Monica?" Skye demanded, perplexed. "I"m talking about the fact that you show up here, out of the blue, and don"t even tell anyone that you"re back in town. Then you refuse to accept Alan"s invitation to move back into the house, making him feel guilty." "Oh, he"s finally feeling some guilt, is he?" Skye sneered. "Well, it"s about time, after all I"ve been through thanks to him and dear old Granddad." "Would you give it a rest with this "poor little girl" routine?" Monica glared at Skye, clearly exasperated. "Look, you are making my husband and my son miserable by not communicating with them. I don"t understand it, but for some reason they want you to be a part of their lives. So either be a part of their lives full-time, or leave once and for all." Skye"s face was unreadable as she got right in Monica"s face. "Gee, I bet I know which choice you want me to make, Step-mommy," she said in a low voice. Monica backed away slowly. "Look, I"ve come to say what I wanted to say. The decision is yours." She walked to the door but turned back before leaving. "Just think about the effect your actions have on other people." As soon as she left, Skye picked up a pillow from the bed and threw it against the wall. "How my actions affect others? What right does she have to go off on me like that? What about how other people"s actions have affected my entire life!" Skye was screaming now, working herself into hysterics. She sank down onto the bed, holding her face in her hands. "No, I am not going to let that woman get me all worked up. It"s not worth it. None of this is worth it." She rubbed her throbbing temples, reminiscing about the details that she could recall from the previous night. She just wanted the pain to stop. As her eyes roamed the room, they came to rest on the locked wet bar. Normally, Skye didn"t even bother to retrieve the key for it, making it all the eaiser to resist temptation. However, in her haste to check into the hotel this time, she had failed to give the key back to the front desk clerk. Skye sat there, weighing her options. She remembered how good it felt last night to take that first drink, how it had eased her mind and numbed her feelings. She was so tired of feeling everything, of dealing with it all head-on, with nothing to cushion the pain. "It"s just not fair," she murmured as she stood up and walked over to the key. Slowly opening the wet bar, Skye picked her poison - vodka. She greedily downed the little bottle, then sighed as the warmth from the alcohol coursed through her body. Opening another bottle, Skye made a decision. If she wanted to follow through with it and not chicken out, she would have to act on it immediately. Stuart and Myrtle sat having lunch with Rae and John. The foursome were unusually quiet, all of them with a lot on their minds. Stuart broke the silence. "Uh, I"m thinking of going back to Pine Valley soon," he announced to the table with his usual smile. "Stuart, you didn"t mention that to me!" Myrtle exclaimed, surprised and a bit hurt that her friend hadn"t confided in her. "Well, I was just thinking about Skye and how it probably isn"t helping for me to be here right now. She seems to want her space." Stuart smiled somewhat sadly as he recalled Skye"s recent behavior. "I saw Skye earlier this morning," Rae announced, frowning dejectedly. "We, uh, had another knock-down drag-out, so to speak." Rae looked at John, who grasped her hand in his, a gesture of reassurance. "I"ve decided to give Skye some space myself, although I will be staying in Port Charles." "We will be staying in Port Charles," John corrected her with a smile. "Well, darlings, maybe I should go back to Pine Valley as well. I do need to get back to run the boutique." Myrtle looked over at Rae"s crestfallen face. "Oh, sweetheart, I will stay if you want me to." "No, Mama, I know you need to get back." Rae patted Myrtle"s hand reassuringly. "I"ll be fine, I have John here. Besides, we will talk soon about wedding plans!" Rae smiled at the thought of marrying the wonderful man beside her. "Yes, that"s true enough." Myrtle stood, along with Stuart. The foursome said their good-byes, then parted ways. "Myrtle, before I go and pack, I think I am going to say good-bye to Skye,": Stuart told her in the elevator. Myrtle looked over at her friend with fondness. "Dear Stuart, ever the optimist. Alright then, I hope it goes well, for your sake as well as that troubled girl"s." Stuart waved his goodbye as he exited the elevator on Skye"s floor. As he approached her door, he was surprised to find it wide open. Peeking in, Stuart saw a bellhop loading luggage onto a cart. The bellhop spotted Stuart. "Something I can help you with, sir?" he asked as he finished loading up the cart. "Oh, hi. Yes, I was looking for the young lady staying in this room." Stuart grinned at the man. "Well, she is preparing to leave, as you can see. She"s just, ah, freshening up." He grimaced slightly, confusing Stuart. Just then, Skye entered the room from the bathroom. "Oh, wonderful, you"re all ready to go," she said as she walked over to the bellhop a bit unsteadily. "Uh, Ms. Chandler-Quartermaine, you have a visitor," the bellhop pointed out. Skye"s face turned white when she saw Stuart. "Uncle Stuart!" Skye tried to pull Stuart out into the hallway, but Stuart had already witnessed enough to know what was going on. "Could you give us a few minutes alone?" Stuart asked the bellhop, who nodded and left the room. Skye stood in the middle of the room, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "What a surprise, I didn"t know you were still here." "Skye, what is going on?" Stuart asked gently, his eyes filled with concern. "What do you mean?" Skye asked, walking past Stuart and crossing her arms. Stuart walked over to the open wet bar and picked up an empty liquor bottle. "This," he said simply. Skye whirled around, her eyes wide. She couldn"t believe that she had forgotten to close the door to the wet bar. How was she going to explain herself out of this mess? 2.1.1.1.1.1.7 Chapter 8 Author"s Note: In my story, Kristina never existed, and Alexis did not fall in love with Sonny. "Uncle Stuart, it"s not what you think," Skye stammered, quickly trying to come up with a plausible story. "It"s okay, Skye. You can tell me." Stuart walked over to Skye and grasped her shoulders, smiling encouragingly at her. For a brief moment, Skye considered telling Stuart everything - the pain she was going through night and day, why she had started to drink again. That thought quickly vanished when she pictured in her mind the look of disappointment on Stuart"s face. Skye pulled away and walked over to the open wet bar. She picked up an empty bottle and turned back around to Stuart. "The damn bellhop, I found him in here rummaging through my wet bar," she said, feigning annoyance. "I was all set to leave, so I didn"t want to cause a scene. I mean, what good would that have done?" Stuart slowly nodded his head. "Okay," he said with a smile. Skye tried to hide her surprise. Did he really buy the story, or was Stuart just playing along? "Well, anyway, what did you come here for, Uncle Stuart?" "Oh, I came to tell you good-bye. Myrtle and I are going back to Pine Valley." Skye felt a twinge inside, just hearing Pine Valley mentioned made her think of Adam and of the life she used to live there. As complicated as it had seemed at the time, it had been the only life she knew, and she was comfortable with it. Suddenly, everything had been turned upside-down, and now her life was filled with chaos at every turn. Skye forced herself to put on a happy face. "Well, I"m certainly glad you did come to say good-bye. It was great to see you, Uncle Stuart." She hugged Stuart, who hugged her back tightly. "It"s always good to see you, Skye." Stuart pulled back from the hug and looked at her tenderly. "I love you, don"t forget that." Skye swallowed over the lump in her throat. "I won"t," she said softly. "And if you ever need to talk, or need anything else, you call me," Stuart instructed. Skye nodded and waved good-bye as Stuart disappeared down the hall. Shutting the door, she leaned against it and let the tears flow. She had once again made a mess out of her life. "What do you mean, she was getting ready to leave?" Rae listened intently as Myrtle described second-hand Stuart"s encounter with Skye the night before, or at least the part that Stuart had later told Myrtle. "Well, Mama, I"m just going to have to go and see what my daughter is up to." Rae said her good-bye to Myrtle, then yelped as something cold landed on her neck. "What the..." She turned around to find a grinning John with an ice cube in his hand. "I thought you could use a cool-down, you seem to have gotten all worked up on the phone." His eyes twinkled mischievously as he awaited her reaction. Rae pursed her lips together, trying to stop her smile from spreading. "All worked up, huh? And the best you could do was to offer to cool me down?" she teased, moving in closer to him. "Detective, I have to say that I am rather disappointed." John sighed and moved away. "I hate to break the mood we have going here, but I have to ask... what has Skye done now?" Rae frowned and turned back toward the phone, shaking her head. "Mama said Skye was all packed and ready to leave when Stuart said good-bye to her last night." John thought for a moment. "Well maybe that"s a good thing. She could have been moving back into the Quartermaine mansion." "Yeah, maybe," Rae mused aloud. Suddenly, she turned around to John, a look of determination on her face. "You know what, Detective?" "No, I certainly don"t, Dr. Cummings, but I have a feeling you"re going to tell me," he said with an irresistible grin. "I think," Rae moved closer once again to John and put her hands around his waist, "that it"s time I stopped worrying so much about Skye. I think it"s time to start making plans for what is going to be the happiest day of my life." "And what day would that be?" John asked with feigned innocence. Rae took a playful slap at John"s shoulder, grinning. "The day I marry you!" "Oh, yes, that day." John looked deep into Rae"s eyes as he put one hand on the side of her face. "You mean the day you make me the happiest man alive." He leaned down and kissed her, softly at first, then more passionately. "On second thought, the wedding plans can wait," Rae said breathlessly as the two moved over to the bed. "She checked out?" Alan asked incredulously. "Okay, thank you." Frustrated, he slammed down the phone in the study, just as Monica came in. "Good morning," Monica greeted him as she poured herself a cup of coffee. "Skye has checked out of the Port Charles Hotel," Alan announced, noting Monica"s raised eyebrows. "Do you know anything about this?" Monica threw up her hands. "Why should I know about anything that Skye does?" she asked wryly. "Morning, all," AJ said as he strolled in. "Where"s Michael?" Alan asked. "Oh, he"s with the nanny at the moment, but I"m going to take him to school in a few minutes." AJ poured himself a cup of coffee, then noticed that both of his parents were wearing frowns. "What"s got you both in such a rotten mood on such a beautiful morning?" "Skye checked out of the hotel," Alan informed him. "I"m just worried about her, that"s all." "Well, maybe your daughter doesn"t want you worrying about her, Alan," Monica said, exasperated. "Honestly, the way you two just fawn all over her is sickening." AJ looked at his mother as if she had grown another head. "And what am I supposed to do, Mom? Wish that Skye didn"t exist, like you do?" Not waiting for an answer, AJ strode out of the room. Alan started to leave, too. "Where are you going?" Monica called after him. "To find my daughter!" Alan yelled as he left the room. "Well, Skye, we meet again." Stefan Cassadine smiled as he looked at the beautiful redhead who he had recently shared a passionate night with. "Have you been avoiding me?" Skye looked up from her barstool. She had hoped to come to Luke"s and not run into anyone she knew. Luke had actually rented her a room upstairs, where she had stored her luggage. The room was small, much too small for Skye"s taste, but it would do. "Mr. Cassadine," Skye crooned, not letting on to her displeasure at running into him. "Why, I haven"t been avoiding you at all. I"ve just had some... family matters to take care of." Stefan sat down beside Skye. "I"m glad," he said, smiling at her. Skye studied Stefan as he ordered a drink. He was very dashing, in a very sophisticated way. She blushed and turned her head when he caught her staring. "Would you like another?" Stefan asked, pointing to her drink. "Uh, no, thanks," Skye answered, sipping her club soda with lime. "I"m actually glad I ran into you, Skye. I didn"t want you to think I had

Sophie chuckled as Liz gathered up her things. "Did any wild animals come?" she teased. "No," Liz answered, rolling her eyes. "But you"ll be happy to know that I did answer some questions." Sophie nodded in approval. "That"s great, Liz. But did you answer them to please me, or for your own benefit?" Liz bit her lip. "Can we just talk about it later? I"m dying for a hot shower back at Horizon." She looked over at Sophie hopefully, who nodded and smiled. "Sure. By the way, have you seen Mike?" Peter couldn"t help but smile as he came within view of Shelby"s campsite. She had done everything properly, from dousing the fire to putting her tent away. She sat on a log by the ashes, waiting expectantly. "Hey, Shel. How was it?" Peter asked enthusiastically. "Just great, Peter," Shelby mumbled in return. They walked in silence toward Lynn"s campsite. Peter glanced over at Shelby, noticing her puffy, red eyes. There were dark circles under her eyes, too, but those had been there for the past few days now. *She"s getting worse instead of better,* Peter thought worriedly. "Shelby," Peter hesitated, "I think we need to have a talk." Shelby started to protest, but Peter cut her off. "Not here - later. Sophie and I have let you have your fair share of alone time, but I know that the past couple of weeks have been hell for you," "You don"t know anything," Shelby interrupted angrily. Peter sighed. "Okay, that"s fair. True, I don"t know what you"ve been going through. But that"s why we"re going to talk. You, me, and Sophie. Okay?" Shelby looked away from Peter, not responding. Peter let it go, as they came upon Lynn"s campsite. Sophie"s plan was to get Ali and take her and Liz back to the main campsite, then go back for Mike. *Surely, he"ll be there by then,* she thought, trying not to worry. As they drew near Ali"s solo site, Sophie noted in surprise that Ali"s tent remained standing. "Maybe she"s still asleep," Liz suggested, thinking along the same lines as Sophie. "Yeah, maybe." Sophie approached the tent and tapped on the top. "Alison! Rise and shine, we need to get back!" There was a sudden rustling in the tent, startling Sophie and Liz. "Sophie, give me a minute to get changed," Ali said, trying to sound casual. She looked over at Mike, who was grinning at her as he rubbed her leg. Ali brushed his hand off, and held up her hands as if to say, "what do we do now". Liz was getting impatient. "Come on, Ali. I"m hungry and dirty and want to get back to Horizon now!" she whined. Inside the tent, Ali quickly changed clothes, while Mike tried to hide a snicker at Liz"s whining. She held a finger up to her lips, indicating for him to keep quiet, then nearly tripped as she exited the tent while trying to keep the flap partially closed. "Do you want us to help you take down the tent?" Sophie offered, puzzled at Ali"s flushed face and obvious nervousness. "Uh, no. That"s okay. I"ll do it." Ali was working herself into a true panic. *How am I going to get out of this?!?* "Ali, are you alright?" Sophie asked, concerned by Ali"s increasing anxiety. Ali felt like she could burst into tears at any moment. *This is a nightmare,* she thought miserably. "Yeah, I"m fine, I..." "Good morning, ladies!" Mike burst out of the tent, all smiles. Sophie and Liz stood open-mouthed, staring at him in shock, while Ali looked down at the ground. Sophie quickly regained her composure. "Okay, you two, what is going on here?" she demanded. She looked at Ali, who would not meet her gaze, then at Mike, who was starting to look a bit uncomfortable. "Isn"t it obvious what is going on here?" Liz said incredulously. "Mike, you and Ali? Come on! I can"t believe it!" Immediately, Ali"s head snapped up, her eyes blazing. "What exactly can"t you believe, Liz?" Ali said in a low voice *Uh-oh,* thought Sophie. *This looks like the scene that played out yesterday between Liz and Shelby.* Sophie started to interrupt the exchange, but Liz spoke up first. I just can"t fathom why Mike would be interested in you," Liz said coolly, meeting Ali"s steely gaze. "Maybe he needed a real woman," Ali shot back. Mike was rubbing the back of his neck, unsure of what to do. "Uh, ladies..." "Shut up, Mike," Liz hissed. "Ali, I highly doubt that I left Mike unsatisifed. But maybe I wasn"t enough for him, especially if he prefers... plus-sized women, shall we say. Isn"t that the definition of a "real" woman these days?" "You bitch!" Ali lunged toward Liz, but Sophie jumped between them before they came in contact. "Both of you, back off - NOW!" Sophie glared at Liz and Ali, before looking over at Mike. "You, take down the tent and pack it up." "How dare you!" Ali yelled at Liz over Sophie"s head. "So he picked the fat girl over you, deal with it!" Liz laughed sardonically. "Ali, please. I just wouldn"t give him what he wanted any more, so he went to you for some physical pleasure. He knew you"d give in. When was the last time you got any action?" Ali was horrified to realize she was crying. "You don"t know what you"re talking about," she said in a hoarse voice. Ali looked over at Mike, who hung his head. *He"s ashamed,* she thought despairingly, *ashamed to be caught with me. I can"t stand it.* She took off running, away from the site. "Stay here, and pack up the tent!" Sophie yelled over her shoulder as she followed Ali. Used to the forest, Sophie easily caught up to Ali, who then stopped running. "Leave me alone!" Ali yelled at Sophie, trying to walk away from her. Sophie reached out and grabbed Ali"s jacket, pulling her around to face her. "Ali, look at me," Sophie said firmly but gently. Ali looked at Sophie, then quickly looked away. "I can"t," she whispered. Sophie watched as Ali wiped her eyes with shaky hands. "Why can"t you look at me?" Ali took a deep breath, willing herself to stop crying. "Because, when I look at you, I see that look on your face. It"s a look of pity for the fat girl, but at the same time you"re trying to hide your look of disgust, because you think I should be able to lose weight and get in shape." She suddenly looked directly at Sophie. "Whether you want to admit it or not, there is a part of you that prays to God that you never look like me. You"re appalled when you see people like me." Sophie shook her head, trying to understand Ali"s pain. "No, Ali, I don"t pity you, and I"m not disgusted by you. But I do think you"re hurting, and I"d like to help you get rid of some of that pain, if you"ll let me." Sophie reached out to put her hand on Ali"s shoulder, who shook it off. "We need to get back," Ali said, in a voice void of emotion. She began walking back toward the site, with Sophie following. "There will have to be consequences to your and Mike"s actions," Sophie said cautiously, watching Ali"s face. Ali remained stoic. "Fine, I"ll pack up my things and go home when we get back to Horizon." "Ali, that"s not what I meant," Sophie said, exasperated. Arriving back at the site, Ali and Sophie were relieved to see the tent had been taken down. The four silently finished tearing down the site. "We have to go back to Mike"s site and get his stuff, then we can go back," Sophie informed the others. "Sophie, that"s not fair! Why can"t we just go back now, and make him go back and get it himself?" Liz pouted. Sophie sighed. *And here I thought I"d be dealing with mature people this summer,* she thought wryly. "Like it or not, Liz, we"re a team. We stick together." "Hey, Ali, is this yours?" Mike held up Ali"s packet of questions. Ali walked over to retrieve the packet from Mike. As he handed it to her, he whispered, "I"m sorry," and squeezed her hand. "Ali, do you want to turn in your packet for us to review?" Sophie asked, hoping she"d say yes. Ali, concentrating on Mike, simply nodded and handed the packet to Sophie. Sophie sighed, making a mental note to call Peter and tell him they"d be late getting back. "Okay, guys, let"s go." "Hey, guys, I just heard from Sophie." Peter looked around at Shelby, Lynn and Troy. "She said something came up, they"ll be a while yet. So, I guess we can just chill out here until then." Shelby rolled her eyes, but didn"t say anything. *At least I got some reaction out of her,* Peter thought hopefully, watching as Shelby went over to sit by herself and write in her journal. Troy followed Lynn over to another log and sat down beside her. "So, how was your solo?" he asked in his usual easygoing manner. She smiled back at him. *Why does he have to be so charming?* "It was okay, but I"ll be glad to get back to civilization. How about you?" Troy laughed softly. "I did some good thinking, but I think I"d better get used to being apart from civilization." "What do you mean?" Lynn asked, confused. Troy grinned. "Well, I"m actually going to be a counselor here at Horizon next semester. I"ve worked the details out with Peter, and I"m really looking forward to it." Lynn looked at Troy like he"d just grown two heads. "Wow. Troy, that"s a big change. What made you decide to do that?" Troy shrugged. "Right now, I teach kids, but I don"t feel like I make a big impact on them. This is a chance to give to kids, help them out. And I"ll still teach a few classes, too, which is an added bonus for me. I"m really excited about it." Lynn shook her head in amazement. "I really admire you for doing it. I don"t think I could handle it." "Sure you could." Troy turned and looked at her intently. "Are you happy with your job now?" Lynn squirmed uncomfortably under Troy"s direct gaze. "Yeah, I love my job, it"s everything to me." "Everything? How can a job be everything in your life?" Troy asked, puzzled. "Easy. My job is my life, sad but true." Lynn was wishing they hadn"t gotten on the topic of her job. "Well, if it"s "sad but true", why don"t you do something to change it?" Troy suggested. Lynn suddenly gave him a cold look. "Because I can"t change it, that"s just the way it is. My life is fine the way it is." *Who am I trying to convince?* she wondered silently. "I"m sorry, I didn"t mean to offend you," Troy said softly, wondering why she put up walls whenever he started to get closer to her. Lynn sighed. "No, it"s okay. I should be the one to apologize. You"re probably right, Troy, I could use a little change in my life." Troy smiled. "Well, I have the perfect solution. Claire and I will be moving back up here in a few weeks to get acclimated before the kids come back from summer vacation. Maybe we could meet you somewhere between here and your home?" "I - I don"t know," Lynn stuttered, not expecting his proposal. "I"ll have a lot of work to catch up on when I get back." Troy decided to be completely honest. "I"d really like to see you again after the summer program ends." He slowly reached over and took her hand in his. Lynn could feel her face burning. Part of her wanted to scream yes, but the other part of her wanted to tell him to leave her alone for good. It had been a long time since she"d had butterflies in her stomach, just from someone looking at her the way Troy was looking at her right that very moment. Lynn left her hand in Troy"s but looked away. "I just don"t know if it would be a good idea." "Why not?" Troy was even more puzzled than before. "Look, Lynn, you"re the first woman who I"ve even considered dating, much less introducing to Claire, since Linda died." He took his hand away from hers. "I thought maybe the feelings I have for you were mutual." "Troy, it"s not you, it"s..." Lynn"s voice trailed off as she searched for the right answer, but there wasn"t one. "I"m just not a good person to get involved with." "What do you mean, you"re not a good person to get involved with?" Troy was completely baffled. "I"m a pretty good judge of character, Lynn, and I think you are a wonderfully caring, bright, strong woman. Any man would be lucky to become involved with you." "There are just some things about me that you might not like, once you would come to know me better," Lynn said hesitantly. "So give me that chance. Give me the chance to get to know you better. That"s all I"m asking for." Troy looked at her earnestly. Against her better judgement, Lynn nodded. "Okay, I"ll go on a date with you," she said, smiling. "Great," Troy beamed. *What have I gotten myself into?* Lynn wondered. Sophie smiled as Peter came out of the bathroom. "How was the shower?" she asked. "Nice and hot, it was great," he replied, looking at the bed. It was covered with papers and notebooks. "Soph, what are you doing?" Sophie smiled sheepishly. "I couldn"t wait, sorry. I was too anxious to read everyone"s questionnaires and journals." "Well, I"m going to go back to campus and check to see how everyone is. I imagine they"re still recuperating from the hike back. Plus, it"s about dinner time, and you"re looking at one hungry boy." Peter grinned at Sophie as he continued dressing. "Do you mind if I stay here and read these? I"ll just fix myself some soup or something, I don"t mind." Sophie had just begun to delve into everything, she didn"t want to leave now. "Okay, fine. I know when I"m not going to win." Peter came over to her. "You"re a wise man, Peter Scarbrow." Sophie smiled as he leaned down and kissed her. "Are you going to take Shelby with you?" she asked him. "Yeah, if she"ll ride in the car with just me," Peter whispered dubiously. "She"s still not trusting me, Soph, but at least she"s starting to respond more." Sophie nodded. "Her questionnaire is one I want to read first. You"re right, Peter, we"ll have to talk with her soon." "And - we still have to figure out what to do about Mike and Ali," Peter commented, frowning. "Next time, Soph, let"s not make the summer program co-ed. Okay?" He winked and gave her another kiss. "Sounds good to me," Sophie agreed, giggling. Lynn and Liz started to head out of the girls" dorm for dinner. "Are you coming, Ali?" Lynn asked, looking with concern at the figure lying on the bed. Ali shook her head. "No, I"m not hungry. Go ahead." She got up and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Lynn picked up on the tension between Ali and Liz during the hike back earlier, but she still hadn"t figured out what had happened. "Liz, what"s going on?" she demanded. "I don"t know what you mean." Liz held up her hands innocently. "She"s not hungry. Let"s go." She turned and walked out the door. Lynn looked back again toward the bathroom door but decided there was nothing she could do for Ali. She hurried to catch up with Liz on their way to the main lodge. Sophie leaned back against the pillow, rereading Shelby"s journal entry and answers. She desperately wanted Shelby to know that none of it - the rape, the abuse Shelby and Jess suffered - was her fault, but Sophie knew only Shelby could come to that conclusion. Shelby"s answer about knowing when it was time to move on scared Sophie. *I hope she won"t try to run when it"s time for the Cliffhangers to come back,* she worried. She wrote down in her notes: "Talk to Shelby about anxieties about Scott and other Cliffhangers. She must open up in order to heal. Look into symptoms for Acute Stress Disorder, this sometimes follows a trauma such as rape.' *Flashback* "But Mom, he attacked me!" Seventeen-year old Sophie was in tears, showing her mother the bruises and scrapes on her arms. "Nonsense, child!" Mona Becker glared down at the daughter she considered to be insolent and stubborn. "Ted comes from a fine family. He would not do such a thing." She paused, looking her daughter up and down with distaste. "You didn"t have sex with him, did you?" Sophie shook her head dejectedly. "If he had his way, we would have. He would have raped me, Mother! Don"t you get it?" She was shaking with rage, glad she"d been able to fight him off, but angry that this happened to her. Her mother clucked her tongue, looking away. "Go and get cleaned up, Sophie. It"s a wonder any boys look at you at all, the way you dress and behave like a tomboy." She suddenly went up and grabbed Sophie"s chin with her hand, forcing Sophie to look directly at her. "Now, I don"t want to hear another word about this. Is that clear, young lady?" Sophie nodded through her tears, then ran up the stairs to her room. She threw herself on her bed, sobbing into her pillow. *God forbid if Mother ever hears me cry,* she thought morosely. *I hate her. Why did this have to happen?* *End of Flashback* Sophie hugged herself, letting the tears fall. It hurt her so much to think what these kids had gone through, but she related so much more to Shelby"s pain. *I have to get her to open up,* she thought with sudden determination. Peter and Shelby drove back to the house in silence. Once inside, Shelby did her now-ritualistic routine of going straight to her room and shutting the door. Peter sighed as he went into the bedroom, where Sophie was scrutinizing a paper on the bed. "Soph, have you even moved since we"ve been gone?" Peter looked more closely at her. Her eyes looked a bit red, but he wasn"t sure if it was from crying or just fatigue. Sophie ran a hand through her hair in exasperation, ignoring his question. "Peter, this is so confusing. Ali wouldn"t open up to me at all today, but she answered every question in detail and even included a journal entry about her mother putting her down because of her weight while her dad does nothing. She doesn"t like her job. She has zero self-confidence. She"s a classic binge eater, according to her answers. But why would she be so open now? It doesn"t make sense." Peter shrugged, then suddenly remembered something. "Soph, Ali wasn"t at dinner. Lynn and Liz said she"d told them she wasn"t hungry. You don"t think she"d try anything, do you?" Sophie began pulling on her shoes. "I don"t think so, Peter, but I"m going to go and find out." She gave Peter a peck on the cheek before running out the door, taking Ali"s packet with her. Peter sighed, realizing how tired he was. *This was supposed to be a fun summer program,* he thought in bewilderment. *Oh, well. I guess what"s important is that we"re helping people. And we"ve gained another counselor out of it.* Just then, the phone rang. Peter almost said, "I"ll get it," then smiled to himself as he realized that Sophie was gone and Shelby was holed up in her room. "Hello," he said into the receiver. "Mr. Scarbrow?" said a female voice on the other end. "Yes, this is Peter Scarbrow." "This is Shelby"s mother, Mrs. Blaine." There was a pause as Peter tried to collect his thoughts. "Uh, hello. Yes, what can I do for you? Would you like to speak with your daughter?" "No." There was another pause. "Mrs. Blaine, are you still there?" Peter asked. "Yes. I apologize, this is very difficult for me." She cleared her throat before continuing. "I"ve decided to give full custody of Shelby to her father. I think it"s something I should have done long ago, and it will be for the best for everyone concerned." Peter sat in shock, trying to absorb the information. "Are you sure about this? Maybe you could come here, and we could talk about it," he said, his mind reeling. "No, I can"t do that. My mind is made up. I"ve already started the paperwork. I just wanted to let you know. Shelby"s father will be in touch with you about whether or not she stays at Horizon." Peter couldn"t believe his ears. "She must stay here, she needs to stay here," he said vehemently. "And what about Jess?" "What about her? She"s never given me the trouble that Shelby has. I still plan for Jess to come back to Horizon this fall, it"s what she wants." "What about what Shelby wants?" Peter had to calm himself down, he was practically yelling into the phone. "Mrs. Blaine, please consider Shelby"s needs. She needs Horizon, and she needs a mother." "Mr. Scarbrow," her voice was now raised, "don"t you dare tell me what my daughter needs, okay? I"m her mother, and I"m doing what I think is best for her. I have to go." She hung up abruptly, leaving Peter in a daze. "Peter?" Peter whirled around to see Shelby standing outside her bedroom door, a look of fear on her face. "What"s going on?" Sophie drove up to the main lodge in her car. As she pulled in to park, her headlights illuminated a nearby car and a person putting a bag in the trunk. She jumped out of the car, hurrying over to the other car. "Ali, don"t go," she said, putting her hand on Ali"s arm. Ali turned to look at Sophie. Even in the darkness, it was obvious that she"d been crying. "Yeah, I think it"s time for me to leave, Sophie. Thanks for the hospitality." She moved away, toward the driver"s side door. "Wait!" Sophie knew this was her last chance to reach the young woman. "Ali, I read everything you wrote down." She held up the packet for Ali to see. Ali"s heart began to beat rapidly. She"d forgotten all about the packet in the excitement of being discovered with Mike. *How could I be so stupid? I just handed it over to her.* Sophie approached Ali with caution. "Please, Ali, let us help you. Will you stay?" Next time: - How will Shelby react to the news about her custody? - Will Ali stay and accept help? - The "Discover Yourself" program starts to wrap up. - Peter hears from another Cliffhanger. PLEASE REVIEW, it only takes a few seconds! Thanks!

thought, disgusted with himself. "Listen, hire the best damn P.I., do whatever it takes to find her! Understand?" he barked to his attorney before slamming the pay phone down. Thirty minutes later, as he settled into his seat on the plane, Adam stared up at the sky. Please, God, let my little girl be alright, he prayed. He just hoped his prayer was enough. "Hey, get up, kid. You can"t sleep here, beat it!" The police officer poked the girl gently in the leg with his baton, trying to wake her up. Skye opened her eyes slowly, wondering if she were having a bad dream. Realizing this was reality, she sat up quickly, running her hands through her hair and down her badly wrinkled clothes. "I"m sorry, officer. I"m just waiting for my bus, I must have fallen asleep." The cop looked at her suspiciously; he was used to teen runaways telling him stories so that he"d leave them alone. "Uh-huh. What bus are you waiting for, miss?" Skye gulped, hoping that the police officer wouldn"t force her to return home. "I"m going to Los Angeles, it"s the 8:00 PM bus," she stammered, then looked at the clock. To her dismay, she realized it was 9:00 PM. She reached for her backpack to get out her ticket, only to find it missing. "Where is it? Where"s my backpack? And my suitcases are gone, too!" Skye stood up in alarm, looking under the bench and all around the area she"d been sleeping. "No, this can"t be happening. All my stuff was right here!" She started crying, in spite of trying to hold back to avoid embarrassment in front of the cop. "Please," she turned to the cop, "can"t you do something to help me? All of my things have been stolen!' The cop crossed his arms, giving her a slightly sympathetic look. "Miss, for all I know, you never had any stuff in the first place." He watched the glimmer of hope in her eyes fade as she looked down, crying harder. "Look, hon, why don"t you just do yourself a favor and go back home to your family. It"s better than being out on the street." Skye shook her head stubbornly, trying to gather her thoughts. She thought of her friend, Amanda, whose phone number and address were in her backpack, now stolen from her. "I had a place to go," she said softly. "I just don"t have anywhere to go back to." The cop sighed, scratching his head as he considered his options. He could either leave her here in the bus station, where she"d already possibly had something stolen, or he could help her find a place for the night. "Look, come with me, and I"ll take you to a shelter or something for the night, okay?" he finally said. Skye placed her hands on her hips and looked at him with disdain. "Me, go to a shelter? You"re kidding, right?" His look changed from one of sympathy to apathy quickly. "Okay, fine, kid. Stay out here, with no clothes, no food, no money. It"s your life." He turned and started to walk away. "Okay, fine!" Skye yelled to the retreating officer, who turned around with a pained expression on his face. "I"ll go to some stupid shelter, but just for tonight!" Skye felt like she was in some surreal nightmare. The cop had driven her to this shelter, Hope House, in downtown San Francisco. Skye had felt like a criminal, sitting in the backseat of the squad car ("Sorry, kid - department rules," the cop had told her). Once they pulled up to the Hope House, Skye seriously debated the merits of just running away from the situation, then decided against it when she saw some people her age laughing and joking with each other on the front stoop. After taking a long, hot shower, Skye changed into some clean clothes. They aren"t the greatest clothes in fashion, but they will have to do, Skye thought, sighing and willing herself not to cry. She hadn"t yet spoken to anyone, except to murmur a "thank you" to the woman who met her at the door, gave her a plate of warm food and clean clothes, and showed her where the shower was. Now, Skye noticed that the woman was coming back over to her, as she sat in front of a mirror, brushing her hair. The woman sat down beside Skye, smiling gently at her. "Okay, here"s the lowdown. I"m Maria, I pretty much run the Hope House. I have some volunteers that help me out, including some local college students. You"ll be assigned a counselor who can help you in any way - answer questions, find you a job, find a permanent place for you to stay..." Maria stopped, not knowing how much to say, since she wasn"t aware yet of this young girl"s situation. Truth be told, their goal was to reunite most of the kids with their families, if they weren"t victims of abuse. Otherwise, they couldn"t stay at the shelter forever, most kids ended up going to foster homes until they were eighteen. The counselors worked with the kids on an individual basis, trying to find out their histories, and to figure out the best way to help them. It was a project that Maria had been dedicated to for the past ten years of her life, and she loved her work. She sighed, sizing up the girl next to her, who was now staring at Maria. "I don"t need a counselor," Skye said quietly, yet with conviction. Maria was used to this; most kids protested at the thought of having a counselor. "Well, don"t think of her as a counselor, more like a person that will help you get out of this situation." Skye shook her head, turning back to the task of brushing her hair. "No, you don"t understand. I don"t need a counselor because I don"t plan on being here long. In fact, this is only for tonight; then, I"ll be on my way." "Where are you going to go?" Maria asked curiously. "To a friend"s house, I just lost her phone number and didn"t have any way to get in touch with her. But I"ll get her number tomorrow, and then meet her. Everything will work out fine." Maria silently watched the girl continue to brush her beautiful auburn hair, noticing her worried expression despite her declaration that everything would be okay in the end. "What"s your name?" Maria asked, then saw the fear in Skye"s eyes. "No, no, it"s okay - I don"t need a last name, I just need a first name to call you by, a name to give your, er, counselor." Skye seemed satisfied with that explanation. She thought for just a brief second, then answered Maria"s question. "My name is Toni." The next morning, Maria yawned as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She looked up as one of her favorite volunteers walked into the main office. "Good morning, sunshine!" she greeted her with a chuckle. Gretel Rae Cummings groaned, dropping a pile of books on her desk. She went to pour herself a cup of coffee, yawning as well. "Ugh, I stayed up half the night studying for this abnormal psych exam," she complained, anxiously taking a sip of the coffee to revive herself. "I don"t know how you do it," Maria said in amazement, shaking her head as she handed Gretel some files. "Being a full-time student at UCSF, in addition to helping out here. Not that I don"t want you here, you"re one of the best counselors we have. Speaking of which, here are a few files on some new kids." Gretel smiled at the compliment as she took the folders from Maria. She did love her work at the Hope House, and wouldn"t have traded it for anything, despite her rigorous schedule. She set her coffee cup down on her desk as she sat down to peruse her new assignments. "Anyone I should start out with?" she asked Maria. "Well, yes," Maria stated, a pensive look on her face. "There is one girl, Toni. She came in last night. She says she"s leaving today, to go to a friend"s house, but I get the feeling something just isn"t right. You might talk to her first, especially if she has it in her mind that she"ll be okay on her own and wants to leave as soon as she can." Gretel nodded, already pulling Toni"s file from the stack of others. "Okay, then. I"ll go find her and see what I can come up with." Skye woke up with a start, forgetting at first where she was. As she looked around the sleeping dormitory area, she remembered the events of the night before. I have to get out of here, she thought, not wondering what her next move would be. She made her way quietly down to the main floor, intent on walking out the front door, but the smell of bacon stopped her. Finding it impossible to ignore her rumbling stomach, Skye decided to go ahead and get breakfast to give her some energy for her travels. She headed into the small dining area and picked up some food, then sat down by herself at a table, away from another group of kids eating breakfast. I"m not like them, I don"t need to talk to them, she thought as she tried to inconspicuously watch them as she quickly ate. "Slow down, you"re going to give yourself an awful stomachache!" a voice behind Skye said, causing her to jump in her chair. She looked up to see a woman in her early thirties with long, dark brown hair smiling down at her. "I"m sorry, I didn"t mean to frighten you. May I join you?" she asked, walking around to the other side of the table. Skye shrugged nonchalantly and looked away. Pulling out a chair and sitting down, the young woman looked at the girl in front of her, who was doing her best to avoid eye contact. "I"m Gretel, I"ve been assigned as your counselor. Maria told me you"re leaving this morning. You"re Toni, right?" Skye nodded, looking down at her plate as she pushed her food around with a fork. "Yes, I"m leaving soon," she acknowledged quietly, still looking down. "Do you have someplace to go?" Gretel asked. Skye nodded, this time looking up at Gretel. "Yes," she simply said. Gretel sighed - this was like pulling teeth, to get this girl to talk. "Okay, well, that"s good. Are you going home?" "No!" Skye blurted out before she could stop herself. Immediately realizing her mistake, she tried to backtrack. "I"m just going to visit a friend." "Do your parents know that you"re going to visit a friend?" Gretel asked softly, seeing the pain in Skye"s eyes at the mention of home. Skye dropped her fork and looked toward the other kids. "How long have they been here?" she asked, nodding toward the others. Gretel recognized the diversion ploy. "Well, some have been here just a few days, and some have been here a few weeks. People usually don"t stay longer than a month or so." "Where do they go?" Skye asked, still looking at the other kids. "Some go home," Gretel watched as tears formed in Skye"s eyes. "And some go to foster homes until they decide what they want to do when they"re 18. It just depends on circumstances." Skye nodded, wishing she could go back home. She thought of her mother and wondered if she was out of the hospital yet, and of how Mrs. Allison had betrayed her by calling CPS. She wondered if people were out looking for her, or if her father knew she had run away. "Toni?" It took Skye a minute to register her name. She looked up at Rae, trying to look confident despite the tears in her eyes. "Toni, if you can"t stay with your friend for some reason, where will you go?" Gretel asked with concern. Skye shrugged. "I haven"t really thought about it," she admitted, frowning. "Can you go home?" Gretel asked. Skye shrugged again, swallowing hard to keep from crying. "Why not, Toni?" Skye lost the battle, as the tears started to coarse down her cheeks. Horrified that she had lost her cool in front of Gretel, she stood up with such force that her chair fell backward. "I don"t want to talk about it!" she yelled, before running from the room. Gretel watched her go, praying that she wouldn"t leave - not yet. She needed help, and Gretel wanted to give it to her. There was just something about her - Gretel felt a strong connection to her, unlike any she"d experienced with other kids. Sighing, Gretel stood up and placed the empty chair back in its upright position, wondering what her next move should be. Two days later, Skye was back at Hope House. She had left the place after running out on Gretel. After walking for what seemed like hours, Skye"s lucky break came in the form of a nice truck driver, who was en route to LA. Skye had laughed silently, thinking how shocked her prim and proper schoolmates back at her private school in Manhattan would be if they knew she was riding in a semi-truck cab with a tattoo-covered driver. Once in LA, Skye had looked up her friend"s phone number. Amanda answered the phone, but to Skye"s dismay, Amanda told her not to come to her house. Apparently, there had been a P.I. trying to track down Skye. Amanda was able to warn Skye before Amanda"s mom yanked the phone away from Amanda and urged Skye to come to their house, or to go home. Skye, heartbroken that she had nowhere to go, hung up the phone without saying another word. Skye had then pulled out the kind trucker"s card, he had told her to call him if necessary. She lucked out again, hitching a ride back with him to San Francisco. Out of options, she reluctantly went back to Hope House. Skye slept almost 12 hours that first night back at Hope House. She said little or nothing to those around her. The other kids, sensing that she wanted to be left alone, started to avoid her. No different than New York, Skye thought sadly, no one wants to be my friend. On her third day back, Gretel came into the sitting room, where Skye was listlessly staring out the window. "Hey, kiddo," Gretel greeted her, sitting down next to her. "So, how"s it going?" Skye, irritated by the intrusion, looked at Gretel in annoyance. "Oh, it"s going just super," she said sarcastically. "I have no life, I have nowhere to go, and no one will even talk to me here." Her voice cracked on her last words. Gretel smiled at her. "Well, am I no one? I"m talking to you, aren"t I?" "Only because you have to," Skye sulked. "So, what"s next? I suppose you"re leaving this place, or am I?" Gretel was confused by the meaning behind the question. "No, Toni, I"m not leaving, and you"re not leaving yet, unless you choose to do so." She sighed, desperately wanting to help this troubled girl, but unable to break through her wall. Honesty might be the best approach, she finally decided. "Look, Toni, I really, truly want to help you, but I can"t do that unless you tell me how I can help you." Skye looked up at Gretel suspiciously. "Why would you want to help me? Or are you just saying that because it"s your job?" "No, I"m not, really. I... I can"t explain why exactly I want to help you so much. You"re hurting, that much is obvious. I think you could use someone on your side, an adult to help you through this difficult time you"re having. I"d like to be that person." Skye, taken aback by Gretel"s sincerity, didn"t know what to say. Instead, she just put her head down and finally let herself cry - for all those times her mother wasn"t there for her, for the father she barely knew, for the instability throughout her young life, for her plan falling apart, and for an offer of help that she was afraid to accept. Gretel"s heart ached as she watched Skye break down in tears. She hesitantly put her hand on Skye"s arm, rubbing it gently in a soothing manner. To her surprise, Skye flung herself into Gretel"s lap, sobbing even harder. Willing herself not to get emotional, Gretel stroked Skye"s long auburn hair, softly whispering to her. "It"ll be alright, it will. You"ll get through this." Gretel sat in one of the counseling rooms, Skye across from her. After she had finished crying, Skye had developed the hiccups, so they went to get some water from the dining hall. Skye had then asked Gretel if they could talk in private. It was the opening Gretel had been hoping for. Skye took a deep breath, her hiccups fading for now. She had never cried like that in front of someone else, but she felt a certain bond with this woman, for whatever reason. She decided that the only way out of this mess was to tell the truth to someone who would help her and be honest with her. There had never been anyone before that she could talk to, but now there was - Gretel. "Um, I guess I just need some advice on what to do," Skye started out slowly, averting Gretel"s eyes. "My mom is in the hospital, and my dad - well, he hasn"t been around since I was little." Skye looked up at Gretel, who nodded in encouragement for her to continue. "The cops and CPS came to our home, they were going to take me away." "Why?" Gretel asked, confused. "Wasn"t there someone to look after you while your mom was in the hospital?" Skye shook her head. "Toni, why was your mom in the hospital?" Skye started fidgeting, her fingers twirling her hair. "She slipped and fell when she was in the shower and hit her head." "I see." Gretel thought she was telling the truth, but maybe leaving something out. "I guess I"m just confused - why would CPS want to take you away if your mom was only in the hospital for a few days from hitting her head?" Skye clenched her teeth, angry and sad at the same time - at her mom, at the situation, at life. "They said it was for neglect," she whispered, looking down at her hands. "Oh," was all Gretel could say. Neglect - that could mean any number of things, but it usually meant that the environment was unsuitable for the child to live in. "Do you think she neglected you, Toni?" Skye shrugged. "I don"t know. I mean, she wasn"t around a lot, but I"ve always had a housekeeper or a nanny there. Our housekeeper, Mrs. Allison, just has a big mouth, that"s all." "Does your mother work?" Gretel asked, still trying to gain more insight into the situation. Skye shook her head, rolling her eyes. "No, I doubt she"s ever worked," she replied with contempt. She looked over at Gretel, who was taking down notes. That made Skye nervous, but she pretended not to care. "So," Skye said finally, "what do you think I should do?" Gretel finished writing and then looked up at Skye. "Well, based on what you"ve told me, I really don"t think a case would hold up in court for neglect. I see no reason why you can"t go back home to your mother." Skye"s expression remained emotionless, to Gretel"s surprise. "Is that what you want, Toni?" she prompted. Skye nodded, knowing that this was her only option - to go home. She would just keep putting up with her mother"s drunken binges, with the suicide attempts, with the rage. "So, when do I leave?" "Well, it"s not that simple, really. First, I have to call CPS in, uh - wherever you"re from. I explain to them that you"re in our custody here, and then we discuss your case. You"ll be transported back home, and then they"ll take it from there." Seeing Skye"s crestfallen expression, Gretel felt her heart go out to the girl. "I can even call your mom, if you like, and talk to her," she offered. "No!" Skye shouted, standing up, eyes wide. "No, you can"t talk to my mother." "Why not, Toni?" Getting no response, Gretel walked over to Skye and looked into her eyes. "Why don"t you want me to talk to her mother?" "She"ll be angry," Skye whispered, starting to cry again. "What does she do when she gets angry, Toni?" Gretel asked, grabbing Skye"s shoulders gently so she wouldn"t turn away. Skye was once again sobbing. "She - she"ll go off somewhere and d-drink," Skye stammered. "Then - then she"ll come home, and either be sad or be mad about something." Gretel closed her eyes, hating to hear what this poor girl had been through already, but needing to know so she could help her. "What happens when your mom gets sad or mad?" Skye sniffed, wiping her face with the back of her hands. "She"s tried to commit suicide a few times. And when she hit her head in the shower - that was because she passed out after drinking." It was Gretel"s turn to take a deep breath. "Toni, what about when she gets mad? Does your mom ever hurt you?" Gretel held her breath as she awaited an answer. Skye simply nodded and started sobbing again. She was so tired of protecting her mom, of hiding the bruises, of making up stories about how clumsy she was. Gretel enveloped her in her arms, holding her once more. "Okay, okay. We"ll work it out, I promise." Skye went up to bed, thoroughly exhausted from her emotional day. Gretel had promised that she"d be back tomorrow to talk more. As Skye drifted off to sleep, she thought about what a relief it was to be able to just go to sleep, with no worries of where her mom was, or what kind of mood she"d be in when she came home. Despite her surroundings, it was Skye"s first peaceful night"s sleep in a long time. Gretel came into the main office the next morning, a box of doughnuts in her hand. "Good morning," she cried out to Maria with a smile. "Here, I brought you some doughnuts." Maria greeted at her with a sad smile. "I"m afraid I have some news you may not like, Gretel." "What is it?" Gretel asked with growing alarm. "That girl you got through to yesterday..." "You mean, Toni?" Gretel asked, her heart starting to pound. Maria nodded. "Yes, I mean Toni. Well, apparently, early this morning, while Denise was still on night duty, a P.I. and a lawyer came and showed her a picture of Toni. They presented all of the necessary paperwork as to her identity, and I guess Toni confirmed it. They had been hired by her father." "Well, then, why didn"t her father come and get her?" Gretel demanded. "Doesn"t he care about his own daughter?" Gretel was getting more worked up by the minute. "I want this man"s name, so I can call him and tell him what a good-for-nothing, lousy, son of a..." "Gretel, you can"t do that," Maria interrupted.

"Hey, D"Altine? You okay?" Osrich called out to the wavering knight who gave him no notice as she seemed to struggle with staying upright. "Oi! Is there something wrong?" D"Altine froze as she approached what she assumed to be the remains of another guard, finding nothing but soggy ash spilling from his armour and deciding instantly that she didn"t want to know what had transpired to reduce him to this state. She could barely make out the sound of shouting, which was actually Osrich, who was now standing beside her. She looked up at him with glazed over, weary eyes. Reaching up to remove her helmet, she felt a sharp pain on the left side of her head. The helmet proved to be a great deal heavier than she remembered it to be, and when she finally pried it off, she was very suddenly aware of something she hadn"t noticed earlier; rain. "Do they weep for them?" "Excuse me?" Upon removing her helmet, D"Altine stared up at the sky and began uttering nonsense, mostly mumbling aside from her first statement, but Osrich gathered that this may have had something to do with the blood leaking down the side of her face, or the traces of vomit around her mouth. "It"s raining...is it for these men?" D"Altine was swaying now, her eyesight growing hazy and swirling, but the rain was clear as ever. "Huh?" Osrich lifted his hand in front of him and a single raindrop barely grazed it. He found it amazing she would notice something like that as the rain was almost invisible. "Umm, is your friend there okay? Her head is bleeding." Gwyff sheathed his sword and came closer to examine the woman. He waved a hand in front of her face, but she didn"t seem to notice. "Wash us away...almighty...heavens..." D"Altine"s vision turned black and she had the faint sensation of falling before she lost consciousness entirely. "D"Altine!" Osrich caught her before she hit the ground. He pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket and held it against the bloody side of her head, which he supported with his hat. "You there, mage, can you help me out here?" There was no response from the woman; she just stared off in front of her. "Damnit! Templar, clear off one of the carts and bring it here!" Gwyff obeyed, not even questioning the thought of helping a bandit. He pulled one of the convoy"s carts over to Osrich and helped the thief hoist her onto it. "Up you go." Next he moved over to Rosary and lifted her to her feet, escorting her over to and onto the cart. "Now we"ll go get my noble leader, and we"ll be off." Osrich drew his dagger and pointed it at Gwyff. "I"m afraid you"ll have to come with us for now, we"ll figure out what to do with you later." He gestured to Gwyff to help as he began to push the cart towards the front of the convoy and, beyond that, Dorter. But first they needed Karunee to take a look at D"Altine in hopes of getting the head injury healed. Osrich grunted as the cart moved along the increasingly damp road, past the crater, and towards the bloodied mess that was the bandit leader. "What, no chocobos?" Karunee chuckled at the sight of a partially singed Osrich and an unfamiliar armour clad figure pushing the cart towards her. She took note of the young priestess sitting upon it, taking on an amused expression. "Oh, we seem to have acquired a young maiden. Perhaps you plan to replace me, young lady, hmm?" There was no response, only silence. "Oh, how unfortunate, there"s nobody home." "Right now isn"t a good time for that jokes, D"Altine is out of it and the last time I checked, you were a healer." Osrich pointed out the unconscious figure lying on the cart. "I"m afraid I"ve never really been that good at healing magick, but there is something I can do for her until we can find her a proper healer." Karunee chanted under her breath and finished while holding her hand towards the woman in the cart. D"Altine stopped breathing, her hair stopped moving, and the raindrops around her were suspended in mid air. "This should last until Dorter. I take it you"ve cleared up everything you need to do?" "For now, but you"re helping us push this. Hopefully we can get there before the rain turns the roads to mud." The scorched thief indicated the cart. "I guess we"ll take care of introductions with these two after we find a healer, then." The one-eyed mage remembered something important. "There should be a small hospital for the poor in the slums, perhaps we should start there." "That would be wise seeing as you need to avoid the town guards, and I need to avoid the templar." Gwyff grabbed a hold of the cart and began to push. "And if you"ll have me, I"d like to join your little outfit." "First Dorter, then we"ll deal with this." Osrich began pushing harder, exceeding the limits of any living person. The last few days had been long for Nico; the small family hospital his father owned had received some new patients from a mercenary group who were unable to afford a proper church healer in Gariland, resorting to spending a few weeks in the hospital and inn of the slums of the trade city. Broken bones had to be set, and they would never properly heal without magic. One of the patients wouldn"t be able to continue his career even if he did receive magickal treatment as most of his bones were broken and he had suffered severe head and spinal trauma. He was recovering from a collapsed lung as well, and had lost three fingers on his sword hand. Another patient had taken a sharp blow to the shoulder forcing him to wear a cast, but he would take some time to recover. Their third serious injury was a young woman who had most of the bones in her right torso broken; her sister was a chemist and was helping Nico and his father to treat the patients. She never spoke, though, so any hope of conversation about their trade was abandoned. The sound of a bell at the hospital"s front door announced new arrivals, and with them, new injuries. Nico went to greet them and was greeted with a grisly sight. Upon reaching the hospital in Dorter, Osrich and Gwyff lifted D"Altine out of the cart and carried her to the door, which Karunee threw open, almost ripping the little bell above it out of the wall. Rosary trailed behind them, solemn and quiet. The boy who greeted them seemed startled, but that was understandable given their sudden appearance and the state of their attire. A middle aged woman carried a stack of folded towels into a door on the left glancing at them as she passed them with a curious expression. The hospital"s new arrivals looked like they had taken on a dragon and almost lost. A scorched man with a strange hat and an armour clad man with a rather impressive sword at his hip carried in an unconscious woman with a bloody face into the waiting room. The person who had opened the door was a one-eyed priestess covered in blood and bore her own armament. Behind them was another priestess who appeared distracted, staring off into space ahead of her. "Let"s get her over to a bed and take a look at her injury." Treatment first, questions later; this was Nico"s policy. "Looks like someone hit her hard, she"ll need to rest a while and I think she might have a concussion." Nico began swabbing salve over the wound and checked her over once more. "She seems to have avoided a neck injury, though she may be lightheaded or prone to dizzy spells depending on how much blood she lost." Osrich sighed in relief. He"d only known D"Altine for a day and a half and she had already grown on him; she reminded him a great deal of his sister. "Good. Oh and don"t worry about the rest of us, we"re not actually injured, it was just the young woman here." Nico was surprised by that, although the amount of blood on the one-eyed priestess did seem to be more than she could probably lose herself without passing out. Perhaps it belonged to the patient? "Okay... . Well, I am Nicolas Achen, my father owns this establishment and I am currently in training here. You may call me Nico." For someone living in the slums of Dorter, his speech was very professional. "I"m Osrich K"vanh; I"ll be paying for this young lady"s treatment." He held his hand out to the chemist before him. Nico shook the outstretched hand and looked expectantly at the armour clad figure beside Osrich. Realizing that he was next, Gwyff reached up and remove his helmet to show a pale complexion and short brown hair. "Gwyff Ocheld, former templarate apprentice." Karunee butted in before Nico could respond. "I"m Karunee Offield, the leader of this group." She held her hand out for Nico to kiss, but he shook it instead, almost as if he sensed her intent. This boy was more perceptive than she had originally thought. "And the young lady in the back?" The chemist leaned to the side to get a better look at the priestess behind Gwyff. "...Rosary, I don"t have a last name so don"t bother askin"." Rosary spoke for the first time since leaving the Siege Weald, though she still kept her gaze set straight ahead. "Ah, returned to reality have you?" Karunee turned on her heel to face the girl. "Good, I wouldn"t want the spoils to be broken before we decide who gets what." "Spoils? Is she a prisoner of war?" Nico tilted his head. "Or...are you perhaps mercenaries as well?" "As well? Is there someone else in the hospital?" Osrich hadn"t seen anyone else when they entered. "Ah, yes a group of mercenaries came here about a week ago with some pretty serious injuries but were unable to afford a healer in Gariland; we"ve put them in the other room." Nico didn"t mention that his mother had probably told the mercenaries about the group that he was currently treating. "The ones who aren"t injured are staying in the inn across the road." As if on cue, the door opened and two of the mercenaries entered, one wore the various pouches of a chemist and the other was a girl with her right torso heavily bandaged and resembled the other a great deal. "So there are others-" The bandaged girl stopped talking when she noticed the figure on the bed. "D"Altine?" "Shh! This is a hospital, keep your voice down!" Nico held a finger to his lips to emphasize his point. "Honestly, does no one have respect for the injured anymore? I at least thought... ." He trailed off, mumbling to himself. "You are acquainted with this young lady?" Karunee asked the mercenary, ignoring Nico. "She was in our mercenary troupe until she up and vanished in Gariland about a week ago after the job that landed us in this dump." Had anyone been paying attention to Nico when the mercenary said this, they might have noticed his eye twitch. "Ah, the job up in the mountains that left her so disgusted." Karunee nodded in acknowledgement. "You really should have her explain what was really being transported, I"m sure she"d love to tell you." "I doubt that. She never really talked with us much outside of a barroom, and that usually had disastrous effects." The injured woman sighed. "I"m Shel, the quiet one beside me is Nat." The chemist nodded and clung onto Shel. "She"s my sister, if it wasn"t obvious." "Such young, beautiful women forced to work as mercenaries, how cruel this world is." Osrich faked an exasperated sigh. Karunee regarded Osrich with surprise; this was a side she had yet to see... . What else was he hiding? Shel was speechless, Nat wasn"t impressed. "H-have we m-met before?" It was suddenly apparent that Nat could speak, whether or not she was shy or just chose not to speak remained to be seen. "Possibly. A pair of young girls, one who doesn"t talk, the other very vocal and quite charming...I believe we met in Eagrose." Osrich was pretty sure that was it, though it had been almost twenty years since then. "O-Osrich K"vanh...disowned by his f-father for heresy." The room was instantly quiet. "Thief, heretic, m-murderer..." Nat actually hid behind her sister, careful not to touch the bandages. "I"m a thief, it"s true. I was labelled a heretic, this is also the truth." Osrich took off his hat and set it in his lap. "And if killing one man who ordered the death of hundreds of innocent people is murder, I will proudly wear that brand." No one could say anything at this point except Nico. "Miss Shel, I believe that you should not be out of bed, you would not want my mother to bother you again, would you?" Shel seemed to panic at this prospect and left, taking her sister with her. "Now, while you"re all here, I might as well check your health. Oh, and Miss Rosary, would you please assist my mother with her patients? I"m sure your magick would be of great help." An aura of overwhelming sweetness was emanating from the young chemist, who seemed impervious to the tense atmosphere. Rosary wasn"t sure if he was really that innocent or if she was being conned, but she left the room in search of his mother anyway. "Now, let"s see if any of you need medical attention." The first thing D"Altine was aware of was the smell of medical supplies. Her eyes opened slightly to reveal a small rustic room, clean wooden furniture with a small table beside her with various swabs, bottles, and blood-soaked cloths. Various charts and instruments were hung on a wall at the end of the bed upon which she lay above a desk littered with books and scrolls she assumed to be medical texts. The next thing to come to her attention was the sound of people talking. It sounded heated, an argument perhaps? The first voice was definitely Osrich; a thick layer of sarcasm was detectable even though she could not make out what was being said. The second was a young male voice seemingly laced with sugar; it held an overwhelming sense of familiarity, as if she"d heard it in a dream. The third was very familiar; it was hoarse from a sore throat which is what made it easy for her to recognize. The voices were coming from the other side of a door that was on the opposite side of the room from her. As she brought herself to her feet, D"Altine became aware that she was still fully clothed minus her cloak; had they been in a typical clinic, she would have been changed into a gown. She searched the room until she found Karunee"s bag, which after a quick inspection, yielded her cloak. She wrapped it around her shoulders, finding herself uncomfortably cold. What reason did Karunee have for tucking away her cloak? She pushed the door open slowly to discover that she had guessed correctly, the third voice was Klim from her old mercenary troupe, his spear gleaming in the light given off by a lantern on the wall. "Commander?" Osrich had been arguing with a nosy mercenary who was trying to take D"Altine back into his troupe when the knight in question emerged from the hospital room wearing the green cloak he had told Karunee to hide. "D"Altine, get back in there!" Alas, it was too late; Klim spotted D"Altine and the cloak in an instant. "D"Altine, I never would"ve thought you"d become a bandit, I thought you despised "em." D"Altine turned pale, both in sudden realization of her mistake, and her exhaustion. A young man in the blue garb of a chemist rushed over and spoke in the voice from her dream. "You should be in bed resting, come on, in you go." He ushered her back into the bed and draped her cloak over her. "You really do accept anyone at this hospital don"t you? I"m sure the city guard would love to hear that you"re harbouring bandits." Klim grabbed his cloak off a hanger by the door and prepared to leave, but the door would not open. "Huh? Is it locked?" "I think you might want to review your own activities before reporting someone." Karunee entered the lobby from the kitchen, her hand held towards the front door. "I think killing several Griffon knights and smuggling opium to be far worse than treating a few injured bandits." "What are you talking about? I"ve done nothing of the sort; you better watch where you throw accusations woman." He pointed at Karunee with his spear. "Are you sure? Did you not wonder why D"Altine left your troupe?" Karunee kept her hand outstretched towards the door as she approached the dragoon. "It"s true." Klim turned his head over to D"Altine, who had come back out of her room again. "They were lead by Lieutenant-Commander Klider Maw of Lionel, and we killed them because we were told to. Those grain carts were a cover-up. Why else would they go into the manse and not the village?" Klim dropped his spear. "By the gods...I didn"t realize-damnit!" Nico ushered the recovering woman back into her room, this time locking the door. "Rest up in there. I don"t want you to pass out from exhaustion." Nico sighed and took off his hat to reveal a mop of messy brown hair. "Honestly, these people just won"t lie still." "Now you know, and I"m sure that if the guards get some bandits they won"t mind some smugglers to go with them. Or would you rather remain quiet and retain your freedom?" Karunee watched as the man before her squirmed, suffice to say she was enjoying herself. She lowered her hand, satisfied with her work. "Fine. I"ll keep quiet about it. At least about the hospital, but don"t blame me if we end up taking a job to hunt you down." The mercenary commander grabbed his spear off the floor and opened the door with ease and left for the inn. Karunee waited until he was out of earshot before giving her response. "I"ll look forward to it. Then we"ll see if that hard exterior holds some soft insides...when I take them out." The mage turned on her heel and re-entered the kitchen. Nico found himself unsure what to make of the situation, and Karunee"s words just then scared him a little. He decided to ignore it all and returned to his patients, quickly checking to make sure D"Altine was in her bed resting, all the while fiddling with a little green armband on his wrist. "You sure you"re all right, not dizzy at all?" Nico cross-examined D"Altine the following day as the bandits were preparing to leave. "Yes, I"m sure, and I appreciate your concern, but you"ve asked me four times now." D"Altine held her battered helmet under her arm while making sure her sword belt was on tight. Apparently, D"Altine had taken a powerful blow from a templar"s shield and was staggered. It was amazing how far she was able to walk before passing out. Nico had given his assessment of the group"s health, recommending various ways to prevent any further harm to themselves. Karunee had suffered minor mental exhaustion due to an overuse of her magicks over the course of the day. She also was disappointed to discover that neither conventional methods nor magick could restore her eye. Nico had told her to ease up on any powerful magicks for at least another day as to not risk her health. Gwyff"s check-up was kept quiet, and he had Nico sworn to secrecy. Osrich was diagnosed as dead, not surprising at all to Osrich, but it sure frightened Rosary and Nico. Gwyff had his suspicions, mostly because living people can"t just reattach a leg without any help in the heat of battle. Nico had suggested Osrich try using holy water to cure his ailment, but was shocked to discover that it had already been attempted and was unsuccessful. Rosary seemed perfectly healthy, at least physically. Her mental state, however, was in disarray. At least she was talking, though she showed great confusion whenever Karunee referred to her as "spoils". With Rosary"s help Nico"s parents were able to get most of the mercenaries up and moving. All except one, who despite having his career abruptly ended, considered himself the luckiest man alive. Ergoll had survived the plunge off the cliff and had escaped with his life. He could not fight, but that did not stop him from moving on with life. D"Altine offered her condolences to the man before he left. "I"ve a feeling we"ll be doing business with you again sometime soon and though my father appreciates the business, it"s not good for the hospital"s reputation to take in criminals too often." Nico fiddled with his armband while he chatted with the group. Rosary seemed like she would be of much help should an emergency arise and after asking his mother, he discovered that Karunee"s healing magicks were more likely to do more harm than good, even potentially fatal for an inexplicable reason. "Stay safe on the roads and avoid the wild chocobos if you can, they"re particularly violent this time of year. "Oh you don"t have to worry about that..." Karunee offered some degree of reassurance. Nico sighed. "I hope so." "...because you"re coming with us." Or not. Nico nodded. "Okay...wait, what?" I know, the medical expertise in this chapter was...medieval, I"m no surgeon and I"m not exactly accident proned.That"s another two characters in one chapter, c"mon that"s gotta be a record for me! Rosary"s fate as well as another one of Osrich"s secrets shall be revealed in the next chapter, you may look forward to it. Chapter four, this is where I"m starting to get into a sort of...flow of things. I"m hoping this chapter turns out right, but then again...I"m not really dictating the characters actions, they"re just tellin" me what to write as I go. (So many voices... .) Many thanks to my older brother for this one, and to my step-mom for the...inspiration.

"Yeah, I expected that much, don"t worry about me. I"ll be right behind you Miss Meanie." The witch chuckled. "Don"t run off...and stop calling me that." Reimu grumbled as she slammed the lid of the donation box down. "After such a generous donation I should at least hear her out." The forest was a swirling mass of dark wood and orbs of glowing light. Even as Rumia"s heartbeat pounded in her head, she could clearly hear the piercing music in the air. Her flight was made more difficult by the danmaku that did not damage the trees around her. Usually she could rely on the bullets to cut a path through the branches for her to follow; instead they didn"t so much as move the branches, leaving her to crash through them clumsily. At first her reaction had been to think that the danmaku were harmless, but when one passed too close she could feel it...they were cold, oh so cold. Whoever her opponent was, they were skilled enough to conceal themselves behind a tree or rock whenever Rumia countered with one of her clumsy attacks. They did this so often that she never saw what they looked like. Hiding behind trees did Rumia no good though, the danmaku coming at her were not impeded by the wood, instead passing through the trees. The air began to chill, becoming damp and sticky; she was getting close to the lake. If she could just get her attacker into the open, maybe she might have a chance. The bone-chilling music stuck a higher note, the air becoming heavy and thick. From the lake"s edge, a new wave of bullets began while that from deep in the forest ceased. On the wind, a quiet voice echoed. "Youkai..." Rumia could feel the emotion in the voice; it carried a form of anger, or irritation. It seemed to regard her as an obstacle, despite being the one to pursue her and prevent her from eating or resting. She spun midair in an attempt to dodge the new wave of projectiles. She needed only to reach the lake, then she might have a chance. One of her outstretched arms grazed an incoming bullet, the sudden shock from the cold followed by loss of feeling in her arm sent her spiraling downwards for a moment before she came crashing out of the trees onto the lake"s frozen surface. In terror she grabbed at her arm, thankfully finding it to still be there, just incredibly numb. A new wave of bullets launched from the trees, making her flee again, heading for the center of the lake in hopes of attracting the local fairy"s attention. She looked back behind her and swore she could see someone in the trees. The music all at once came to a halt, the air now carrying a few select words instead... . Flower sign: Petal Dance Rumia knew such words were usually the herald of a spell card, she turned to face the woods and braced for the incoming barrage. Despite her fears, something about the voice was different this time, something about it was more soothing, like the words spoken by a mother to her child. The voice had a disarming effect, making the ring of danmaku that formed around her all the more shocking. They began to circle around her, making no move to actually go after her. A stream of projectiles launched from the tree line towards Rumia in her now small area of manoeuvrability, the little youkai finding herself grazing more than she"d want to, her limbs each becoming numb from the effort. Far above the forest, a pair of figures floated along while surveying the trees below. "She ran off after I went back, I think we should take this as a sign that it"s a prank." Reimu grumbled, wanting to be curled up under the kotatsu rather than out over the forest at night. "Pranks usually don"t involve giving up one"s life savings. And something isn"t right this time, there"s actually some damage down there, in one direction only though." Marisa had a pair of binoculars up to her eyes, looking through the woods for a dark shadow or little girl. "I still think she"s not really in trouble at all. She probably blasted the trees in frustration at me not going along with her joke." The shrine maiden crossed her arms. "That doesn"t look like frustrated damage, more like the pattern used when trying to suppress an opponent." Marisa lowered the binoculars for a moment. "If you"re so certain it"s all a prank, then why are you out here anyway?" "Well, mostly because she"s the first person to leave a donation of more than one yen in a long time. That, and I think I need to give her a good talking to about what time you"re supposed to go to a shrine, as much as I like donations, I don"t like going out in the middle of-h-hey!" Her sleeve had been grabbed by the witch and she was pulled close to her face. The binoculars were shoved into her hands. "I think you"re just way too harsh on the little ones, even if she is a youkai. Now take a look at the lakes edge, seems Rumia wasn"t pulling a prank after all." Maris pointed far ahead; a faint glow could be seen over the tree line. Raising the binoculars to her eyes, Reimu could now see someone out on the lake surrounded by what looked like over-sized flower petals being barraged with bullets. "Well I"ll be...well, that answers things, I believe her and I"ll apologize." She handed the binoculars off to Marisa. The witch placed her hands on her hips. "Aren"t you forgetting something?" "Huh?" The witch put her forehead in her hand and sighed. "Remember what she asked you for? An exorcism? That ringing a bell?" "But it looks like someone already has that covered." The shrine maiden pointed at the tree line. Marisa brought a fist down on Reimu"s head. "Pay attention! She wanted you to exorcise the spirit that"s been attacking her, now go help her out!" "Ow-ow! Fine, geez, you didn"t have to hit me!" The lazy shrine maiden rubbed her head. "Right right, I"ll go help her out, you can do something to help too y"know." "She donated at your shrine, not my store...though if things get ugly enough I guess I"ll lend a hand." The witch began to increase her altitude. "I"ll be watching from above, so go on and think of me as a guardian angel." "Riiiight." Reimu shook her head and sped toward the lake, readying a quick barrage to send at the source of the attacks. As the petals around her faded Rumia spotted the new figure approaching. By this point she could barely move, her arms and legs numb and practically limp, the rest of her feeling so cold. This was a feeling she didn"t know from Danmaku, a feeling she didn"t understand. Was this how the battles were supposed to go? Now there were two people coming toward her, and she couldn"t even lift her arms to fight back. The little youkai drifted down and settled on her knees, her eyes cast towards her reflection in the ice. "What is she doing?" The shrine maiden picked up speed. From the corner of her eye she could see a glowing figure leaving the tree line. She was just about to reach Rumia when the figure spoke up in a warm, soothing voice... . Wind sign: Gasping Torrent A row of spear-shaped danmaku lined up in front of the figure, aimed at the figure sitting on the lake. The sound of someone snapping their fingers was heard and they glowing lances launched towards Rumia, just as Reimu reached her. The spears were faster than most Danmaku, reaching the pair too quickly for escape to be an option. Launching a quick barrage, the shrine maiden placed a defensive seal in front of her and braced for the impact. When the spear hit it fizzled off the seal harmlessly, no impact, but not passing through. Rumia could not tell there was no impact, all she saw was a spear of light sent speeding toward her and the figure who moved in to save her at the last moment tense up. She"d just been saved from what she was starting to think was more than a simple battle of danmaku. The shrine maiden grabbed the little youkai and tucked her under her arm, figuring she could handle an opponent who couldn"t make her flinch with just one hand. Her theory would now be tested, as the figure before her recited their next spell card. Flower sign: Blossom Blitz A swirling vortex of flower petals spread forth from the figure as they moved along the tree line. From Marsia"s point of view, it resembled cherry blossoms caught up in a small tornado, if she were to rate it like she"d done for many of the spellcards she"d seen, she"d put it at about three stars reference level. Not bad, but not terribly great either, average at best. To Reimu, who had someone under her arm, it was a nightmare, the petals slow moving but with deceiving flat shapes twirling about. The little youkai in her arms was alarmingly cold, shivering in her grasp. The shrine maiden had a feeling that wasn"t from the frozen lake either. She launched a quick barrage of her own projectiles where she could, weaving about the curious waves of petals. When the spell card came to an end she finally got a good look at her opponent. It was a blonde girl with a large ribbon and cherry pins in her hair, a pink blouse, red skirt, and surprisingly fashionable pink socks. She had no idea who this person was, but part of her felt that she should know them, like they had met before. Flower Sign: Cherry Flavoured Justice Those words were familiar to Reimu as well. She couldn"t place them, who the words belonged to, but she swore she"d heard it before. The words filled her with one emotion, despite the soothing voice...dread. From Marisa"s point of view it was as if the mystery attacker had exploded in a shower of bright pink danmaku. A swirling galaxy pattern covered the lake as sprays of red spat towards Reimu; every now and then a ring of green would fly out as well. To compound on top of this were random sprays of white bullets in every direction, including upwards towards Marisa. To the witch this was enough; clearly the shrine maiden wasn"t going to be able to handle this while trying to protect someone else, so intervention was required. It just so happened she had something that solves any problem like this. Pulling the wooden disc from her pocket, Marisa unleashed the power that had built her reputation. Love sign: Master Spark The incredible light falling upon her opponent was welcome to Reimu, if a little late by her standards. Regardless, it had the desired effect as the bullets stopped spraying about. When all had calmed down, she set out toward the perpetrator responsible for this mess. As she moved she hoisted Rumia into a position one might carry their child in, noting that she was still breathing, yet so cold. The ice where the annihilation of love had struck was shattered, on the edge of the pool of water a girl was pulling herself out of the freezing water. Despite being defeated she still had the unearthly glow to her, and her breath did not create a mist like any other person"s would. In her hands was a wooden instrument like a violin, but with only two strings. "Three on one, how...unfair." "You say this despite attacking this youkai unprovoked. I may not be too fond of her kind, but I can"t ignore such a thing. It might cause a stir among others about unequal treatment." Reimu shifted the body in her arms to keep it from slipping from her grasp. "Now, care to explain whay you started all this?" The glowing girl looked up at Reimu. "Scarlet mist...in the sky. Too dark...to find the source." "What?" That made no sense to the shrine maiden; the scarlet mist incident had been solved a long time ago. "We already took care of that, the people involved haven"t caused any issues since then." "So long...have I tried to resolve it...I must...join the others...that go to stop it..." The figure began to fade. "Why? Why can I...not find them? Why does...my existence end...so soon?" And she faded away. "H-hey!" Reimu grabbed at the figure just before it was gone entirely. Passing through where the spirit had been her hand was chilled and quickly went numb. "Just what...what was she?" It was a rare treat to receive a direct invitation to visit the shrine, as the shrine maiden usually only wanted humans to come about. Even if Keine Kamishirasawa did look like a human most of the time, it didn"t stop the discrimination from a select few parties outside the village. As she approached the shrine she received a greeting from the witch seated on the front steps, such courtesy was appreciated. Inside the shrine she couldn"t help but notice the next room over was completely black despite it being the middle of the day, no sign that the light of the room she was in had any effect upon the light level in there either. Who knows what eldritch horrors were sealed within that room, though she supposed a shrine wasn"t unlikely to have such a thing. Still, she found it odd that the door to such a room would be left open when company was expected, most discourteous. "I"m glad you were able to come along, I have something important to ask you." Reimu stepped into the main room with three cups of steaming tea. "Recently there was someone attacking a local youkai for no reason, but when I was finally able to confront them they faded away. Asking why their existence had to end so soon before they could meet with those who wanted to solve the Scarlet mist incident. I felt this would probably be something to ask you about, you"re usually the one to ask about matters of history and existence." Reimu placed the cups down and turned to the open door to the black room. "Come here Rumia, there"s tea." To Keine"s surprise, the darkness in the next room vanished and a little girl came out with her arms spread like she was pretending to fly. "Is that so~?" "Who is this?" The schoolteacher hadn"t seen this child before, which meant she wasn"t from the human village. "You don"t look old enough to have a child." The sound of laughter was heard from outside, the witch finding some humour in this. Reimu turned red, waving her hands in front of her. "N-no! This is the victim of the attacks. Rumia, the Youkai of Darkness." Such a child was a youkai, Keine could scarcely believe it, then again, there was that rabbit she"d had to deal with... . "Back onto the topic at hand then. I"m afraid I know nothing of anyone else trying to solve the scarlet mist incident. The fact that they faded away would likely suggest a spirit or ghost of sorts, but to be stuck in the past like that...most alarming. Was there anything else about this person that was distinct?" "What"s distinct?" Rumia asked. "Special, weird, take your pick. Stuff that they do that no one else seems to." Reimu answered the question. "Like a mother and child..." Keine chuckled, so did the witch outside. "Eavesdropping is impolite, come inside and join the conversation or leave." "Ohh! Her danmaku were all weird!" The little youkai announced. "Ehh, weird how?" Marisa asked as she finally entered the shrine. "They were all cold. And when I grazed them I couldn"t feel the parts they touched. It was scary because I couldn"t move right." Rumia gulped down some tea, sticking out her tongue from the taste. "Oh, they didn"t hurt the trees either! I kept hitting branches but they didn"t even slow down." The shrine maiden frowned. "So that"s why there wasn"t any damage...also explains why I didn"t even feel it when I blocked one." "Hmm, not a normal spirit like you"d find in the netherworld, definitely not. If I had to assume, I"d say it was someone who was erased from history but somehow left part of themselves behind. This likely occurred during the Scarlet Mist incident...I don"t remember doing such a thing, however." Keine looked puzzled. "Perhaps we should try asking her? Where did she appear?" "She only seems to go after Rumia at night. She also doesn"t seem to appear if there are others around." Reimu explained as she blew on her tea. "I suppose we could try hiding and use Rumia as bait to lure her out, and then confront her." The schoolteacher looked at the little youkai, who seemed alarmed at the idea of having to go up against the spirit again. "No...I don"t think that"s a very good way to go about this. Honestly, the only proper course of action would be for me to consult the Hieda clan and see if they have any knowledge of her. In the meantime, I suggest you watch over this one until a solution is found." "Hey, you hear that Reimu? You"re gonna be a mother!" The witch chuckled, readying to escape if needed. "Don"t be a bad example now, y"hear? We don"t need little Rumia attacking any Youkai that get in her way, she might get hurt." The shrine maiden really, really wanted to plant her fist in Marisa"s face, but it was exactly like she said. She couldn"t be a bad example; she didn"t want Rumia causing trouble. "Why don"t we have her room up with you? At least you don"t have money concerns." "Oh no, we can"t do that. We"re having her stay with you to protect her, remember? She"d be in more danger in my house than if she were to go up against that creepy spirit alone." The witch chuckled a little. "How about this, I"ll bring you some food so both you and the little one aren"t competing over the last scraps of rice. That sound good?" "I...I suppose I can"t argue now. Fine, I"ll watch over her for now. But please hurry." She pleaded with Keine. "Of course, I will be as swift as possible." The schoolteacher assured her. "This should take no longer than two days." "This should be good. Okay then, I"ll go get that food I mentioned." The witch hopped on her broom and took off out the door. "My, how discourteous." Keine shook her head. "I must bid you farewell. Take care." The schoolteacher bowed at the door. "Thank you for having me." And she was off. Reimu glanced over to the little youkai, who was resting her chin on the table. "Now, what to do with you..." With a satisfied nod, the shrine maiden stepped back from her work. If she was going to put Rumia to work around the shrine, she"d at least have her look the part. She"d outfitted the little youkai in some of her old clothes, and would have done her hair up in a similar way as well had it not been too difficult to remove her little amulet in her hair. At first she"d thought it was a ribbon, but it appeared that it was wrapped up in a way to conceal it. She figured it had some symbolic purpose, though she could feel something faint from it. Perhaps she would ask about it someday, but for now there was cleaning to be done. Earlier she had given Rumia instructions on how to sweep up properly. She was a little short for the task, but the shrine maiden was confident that she could handle it. While she had the little youkai do that she went to take care of some overdue organizing of the storage shed. Normally she"d lounge about and sleep, but as Marisa had said, she had to act as a role model for Rumia. Perhaps she might even develop into a useful member of society that didn"t aim to cause mischief or eat people. The shrine maiden said she would keep her safe if she was a good girl and helped clean up, so Rumia went about the sweeping happily. The pathway up to the shrine was long and really dusty, but at least she didn"t have to do the stairs too. While she was somewhat bothered by the bright sunlight, she wanted to prove herself to Reimu. Humming to herself, she failed to notice the presence on the edge of the shrine grounds... . "Ooh...this is great, things were slow for the newspaper, but this would make the story of the year. Aya Shameimaru lifted her camera to her eye and focused in on the miniature shrine maiden. She could just see the headline now, "Shrine Maiden adopts local youkai". She would have to do some more eavesdropping though, find out why Reimu took little Rumia in. Did she have a change of heart and accept youkai as equals to humans? Had she been charmed by the girl? Was she being blackmailed into taking care of her? Was this little girl the reason the shrine maiden was actually doing her duties around the shrine? So many questions, she"d have at least one answered before she filled in the blanks with what she figured was the cause. She took a few pictures first, though. Can"t have a front page article without an amazing picture! Just as she got the distance right a wind picked up and Rumia lifted a hand to the side of her head. An award winning shot! It was like what you"d see in a painting or cover of a book! "I heard that! Come out here crow!" Reimu had heard the camera"s click just barely over the wind. "No pictures without permission!" Whoops, seemed her time was up. Since Aya couldn"t investigate further now that she"d been discovered, she"d now have to fill in all the blanks. A good story idea was coming to mind just then... . "The crow makes pictures?" Rumia stopped her sweeping to look up at the shrine maiden. "Er, it"s complicated. I"ll explain it to you some other time, okay?" Now how would one go about explaining a camera to someone who barely understood why water bubbles when it gets hot? Much to Reimu"s relief, the little youkai was content with that. "Okay~!" She went back to her sweeping, humming her cheery tune. The appearance of the tengu reporter only spelled trouble for the shrine and its inhabitants. Whatever the Bunbunmaru"s next headline was going to be, she knew it would attract unwanted attention to the shrine.

Rick said. "but I"m glad I got the scholarship. I wouldn"t have been able to go here otherwise." "I bet she"s really proud of you." Anne said. "I was really surprised to see you on move-in day." "What? You didn"t think I could get in?" "No!" Anne said quickly. "That"s not what I meant. I mean...sorry for knocking you over that day." "Oh." he said. He shifted his backpack to his other shoulder and looked over at Anne. "Are you cold?" "No." Anne lied. "You"re wearing a hoodie in 40 degree weather. Do you want my jacket?" "No! That"s ok, I"m fine." Anne said. Rick was about to take off his fleece, but stopped. He shrugged. In a moment of weakness, Anne, who usually avoided looking at him, allowed her eyes time to roam curiously. Rick was taller than she remembered him- at least 6"2"'. His hair was shorter now, probably because of ROTC. There was something more severe in his manner too. She looked away when he caught her. "Did you enjoy your date the other night?" Rick asked her. Anne had not been expecting this question at all. "How"d you know I was on a date?" "Lisa told me." "You seem to be spending a lot of time with Lisa these days." Anne said, before she could stop herself. "She"s nice." he said plainly. "I didn"t say she wasn"t." Anne countered. Anne tucked her dark hair behind her ear nervously. From the corner of her eye she saw Rick"s gaze follow her hand. "What?" she asked. He cleared his throat. "Your hair is longer, isn"t it?" he asked. They stopped walking. Anne couldn"t place the meaning in the sudden softness of his voice. What was he thinking? When he looked at her, did he list flaws and differences or note reminisces of a friendly face? Anne knew then that no matter how distant they were or pretended to be, a connection still existed. It might"ve been weak, but it was there. She knew. "Yeah." she answered, walking up the steps to her door. Turning she said, "Thanks for walking me." She had the urge to hug him then, but she sensed the contact would"ve been less than desirable on his part. Rick shrugged. "I would"ve done it for anyone." Anyone? Anne shuffled to her bed, looking forward to closing her eyes and pretending that she"d never heard him say that. When Anne Eliot was little she wanted to be invisible. No, really. She would stand straight up against her family"s formal living room wall and close her eyes, willing herself to blend in with the printed paper like a Chameleon. "What are you doing?" Rick tilted his head curiously and stared at his strange friend against the rosebud wall paper. Anne"s eyes were shut tight and her face stoic. She didn"t make a sound. "Are you dead or something?" Mrs. Eliot walked by the room and looked in on the two eight-year-olds. She grinned and winked at Rick. She brought her index finger to her lips. "Shhh" she said pointing to Anne. Rick looked back at Anne. "This is no fun." he said simply and proceeded to tickle his friend out of her silence. "Stop! Stop!" Anne shrieked, giggling uncontrollably. Rick did as he was told, and Anne rewarded his obedience with a good pinch. "Hey!" he cried. "What was that for?" "For ruining the game! Boys ruin everything. I don"t know why I play with you." she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "You were just standing there! What"s the point of being invisible anyway? Wouldn"t you rather fly like Superman?" Rick inquired. Anne smiled smugly. "When you"re invisible, you can see everything that goes on around you. You can watch things happen and no one knows you"re there." Rick didn"t like it when Anne played that game and never really understood its appeal. He didn"t get to talk to her (the rules were strictly enforced) or touch her (though that never stopped him from poking or tickling). What was so great about being invisible? He couldn"t play with Anne was she was invisible. "Excuse me?" "Uh? What?" her head jerked up. A voice had awakened Anne from her two-minute doze. A brown-haired boy was towering over her desk. "Sorry, but is this seat taken?" Anne shook her head and gestured for him to sit down. She straightened up and took a large gulp from her coffee mug. Monday was in the air. "You"re Anne, aren"t you?" The guy who just sat down was talking to her. This was strange. In the little time she"d spent in college, Anne Eliot had picked up some anti-social tendencies in class. Some might say it was because she was hardworking and studious, but in reality, the excuse was simple shyness. "Yeah, that"s me." she answered, wondering how on earth he knew her name. He shook her hand. "I"m Ben. I carried up Lisa"s stuff on move-in day, remember?" "Oh!" Anne said. "Ben! Sorry I didn"t recognize you. I guess I was tired." Ben had a serious, artistic look about him. From what she saw - the pile of anthologies he was carrying, the band on his tee-shirt, and his long hair - he was as far from Rick Wentworth as one could get. "Are you an English major too?" Anne asked, looking at his volume on Romanticism. Ben nodded. "I want to study 19th century poetry." "Wow." Anne said. "Byron, Blake..." "Coleridge, Yeats..." Ben finished her list. "It"s the best." "That"s interesting." she said feeling amused. "I haven"t met many guys who love Romantic poetry." Anne and Ben eventual quieted down with the class and spent the next fifty minutes listening to the lecture and scribbling away in their notebooks. Afterwards they grabbed some coffee and continued to talk. Unexpectedly, Anne found herself connecting with Ben and the friendship was clearly welcome on both sides. It had been too long since Anne was engaged in an intelligent conversation and by the way Ben eagerly responded to her, she could tell he felt the same way. "I remember that large stack of novels you had in your room." Ben said. "It was impressive." "Oh yeah." Anne said, remembering the mountain she"d created on move-in day. "Lisa made me put them under the bed." Anne could still hear the high-pitched yelps her roommate would make whenever she tripped over her stacks. Eventually, she concluded Lisa"s safety came before her amusement so she moved them out of the way. "Do you two get along?" Ben asked. Anne nodded. " But we"re really different." Ben agreed quickly. "I think that"s pretty obvious." Anne laughed. "Yeah, but she"s really sweet and I think we live together well. Trust me, I could"ve been stuck with far worse. I"m very thankful." "I was lucky too. Rick"s a quality guy. You remember Rick, don"t you? I think he was there that day." Anne furrowed her brow and pretended to sort through her memory. "Think I remember him. Sure..." "Anyway," Ben continued. "He"s actually been a big help to me lately. My, uh, girlfriend just dumped me." He looked down at his hands awkwardly. Anne felt her heart break a little for Ben right then. It was times like these that she felt ashamed of her sex. She wondered what kind of girl would dump one of the only openly sensitive men on the planet. It was a sad mystery. "Rick is the perfect guy to go to about that stuff." Anne said encouragingly. "He"s a great listener." Ben raised his eyebrow. "I thought you didn"t know him." "I don"t." Anne said quickly. "I mean, that day I met him he looked like a good listener, you know?" She was thankful that her lame excuse wasn"t questioned. "He actually went through a similar situation." Ben explained. "A girl he knew from New York ripped his heart out." Anne"s eyes shifted nervously. "By the way he described it, she sounded like a man-eater." "Wow. She sounds pretty...mean." Ben nodded. "Why do girls always do that? They lead us on, give us encouragement, then when we"ve finally made the commitment they cut us loose without a tear. Is that normal?" "Well..." Anne had so many thoughts swimming through her head at that moment. It was difficult to add eloquence to the mix. "Sometimes things are more complicated than they appear. It"s not as if women are emotionless leeches. Most of us are just scared of getting hurt or maybe we"re just confused about our feelings. You need to cut us some slack. Granted, some girls have bitchy tendencies, but you can"t generalize that. Things aren"t always what they seem. Maybe men should be more empathetic and recognize some of the pressures women our age have today." Anne snapped back from her runaway rant and saw a very confused Ben staring at her. She cleared her throat. "Still, one claim I"ll make for my sex is that we love longest- at least from what I"ve seen." Ben sighed. "Someone"s been reading too many novels." he said. Anne looked him in the eye, and without breaking contact, grabbed his empty coffee cup and tossed it successfully into the trash can ten feet away. "And what"s so wrong with that?" she challenged. Rick Wentworth slammed the door to his dorm room and collapsed on his bed. "Long day, uh Captain Wentworth?" Ben asked, not even looking up from his computer screen. "Kill me now." was all Rick could say. He rolled over, his face in his hands and let out a groan. "I can"t take much more of this, Ben." After waking up for early classes, he had studied in the library all afternoon, ending his day with a run. Everything from his head to his feet ached. Ben smirked. "What? You mean between Naval ROTC, engineering, pre-med requirements, and tutoring you"re starting to feel stressed? Interesting..." "You"re not funny." "I try, said Ben. Rick got up and faced his roommate. "Maybe I should just become an English Major like you." "You"d hate it." Ben reminded him. "Reading, writing, no numbers...you"d go nuts after the first week." He grabbed a water bottle from his shelf and threw it to Rick. "How many miles did you just run? "Six? I think..." Rick said. "Thanks for the water." "You know," Ben started. "You could always quit tutoring. It isn"t required, Rick." Rick sighed. The thought had crossed his mind. Twice a week he volunteered at a local middle school to give one-on-one help with math. "I guess I could..." Rick started. Ben rolled his eyes. "Who are you kidding, man? You"d never quit. You"d probably die sooner than give it up- which I"d like to point out is very possible." He laughed. "True." Ben went back to his computer. "So, is Lisa coming over again tonight?" he asked him nonchalantly. Ben didn"t mention it to Rick, but he secretly hoped the answer was no. Lisa"s excessive giggling tended to give him migraines. Rick took off his shirt and threw it in his laundry bin. "Maybe." he answered. "Why do you ask?" "I just noticed that she"s coming over a lot lately, that"s all." He shrugged. "She"s a friendly girl. I like her." Ben raised his eyebrows. "You like her?" "As a human being, yes I do." Rick replied. "What"s with the interrogation?" "I"m just warning you, girls tend to...how do I put it...read into things." Ben said. Rick looked confused. "Do you think she thinks that I"m-?" "Who knows. Just some advice." Ben offered. He started packing up his backpack. "Well, from one man to another, thanks for the wisdom. Are you leaving for the library?" Rick asked. "Yeah. I"m actually meeting Anne there. You remember Anne, right? She"s Lisa"s roommate." Rick spilled some of his water. That was the last thing he expected Ben to say. "Sure I remember her. Dark hair? Kind of tired looking? Quiet?" Ben laughed at his descriptions. "Dark hair, yes. Tired? Not so much. Quiet? That"s about the last thing you"d call her after to get to know her. You should talk to her sometime. She"d pretty cool." "Do you have classes together or something?" Rick asked, hoping his roommate didn"t notice his voice crack. Ben nodded. "She"s in my major and really smart - the perfect study partner. I guess with a roommate like Lisa, she"s been shoved out of the spotlight. I think you"d like her. " Rick"s face was stony. "I"m not so sure." he said to himself as Ben left the room. Anne Elliot. Anne Elliot. Rick Wentworth repeated in his mind. Even when he went out of his way to avoid her, she always found her way back into his thoughts. Fate had an odd sense of humor. Anne found herself thrown in with Lisa"s bubbling social circle, which consisted of many people in her dorm Anne found herself thrown in with Lisa"s bubbling social circle, which consisted of many people in her dorm. The first few months it was easy for Anne to be introverted, but as time past socializing became unavoidable. Still, she got on well with the people there. To her surprise, Ben became an especially good friend. "I feel like we"re the outsiders, you know?" he joked to her one day in their class. "I"ve never been very smooth or outgoing like Rick." Ben talked about Rick...a lot. Anne tried to listen without looking too uncomfortable whenever he mentioned his roommate. "There are about fifty girls who are mildly stalking him right now. Lucky guy! I bet that keeps him busy..." "Oh really?" Anne asked. "Not much time for studying, then?" Ben shook his head. "That"s the sad part. He"s a genius. He"s an engineering student with perfect grades. I didn"t think that was possible. Life isn"t fair." "Tell me about it." she answered. She hated Rick for being so wonderful. Just before winter break, Anne was sitting in her dorm common room late one night after her last final. Most people had finished at that point were just biding time before leaving for home. She was reading a book at the corner of the room when Lisa called her over to the circle. "Anne!" she said. "Come join us!" Anne smiled, reluctantly placed down her novel and walked over. She immediately regretted this choice. As she approached the circled up individuals she saw that their hands were extended in front of them. That could only meet one thing. "Ten fingers!" exclaimed another girl from her floor. Anne cringed. She quickly glanced in the direction of Rick who looked rather sick too. She knew that even with his charm and ease, he was still a very private person at his core. Anne took a seat next to Ben. They went around the circle slowly and Anne felt pretty stupid with all ten fingers up. Anne detested this game with every fiber of her being and couldn"t believe she"s let Lisa persuade her into staying. As far as Anne was concerned Ten Fingers was just uncomfortable detail after uncomfortable detail forced to simmer together awkwardly for all to see. What really caused commotion was when Anne and Rick confessed their virginity to the entire room through process of elimination. "Omigosh!" Lisa had yelped at Anne. "You didn"t put a finger down! Really Anne?" Anne wanted to crawl into a hole and die. "Wait!" a guy named Jess called out. "Rick! You didn"t either." Anne"s head shot up. Rick smiled and brushed it off well. Anne couldn"t help but admire him for it. He probably wasn"t the only guy, but the only one comfortable enough to admit it. Ben"s turn was next. "Never have I ever ...been in love." Without even thinking, Anne placed a finger down. She looked across the circle and saw Rick"s finger move. For a brief moment they made eye contact then looked away. Ben looked down at Anne"s hand and smirked. "How bout that." he said. When the evening ended, Anne went back to her room to pack. She couldn"t wait to leave college for an entire month. Maybe the distance would make things easier. "Anne, I really wish you"d doll yourself up now and then "Anne, I really wish you"d doll yourself up now and then." Aunt Grace said to her, placing a dress up to Anne"s frame. They were shopping along with Mary. Anne had gone home to New York City for her winter break and her Aunt insisted that the Elliot women bond and spend money together. "Comfort is my concern." Anne said. "That"s your problem." Mary said. "You have nice clothes, you just don"t wear them anymore and instead you go around in jeans and sweatshirts." "When you"re in college you"ll understand." was Anne"s answer Mary looked doubtful. "Suuuure." "Anne," Aunt Grace said later after Mary had left them for the shoe department. "How"s school going? I know your grades are good, but what about other things?" "Well, things with Lisa are ok. We get along pretty well." Anne said as she ran her hand over a cashmere sweater set. "I, um, ran into Rick again." Aunt Grace stopped. "Rick...that was the boy who-" "Yes." "Oh, I see. How was that?" "Well," Anne said. "It wasn"t just once. I actually see him a lot." "You"re not dating that boy are you?" Aunt Grace asked quickly. "No!" Anne interjected. "No, trust me, far from it." "Oh." Aunt Grace seemed mildly relieved. "It"s just...I don"t know. It"s weird between us. We"re so used to not talking to one another. It almost makes it more awkward if that"s even possible." "Darling," Aunt Grace placed her hand on her niece"s shoulder. "Promise me that you won"t force something." "What do you mean?" "I know you must feel so strange. I mean, you were best friends as children and now you two aren"t close, but that doesn"t mean there"s a problem necessarily. It"s been a long time since you were together. It"s possible you just grew apart. You"re different people. Don"t force a relationship just because you think there should be one." Anne nodded. That made sense. "Besides that, are there any boys?" Aunt Grace asked. Anne laughed. "Just my friend Ben. No real boys." "Not even Charlie?" she asked suggestively. Anne Elliot rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long afternoon. Anne was surprised at how much she liked Charlie. But not in that way, of course. He was the old-fashioned type. He opened car doors for her, picked up the tab at dinner, and walked her home at the end of the evening. Luckily, he didn"t go for a kiss the second time, so all awkwardness was avoided. All in all, the date (if you could even call it that) went just as Anne expected it to. It was the perfect fizzle-down to her Aunt Grace"s twisted set-up. Anne walked back into her dorm wearing the outfit her Aunt Grace convinced her to wear over the phone. She found it extremely annoying and had to keep adjusting her cable knit cardigan over her strapless green dress. Still, Aunt Grace had insisted that "the color would match your eyes and compliment your dark hair. Just promise not to wear that long hair of yours in your face!" As you can guess, Anne ended up wearing a matching headband as a result. She found Lisa waiting inside to talk to her and extract all the interesting details of the night. Lisa was rather disappointed to find out that there were none. Anne kicked off her heels and sat at her desk. "It was nice, but no fireworks." "I"m not surprised." Lisa said. "Maybe you should give it another try." Anne shrugged. "It"s pretty obvious that we"re just friends now." "I hope you don"t mind, but the boys will be up soon. We"re going to hang out here tonight." Lisa said. Before she could protest or sprint from the room, Ben, Rick, and their friend Evan came through the door and closed it behind them. She was trapped. Rick gave Anne a double take, but it was Ben who spoke. "Anne, you look really nice." Ben said. "I didn"t know you owned a dress." She nodded. "It"s a miracle. It just appeared in my closet, can you believe it?" She looked over and caught Rick starring again. He looked away. "Anne was on a date!" Lisa exclaimed. Ben laughed. "Impressive, Elliot. Did you seduce him?" "Not exactly." she said. "Enough with the chit chat." Evan said, taking a case of beer out. "Shall be drink ladies and gents?" "Yeah!" Lisa said. "Rick come sit by me!" Rick grabbed two cans and went to sit next to Lisa on her bed. "Pass me one, please." Anne said. The other four turned at the same time to stare at her. "Really?" Ben asked amused. "What?" Anne asked opening the can and taking a drink. "Jesus, it"s always the quite ones isn"t it?" Evan laughed. Ben winked at her. An hour and few beers after, Anne was rather tipsy. Lisa was trashed. Evan was drunk. Ben was buzzed. Anne couldn"t really tell what Rick was, but he definitely became more talkative. "Lisa, if someone told you jump off a bridge would you?" he asked randomly Evan burst out laughing for no reason. "Welll..." Lisa giggled. "I"d say no! No!" "That"s admirable." Rick said taking another swig of beer. "Some people will just do whatever people say. It"s sad, really." Anne gave him a stony look. "What about Anne?" Ben asked. "Would you jump off the bridge?" Before answering she glanced over at Lisa who was now cuddling against Rick and touching his face. Rick looked a bit uncomfortable, but Anne didn"t seem to notice or care about that detail. "Depends on how high it was, but sure why not?" Anne said. Evan laughed. "Anne, are ok?" Ben slurred. "You look sick." "Not sick. Just disgusted." she said looking over at Lisa and Rick again. "Well, if you are going to be sick be sick in this." Ben threw her the trash can. She caught it with one hand. "I"m not going to throw up. That"s not what I meant." she said. "Probably never threw up from booze in your whole life, uh Elliot?" Evan asked. "So what? Why is being good so bad these days?" Anne asked frustrated. She didn"t see, but Rick had turned his head to listen to her. "Guys like more easy going, laid back girls." Evan challenged. "Maybe I don"t care what other people think." Anne said. "Maybe I don"t care because some people will stereotype me and all of my actions no matter what I say. Maybe those aren"t the type of people I want to hang around." Rick cleared his throat. "Poor little rich girl." Evan teased. Anne took off her cardigan and threw it at him. "Punk." The last thing she remembered about that night was Rick Lisa giggling on her bed.

"What a bummer..." Patrick said, smiling slyly. "I had other plans for us tonight." Zoe"s cheeks flushed pink, but she retained her class and pretended that she didn"t know what he meant. After a few minutes of waiting, one of the bakery attendants ushered them into a backroom. Patrick looked like a little boy on Christmas Eve. As soon as Taylor and Maggie had announced their engagement a few months ago, Patrick had graciously volunteered his services to taste test cake flavors. After all, it was Patrick"s specialty. As a veteran best man from Kyle"s wedding, he was experienced in such matters. "Where are Maggie and Taylor?" Patrick asked, looking longingly at the slices of cake before him. "Can we start without them?" Zoe laughed. Patrick was so predictable. "They will be late, so yes. We can start without them." Patrick smiled in satisfaction, grabbing a fork and digging in to a nearby flavor. He held it up to his girlfriend. "Ladies first." Zoe leaned forward and took the bite. "Is it good?" Patrick asked. Zoe nodded, still chewing the large mouthful. Patrick swopped in and kissed her, licking his lips as he pulled away. "Ah - Pat" she said, finally swallowing. "That was an ambush..." "You had icing on your lip and I wanted to see how it tasted." He winked at her. "Oh really..." Zoe laughed. "and what did you think?" Patrick shrugged. "I prefer butter cream myself." The pair continued on like this for a while - Zoe diligently taking notes about what they liked and what they didn"t like and Patrick diligently eating whatever was in front of him. They made an excellent team. "Are you sure that Maggie and Taylor trust us?" Patrick asked, swallowing the mocha crunch chocolate ganache combination. "I mean, they"re not even here..." "Yeah..." Zoe said. Patrick didn"t see, but her hands were twisting nervously on her lap. "I think it should be fine." "But what if we botched the order?" Patrick asked. "I don"t think I could trust someone else to handle something so important for my wedding. I mean, what if we got something gross like marzipan or...lemon." "But what cake is your favorite?" Zoe interrupted, pressing on with their task. Patrick shrugged. "I can"t decide. I guess they get the final word, right?" "But if it was...your cake....then which one would you want?" "I guess it would be -" Suddenly, Patrick bit down on something hard - something hidden deep in the Italian cream cake he was sampling. He maneuvered the subject around in his mouth, a confused and slightly disgusted look on his face. Zoe was holding her breath. He spit it out and whipped it off with a napkin. Unexpectedly, a shinny gleam caught his eyes. It was a silver band. Patrick Woodhouse"s eyes widened and he looked up with a shocked expression. Zoe"s blush had returned and she smiled sheepishly. "Patrick," Zoe started, laughing nervously and leaning closer to him. "Maggie and Taylor aren"t coming. In fact, they"ve already picked out their cake. I - I was sort of hoping that this tasting could be...for us." Patrick"s was still stunned, his face almost unreadable. "Uh...Patrick?" she asked again, grabbing his hand with concern. "Did you hear what I just said?" Patrick looked down in awe at the silver ring in his palm. "Patrick Woodhouse!" Zoe stood with her hands on her hips, all concern out the window due to impatience. "In all the years I"ve known you, you"ve never had trouble opening your mouth and talking so can you please do so now before I go completely nuts! What"s on your mind? Say something!" "Are you...are you proposing?" he asked incredulously. "Duh!" she cried, feeling more annoyed than she would"ve liked to at this particular milestone. "And you"re required to answer, by the way. That"s how these things usually go, Patrick." "No," he corrected with amusement. "Usually the male - meaning me - plans something cute and elaborate, requiring the female - you - to do the answering." Zoe stamped her foot. "Patrick Woodhouse! You"re ruining this beautiful moment. Can"t we do anything normally?" He swooped in and silenced her with a kiss. In all the time that he"d dated her, Patrick had discovered that this was usually the best way to end a fight, lecture, or silly banter exchange. It was her ultimate weakness. After about five seconds of lip lock, Zoe Knightley tended to melt into his hands like a popsicle in July. Sure enough, he felt her body drain of tension and her hands slip longingly behind his neck as she responded with enthusiasm. He pulled away, but continued to hold on to her. Her blue eyes were sparking and her lips were swollen from their contact. Patrick grinned. "Italian cream cake." He said. "P-Pardon?" Zoe blinked. Clearly, she was still recovering from the spontaneous romantic moment. "That"s the wedding cake we"re having." Patrick said raising his eyebrows playfully. "I hope you wrote it down, Knightley." She smiled beneath him and forced him towards her once more, enjoying the temporary privacy they had in the back room of the shop. It was a few more minutes before Patrick pulled away and sighed deeply in satisfaction. "You know...it"s just too bad you have to grade papers tonight...." Zoe laughed and punched him playfully in the bicep. She then extracted herself from Patrick"s strong arms and smoothed out her blouse. One could always count on Zoe Knightley to stay classy. "By the way..." Patrick said, catching her eye. "Don"t think I"m going to let you off the hook so easily for stealing my thunder." She returned his gaze with curiosity. "What do you mean?" "I mean, that if you had just waited a few more days, then Gram"s resized vintage ring would"ve arrived and I could"ve done all this myself." Zoe Knightley"s face softened into an odd expression. It was like the one Patrick observed on her features when she was watching a particularly touching chick flick or staring at a puppy. She was positively lit up from the inside. "Y-You were going to propose to me?" "Of course." Patrick said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Who else on earth would crazy enough to marry me? If I didn"t propose soon, you might realize you"re too good for me and bounce town. I needed to put a ring on that finger ASAP. That is, if you like the ring..." "I"m sure I"ll love it!" Zoe gushed, not caring that he"d just called her crazy. In a way, she was. She recognized this fact but was indifferent to it. "Do you want me to bake it in something for you -?" "No!" she interjected, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him. "No need for any of that." She went on tip toe and kissed him on the cheek. You know what, Patrick?" Zoe asked, burying her head in the crook of his neck "What?" "Though you often pretend otherwise, you"re the biggest softy I know." Patrick furrowed his brow. "That"s a compliment, right?" She grinned. "You bet." Patrick held her for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth they created between them. They finally snapped back to reality, eagerly placed their order for a wedding cake, and left the store arm in arm. They didn"t know it then, but years later the narrative of their proposal would prove a comical bickering point between the couple. In a true Patrick-and-Zoe fashion, the details of who proposed to whom and which person was more romantic would be challenged. It was all in good fun, however. Essentially what they were fighting about was who loved the other more...and if that"s the most recurring argument you have in your marriage, life is not so bad. THE END a/n - Thank you to everyone for reading and a special thank you for all the people who reviewed. The feedback was awesome for this story and I really appreciated it. I"m so happy this story is complete! I"ve now completed two Austen fics. Life is good. PS - virtual high five to everyone who picked up on the "lemon" reference from earlier in the fic "You O.K. there, Harry?" Patrick only heard huffing and puffing in response to his question. "Just another quarter mile or so. You"re doing great, man! Keep it up." Earlier that day Taylor had convinced Patrick to take Harry out for a nice run - "manly bonding," if you will. This seemed like a brilliant idea and Patrick was glad to spend some quality time with his friend, but after watching his new roommate try and keep up with his confident stride, he started to regret the decision. After a few more minutes, they finished hard and stopped to stretch near the edges of the campus practice fields. "Whose idea was this again?" Harry asked between breaths, hands on his knees. "Put your arms over your head to open up your lungs." Patrick said, demonstrating. "And it was Taylor"s idea, by the way." "Remind me to kill Taylor." Harry said, copying Patrick"s stance. "Wow, this actually feels better. Did you used to run?" "Yeah, in high school," he answered. "but I gave it up in college." "Could"ve had me fooled." Harry laughed. "So how have your first few weeks of school been?" Harry shrugged. "Classes have been great, I guess. I haven"t really met anyone except for you, Zoe and Taylor though." Patrick sighed. He"d been afraid of this. Contrary to popular believe, guys like Patrick weren"t completely insensitive to the plights of the socially underprivileged. In fact, for some inexplicable reason, Patrick found himself more and more eager to help his new friend adjust to life at the university. Harry was a nice guy - a good old fashioned, innocent, underrated nice guy - and he deserved a good things. "Well, Harry" Patrick started, holding himself up proudly. "I can help you with that. Stick with me, and you"ll go places." "Ball! Ball!" A female voice caught their attention just before a small lacrosse ball catapulted in the direction of Harry"s head. He jumped in surprise while Patrick caught it with his left hand. "Here you go," he said, tossing it back into the girl"s stick. "Thanks." she smiled sweetly at them. Her long blonde hair was swept up into a messy bun atop her head. She had a tall, slim figure and a perfectly white smile. As she ran back to her game, Patrick noticed that she not-so-subtly glanced back at them for a second look. He thought he heard Harry gulp. "I definitely haven"t met girls like her." he confessed, staring back at her as she ran away. Patrick chuckled. "Harry, you could have someone like her easily." Harry looked skeptical. "Patrick, I know you just met me and all, but I thought that by now you would"ve realized that I"m pretty geeky." "You"re smart! So what? Girls love that!" Patrick said. "Plus, it"s all about the way you present yourself. You have to believe to can score a girl like that before you actually can." "Well, she"s gone now, so I guess that was the shortest relationship in history." Harry said. "You"re forgetting something, grasshopper." Patrick said, helping him off the ground. "We are close friends with the captain of the lacrosse team. If we want to know that girl"s name and number, that information is just a holler away." "We do?" Harry started, confused. "Who do we know that"s - ?" "KNIGHTELY!" Patrick practically screamed across the field. "ZOE KNIGHTEY!" From a distance, Harry squinted and could barely make out a red head emerge from the huddle of girls and start jogging over to them. He hadn"t known Zoe had been playing over there, let alone that she was their captain. "Geeze Woodhouse. Embarrass me, why don"t you?" she said when she got there. She leaned on her stick casually as she spoke to them. "Hi Harry," she said with a pleasanter air. "It"s good to see you out and about." "Thanks." he said self consciously. "We"re not keeping you from practice are we?" he asked. "Oh no!" she assured him. "Our scrimmage just ended, so I"m free." "I can tell." Patrick piped in. "You"re just a tad sweaty there, Knightley." he teased. She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Patrick. Girls do sweat. That sometimes happens. Now, did you need me for something or did you have the sudden desire to belt out my name to the entire campus?" "Who"s that girl over there?" Patrick asked, pointing. "The one with the long blonde hair wearing the blue shorts." "Jenna?" Zoe asked. "What about her?" "Could you bring her over here please?" "Why?" she asked, looking suspicious. "Because you love me." "Try again, Patrick." "Because Harry wants to ask her something." he offered lamely. "O.K..." she said. "I"ll be right back." As she jogged back to the herd of females on the other side of the field, Harry grabbed his friend"s arm in panic. "What do you mean I "want to ask her something"?!" his voice cracked. "I don"t want to ask her anything! I don"t want to talk to her!" "Why not?" "Because the longer I don"t talk to her, the longer she doesn"t see me completely freak out!" "Hold on there, buddy." Patrick said, patting him on the back. Patrick had never witnessed the symptoms for a panic attack first hand, but he was guessing they were similar, if not identical to Harry"s actions at that moment. "Just breathe, ok? Breeeeaathe." Harry inhaled deeply and seemed to calm, but he looked up again and saw Zoe running back over with Jenna. "Holy shit! What do I say?" he asked desperately. Let me do that talking, ok?" Patrick said. "Just stand there and try to look pretty. Can you do that?" "No!" he cried. Too late. "Hey guys, this is Jenna Elton." Zoe said as they stopped in front of the boys once more. "Harry, did you have something to say?" she asked him. While Harry fought the urge to scamper like Bambi, Patrick stepped in. "Harry here just wanted to invite you ladies out with us later tonight. If you"re free that is." he said to Jenna. She beamed. "Oh yeah. I"d love to go out with y"all." her southern twang coated her words like molasses. "That"s so nice of you to invite me, Harry and..." "Oh, that"s my friend Patrick." Zoe offered. "Patrick." Jenna repeated, smiling at him. "Great!" he cried. He heard a sigh of relief come out of Harry next to him. "Ok," Jenna said. "Well, I"m gonna drive home now. It was really nice meeting both of you." "You"re driving?" Patrick asked before she could escape. "Yeah." she said, flipping her long blonde mane over her shoulder. "Well," Patrick said as the wheels in his mind turned. "We ran all the way over here and Harry"s shin splits came back. I mean, he beat me here by a long shot. I had to sprint to keep up with the guy, but I guess his speed has taken its toll. Do you think he could catch a ride with you?" Patrick saw Zoe narrow her eyes at him. No doubt she"d picked up on his ulterior motives. "Sure!" Jenna said. "I"ve had shin splints before, so I know what you"re going through." she said to Harry. "Uh...thanks?" Harry said awkwardly. "Do you want a ride too, Patrick?" Jenna asked hopefully. She shook his head. "I"m good. Actually Zoe promised me she"d run home with me." "Funny, because I don"t remember saying that." Zoe chimed in. Patrick laughed and gritted his teeth. "Good thing I remembered for you!" "OK, well you kids have fun." Jenna said. "Come on, Harry." The couple walked away to Jenna"s car. When they were a safe distance away, Zoe turned to Patrick. With her arms folded and mouth somber, he could tell she meant business. "What?" he asked defensively. "Can"t a guy help his buddy out every now and then? Since when has generosity been considered a sin? "Since now!" Zoe cried. "Pat, you chose Jenna Elton for a guy like Harry? Really?" "Hey!" he said. "Harry"s amazing. You don"t think he can charm Jenna?" Zoe sighed. "That"s not what I"m saying...it"s just. She"s not..." "She seemed sweet." he offered. "Let"s just say that not everything that"s sweet is...good for you." "Meaning...?" "I guess we"ll all find out, won"t we?" she asked. Patrick smiled. "I"m totally calling your bluff, Knightley and I"m going to enjoy it when I"m right and you"re wrong!" She raised her eyebrow. "Pat, when does that ever happen?" "Hey! There"s a first time for everything!" "You know what the worst part of this whole thing is?" Zoe asked. "What?" "Because of your stupid story I lost my ride and now I have to run home with you after practice. You suck." she said, folding her arms again in a huff. "Well..." Patrick said, casually walking behind her. "Maybe I"ll just have to carry your ailing body home..." "What? You wouldn"t even- AHHH!" Zoe yelped as her friend swung her over his shoulder. "I caught one! I caught one!" he cried triumphantly, bouncing up and down. "Put me down!" Zoe yelled, half laughing. He placed her down carefully and she recovered from her temporary escape from gravity. "Why don"t we just race home like civilized human beings?" she asked slyly, bending over in the runner"s position. "I"m game." Patrick said. "You know me, I"m always game. "Ready, set...go!" "I still don"t understand why I have to be here..." Zoe whispered through a fake smile at dinner. "Because," Patrick answered quietly. "I can"t get those two together when we have an odd number." "Patrick, I can"t tell you how flattered I am to be your fake date." "I know it"s been a dream of yours since you met me, darling." he joked back. "So, Patrick." Jenna said, capturing his attention from his conversation with Zoe. "Harry just told me you ran track in high school. I think that"s fantastic." "Thanks." he said. "I guess..." Confusion was starting to fall over the usually collected Patrick Woodhouse. This girl he"d hand picked out for his friend certainly looked the part. Saying she was gorgeous was an understatement. Still, he noticed that for most of the meal she"d tried to talk to him and not Harry. The waiter brought them all refills on their drinks a few minutes later. Jenna took a sip of hers, and called the waiter back with a snap of her fingers. Zoe raised her eyebrows at her fake date. "Excuse me," Jenna said. "but this isn"t diet." "It"s not going to kill you, Jenna." Zoe said. Jenna chose to ignore that statement. "Just being a diet out...oh and a slice of lime would be great." Patrick knew Zoe well enough to read her body language. When he looked over and saw she had her jaw clenched and she was twisting her cloth napkin in her lap, it meant "this girl is driving me nuts.' "I"m going to go to the little girls" room." Jenna said, getting up from her chair. Harry got up awkwardly too, probably wondering if he needed to formally stand when a lady left the table. Luckily, he managed to pretend like he was adjusting his chair. Patrick caught Zoe"s gaze and he widened his eyes. He needed a moment alone with Harry. Apparently, she could read his looks as well as he could read her body language, because a second later she said, "Why don"t I come with you, Jenna?" And with that, the two females exited gracefully from the table, leaving the two gentlemen to have a sophisticated, serious conversation. "Jesus Christ! What am I doing?" Harry burst out. "You"re doing perfectly, Harry. I have to admit, there"s something a little off with her." he confessed. "Is it something I did?" Harry asked. "Should I have pushed in her chair for her? Should I have taken her coat? I knew it!" "Don"t worry so much." Patrick said. "Be cool and everything will fall into place." Harry nodded. "So, are you having fun?" Patrick asked hopefully. Harry"s facial expression looked doubtful. Patrick sighed. Honestly, he didn"t blame the kid much. He looked positively sick. Actually...he looked genuinely sick. "Hey Harry, are you felling alright, buddy?" Patrick asked. "I - I don"t know." Harry said, his face turning slightly green. "I feel kind of... sort of..." Suddenly, he pushed out his chair and sprinted to the restroom. Patrick could only guess what he was going. Ten minutes later, the girls were still in the bathroom and Harry had already left for home. Patrick felt like a failure for the most part. He was at least comforted that women took so long in the bathroom and as a result his friend avoided an embarrassing scene. "Where"s Harry?" Jenna asked when they came back out. "Emergency...tutoring session." Patrick lied horribly. "Someone really needed help with their physics homework so good ole Harry sprung into action. He"s a good friend like that." Zoe rolled her eyes. The three sat there in awkward silence for a long time until Zoe"s phone beeped. "Ah geeze." she said, looking concerned. "What is it?" Patrick asked. "A text from one of my teammates." she said. "It just says "911 teammate injured"." "You should go! It sounds urgent." Jenna said looking overly concerned. "Do you want to come too?" Zoe asked her. "No!" she said a little too quickly. "I"ll stay here and keep Patrick company. It"s the polite thing to do." "Ok..." Zoe said. "Here! You can borrow my car." Jenna threw Zoe her keys and she caught them mid-air. Turning to Patrick she said sweetly, "You don"t mind taking me home tonight, do you Patrick?" "Uh..." he started. "I guess not." "Alright, well I better go now." Zoe rushed outside into the rain. About five seconds after her departure, Patrick noticed Jenna switched seats. Now she was sitting next to him. In fact, she seemed to be inching her seat closer to him...too close. "Thank God they"re gone." she whispered to him, touching his arm. What? "I thought they"d never leave us alone..." "You mean...our dates?" Patrick asked.