Entry: 10 - Final Entry!

Entry: 10
   - Hope

It was chaos.
Ultimate chaos.

Finnley had been able to get a hold of her wand before the lights went out. She flicked her wrist and a glob of light floated above every one. Illuminating the blood bath before her.

There was about two dozen armed men with the Marine leading them. They made quick work of the six armed men. Though they did put up a fight. Bullets spewed out of the barrels of some odd number of guns. They bounced off the concrete walls.
Finnley was suddenly worried about Sage. She glanced behind her and saw that he was crouched behind a table.
   "Sage!" She screamed. Scooping his leather gauntlet off the table. He looked her way and she chucked it across the room. Making sure he caught it. She ran hunched over to avoid getting hit.
The first thing she went for was the computers.

Most of the scientist were running around like mad men, but some of them still remained in their seats.
But in order to get there, she had to get past the Englishman.
He loomed over her with almost glowing red eyes. And his face was full of anger.
She struck out with a roundhouse kick to his jaw. He blocked it and she quickly ducked to avoid a right cross.
She came up in his exposed side and landed a heavy punch, using her shoulders for muscle powers.
The man doubled over and she heard her name being yelled.
He was back up on his feet before she knew it and had hit her in the left eye. Her vision in that eye grew splotchy, causing her to be slow to miss the next blow to her mouth.
She groaned and reached above her head and grabbed a hold of the man's arms. She collected the blood in her mouth and spat it in the man's face.
He reeled back and she dropped the ground and swung out her leg. Causing him to fall to his knees.
She drew her arm back for a final blow.
   "Finnley! Get Jayson!!" Sage yelled.
She hesitated then flicked her wrist again with her wand in it.
   "You were wrong. About everything." She whispered then he went into a fitful, nightmare infested, sleep.

Finn ran over to the computer and looked at the monitors. She was at a loss when it came to computers.
   "What do you need?" She jumped in surprise when a voice back from the dead spoke next to her.
   "To turn that machine off!" She yelled.
   "Alright stand back."
She did and the Marine just shot all the monitors till they went black.
Spinning on her heel, she ran over to the table where Jayson was still strapped to. Electrical volts were still pulsing through the wiring.
   "It didn't work!" She screamed. Gripping her newly cut hair with fists.
She dropped to her knees and screamed.
The Marine knelt next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Sobs over took her body and she fell forward on her hands.
   "It's ok Finn." He whispered.
She looked up, and through the black eye, and the tears she noticed a thick cord running from the table, and through the mayhem that was going on. She started to crawl after it. Then, seeing where it was plugged into, she jumped up and ran for it.
Making quick jumps to the left and right, she dodged the fights going on and came to the wall in a roll after she had jumped over a fallen soldier.
The cord was plugged into the wall and it looked huge.
Immediately - and with out thinking - she pulled on it. It didn't budge. She braced her leg against the wall and gripped with two hands.
   "God give me the strength." She muttered, then she pulled. Using her leg and her arms she pulled as hard as she could. Slowly, ever so slowly, the plug weaseled it's way out of the socket.
   "Finn!! He's been in there to long!!" Sage yelled.
   "I know I know!!!" She screamed.
Her muscles were already exhausted before this all happened. And now it felt as if they were on fire.
She yelled as she gave one final tug and the plug broke free. And sent her reeling backwards. Various images of herself flashed before her eyes. Her in her fancy dress in the rain dancing, her sitting in the car with the wind whipping her hair all around, then the kiss she had just given Jayson.

Almera jumped up to her feet and dragged herself across the room. Though before, she had been able to make it across in a few strides, it know seemed to drag on for miles.

She finally reached Jayson and slammed her fist into the red button. The silver restraints snapped open with a clang, she hadn't thought to lower the table, and he slumped forward. She groaned as she was forced to catch his weight. The Marine rushed over and laid him down on the ground. She ripped off the wires from his head and waited anxiously.
After several seconds, she leaned to his chest and listened for a heartbeat.
There was none.
   "Wouldn't the machine have just erased his memory?" She asked in panic. Not sure who she was asking.
   "Yeah. Why?" The Marine asked.
   "His heartbeat is gone." More tears spilt down her cheeks and she slumped back on her bum. Wrapping her arms around her knees she started to rock back and forth.
Sage came out of the rubble. All the fighting had stopped. The bad guys were dead, and the rest of the good guys were watching with heavy hearts.
   "He's dead?" Sage whispered.
Almera crossed her legs and pulled Sage close.
   "Maybe not."
They froze and looked at the Marine.
   "He's a Hyven right?" He asked. Almera nodded. "What's his power?"
   "Electricity. He can control lightening." She answered.
The Marine's face scrunched up.
   "Well there's your problem. Because he's 'dead' he can't channel the electricity out of his body. It's all gathered right here." He tapped Jayson's heart.
   "And if we keep standing by and doing nothing he will die. But I can try something...however, it's going to hurt. And if he's just unconscious he'll feel it."
Another thought dawned on the young man. Sage started to get suspicious about it. How could he possibly know all this stuff?
   "You pulled the plug out right?" He asked again, turning to Almera. Again, she nodded.
   "Did you see images?"
   "Uh...Yeah. Now that you say that. I did. They were all of me, and it was kind of weird."
The man nodded.
   "You were conected to him. This...what's his name?"
   "Jayson." Sage snapped.
   "You were connected to Jayson. I'm not sure if it's still working, but try to reach out to him. If you get in his head. Then tell him I'm a friend, but he's going to be in pain."
Finnley was still really confused about what he was saying. But she decided she might as well give it a go.
She closed her eyes and tried to 'reach out' what ever that meant.
Again, she was greated by flashes of memories.
   "Jayson?" She asked in her head. Though she thought she sounded incredably stupid.
   "Finnley?"
She was just shocked that he answered back!
   "Yes! Yes! At least you haven't forgotten me."
   "I told you. How could I forget you?"
She decided not to answer that.
   "Uh...I'm here with...a...friend. We think we can get your heart beating again so-"
   "Wait! My heart's not beating?!"
Oops.
   "Uh...sort of. But try not to think about that. I'm not sure what he's got planned, he's known for being a little on the recless side."
   "Well that's comforting. Who is he again?"
   "Just a friend. I'll tell you when you wake up again. Just know it's going to hurt...a lot."
   "What if I don't wake up?"
   "Oh no you don't! I did not get a bloody mouth and a black eye for you to die on me now!"

That was how long the link lasted. Jayson tried to reply, but his voice faded and she snapped back to her painful body.
Finnley was able to see a knife and it cutting skin. She shook her head and finally figured out that the Marine was cutting an 'X' above Jayson's heart.
   "What are you doing?!" She yelled at him.
   "Saving his life!" he snapped back.
She growled at him and warned him he would get it latter.
   "Do you know this dude?" Sage asked.
   "Yeah." Was all she managed to say before lightning bolts shot out of the two large cuts the Marine had just made.
Everyone jerked back in shock.
It was only a few seconds till the bolts were gone and all that was left was a gapping wound.
Almera scrambled forward and hoped beyond hope that he was still alive.
But she reminded herself that it was only to God's plan. If Jayson wasn't in God's plan for her...then she'd have to accept that.

It was a painfully long minute. But it passed and Jayson's chest rose and fell to everyone's delight.
Sage jumped up and down and immediately praised God with arms open wide to the sky and a face full of happiness, but mainly gratefulness.
He gasped and his eyes flickered open. He looked around wildly till he found Finnley.
She couldn't stop the tears from falling, but they weren't from sorrow. (That's for sure.)
His hand reached up and he stroked her face.
But confusion was on his face.
   "What?" She asked.
   "What happened to your hair?" He asked, pulling on a strand to make sure it really was that short.
She chuckled.
   "Lets just say it was a matter of life or death. The hair had to go."
   "Oh...Well I'm glad you chose the hair instead of your life."
She nodded and he dropped his hand. Then lifted it again to see blood on the tips.
   "Why am I bleeding?"
   "Blame him." She stated immediately. Pointing to the Marine. Who suck out his tongue.
   "Nothing like sisters who know how to pass the blame on." He muttered.
Sage stopped his dance cold and looked at him with a wild look.
   "Did you say...'sister'?!"
The Marine nodded and shoved an elbow into Finnley's rib cage.
   "So glad your so proud of me." He muttered.
   "I am proud of you...I just...don't mention you much." She objected quickly.
He cocked an eyebrow. And she sighed.
   "Boys, this is Grady. My brother. And yes, he really is my biological brother. He's a Marine and has had two tours in Iraq. He hates spaghetti, loves my mom's meatballs. And making him clean his room is like pulling teeth. There. Happy?" She asked, turning to Grady with an innocent smile that she knew would make all the hard feelings evaporate like a mirage.
   "You're cheating. But yeah. And who are these dudes. Don't tell me, mom adopted, and you now have a boyfriend."
Almera's cheeks flushed and she glared at him.
   "That's Sage. And yes, in a way I guess mom did adopt him. And this is Jayson. And no he is not my boyfriend."
Grady offered a hand to Sage, who shook it. And then to Jay.
   "Nice meeting ya'll. Hate to cut the formalities short but we need to get out of here. I'll go call the pickup."
He walked out of the room and Sage said something about wanting to know what he meant and left the room.
The other Marines shuffled out of the room a little nervously. Each one patting her on the back, and praising her for her bravery.
She thanked each one of them by name - using her futuristic abilities - and each one was confused about how she knew them, but didn't ask questions.
The last one gave her a first aid kit and gestured to Jay.
   "Give him some Advil. He'll need it."
She nodded and smiled.
   "Thanks John."
The man nodded and stepped out of the room.

Finnley didn't waist any time as she ripped Jayson's shirt to get to the wound.
She flinched as she saw how deep it went. It would need stitches. Obviously however, she would not be doing that.
She turned on her heel and flipped open the first aid kit and looked around for an antibiotic. All she found was a needle. She picked up and her growing hatred for needles grew a little more.
Shivering she flicked her finger against it and saw where it was. Turning back around she slipped the cap off it and gently pulled the remains of Jayson's shirt off so she could get to his arm.
When she did she forced herself not to get sick. She knew she would be scared from all that the sick people had done to her, but she didn't know she looked that bad!
   "This won't hurt." She muttered with her chin on her raised knee. She placed the needle into his arm slowly and as gently as possible.
Jayson grimaced when she pushed the plunger.
   "Sorry." she whispered as she quickly pulled out the needle and set it down on the floor.
   "Honestly, I have no idea how addicts do this to themselves. Over and over again." She was just rambling, but she didn't like the silence.
   "Their needles aren't as big as ours." Jayson answered. "And they do it every day."
   "Well that's just wrong. This is going to sting a little." She warned as wiped up the blood from his chest.
   "What happened?" He asked finally.
   "Um...I got a haircut, then put that maniac into a nightmarish sleep. Which, by the way, I am quiet proud of. And then my brother blew up some computers, and I pulled a plug. That's about it."
She dabbed numbing gel onto his wound gently. Using quick dabs so she didn't touch his bare skin too long.
   "How much have you forgotten?" And there was the big question.
   "I'm actually surprised it's not as much as I expected. The Lord's hand was really on me. Things are just really, really fuzzy."
   "So...that memory worked?" She was a little embarrassed so she went to digging in for a bandage.
   "I'll say."
Finding the bandage she ripped the covering off with her teeth and placed it over the wound.
   "There. You're going to have to have stitches when we get to the Marine base. But you'll be fine. Praise the Lord." She didn't meet his eyes. She wasn't sure what to do. She wasn't sure how to act. She wasn't sure of much anymore.
   "Finn...I haven't changed."
And that's when she broke.
   "But you could have. You could have Jay. I honestly am not sure what I would have done if you...if you became this-this drone who did a lunatic's bidding. I think I might end up hating everything...maybe. Except Sage. But that's not the point. The point is...I-"
She cut herself off and shook her head.
   "I think I would have been lost." She finished quietly.
Jay reached over and gripped her left hand.
She let him intertwine their fingers, but still didn't look at him. Her choppy, uneven hair came just below her jaw line and he found it a very attractive look for her. Probably better then her long curls.
Glancing down at her hand, he noticed her Silver Ring Thing ring. And...then...on her middle finger...was his.
   "You kept it?" He asked. Half shocked.
She glanced over at him, then down at her hand.
   "Of course I kept it." She said in a 'duh' tone. "If you haven't noticed by now, my anger is pretty quick to leave. Even if I was...tempted to chuck it out the window I would never be able to do it."
She pulled her hand away and yanked the ring off.
   "Here. It's yours anyway."
He took it off her open palm, but gripped her left hand again.
Finnley was confused by what he was doing. Instead of putting it back on his own hand, he slipped it back on to her middle finger.
She wasn't sure what that meant.
Then she remembered a ring her mother wore on her middle finger.
It was a promise ring. Her father had given it to her when they were just sixteen. It symbolized that she was already taken, and he would propose to her when she turned of age.

But she tossed the thought aside. That couldn't be what Jayson was doing.
Stop getting your hopes up! Makes you look like a complete dork! She yelled at herself.
But then Jay placed her hand over his heart an looked up at her with his screaming silver-blue eyes. And they were screaming one thing.
His right hand reached up and pulled her closer.
   "I love you." He whispered before he kissed her.
Of the two kisses they've ever shared. That was the special one.
It was one, where they both realized where they stood. Where they were going, and they knew now that they were going to get there together or not at all.
It also told Finnley something else.
Her mom was going to flip.

                      The End of Book Two: Shadows.
                       

Entry: 9

Entry: 9
   - Gone


   "Captain, we're ready."
The man nodded and slapped the soldier's shoulder.
   "Good. Await my signal."
The man then walked over to the building and crouched down to look through the window.
He praised God to see her alright, but the entire scene unnerved him. Even more so then the two tours in Iraq.

++++

   "Well, well. We have a very strong batch this time."
The three turned towards the British accent.
The man was in his late forties, his dark hair was starting to grey, and his beard already was.
His dark sharp eyes captured all three of their gazes.
   "Unlike our last batch."
He snapped his fingers, and two doors opened on either side of him.
Two specimens were rolled out. They were strapped on tables that were standing up. One, the woman, was jerking subtly, her mind was still strong, but her body was broken.
The other, the man, was gone in both mind and body.
   "These two were quiet a disappointment. Their powers weren't even that impressive."
The girl's eyes grew wide.
   "Oh yes. They're aliens. Like your brothers."
He studied their faces as he strolled over to a table full of everything they had been wearing when they were captured.
   "You, my dear," He addressed the girl. "have shown no sign of being one of those vermin. But we still had to make a few tests. Sorry."

Almera was confused. She did have powers. Granted, her physical powers could only be sued through the wand - which was now laying on the table - but she still had her mental power.
But apparently, this man was either bluffing, or hadn't bothered to look to deeply into her brain.
She wasn't sure.

   "But...we did find very interesting items on all of you." The man continued.
He picked up her wand and twirled it between his fingers.
   "Didn't know you were such a Harry Potter fan." He remarked.
That caught her off guard. She had never really thought about it, but now that he had pointed that out, it did look a lot like something from the Harry Potter movies.

His gaze fell on her guns and Jayson's swords.
   "Such dangerous toys for such little kids. Now tell me...Liam, was it?"
The man took a step closer to him.
   "You show amazing talents. Truly. Though I don't like the fact that you used them on my men, still...it is very intriguing."
All three of the specimens' faces grew stone cold.
He gave them a smile and walked over to the machine that sent chills down any sane person's back.
It was a table with steals clasps on the bottom and at the arms which were out stretched so it resembled - some what - of a cross.
The test subjects that had gone through this procedure could easily rip up the leather straps.

   "Some of you many know what this is. Some of you will not. But...I know...Liam does."
The other two heads turned to the eldest.
   "Why don't you explain it to them?"
It wasn't a suggestion.
Liam glared at the man and his Cheshire Cat grin.
   "Finnley, do you remember when Martha gave you two options?" He asked.
At first, she was very much confused on what Martha had to do with all this!
But she tried to think back.
Her jaw dropped.
   "You mean, when I had...uh..." She was suddenly reminded that they were in a room full of evil people.
   "When she said I could forget what had happened? some kind of controlled memory loss?"
Liam nodded.
   "Yeah. That's what that thing is." He jerked his thumb to the machine.
   "Wait, so he's going to erase our memories?" Sage asked in shock.
   "Oh no dear boy." The man spoke up again.
   "No, see, I tweaked this machine to take over your cerebrum."
Silence.
   "Do I like an X-men fan to you?" Finn asked. The boys struggled to keep their smiles from showing.
The man glared at her.
   "Not Cerebro, cerebrum! Your cerebrum is a part in your brain that contains voluntary muscle movement, thoughts, memory. Take control of that, take control of the person."
That got the smiles off their faces. But one on his.
   "So...now that I know what kind of spirit you two," He pointed to the boys. "you have. You'll be going in here."
Shock varies from person to person. And the Englishman knew this. But the form of shock - if, it was indeed shock - the girl had was not what he had expected.
She, a small girl with just skin a bones, probably hasn't hit 100 pounds yet, took a step forward and pushed the younger boy behind her.
The man raised an eyebrow at her boldness and waited for her to object.
But all she did was stare him down.

With her defiance slapping him in the face, he had an idea.
Glancing over at one of the six armed men in the room, her jerked his head to the machine.
   "Strap her in." He ordered.
The room broke out in immediate protest.
   "No! Don't! I'll do it!"
The Englishman turned slowly and looked at the scene before him.
He signaled for the man with the girl to stop.
It had been the older boy who had offered.
So...maybe he's not her brother. A passing though suggested.

Finnley's heart was pounding, but not from the fact that she had been so close to having her brain controlled by some maniac. It was from the fact that it might be Jayson instead.
She half hoped the man would say no. But there was no reason fo rhim to. For all he knew, she was just an average teenage girl.
He nodded and held up two fingers.
   "You have two minutes to say good-bye."
Finnley wrenched herself out of the large man's grip.
   "Because, when you wake, you wont recognize either of these two." The man finished and walked over to the other side of the room.

Almera dashed up to Jayson with wide and fearful eyes.
   "Sage." He said, turning to the little guy.
   "You take care of her. You hear? You're the only thing that stands in the way of her, and guys like him." He jerked his head towards the loony.
Sage nodded.
   "I promise. Nothing bad will happen to her."
A slight grin crossed Jay's face.
   "Maybe I underestimated you."
Sage grinned. Glad to get his approval.
Then he turned to Finnley with pain in his eyes.
   "I use to do this every time I needed to change my name and life...But this was one life I never wanted to forget."
Almera's brow crinkled as she frowned.
It was almost time to warn the man in the window. Maybe if she was fast enough...
   "You won't be in there for long. I'll get you out." She breathed.
Jay shook his head.
   "You don't have to be in there for long."
By the look on her face, he knew she was getting annoyed with him.
   "Well then I suggest you put up a good fight." She stated. Shifting her weight to one foot and placing a hand on her hip.
Again he shook his head.
   "You have to have a really, really strong memory to put up a fight."
   "God doesn't work?"
   "They can't wipe out your religion not mater how much other stuff you forget."
She pursed her lips in thought.
   "30 seconds." The Englishman warned. She felt like punching him.
   "And there's no memory at all?" She tried.
The strongest memories he had were of her.
   "The small kiss in the rain might not be powerful enou-"
He didn't get the rest of the sentence out, because in a flash she had stood up on her tiptoes and slipped her hand around his neck. Then her lips were pressed tightly on his.
Now, he would never think of Finnley as one who took the first step. But...Desperate times call for desperate measures.

They both relaxed after a moment, and he pulled her in tighter at her hips.
Half of his mind was conscious of Sage 'ewwing' behind him, but he ignored him.
   If you had asked Finnley to describe the kiss she would have said 'sad'. Both of them knew there was less then 50 percent chance that Jay would win the fight against the machine.
and she was very aware of the fact that he might wake up and kill her as soon as he'd kiss her.
Jay felt a tear roll down her cheek. And it was that small tear that made up his mind for him.

Finnley suddenly broke away with a gasp. Not even daring to move.
Jays eyes flashed open and he immediately saw the physical pain flash across her face.
   "Sorry." He muttered.
She shook her head.
   "It's not you. It's the knife in my back." She said through unmoving lips.
Jay glanced behind him and saw that Sage was in the same predicament.

Finnley took a small step back and the knife went to her throat.
   "Don't. Loose." She said. Determination shown all over her face and all through her sore body.
Jay gave her his famous lopsided grin.
   "With a kiss like that? How could I?"
She rolled her eyes, sarcastically, only to hide her fear from Sage. Seeing as she couldn't hide anything from Jayson.

He was then led - at knife point - to the evil and painful looking machine.
Finnley watched hopelessly as a scientist pressed a big red button on the underside of the chair.
The silver restraints snapped shut around Jay's wrists and ankles.
Finnley looked to the window, searching for a vague silhouette of the Marine.
She nodded.
   "Hey Finn." She turned her attention to Jayson. They were strapping a band around his head along with suction cups on his temples.
   "Maybe you should listen to 'Enchanted' by Owl City."
   "Shut up." The Englishman snapped. Jayson ignored him.
   "To get the answers to your questions."
The fact that Jay had simply ignored the man like he had never spoken, provoked him.
By a head nod, the soldier holding Almera shifted the knife. A trickle of blood ran down her neck.
Jay pursed his lips, but Finn's eyes told him not to worry about it. (Yeah right)

++++

The Marine gave a hand signal and his men moved out.
   "Hang on Finnley. Hang on girl." He muttered as he kicked in the front door and shot the first two armed men he saw.

++++

Finnley whimpered as Jay's screams filled the room.
   "Stop."
The zapping from the electric volts ceased and Jay's body sagged against his cross.
Sweat covered his forehead and shirt.
   "How is he doing?" The Englishman called out in a calm tone. Like he saw this everyday.
Finnley hated him. With every fiber in her body, she hated him.
This with in it's self shocked her.
But she put that aside.
For the past five minutes - which felt like hours - all she did was pray. And pray like there was no tomorrow!
The Marine should be here any minute,, but at the moment, that wasn't what she was worried about.
   "He's...he's putting up a fight sir." One of the scientists reported.
   "Then crank up the voltage!" The leader hissed.
Immediately Jay screamed out as higher, and more volts of electricity rushed through  his brain.
Finnley knew that no matter how strong that memory was, he wasn't going to last much longer.
She had to move.
And she had to do it now!

Using the distraction of Jay's screams, she rammed her head into the man's nose, and at the same time, hit him in the stomach with her elbow.
The man grunted and she ducked under the hand with the knife.
When she thought she had made it, she was yanked back by her long hair.
Finn smashed her hand into the man's wrist that held the knife. When it dropped she caught it.
She already knew what she had to do to get away and to reach Jayson in time.
Reaching back, she sliced the knife through her long locks and rolled forward.
The man was so shocked at the fist full of dark brown hair, that he didn't see the knife till it pierced his abdomen.

Finnley didn't have time to morn the loss of her hair because two things happened at once.
1)- she got a hold of her wand.
2)- the Marine busted through the door.

Entry: 8

Entry: 8
   - Humans, or lab rats?


Things happened in a blur. It was hard for any of them to comprehend exactly what was going on.
When bags were shoved over their heads, and hard cold cuffs were slapped roughly on their wrists, they prayed.

When they were shoved out into the dying sunlight, everything drowned out by the ear drumming hum of helicopter blades, they prayed.

They were finally shoved into seats, and strapped down by rough hands.
Sage, still unconscious, slumped against Finnley's left shoulder.
At first she freaked out thinking he was dead, but forcing all other noises to go silent, she picked up his faint breathing.

She forced herself to calm down, but jerked badly when Jayson's shoulder brushed up against hers.
   "Calm down." He breathed quietly. She took several deep breaths, but her anxiety had started up, and her hands started to shake, which in turn, caused the cuffs to jingle.
Someone yelled her to stop, but she couldn't, and that earned her a punch in the gut.
The wind left her lungs as she doubled over.
Jayson yelled something at their captors but that too, only got him a blow to the stomach.
Almera shoved her hands between her legs and squeezed hard.
The jingling stopped.
And she prayed harder.

The flight took forty-five minutes, but they - obviously - had no idea where they were going, or even if they were still Virginia any more.
More to the point, they weren't sure who they'd meet at their destination.

Half the way there, her legs grew tired and the shaking continued.
Jay reached over and grasped her ands in his to keep the cuffs from making noise and annoying people.
   "I'm sorry." She apologized quietly.
   "YOu have nothing to be sorry for." He answered equally quiet.
   "The cuffs are too tight. That's why they're so loud."
   "Hey! Shut up! Before I knock you both senseless!" Someone in front of them yelled, causing her to jerk again.
Jay felt horrible. He kept beating himself up for letting her get caught and for poor Sage to get knocked out.
As he scolded himself, he - absent mindedly - started to rub Almera's wrists which were raw and rough.
Beside him, Almera took deep breaths and focused on something other then their current situation.
She found comfort in praying for others.
She started off with Sage, knowing he would have a horrible head ache when he woke up.
Then she prayed for Jayson.
If she knew him at all, she knew he would be beating himself up.
Which of rouse, would get him ultimately no where, but emotionally and spiritually drained.

++++

   "Sir, they've arrived."
The Englishman smiled a smile that could send milk churning.
   "Good, make sure they are injected with anesthetics. Once that's done, they'll be immobile. You know what to do next."
   "Yes sir."

++++

The next thing any of them knew, they were shoved out of the helicopter. The bags were taken off and they found themselves in a white washed room.
The cuffs were removed by people in white. They were then stripped of their jackets, or tried to anyways.
Almera's spell was still active.
   "What is going on here?" A man asked after he tried to get Jay's leather jacket.
Almera smirked.
   "Would you like for me to show you how it works?"
She maybe nervous, but she hadn't lost her wits. Jay thought with a grin.
The man eyed her suspiciously.
   "Here, come here. I wont bite. I promise."
The man took a cautious step away from Jayson and toward her.
He was just close enough.
She moved her hand to the gun on her right thigh and slammed it into his face.
The man yelled out in pain and she was immediately injected with something that made her body grow limp and she collapsed on the floor.
   "No!" Both boys yelled as armed men dragged her away.
Her eyes grew wide and tears spilt as she watched both boys struggle to get to her. But in the end they both were injected, then the door slammed.

++++

   "I want two dozen men. Fully armed, and I want them now!" The young man yelled into the cell phone.
The man on the other end sighed heavily.
   "Grady, you know I cant just hand you two dozen men fully armed to go on some - some wild goose chase!"
   "It's not a wild goose chase!" Grady forced himself to calm down.
   "I gave you the facts -"
   "Yeah, I know, I know."
   "You owe me Bill."
Bill groaned again.
   "Boy, I tell ya. Don't ever let someone else save you from a bullet."
Grady grinned.
   "Thanks Bill."
   "Yeah, yeah. Just keep it quiet."
   "Will do."
   "Oh hey, Grady."
   "Yeah?"
   "Tell her I said 'hi' for me will ya?"
Grady laughed and hung up.

++++

Finnley had been stripped of her clothes and now wore a white outfit with white runners.
She was now strapped to a dentist chair with thick leather straps.
After they did the first injection into her calf that made her body scream out with pain, she found that the straps were more for keeping her racking body from jerking off the seat, then for her to willingly get up and leave.
   What they did to her. It would have been less painful if they had just cut her open like a frog dissection in a high school biology lab.

They took tissue samples, blood samples, they put a massive needle into her back bone and subtracted some kind of yellow-ish liquid.
And she thought her booster shots hurt!

But all the time, other then screams, she prayed non-stop. She repeated Psalms 23 over and over again. Then she quoted all of her favorite Bible verses.

God was the only thing that kept her will to live from depleting to nothing.
And He did a lot more then just that.

++++

   "Sir...none of them are breaking." One of the scientists muttered in awe and shock.
   "It's been five hours, and none of them are showing any signs of breaking. Not one! In fact all of their vital organs seem to be working as if they were under no stress at all!"
The Englishman marched up to the monitor and looked at the meaningless numbers flying across the screen.
   "They're in perfect condition. It's like they can't feel the pain at all!"
   "Bring up the live feed." The man ordered.
There was a rapid tapping of fingers on a keyboard, and three squares popped up. The man's eyes flashed from one to the next. The scenes before him, confused him. - And he was never confused. - The girl's face did show pain. But she wasn't pleading for it to stop.
   "What is she saying?" He asked.
   "Praying. And quoting the Scriptures. More specifically Psalms 23."
The Englishman's face became wrinkled with disgust.
His eyes flashed to the small boy.
He too, was praying.
The oldest one wasn't moving. His eyes were closed, his lips, closed but relaxed.
In fact his whole body was as relaxed as if he were floating atop water in a swimming pool!

The scenes before him made him shift uneasily.
This should not be happening. He kept thinking.
Finally, he came to a decision.
   "Take them to the main chamber." He snapped as he marched up the steps and out of the control room.
The scientist grew an evil grin as he picked up the com.

++++

Liam had been expecting another needle, but he was taken by surprised when, instead of pain, his bonds were released.
His eyes snapped open, which wasn't a good idea. The bright light blinded him, causing a massive migraine to developed.

One of the scientists helped him off the table, and it took him a minute to regain his balance.
All of his muscles screamed in protest as his legs were forced to hold him up again.
The spot where they had pulled out a muscle sample hurt the worse.
They hadn't bothered to cuff him again, and once he saw where he was, he realized that - ultimately - he had no where to go.

The scientists led him down a cement hall that finally opened up into a large room with a piece of equipment that sent a chill of fear into his spine.
That was one thing he had never wanted to see again.

Both Sage and Jayson saw Finnley at the same time, and they both ran over to her.
None of the scientists stopped them, and they were grateful for that.

Almera stumbled backwards when the two boys hugged her at the same time.
But she couldn't help but smile. Sending up a prayer of thankfulness.
   "You ok?"
She looked down at Sage's innocent face, and pain washed through her heart. His face was sagged, his eyes were red and tired looking. He flinched when she tussled his fair hair.
   "Yeah. As ok as I can be. Are you?"
Sage gave a small shrug.
Finnley turned to Jayson. She didn't need to ask a question. He could read her like an open book. And vice versa.
   "You two freak me out when you do that." Sage muttered.
Finn looked at him in surprise.
   "Do what?"
   "That! you have this entire conversation with just a few glances. It's freaky."
She chuckled and pulled the little boy close.
   "Yeah. I missed you too." She muttered into his hair.
Sage was only eleven. And sometimes he still needed that sister-like attention.
(Even though he'd never admit it.)

A pain wave caught a hold of her and her knees buckled.
The boys, caught by surprise, almost let her hit the concrete floor.

Her vision flashed and flickered till she was in the future.
She was outside a building that was made of cement.
She saw a young man with a Marine hair cut, and a tattoo on his deeply tanned bicep. He held a machine gun close to his chest, which was covered in a bullet proof vest.
She bent down and looked into the almost hidden window. She saw herself looking up at the man and giving a slight nod.
But what shocked her was that Jayson was getting strapped into the machine with a look of pure fear and determination in his eyes.

Her vision flared again and she was back in the cement room with boy boys looking at her with stressed and worried looks.
   "You alright?" Jayson asked as she got her feet back under herself.
   "You know, those pain waves can be quiet helpful." She muttered, rubbing her temples. Now they were both confused.
   "What?" Sage asked. Completely lost.
She made a signal to keep it down, and glanced around nervously.
   "The Calvary's coming." She whispered.

Entry: 7

Entry: 7
   - Complications


They had gotten out to easy.
They all knew this.
But they didn't know what to expect next.

   "Why can't you just see where they're going to be next?" Jayson asked as he threw his right blinker on. They had made it to Danville and were making their way to the airport.
Finn had called ahead and asked about the next flight to Washington DC. It left in an hour.
   "Because, think of my brain as a battery. It needs charging!!" She flinched as Liam swerved to avoid a near head on collision with a SMI.
   "Well, can you hurry it up any sooner?!"
Horns blared at them as they dodged more cars, till they came to a quick stop at a red light that caused Almera to slam her head into the dash board.
She glared at him.
   "No! Not with you trying to kill me!"
They were all nervous. And Sage seemed to be the only calm one out of the three...which was not good.
   "I have a question, how do you plan on getting these weapons past security?" Sage asked cautiously. Scared that he might get his head bitten off.
   "I'll take care of that, just act normal and don't draw attention to yourself!" Almera warned. Worry clear in her eyes.
   "I can hide objects, I can't hide fear."
   "Wait, you can hide objects?" Liam asked on a calmer note.
   "Yeah. But it's still...a working progress that's my newest one so I'm not sure how well it'll work."
The tires squealed underneath them as Liam hit the gas and zipped through the intersection.
   "Are you trying to get us arrested? Or worse, killed?!" She yelled at him.
   "No, I'm trying to get us away from who ever might be after us." He answered.
   "Well keep this up, and the whole police station will be!"
That made him easy off the gas a little. But only a little.

They arrived at Danville Regional Airport twenty minutes latter. Which meant they had only forty minutes to buy tickets, get through security, and board the plane.
But that's only if they didn't get held up.

++++

They parked quickly and hopped out.
They then starred at the two swords in the back of the trunk along with the guns which were still strapped to her thighs.
   "Oh...boy..." They mouthed.
   "Alright, you have to strap them to your back." Almera instructed.
   "Can't I just hold them?" Liam asked, moving towards the swords.
   "No. If you do that then it'll look funny, or odd if they think you're hand is holding something, but they can't see what that something is."
Once he saw her logic, he immediately agreed and strapped the swords to his back over his jacket.
He let Almera use her critic eye to straiten everything out so that it wouldn't look weird. She resolved to just zipping up his jacket and pulling it tight.
   "Ok, best I can do." She said finally after taking a step back and looking at him again.
He nodded and ran a hand through his dark brown hair.
   "But...we're going to need...hmm..." She turned to Sage. He wore jeans and a sweatshirt that had Tron: Legacy on it.
Digging into her messenger bag that was slung over her shoulder, she pulled out twenty bucks and handed it to him.
His eyes grew wide as he greedily accepted the money.
   "Go into the gift shop just inside the doors, or kiosk or whatever," She started, making sure he kept her gaze.
   "And buy some kind of hat for him. 'kay?"
   "What?" Liam jumped in. "Why do I need a hat?"
   "Because, if they have our BOLO out to the entire world we don't want to arouse suspicion. And we don't have enough time to get hair die much less die our hair!"
Again, she made sense.
   "Well, why him?"
   "Because he's the most likeliest one not to have been seen in that car dilemma. Now get going." She walked Sage to the edge of the car garage.
   "See that trash can right out side the doors?" She asked, pointing with her finger.
Sage nodded. Knowing that this was serious.
   "We'll be waiting there. Don't taken any longer then ten minutes. Got it?"
Sage nodded a second time.
   "Near the green trash can, take no more then ten minutes, get him a hat, and we're in."
She nodded and pulled at his sweatshirt sleeve over the leather gauntlet.
   "Yup. Now get going. And watch where you step, and keep your head down, and -"
   "Al! I'll be fine!" He jumped in with a grin and he walked down the stairs.
Almera sighed and walked back over to Jay.
Slamming the car trunk door shut, she shoved the keys into her bag and pulled out her wand.
Thinking of the power she wanted she flicked her wrist in the general direction of Jay. Then to her own hips.
Satisfied that the power was working, she zipped up her own jacket, pulled her hat down farther on her head and started off.
   "Whoa wait!" Jay jogged a step to catch up with her.
She turned her head slightly as they walked down the stairs.
   "How come I can still see them?" He asked in a whisper.
   "Because you know they're there." She answered frankly.
This answer really did nothing for him. But she didn't offer up any further info, so he took it.

++++

   "Sir. The BOLO is out to all airports in the area."
The man in the expensive suit and Italian leather shoes nodded.
   "Good. Good." There was a slight British accent in the man's voice, but he was legally an American citizen. Not because he loved the country however.
Oh no, quiet the contrary. He hated America.
But, as they say 'one has to know his enemy'.
   "I want these specimens found and dealt with as quietly as possible. We have a lot of catching up to do."
   "Yes sir!"

++++

They only waited a few seconds before Sage reappeared with a bag in his hand.
Finnley walked up to him and held out her hand.
   "Thank you, I'll take the change now."
Sage froze.
   "What change?"
He popped a bubble with the new bubble gum he had just bought at the vending machine with the change he had from buying the hat.
Almera's jaw dropped.
   "Hey, I bought you something too." Sage said, digging into the bag.
   "Skittles?"
She groaned, but snatched up the bag anyways.
   "Let me see the hat." Liam held out his hand and Sage handed the bag over.
Liam dug the hat out and let out a sigh of relief to see that it was only a grey beanie.
Ripping the tag off, he yanked it onto his head and fixed his hair one last time.
   "You look fine. Come on." Finnley was getting a little worried about the time.

She led the way up to the counter where you would usually drop off your baggage and pick up your tickets. But it was only the tickets they were after.
   "Hello, how may I help you miss?" The young lady behind the desk asked.
   "Three tickets to Washington DC please." Almera said as she pulled out her wallet.
   "Alright. Do you have any baggage?"
   "Uh no. Just a carry-on."
She slid over the cash. It was the most Liam had ever seen in his life, he immediately wondered where on earth she had been able to get her hands on it.
The woman cast a surprised glance at her, but accepted the money.
   "May I ask where you got this kind of money miss?"
   "My dad's waiting for us in DC, he sent the cash."
   "And your mother? Where is she?"
   "Massage appointment."
She cast a glance behind her, both boys were looking at her with a 'really? that's the best you could come up with' look.
She looked back at the assistant and smiled, while stomping on the boys' feet.
   "I'm very responsible. And we've always fly to DC anyways."
The assistant didn't ask anymore questions beyond what their names were.
The tickets were bought, and they made it to security.
Half way there.

   "Do you really think this is going to work?" Liam whispered in her ear from behind her. His voice startled her, and his breath tickled her ear.
She spun around and looked up at him.
He was worried.
Really worried.
   "Just pray. And pray hard."
She was scared.
He could tell.
It was written all over her face. Her hands were shaking and she kept touching her hat. Her only remembrance of her father.
He wanted to hug her. He wanted to take away all of her pain from yesterday. He wanted to just make her happy. But he knew there was only one person in the world that could do that. And she knew that.
He slipped his hand in hers and squeezed gently.
Almera was thankful for that. The sight of Jay gave her a calm sense. With his hand in her hand, it gave her a sense of security. Something she had been missing sense she was little.

They never made it through security.

   "Hey Al," Sage muttered, she glanced down and saw that he was watching the police men standing a little ways in front of them. "Why are they looking at us like we're nice juicy stakes?"
She wouldn't have put it that way, but she was unnerved by the way they were looking at her.
   "I don't like this." She whispered. Try as hard a she might, her brain power wasn't back up to the level she needed to see into the future.
They took a few more steps closer to the police, and she noticed his hand brush up against his gun at his side.
   "I really don't like this."
   "I'm starting to agree with you." Liam said quietly.
Another step.
The man stepped towards them.
   "Yup, time to run!" Sage turned around and dove through the long line of people behind them.
Almera wasn't to far behind him. She kept getting pushed back and had to really force her way through the long line of people.
   "Sage!" She cried. She couldn't see Sage ahead of her, or Liam behind her, half of her thought they had been caught. Her heartbeat quickened and she drew a deep breath.
   "Sage!"
People looked at her wildly as she hollered at the top of her lungs.
   "Do what you do best!" She hoped that if he was able to hear her, he knew what she meant.
Nothing happened for a terribly long two minutes. The only thing that stayed consistent was the amount of resistance she met.
She was conscious of yelling going on behind her. The police man was telling everyone to move out of the way.
Her eyes grew wide as she caught a glimpse of the man over the tops of other people's heads. She wasn't looking where she was going and she suddenly toppled flat on her face.
With a low groan she was dragged to her feet. At first she thought it was the police man and she immediately went limp, causing more dead weight. She then jerked up from the ground and spun around, breaking contact with him.
   "Finnley!"
She paused, mid-strike for a roundhouse kick, and saw it was actually Jayson.
She dropped her leg and looked around.
Everyone in the line had suddenly moved to one side, creating a perfect isle and the three of them were standing in middle of it.
Sage was at the other end with his hands, palms down, to the ground.
Almera was very aware of the security people streaming in, not to mention all the passerbys were in shock by the suddenly immobilized people standing perfectly still and perfectly silent.
   "Come on!" She jerked on Jay's hand as she rand down the narrow isle. They reached Sage in a few short steps. Then they ran back towards the front doors, only to find them barred off.
Red lights were glinting off the glass in the gift shops, and doors were being slammed shut everywhere.
   "Awesome. The whole place is on red alert. So much for the disguise." Liam stated. The words coming off his tongue like there was a bad taste in his mouth. He ripped the beanie off his head and shook his head. Causing his hair to fall flawlessly across his forehead.
Almera found that both extremely hot, and extremely annoying. But more the latter.
   "Come on! There has to be a way to get out of here!" she cried, and ran the opposite way.

People screamed as they passed by. Sage was bothered by this. It's not like he hurt any of them. And it's not like he wanted to either.
Sure, he was an eleven year old boy with superpowers and a deadly assassin's weapon, but that didn't mean he wanted to hurt people!
Yet, his whole life and been a bit topsy-turvy. This was no different.

They ran up some stairs, completely bypassing the escalator because it had stopped and wouldn't do any good. Then they skidded around another corner as they saw more security file in from an exit door.
   "What do we do?" Al hissed. "They're everywhere! There's no clean shot to the exit!"
   "Well, I guess we'll just have to use what they don't have." Liam said in a calm voice, yet with a grin on his face.
Almera chewed her bottom lip. They both knew the meaning of that.
   "Alright. But, what do you have in mind?"
   "You'll see."
She wasn't sure she liked that.

++++

   "Sir! Danville Regional Airport has reported a sighting on your BOLOs."
The Italian leather shoed man marched over to the man behind the screen.
   "Pull up streaming security cameras. I want to know where they are every single minute!"
The man, along with the rest of the room of computer geeks went to work.
The Englishman walked up a few steps to a raised floor that held his office, and his alone. He watched the big screen on the opposite wall flash with various images. Two perfect lines of people in the security check point that looked dumbfounded and not sure of what they were doing.
Red alert alarms blaring, people screaming, every one was running. There was so much commotion it almost gave him a headache.
   "Found them!" One geek shouted over the usual buzz of the office.
   "Bring it up on the big screen." The man ordered.
There was a flash of blue, and then he saw his specimens for the first time.
They were hiding behind the Starbucks counter, which had been deserted. - The Englishman hated Starbucks. Rubbish excuse for coffee. No he much preferred good English tea. - The girl kept glancing over the counter, but his view was restricted to just them.
   "What's she looking at?" He asked.
   "Jumping to the next camera." One man said. There was another flash of blue and he saw a line of security guards facing a lone boy.
He was tall, five foot eleven, roughly eighteen years of age, he wore a brown leather jacket and denim jeans with Nike runners.
The man's keen eyes saw that there was something off about the boy's back. A crinkle in the otherwise smooth leather...But what could have caused it?
He didn't have time to answer it for the boy suddenly raised both hands and the lights flickered in the room, as did the camera.
Gasps filtered through the room as sudden lightening bolts shot from the boys fingers at the armed guards.
The Englishman heard whispers of Sith Lord, and other ludicrous things.
Typical computer geeks.
They were good at their jobs, but everything always led back to the Star Wars saga.

The tape flickered again, and the boy had lowered his hands and was yelling something behind him. There was a moment's silence, and he turned around. Then he cried out and ran forward, but pulled up short.
   "Bring up the previous camera." The Englishman ordered.
The camera of Starbucks came up and they were greeted by a surprise. But a welcomed one.
One of the armed guards had been able to sneak up on the two behind the counter. He knocked the younger lad out with a single blow of the butt of his gun, and held the girl in the crook of his neck, and put a gun to her temple.
The Englishman smiled.
   "We've got them."

++++

Almera whimpered at the feel of the cold metal to her temple. She had never had a gun pointed at her, point blank. It wasn't something she had ever imagined of happening.
Yet, of course, it had happened to her.

   "Stop! Stop you freak or the girl dies!" The guard yelled in her ear. She cringed and tried not to breath. His breath smelled like Doritos. She hated Doritos.
Liam stopped, and the lightening quit immediately. Though it had already taken its toll.
Once he saw what had happened, he froze, shock still.
   "Please. Don't hurt her." He said quietly.
If it had been under any other circumstances, Almera would have blushed embarrassed, and tried to keep her own beating heart under control.
But as of right now, she was just worrying about how to breath.
   "On the ground! Now!!"
Liam jerked to his knees. His eyes locked on hers.
I tried. I'm sorry. His eyes said.
She tried to send him a message back, but she wasn't sure if he could read it, or if it just looked like she was scared out of her wits.
   "Hands above your head!" The guard was still shouting in her ear.
Liam lifted is hands slowly and interlocked his fingers behind his head.
   "Joey! Cuff him!"
At the moment, they both knew they were in huge trouble. And at the same time, they both threw up prayer after prayer to their heavenly Father. Asking for protection and safety.  

Entry: 6

Entry: 6
   - Chase

But that thought, made her think of something.
    “Ok this is going to sound insane.” She said slowly.
    “The whole world sounds insane at the moment.” Liam pointed out.
    “True. But...what would you think...if I suggested we put the old team back together?” Asked Almera.
Liam was quiet for a long time. And Almera found herself in the familiar action of fiddling with her rings. Her mind wandered and she was shocked that Liam hadn’t asked for his back yet. But she didn’t mention it.
   “No idea.” He said finally. “We were never really a team, we didn’t do anything together. Would they be willing to give up their perfectly perfect lives to help a couple of criminals?”
He had a point.
   “We’re not criminals.” Sage interjected.
   “Not yet.” Liam and Almera answered. She chuckled.
   “Jinx. Ok I’m not sure, that’s a good question. The only way we’re going to get an answer is if we call them.”
Liam shot her a look.
   “Really? And who’s going to call them? I am a criminal to them. If I haven’t made it onto their ‘most wanted’ list, it’s a miracle. You are suppose to be dead, and they definitely wont listen to an eleven year old.”
Almera bit her lip and slumped back in her seat.
   “Well we cant just wait around for someone to find us. Either the Hyvens or the humans. Either way we’ll be in one messed up scene.”
   “We already are.”
   “Well aren’t you two just the ideal happy couple?” Sage jumped in.
Almera’s eyes snapped open in slight alarm, yet it was gone as soon as it was there.
   “You are luck you’re in the backseat mister.” She said in a low, murderous tone.
   “Why?” Sage asked hesitantly.
   “Because I think I might have to hit you.”
Sage let out a nervous chuckle.
   “Well then I guess it is a good thing.”
   “But you never know, I could still hit you.”
Sage gulped.
Almera turned back around in her seat so he didn’t see her grin. It was always fun to pick on him.
   “Well we’re still going to need help. No one person can save two worlds that are polar opposites.” She continued.
   “I know, but I don’t think they can help.”
She was slightly bumped that he hadn’t even considered the possibility. It’s not like she couldn’t convince them that she had never been dead.
Liam glanced at her and instantly felt bad.
   “If you called in, that would only make them ask more questions. Questions that would cause them not to trust us. Sorry Finnley...It’s just not going to work.”
Finnley knew he was right. He was always right...most of the time.
But despite that, she was washed over by an overwhelming gloom that washed over her entire being. She suddenly felt like she was weighed down by thousands of tons. Problems she suddenly thought she might never get rid of them. She felt like there was no one in the world that could possibly understand what it was she was going through. No one. She was alone.

Liam and Sage were aware of her sudden depression, and Liam had a feeling the Coke wasn’t going to cheer her up.
Sage tapped his shoulder to gain his attention.
Liam glanced at him and saw that he was pointing out the window. He quickly looked out the window and saw that there was a forest beyond a clearing that hugged the asphalt.
Knowing what Sage meant by pointing it out, he eased onto the brakes and turned the wheel so they were ridding in the dirt.
After getting several meters away from the deserted road, he stopped the car completely, and once he had, Almera jumped out of the car and started walking.
   “Giver her a minute.” Sage said quickly. “She does this all the time. Usually she talks to her Father, and then cries...or screams...or throws things. Which ever she feels like doing at the moment.”
Liam nodded, but couldn’t shake off the feeling of pain for her.

Almera knew the boys were watching, but she was to consumed in her own thoughts to care.
I know you make us go through these things for a reason God. She prayed. But could you at least send me a friend? A girl friend. Not that the boys aren’t enough or anything, it’s just that sometimes I would like someone to relate to...better then boys.
She groaned and sank to her knees. Tears started to run down her cheeks. She felt like she had Eeyore’s rain cloud over her and she just couldn’t shake it.
She suddenly wished her dad was there. Not because she’d be able to relate to him as much as she could with the boys. But just because he was her dad. He had always been good at cheering her up. He never let her hurt for long, and if it was something he could fix, he would do it in a flash.
   Slipping off the Blue Jays hat off, another new wave of tears cascaded down her cheeks. Most of the time, she just liked reliving her memories with her father, other times - like now - she just felt a hole in her heart that hadn’t been filled yet.

Liam couldn’t stand it anymore. He walked over to her slowly and knelt down beside her.
Once she had seen him out of the corner of her eye, she turned and held him tight. Liam - expecting that - pulled her close and let her cry on his shoulder.

It took a full ten minutes for her to calm down and get her breathing back under control. Slowly, she unclenched her fists that held Jay’s shirt, but once the cloth was out of her grasp she gripped her fists tight.
Her hands were shaking.
Jayson let her move away slightly, but kept his arm around her shoulder.
Finnley took deep, but shaky breaths as she tried to calm down.
   “You ok?” He asked cautiously.
She managed a nod.
   “A little anyway.” She replied quietly, lifting her head to look up at the sky.
   “Do you ever feel that even through there’s six billion people in this crazy and messed up world, you’re alone?” She turned to Liam with innocent, and honest eyes.
He hesitated before answering with a nod.
   “I’ve always felt like that.” Her gaze dropped to the hat she was still clutching.
   “I’ve felt like I’ve always been invisible to everyone around me. Sure I had Tanya, but even that took a lot of effort...” She ran the back of her hand under her nose then dropped her hand again.
   “Everyone feels like that Finn.” Jay spoke up.
Finnley shook her head.
   “Not like me. Every where I turned people starred at me like I was some kind of freak.”
   “Ryan Stevens didn’t seem to think that.” He muttered.
Almera snapped around and hit the back of his head. Hard.
   “Yes well he doesn’t count. Jerk.” Meaning both Liam, and Ryan. She couldn’t help it if the small smile reached her lips with out her consent, she just crossed her arms and pretended to pout.
   “That was a really fine punch by the way.” He continued.
The smile grew bigger.
   “Yeah it was. I’m quite proud of that punch.”
This made him laugh.
   “But he doesn’t count. He’s a complete...I don’t know. He’s irrelevant. And he saw me as a challenge, and once he had conquered me I would have gone back to being ignored.”
   “Only he didn’t conquer you...did he?”
That earned him a second hit.
   “For as long as I can remember, I always was screaming in my head, but it was covered by a fake smile that made everyone think things were ok. But...I think...that after the whole adventure we had a year ago changed my way of thinking.
I’m still alive. I don’t need apologizes, I just...need a friend. And that’s hard to come by.” She rose to her feet and pulled the cap back onto her head.
   “Oh...ok. Then I guess I’ll just leave.” Jay pretended to look dejected as his head hung and he walked off.
   “Oh shoot.” She muttered to herself. “No I didn’t mean it that way!” She called after him. She reached out and tugged at his arm to keep him from walking off.
   “It’s not that you’re not a friend. I just meant...Uh...”
   “A girl friend?” He suggested.
   “Yeah. And it’s not that I don’t like hanging out with you, or Sage. It’s just sometimes...I wish there was a girl to talk to. Sense she would probably understand me better. In some ways.”
The way she was talking, made her feel like she was talking to a preschooler. Shaking her head, she dropped his sleeve and started to fiddle with her rings again.
   “If that makes any sense.” She added quietly.
Jayson nodded and took a casual step forward.
   “Yeah it makes sense. And, for your sake, I wish there was another girl in the group. But we can’t take that chance. You do understand that right?”
Almera nodded, and tried to put on a strong face.
   “Yup. I understand.” Of course, that doesn’t mean I have to like it. She added mentally.
Liam studied her for a moment, her eyes were caste to the ground and she was fiddling again.
   “Hey,” He lifted her chin up so she met his gaze. “You’re not invisible to me. And obviously, not to God. He's got to be the first one you turn to in every hard situation. Alright? It doesn't matter what you've done, who you are, or how alone you may seem. He still loves you like no human can.He's the only one that can fill up that hole in you."
    "Thanks Jay. I haven't really thought of it that way, it's easier when someone else points it out for you."
He nodded and let go of her.
    "That's what friends are for right?"
Something about the sentence struck her as odd and she laughed.
   “What?”
   “Nothing.” She muttered.
   “Well obviously it was something-” His sentence was cut off when they heard an odd noise.
Driven on instinct, Finnley closed her eyes and zoned out on the present. She suddenly saw what the noise was coming from and immediately wish she didn’t.

Snapping back to the present, she took off at a run for the car. Liam didn’t hesitate to follow her. Almera popped the trunk and pulled out her guns.
   “What are we in for?” Sage asked, jumping down and grabbing a few more knives from the back.
Almera tightened the holsters to her thighs and glanced down the seemingly empty road.
    “Three cars. Military issued. We’re dealing with feds.” She paused and noticed the pitting feeling in her stomach.
   “Or worse.” She added.
The boys nodded and Jay jumped into the driver’s seat. Almera shut the back and let Sage get in the back before she sat in the passenger’s seat.
   “Sage buckle up!” She yelled when Liam slammed his foot on the gas.
   “What about you?!” He hollered back.
   “I’m older then you!” She snapped. Pulling her guns out and checking to make sure they had full mags in.
   “You probably should...” Liam sentence was cut off when she glared at him.
   “Do you honestly think I’ll be able to move around if I have a seat belt on?” She challenged.
Liam groaned in frustration, but gave in.
They grew quiet.
Anticipating their enemies coming over the last rise.
And they did.

The enemy was in three black SUVs with dark tinted windows. Two were on either side of the road, and one hung back in between them.
   “Oh boy...” Almera muttered.
   “Yeah. We’re in trouble.” Liam agreed.
The two of them were more experienced in this situation, so immediately - some what like Mama Bear - Almera shouted to Sage to get down and stay out of trouble.
She then rolled down the four windows and held back on the roof.
Glancing in the review mirror, Liam watched as their pursuers stomped on the gas.
Almera blacked out again for a moment to see where they were going to come up on.
That’s when Liam got an idea.
   “You just stay in the future.” He yelled at her. “Tell me where to expect them, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
At first he wasn’t sure if she had heard him, until she nodded.
   “Left flank. Hand gun. In...ten seconds.” She sounded like a drone. She knew what she was saying, yet it sounded odd.
But he was wise in taking her advice. He waited till he saw the black SUV baring down on him. As it did he swerved the nose of the car to the right, sending the rear ramming into the nose of the SUV, sending it into the ditch.
Sage yelled out in triumph, but they weren’t done yet.
Gun shots went off and Almera yelled at Liam.
Liam swerved again to avoid shots and spun the back of the car around so they were driving backwards. It was only enough time to shock the drivers in the SUVs, then he swung around in a wide arch and smashed into the other two.
   “Strait in front of you. Machine gun. Hit the breaks, turn hard left.”
Liam did exactly as the drone said. The results were more then he hoped for.
Slamming on the breaks, he ended up behind the two cars. Spinning left, he smashed into both of their tails, sending them out flying. They crashed into one another and then they crashed into the one ahead of them.
   “Ok. Now I suggest you put the petal to the metal!” Almera screamed. Her full self now, and fully aware of the immediate danger they were in!
Liam didn’t hesitate.
++++

   “Whoa!” Sage yelled over the roar of the wind whipping through the car.
   “That was wicked!”
Almera chuckled by his enthusiasm. Though she knew they weren’t quiet out of harms way just yet.
   “You only think that because adrenaline’s pumping through your veins.” Liam spoke up.
   “Yeah! This is awesome!”
Liam and Almera exchanged glances.
When Almera had first discovered Sage, she was surprised by how young he was.
And she was reminded of that now.
And she also knew that Liam was thinking the same thing.
   “Ok, so maybe taking him along wasn’t such a good idea.” She admitted, unnerved by Liam’s judging, and steady gaze.
He nodded, and looked at her to continue, with the ever so annoying lopsided grin on his face.
   “But it’s not like we could just leave him.”
   “Of course not.” He agreed. But she could tell by his grin that he was just playing with her.
   “Oh stop smiling, you dork.” She crossed her arms and looked out the window. Mainly just to keep him from seeing her smile.
Liam chuckled, and Sage didn’t seem to notice that they were talking about him.
   “So what’s the closest city? We’re not out of this yet, and we need to get to Washington?” Liam asked.
   “Uh...Well we’re already in Virginia so we just need to cross the state.” Almera stated.
   “Why don’t we just fly?” Sage asked.

Entry: 5

Entry: 5
  - Go!


Almera chuckled at her dad's P.S. She shoved the paper into her pocket and shut the drawer.

   "Moving on." She said quietly. "We'll just look at the rest of the paper for now." She continued. "If possible, try to take a close up picture."
   "Well that might be hard. I don't think they like people taking pictures." Liam pointed out.
Finn grinned and once again, dug through her bag.
   "Yes. But they have nothing against a girl freshening up."
She showed a small case of blush.
The object jogged a memory in Jay's mind.
   "Hey, is that the camera Kaden gave you?" He asked with that lopsided grin that made Almera feel funny.
She nodded.
When she was with the agency, Kaden - Liam's foster brother - had given her a few gadgets. Including the blush travel kit. Which was actually a hidden camera.

   "What about weapons?"
Naturally, the question came from Sage.
   "I hope not to use them," Almera said slowly. "but we can stash a few int he car. How's that?"
SAge nodded and pulled out the leather gauntlent.
   "Can I wear this one thought?" He asked.
   "Uh...what is it?" She still hadn't figured that out yet.
Sage clipped it onto his left wrist and pulled the silver buckles tight.
Intrigued by what he was doing, Liam and Almera moved closer.
Sage suddenly flicked his wrist back and a blade shot silently out.
Shocked and taken by surprise, Almera gasped and jerked back.
   "Dude." Liam muttered. "He's like, an eleven year old version of Ezio Auditore! From Assassin's Creed! That is so not cool."
Almera shook her head.
   "No. He looks more like Desmond Miles."
Liam was shocked that she knew what the heck he was talking about.
She just grinned to herself and walked over to the guns. She pulled out a familiar set of guns and felt the familiar weight of the Assassin’s Fury. She knew they were dependable, and not to mention, fast. She also noticed that these were slightly different then the ones she had been issued in the agency.
There was a red button near the thumb. Not knowing what it was she pressed it. A holographic screen came up, it seemed to scan the room until it found a target. Then it shot automatically, with out her even pulling the trigger.
The guys cried out in alarm and everyone ducked with their hands over their heads.
The bullet lodged it’s self right into the wall behind Almera.
There was silence.
Her heart raced as she slowly moved her hair out of her face.
   “What the heck was that?!” Sage yelled.
   “Sorry.” She whispered. “I didn’t know what the button did.”
   “So you pressed it?!”
   “Well what would you have done?!”
Sage got a guilty look on his face.
   “Pressed it.” He mumbled.
She cocked an eyebrow.
   “Uh-huh.”
She shook her head and rose to her full height.
Liam slowly rose to his feet as well, still slightly shaken, but other wise ok. Same with Sage.
Almera walked back to the drawer and picked up the holsters. She noticed black slots on the outside of them and wondered what they were for.
Then, seeing a pink sticky note on one of them, she ripped it off and looked back at her dad’s hand writing.

The slots are for knives incase you get into close combat

   
Nodding she walked over to the knife drawer and picked out several ones that would fit. She slung the holsters over her shoulder and grabbed her bag with her free hand.
   “Ready?” She asked.
Liam slipped a samurai sword out of it’s sheath and swung in around experimentally. With a satisfied nod, he grabbed it’s twin.
   “Ready.” He responded.
She looked to Sage.
   “Ready.” He answered quickly.
Almera nodded and walked out of the door. The boys followed her and they stood by the car.
Almera pressed the button and the storage unit’s door slid shut, there was a hiss as it sealed it’s self up.
   They opened the trunk of the car and they stowed their weapons in it. Then Almera used one of her few powers to make it become invisible. Sort of.
   “So you can make things invisible?” Liam asked.
   “Sort of.” Almera said, tossing him the keys. “You drive. But please stop by a gas station.”
He grinned and had a hunch on why she wanted to stop.
   “Alright. Hop in squirt.” He said, turning to Sage.
   “Stop calling me that.” said Sage as he climbed into the back.
Liam laughed.
   “Fat chance.”
He started up the car and couldn’t wait to see what this baby could do. But before he could let it rip, he felt a small hand on his arm.
Glancing up, he saw Almera’s strong and demanding stare.
   “We’re not on a race track. We’re on busy streets full of other people with old ladies with dogs crossing the streets. Now is not the time to see what she can do when you put the petal to the metal. ’Kay?”
His disappointment must have shown on his face because she laughed.
   “But if you feel like paying forty bucks to see what she can really do, you go right ahead...Later!”
He laughed and shook his head, then went the speed limit.

++++

After Almera had gotten her Cherry Coke and Sage had his Twix, and Liam had his Hershey bar, they headed out to Washington.
   With Almera in the front seat, it was hard for the two not to talk.
But it was more like the old times, they chatted about the most stupidest things, laughed like crazy, and were just friends. It felt nice, for the both of them.
   Sage was in control over the radio. And the first thing that rolled through the speakers was ‘Tonight, Tonight’ by Hot Chelle Rae.
It was a lively song that kept the up beat feeling that everyone had at the moment.

If anyone saw them now, they would look just like a couple of kids full of life and fun. Yet of course, that wasn’t true, but at the moment they could have been just as good as.
But they all knew it wouldn’t last long.

   “Who do you think will come after us next?” Almera asked quietly.
Everyone was asking themselves the same question, she was just the first to say it out loud.
Liam sighed.
   “I don’t know.” He answered honestly. “Both sides are getting restless. The humans just want to get rid of us Hyvens, and the Hyvens want this war to just be over. They’re counting on us, to get it done.”
Almera sighed.
   “No pressure or anything.” She muttered.
   “Exactly, So I honestly don’t know what to do. It’s not like we can meet with the Presidant of the United States, give him a power point, and say ‘stop killing them off.’”
He had a point.
Almera groaned in frustration and slouched in her seat while she glared out the window.
   “Why are people such thick-heads?” She grumbled.
Liam thought it best not to answer that.
   “Then what the heck are we suppose to do?!” She asked, throwing her hands up. “Neither side are willing to listen. Only a small group of Hyvens even know I exist, the rest are more then willing to beat the crap out of any human that so much looks at them wrong. And then there’s the humans, they don’t shut up long enough to see that the answer is starring them in the face it could slap them, and they refuse to see any kind of sense. How on earth are we suppose to work with that?!”
   “Well the simple truth is,” Sage piped up. “We can’t. Not just us. But that’s what God does. He makes sure that everything goes according to His plan. We wouldn’t be here if He didn’t want us to. We wouldn’t have this task if there wasn’t a reason for it. And maybe we won’t have to be the ones doing it. I mean for goodness sakes, we could be only the messengers and the people that really have to go out there and do it, are just waiting...for us...somewhere.”
As much as Almera wanted that to be true, she had more doubts then anything else.
   “I don’t think so buddy. We’re the only ones that fit the prophecy.”
   “That we know of.” He added quietly.
Almera sighed, and forced herself to calm down and take it slow.
One thing at a time.

Entry: 4

Entry: 4
   - Set...


   "Wait...The Smithsonian?" Liam asked. Uncertain he had heard right.
   "Like...as in Washington D.C? Near the White House?!"
Almera nodded and jumped up. She walked over to her closet.
She tugged a backpack off the top shelf. Liam was surprised to find that it was already packed and ready to go.
   "You keep a go-bag?" He asked. Slightly impressed.
She glanced up at him as she unzipped it.
   "Yeah. Don't you?"
   "Yes. But I've been at this longer."
   "You're point being?" She turned to Sage. Giving him a silent head nod, he jogged out of the room and into his own.
   "Wait, what are we doing?" Liam asked, still a little confused. Almera glanced up at him with a smile.
   "How on earth have you survived all these years with out someone who knows how to keep a plan in their head?" She teased.
   "Hey! I keep a plan in my head!"
The statement caused her to throw her head back and laugh.
   "Really? Well then I guess you can answer your own question."
She ran into the bathroom and grabbed a Ziploc bag and shoved her bathroom _____, then shoved them into the bag.
   "Wait, so we're just going to take a plane to Washington D.C., walk into the Smithsonian, and steal a historical document?" Liam asked.
Almera hesitated before nodding.
   "Only two things are wrong." She said. "We're not steeling it. We're borrowing it. Then once we're done with it, we'll give it back."
Liam nodded sarcastically.
   "Right. Because you plan on giving it back."
   "I do! I don't steel things. It's in the ten commandments. I don't steel." She snapped back in shock.
   "Right ok. And the second one?" He asked.
She pulled a leather jacket from her closet and a painful stabbing hit Liam's chest. It was the exact same brand and style as his own.
She shrugged it on while she watched him carefully. Then tugged her feet into her boots, her skinny jeans slipping into them with no problem.
She snatched a pair of keys off her desk and dangled them in front of him.
   "Who says we're taking a plane?" She asked with a cocked grin. "Get your go-bag." Almera slipped her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the room.

Mrs. Leavenworth knew what was going on when her daughter emerged out of her room with a backpack slung over her shoulder.
A silent tear slid down her cheek as Sage came out with a backpack as well.
   "Mom...We've got to go to Washington." Almera said slowly.
Her mom nodded and showed her bravery by keeping her emotions under control.
   "You found a lead?" She asked quietly.
Almera nodded.
   "Yup. We'll be back soon. I promise. And if we're not you can blame him." She knew the joke would make her mom chuckle, even if it did make Liam shift uncomfortably.
   "Just keep each other safe ok?" Mrs. Leavenworth asked. Stepping forward and holding her only family left in a tight embrace.
   "I promise mom." Almera whispered. Squeezing her mom back.
Mrs. Leavenworth nodded and let go of her daughter reluctantly.
   "Alright." She wiped a hand under her eyes. "Just be safe. And may God bless you. Return home quickly. And take care of Sage. He's only eleven."
Sage rolled his eyes and blushed as Mrs. Leavenworth kissed his cheek.
   "I will. Don't worry." Liam piped up.
Almera's mom nodded and gave him a hug.
   "You had better. Or so help me, you'll wish you had." She said with a strait face and a serious tone.
Liam nodded in acknowledgement.
Mrs. Leavenworth took a step back and smiled at the three young kids who looked to be ready for everything.
   "One more thing." She pulled at the collar of her dress and pulled out a chain with a key at the end.
   "This key goes to your father's warehouse. You'll find whatever you need there. Almera. You know the address. Make sure you take extra precautions and..." She stopped herself and sighed.
   "You know all of this already. Well, honey just be safe. And send me a call or...something."
Almera nodded.
   "Yes ma'am. I love you." She gave her mom a kiss on the cheek and headed over to the door. Sage gave a quiet thanks to Mrs. Leavenworth for all that she had done for him, then followed Almera.
She dashed down the stairs two at a time, landing in a soft thud. She took little notice of the boys following her as she moved down the street.
   "Where are we going?" Liam called out. Jogging to catch up with Almera.
But she didn't answer. She seemed intently searching for something, and didn't hear him.
   "Finn-"
She heard that.
Spinning around, she had him in a choke hold before he could react fully.
   "Don't." She whispered in his ear. "Call me that." She knocked his feet out from under him and let go of him. As he crashed into the floor, she walked off and into an abandoned warehouse.
   "You really need to stop calling her that." Sage muttered.
   "Why?" Liam asked, accepting his offered hand and letting the small boy pull him up to his feet again.
   "Because, it just reminds her of days that are over and gone. Ones that are never going to happen. She gets like this when ever she's reminded of her old life that she was forced to leave. So just keep your mouth shut."

Sage's lecture was cut short by the sound of an expensive engine revving.
Liam's jaw slacked as a flash of silver and black zipped past him with such speed that it sent his hair flying and his jacket flapping in the wind behind him.
There was a screech of breaks and suddenly a silver and black sleek sports car was idling by the side of the road.
With Almera sitting in the driver's seat.
   "Hop in." She said, her voice coated in pleasure and fun.
Sage ran over and opened the passenger door, hopping into the back seat. Leaving the front seat open for Liam. He took it rather reluctantly, but was eager to see this car.
   "You....you own a Ten11 Sports Car?! Sense when have you had the money for a Ten11 Sports Car?!" He asked, hopping into the seat and closing the door behind him.
She didn't wait for him to get his seatbelt on before she hit the gas peddle.

Liam was slightly surprised by how well Finnley controlled the car. She was as calm as all get out. She drove it with ease, and a slightly heavy foot.
She had let the windows down at Sage's request and with her hair was left to fly around her face.
She reached into a cup holder and pushed on her white rimmed sunglasses.
   "Can you put on some music?" Sage asked.
Almera sighed.
   "Sure. What do you want to listen to?"
He was silent for a moment before deciding.
   "TobyMac?"
Almera sighed and shifted in her seat. She pulled her iPod out of her back pocket and set it in the player on the dash board.
She set it on shuffle, and scoffed when 'Gone' rolled through the speakers.
   "Could it get anymore uncomfortable?" She mumbled.
While Sage was in the back bouncing around and singing with the song, Almera was getting a headache.
   "How did you afford this car?" Liam asked.
Almera chuckled.
   "Lets just say I have my resources."
   "Well that's not reassuring." Liam stated.
She laughed.
   "Has anyone found you?" Liam asked.
Almera shook her head.
   "No. Not really. When I think someone has, we always move."
   "Well can't you just use your power in order to see the where their going to be?"
She shook her head.
   "No. The future is always changing. Nothing's set in stone. I can only see what a person's going to do if they have already made the decision. I can't if they haven't."
At first, Liam thought he got it. Then he realized, he really didn't.
   "What?"
She groaned.
   "Never mind."
She found herself tapping mindlessly on the steering wheel.
   "You guys are insane! Why are you always at each other's throat? I mean come on." Sage jumped in. "You're going to be stuck with each other for a while now, get use to it."
Almera struggled to keep her laugh under control. The same with Liam.
But soon, they both just burst out laughing.
   "It's one thing from a parent..." Almera managed to say.
   "But another when it comes from an eleven year old." Liam finished.
Sage rolled his eyes and sat back in the leather seat.
   "What ever. Hey where are we going?"
Almera jerked the steering wheel suddenly, sending all of them slamming into the side of the car.
She slammed her foot on the break and the back of the car came spinning around till they came to a complete stop.
   "Here. We're going here." She answered. Turning the engine off and stepping out of the car.

They found themselves standing in front of a large strip of storage units. All the doors were painted green, half of them were rusted and none of them looked like they hadn't been touched in years.
   Almera walked down the strip counting the units. She hit ten, and stopped.
   "Alright dad..." She muttered, yanking the key off her neck. "What have you got for me?"
She jammed the key into the rusted lock and turned it. There was a sudden shudder and then a panel jumped up on the concrete side of the door.
The boys were taken surprise by the sudden panel in the stone, but she wasn't.
However she was stumped when she saw that it required a code. She knew it would require a code but she really hadn't been thinking about it.
   "Do you know it?" Liam asked.
She bit her lip and studied the keypad in front of her. It lit up blue letters on a green screen. She tried typing in her mother's name, but it came up wrong. She then tried typing up her own name. There was a flash and she was suddenly faced herself.
She must have been around six. Quoting her favorite line from her favorite Disney movie.
Peter Pan. The scene where Captain Hook was yelling at Smee to go get...
   "Oh my gosh is that what you looked like when you were six?!" She pushed Sage away from the camera.
She quickly typed in the password.
   "Tinkerbell!"
There was a blink and the panel flipped back into the stone.
The green door rolled up.
The three stepped inside.
The door shut behind them.
Lights flickered on in their rhythmic humming. Revealing one of the most high tech warehouse full of the most high tech equipment any of them had seen.
   "Holy-"
Almera flicked Sage's head.
   "-mackerel." He finished quickly.
Almera shot him a look, but was more concerned with what was lying at her feet.
   "Who was your dad again?" He asked opened mouthed.
   "One of the most amazing and coolest guys alive!" Liam cried.
Something that he said set Almera's teeth on edge. But she pushed it aside for the moment as she walked farther into the storage unit.
   To the outside, it did look like an old storage unit. However, the inside was anything but!

Large HD Plasma flat screens hung on opposite walls, the H.U.N.T.E.R insignia bouncing across them like a lazy bouncing ball.
White lights ran around the rim of the roof, lighting up a large armory.

   "This has got to be the largest stash of weapons outside the agency!" Liam cried, astonished by the sheer number of weapons that could be seen.
There was a table to one side of the room, full of various hand guns under bullet proof glass.
The walls were slanted outward, giving the room a cylinder like feeling.
The farthest wall was full of machine guns, and the rest of it looked like a sort of bunker. It had six bunk beds, and a table with chairs bolted into the ground.

Following her instincts, Almera walked over to one of the sides of the room and ran her fingertips over the side of it. The panel shot open. It was really a drawer with more weapons. Only these were knives. She noticed something peculiar and picked up a piece of leather.
If she were in the medieval era, this particular piece of equipment would be called a gauntlet. And sense that was the only word for it she could think of, she went with that.
Slipping it back into it's place she shut the drawer again and sighed.

Both boys were going around and opening up random drawers, gapping at the contents, pulling a few out and swinging them around wildly. (Well, at least Sage did)

Almera sighed and wished she had a girl to talk to. She walked over to the small table and sat down, pulling her messenger bag around and opening it. She pulled out the piece of paper she had so many confused feelings about, and then a small picture from her wallet.
Her father starred back at her with a smile that made his eyes squint. It brought on a smile. One she hadn't worn for a year...or more.
Dropping the picture back into the bag, she rubbed her temple and tried to sort through the mess of feelings inside her.
God, I know I won't be able to get through any of this with out you. Please just guide us into doing what you want. Please Lord. It's going to take a lot, but I know you're patient, and thank goodness for that!

Liam watched Almera closely. She seemed to be in trouble. He could understand why, he had gone up and left her, then ignored her very existence for a year and then popped back up in her life out of the blue!
But she wasn't the only one.
He was still trying to get use to the idea of actually seeing her again. Most of the time he could ignore the confusing feelings. He had been for the past year. But recently, now that he was with her again, those feelings came back. Most of them were good. But one in particular wasn't. Guilt. He hated guilt. But he couldn't seem to get the right words out. He couldn't get two simple words out, and because of that it was killing him.
It's going to take more then words isn't it Lord? He asked, looking down at the knife he was twirling in between his fingers. I've got to prove to her I'm not going to leave her once she lets her walls down. I have to prove that I'm not going to hurt her again...
He sighed. After confessing that to his Father, he felt a sense of giddy peace about it.
Yeah. That's what I have to do...just...how do I do it?
He shook his head and set the knife back down. He couldn't go through all that right now, he had to work on what they were planning on doing in the immediate future.
   He walked over to Finnley, who looked to be hypnotized by a spot in the distance.
   "What are we going to do? When we get to Washington?" He asked. Snapping her back into reality.
She frowned at no one in particular as she thought.
   "No idea."
Liam gave a small smile, and rapped the table with his knuckles before he sat down in the chair opposite of her.
  "Why don't we just start off by looking at it? And locating it." He suggested.
She nodded. Once again hypnotized by something invisible to his eyes. He also noticed her fingering her left hand. He saw a flash of black and silver on two of her fingers and couldn't quite figure out what they were.
  "Ok..." She said quietly, nodding slowly. "Sounds good. Does this place have anything in here but weapons?" She jumped up from her seat and he noticed for the first time that she was wearing bright red high-top converse.
A smile touched his lips as the old Finnley he use to know started to show up again.

She pulled out the wand, stick, thingy, again and twirled it in between her fingers, then with a flick of her wrist and spinning on her heel she swept the room. Shoving it back into her back pocket she walked over to one wall and pressed her finger tips against it.
A drawer rolled out and she grinned as she pulled out the latest touch phones.
   "Heads up." She called as she tossed one to Sage, who barely just caught it. She then tossed one to Liam, who snatched it out of the air with no effort.
   "These seem to already be in sync with each other, so locating each other if we get lost shouldn't be a problem. It's updated with the latest satilite images, an amazing camera...ooh cool effects."
Sage snorted as Finnley went off topic, and Liam chuckled.
She looked up at both of them through her hair and cleared her throat.
   "Moving on. They also have video and recorder. Handy if we need it."
She laughed as she looked into the drawer further.
   "Some times...I really wonder." She muttered under her breath. Reaching into the drawer she pulled out her dad's old baseball cap. Sweat stains were still on the rim, and it still smelled like her dad. A tear came to her eyes as she remembered how he had gotten it.

They were at a baseball team, going to see the Blue Jays play. His favorite team. It was just the two of them.
A Daddy Date as she use to call them.
They ate foot long hot dogs, popcorn, and cotton candy. She was so sick the next day!
But the thing that made her feel bad was that her dad's home team lost the game.
It was the last game he ever went to.
So when she had her own money, she bought him a grey Blue Jays baseball cap and gave it to him to make up for the game.
He wore it all the time.

   "That's a really old hat." Sage stated bluntly. She chuckled.
   "Yeah it is."
   "It stinks!" He cried, pinching the tip of his nose as he walked away.
She jumped him and smacked him with the hat.
   "Tough!" She set it square on her head and stuck out her tongue at the little kid.
He made a groaning sound and walked off.
She laughed and walked back to the drawer.
This must have been his personal drawer. She thought as she saw the old frayed pictures of her and mom. She gave a smile as she looked at one of her when she was one, with chocolate cake all over her. She then noticed an old piece of paper that had her name on the front.

Liam noticed her brow crease as she pulled out a yellowed paper. It looked to be written a while ago. He could just make out the name on the front and his heart went out to her.
Her father has been dead for more years then he'd care to count. He had actually been his apprentice of a sort when he was younger and still working for H.U.N.T.E.R. But then he was called to heaven, leaving behind his wife and daughter who have been grieving ever sense.

Almera chuckled at the sight of her dad's horrendous handwriting and opened the piece of paper up.

Almera,
I know this wont make much sense, I'm not even sure if you'll get this
but I want you to know that, no matter how far away I may seem, I'm
always there to protect you. You never have to yell for too long, or too 
loud, I'll always hear you, and I'll always come running.


Remember that.


Love you Tinkerbell,




PS: Give the boy a break. He was just doing what he thought was 
right. He really is going to look out for you. I promise.

Finnley was stunned.
It was a little cryptic, and she wasn't quiet sure what it all meant. And how on earth did he know about Jay when this must have been written before he died?!
But it was those words, written by a man long sense dead, yet always watching out for her (and always will be), that they hit her, and sunk in.

Her eyes wandered slowly from Sage messing around with guns, pretending to shoot things, to Jayson who was watching her with a curious look.
He was looking at her with those same screaming silver-blue eyes that had first caught her attention on the race track so long ago. She knew back then that she would always be wondering how they saw her. And once she got to know the boy they belonged too, she just got more mesmerized by them.

Then, locked in each others gaze. Something clicked.
Something huge.
Something that would change the future.
Not just theirs.
But the worlds.
She would take a chance with him.
They would crash into each other, like there was no landing. And then...they both knew that the next thing would be up to God.
And the thing was,neither of them were scared to do it.